Can we please stop using HARRY POTTER as a reading benchmark?
A week never goes by that I do not have a customer telling me that they are reading the HARRY POTTER books aloud to their 5 or 6 year old child, and the pride in their voice is always evident. Using HARRY POTTER as a [...]

In addition to my fascination with camp books, I’ve always loved books about twins. Real-life twin sisters DeVillers and Roy have crafted a heap of fun with their novel TRADING FACES. The twin protagonists of this book couldn’t be less alike – we have Payton, the klutzy, overexcited fashionista dreaming of popularity and boys during [...]

I loved this book, and I think it’s mostly been missed. I am fairly sure it hasn’t been reviewed on any other blog, and I haven’t seen it talked about anywhere.  It’s one of those quiet little books that often slips through the cracks – just the kind of book that an independent bookseller will [...]

When I picked up this galley, I wasn’t aware that it was a sequel. Somehow we missed the first one at my former job, and I do mean missed: I think we would have sold THE PUZZLING WORLD OF WINSTON BREEN quite well in hardcover. Well, now they’ll sell it quite well in paperback, and [...]

I am happy to report that I enjoyed this second installment of CANTERWOOD CREST just as much as I enjoyed the first one. The story picks up in the second semester of Sasha’s 7th grade year, which is not too long after the first book took place. One of my major concerns with a series [...]

If I could write song lyrics or poetry, I would probably put a little ditty here about what a great time this is right now for tween books, and how it seems like publishers finally heard my silent prayer (or out loud complaining to sales reps) and started publishing great tween-y books, but since I [...]

THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY was a big, big hit at Children’s Book World, and I think I’m going to need to make FOUR TRUTHS AND A LIE a big, bit hit at Pudd’NHead. You guys don’t need me to harp on again about how much in love I am with some of today’s [...]

You may remember that I love horse books, and the fact that I love age-appropriate books for tweens is practically the hallmark of this website. So I picked this up with a good feeling, despite being a little wary about the main character attending an elite boarding school. I was a little afraid that this [...]

You will remember that I wrote an entry called Angry About New Meg Cabot Novel, where I discussed the cross-promotion of the last Princess Diaries book with Cabot’s new and very adult historical romance, RANSOM MY HEART. I expressed the opinion that it was very likely RMH would find its way into the hands of [...]

It’s a good time, book-wise, to be a tween.
I read the galley of THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB within the first few days after it arrived in our shop. I remember that the Simon galleys arrived late that season and we had less than a week to evaluate them for initial purchase.
As soon as I started [...]