Reviews (Year-Wise)

2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020-2019


July 2025:

Boobies - Nancy Vo - ★★★

June 2025: 


May 2025:

Bright World - Stan Stanley - ★★★★.½

April 2025:

Huda F Cares? - Huda Fahmy - ★★★★.½
Slip - L. Ryan Storms - ★★★★.½

March 2025:


February 2025:

Happy Endings - Lucie Bryon - ★★★★.½

January 2025:



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Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers' Rights - Edited by Ashley Hope Pérez - ★★★★

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EDITOR:  Ashley Hope Pérez GENRE: YA Nonfiction Anthology. PUBLICATION DATE: March 4, 2025. RATING: 4.1 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA anthology that focusses on the power of books and the impact of banning them. Mostly nonfiction with entries in the form of essays, comics, and poems. OwnVoices. Inclusive, informative, incisive and inspiring. Most of the write-ups are great; some are also a bit disturbing. Definitely recommended, and not just to the YA audience. I don’t think I need to offer any introduction on why banning books is a ridiculous notion. Even progressive societies opt for book banning, and worse, books are banned for the silliest of reasons. As such, the next generation must understand the futility of such actions and necessity of standing up for everyone’s right to read what they want. Of all book-related social topics, this is the most relevant issue today. Several shocking stats connected to book challenges and bans in the USA are contained in this anthology, and...
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Between the Lines - Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer - ★★★★

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The Invisibles - Susie Bower - ★★★.¾

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God with Us: Bible Stories on the Road to Emmaus - Matt Mikalatos - ★★★★

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AUTHOR: Matt Mikalatos ILLUSTRATOR: David Shephard GENRE: Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: April 1, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A graphic novel that narrates stories from the Bible, using Cleopas’s encounter with Jesus on the way to Emmaus as the foundation. Innovative in concept and execution. Excellent (and racially-authentic) illustrations. Might be a bit tricky for the target audience of middle-graders as the narrative isn't linear. But adult supervision will help. Recommended. Children are always attracted to books with illustrations. So using a graphic novel to teach them stories from the Bible is a wonderful idea. But this book doesn’t just stop at this basic intent. Rather, its presentation sets it apart from other similar works. The story uses Cleopas’s trip from Jerusalem to Emmaus as the setting. As the Gospel of Luke mentions only Cleopas by name in its references to this journey that takes place on the day of Jesus’s resurrection, this book adds some fiction...
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Death Row - Freida McFadden - ★★★★

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