The Project by Courtney Summers (February 2, 2021) Aspiring journalist and nineteen-year-old Lo works as an assistant for a prestigious news outlet. She’ll never be more than an assistant… Unless she manages to scoop an exclusive expose. When she witnesses a gruesome suicide connected to The Unity Project, she becomes pulled back into a world… Read More Two YA Books to Watch For in 2021: The Project and You Have a Match
What if the biggest threat to humanity wasn’t climate, disease, war, or monsters… but plants?
Thick, seemingly invincible black grass starts growing all over the world. It invades crops, destroys houses, and emits a dangerous pollen that everyone is allergic to. Everyone except for three young teens from British Columbia: Anaya, Petra, and Seth.… Read More YA Book Reviews: Bloom, Cinderella Is Dead, and Rules for Being a Girl
Six years ago I wrote a blog post. 10 Poems That Teenagers Might Actually Love. I was fresh out of an English Literature undergrad and midway through my library degree. I decided that for a poem to be appealing to teens it should meet two major criteria: Vivid imagery Relevant subject matter 10 Poems That Teenagers… Read More 10 Poems by Women that Teens Might Love
Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis For me, this was a passionate one day read. I couldn’t wait to reach the end. It reads like a detailed fever dream. I was at once racing to finish, savoring every word, and scared to turn the page! Ashley is our teenage main character. Raised by… Read More My 2020 YA ARC Reviews: Be Not Far From Me, All Your Twisted Secrets, and Tweet Cute
I have been tracking my reading on Good Reads for the first time ever this year, and I’m obsessed! I hope to get to a point where he only social media app I use is Good Reads. Here’s a round up of the books I’ve reviewed lately – including some ARCs from NetGalley. Much Ado… Read More Spring 2019 Book Review Round Up
This has been a tough few weeks for the world. Racially motivated crimes are in the news constantly. It’s difficult to wrap my mind around the hate exhibited, and impossible to fully understand the experience of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People Of Colour) in these times. These past couple weeks I’ve sought out stories that involve… Read More Read YA and Middle Grade fiction written by BIPOC Women
I have been on a roll lately with YA Lit! Since I order all the books for the children’s and teen sections, I’m always looking forward to the next great thing, and this month I found a bunch. Check these out if you love YA, and be ready to talk about them if you work… Read More What I Loved #19 New YA edition: Caraval, The Thousandth Floor, Queens of Geek, The One Memory of Flora Banks, Holding Up the Universe
Last week I started a new blog series to practice my annotation skills by writing glowing recommendations for the things I am in the midst of loving. So here is Week #2 of what I read, watched, clicked, cooked, and sipped. What I Read Rather than join the lengthy Hold waitlist for MaddAddam (or buy it for $33… Read More What I Loved This Week #2: Sarcastic Graphic Novels, Game of Thrones, Haruki Music, Eggplant, and Coffee Beans
I created a “Gateway Graphic Novels” display that will guide new teen graphic novel readers towards highly engaging items, and will likely spark a further interest in the genre. The target audience of my display is teens aged 15-19, however, many younger teens and adults will also benefit from it. Graphic novel collections are becoming… Read More Gateway Graphic Novels for Teens – The Creation of a Virtual Display
*This book review contains spoilers* In fast-paced gripping prose that will keep readers turning pages, Jo Knowles tells the story of an unplanned pregnancy from the alternating perspectives of 4 high school students. All Ellie wants is to be loved. All Josh wants is to lose his virginity. Their miscommunication introduces the novel, and results… Read More Book Review of Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles: Not Your Average Problem Novel
Ontarian Librarian 