Sometimes, an “issue” book is simply an “issue” book.  The protagonist is a cutter.  On drugs.  Pregnant.  Homeless.  Abused.  Et cetera.  The book revolves entirely around said issue, and things progress much in the same manner as an after-school special (which, come to think of it, do they even make those anymore?).  These books often [...]

Grandmothers, mothers, teachers at all girls’ schools, listen up.
(Well, librarians and other teachers listen up too.)
Here’s that sweet little book that comes along once or twice a year and works its way into the hearts of its readers. That book that spreads itself out like the coziest of handknit blankets and wraps itself around you [...]

Several years back, a certain bookseller named Melissa grabbed my arm and said, “Sarah!  You’ve got to read this!  Now!”  She handed me the galley for THE WARRIOR HEIR, and I put it on my to-be-read pile.  As usual, Melissa was dead-on.  From the moment I started WARRIOR HEIR, I knew this was an author [...]

There are days I go to collect the mail, and rather than the usual stack of bills, it’s all requests from charities.  Children’s charities, health-related charities, feminist charities, religious charities.  Each one is deserving, and each one shows real kindness to real people that I will never be able to help with my own two [...]

Here’s the sad truth of it:  I am in the second round of braces.  I suffered through the first round while in middle school, and now, years later, I found myself back in the orthodontist’s chair with some wayward bottom teeth.  (Why couldn’t they have behaved as well as the top teeth?  Why?)  I’m currently [...]

note from Melissa: it’s not so obvious who’s writing each review here, because I’m using this crappy template that I can’t adjust and haven’t had a chance to meddle with a better one.  Each post is tagged at the bottom with the author’s name. The majority are by me, but they’re not all by me, [...]

There will never be another John Hughes movie. I am incredibly sad about this. However, books like this one – heirs to John Hughes’ oeuvre in all of the very best ways – go a long way toward alleviating some of that sadness.
This book may have the best title of any on the fall list. [...]

I am very bad at sports.  I am the last person you want on your team.  I drop things.  I stand in the outfield and stare up at the sun.  I only have hand-eye coordination when I’m holding a video game controller.  Given this fact, it may not come as much of surprise to you [...]

::tap, tap:: is this thing on?
I’m back from “vacation”; let’s see if we can get this going again.
(I read this in galley, but it came out at the end of May.)
Every once in awhile a book comes along that makes me realize that to enjoy some things, you really have to be 12 years old. [...]

I guess it was okay.
.
.
.
What?
Okay, fine. I’ll write more.
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CATCHING FIRE (excluding actual plot points, because even if Scholastic hadn’t asked very, very nicely for us not to spoil the plot, I wouldn’t anyway, because the surprises in this book are so awesome that I can’t imagine ruining them for [...]