Teen and Young Adult Fiction Reviews
Excellent
T.J. Akers describes The Final Paladin as “urban fantasy.” I would amend that to historical urban fantasy given that its real-world setting takes place at the turn of the 20th century.
Filled with crusaders, murders, a mysterious key, and a host of fantastical creatures, I recommend this YA novel for older readers of the genre.… Read the rest
Because I loved Rebecca Stead’s novel, When You Reach Me, I picked up Bob, hoping I would like it just as much. Yes and no.
By page 11, ten-year-old Livy is talking about zombies. Hmmm. I don’t do zombies.… Read the rest
Pirates. Life on the high seas. Betrayal. Held for ransom. Pirate’s Wager fulfills
the dream of every reader who loves swashbuckling adventure.
Thirteen-year-old Samazor struggles to find shelter and food in Port Azor, but when his father loses a bet with an infamous pirate captain, Samazor loses his freedom.… Read the rest
Third in a series of reviews about deaf characters and their siblings, Of Sound Mind zeroes in on the burdens a CODA (child of deaf adults) carries when his parents cannot or will not connect with the hearing world.… Read the rest
The “coming-of-age” story. When a boy becomes a man.
…and now Miguel is a great read for boys ages nine through thirteen. Joseph Krumgold really gets into the head of a kid during that in-between age, wanting to be respected as a man yet child enough that he’s not quite ready for a man’s responsibilities.… Read the rest
When Antony John’s wife challenged him to write a book about rock music and its personalities from a deaf person’s point of view, Five Flavors of Dumb was the result.
Synopsis
Eighteen-year-old Piper Vaughn lost her hearing in fifth grade, so her speech is pretty clear, and she’s mastered the skill of reading lips.… Read the rest
Set in the late 1930s, Thimble Summer captures the era’s atmosphere of farm
life in Wisconsin. Elizabeth Enright wrote this while people were just beginning to recover from the Dust Bowl further south, and the book gives an excellent sense of the Depression years through a child’s eyes.… Read the rest
My local library had the foresight to carry several novels with deaf characters for children and teens. Rocky Road is one of them. In the coming months, I will be including additional reviews as part of a “Deaf Series.”… Read the rest
Power has its Price…
Madeline Oliver is dying from lung disease and there’s no cure. Jason Wu, after tragedy strikes, is left grief stricken and promises to only speak the truth from that point on. … Read the rest
Sun and Moon by Desiree Williams is a good, summer romantic fantasy appropriate for middle grade and young adult readers. It’s short, easy to digest, and has an assured happy ending, like a bag of popcorn at the movie theater.… Read the rest