Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora ★★★★☆

Definitely one of my favorite pieces featuring a second language since Zoraida Cordova’s Labyrinth Lost.

Save the restaurant. Save the town. Get the girl. Make Abuela proud. Can thirteen-year-old Arturo Zamora do it all or is he in for a BIG, EPIC FAIL?

For Arturo, summetime in Miami means playing basketball until dark, sipping mango smoothies, and keeping cool under banyan trees. And maybe a few shifts as junior lunchtime dishwasher at Abuela’s restaurant. Maybe. But this summer also includes Carmen, a cute poetry enthusiast who moves into Arturo’s apartment complex and turns his stomach into a deep fryer. He almost doesn’t notice the smarmy land developer who rolls into town and threatens to change it. Arturo refuses to let his family and community go down without a fight, and as he schemes with Carmen, Arturo discovers the power of poetry and protest through untold family stories and the work of Jose Marti.

Episode #31: An Interview with MarcyKate Connolly

Jessica's Bigger Better Blog Header (2)

http://bookedallnight.podbean.com/e/episode-31-an-interview-with-marcykate-connolly/

Listen to this episode and other episodes of the podcast on Podbean.

This super special (totes late but you’ll love it) episode we were joined by none other than MarcyKate Connolly, author of Shadow Weaver, Monstrous, Ravenous, and more! If you’re unfamiliar with her work we highly recommend Shadow Weaver. You can, of course, listen to us gush over it in Episode #25 (which we also recommend).

Join us as we talk about middle grade literature, writing, Shadow Weaver, and play a little game of Burn, Re-write, Re-Read.

Episode #28: Granted

Jessica's Bigger Better Blog Header (1)

http://bookedallnight.podbean.com/e/episode-28-granted/

Listen to this episode and other episodes of the podcast on Podbean.

A dueling opinionated podcast! This week Jess and Maggie talk about Granted by John David Anderson (author of Ms. Bixby’s Last Day and Posted). Who will you agree with?

The Swift ★★★★★

Blog Features & Headers (2)

The Swift by Alex Banks is amazingly action packed!

Can the past be unbroken?

Everything about Pete’s life stinks. His dad is dead, his grandfather doesn’t even remember him, his mom cries all the time, and they’re about to lose their crappy old house to the bank.

And Pete’s twin brother Henry blames him for all of it.

While cleaning out the attic, the boys discover an old seaman’s trunk that transports them back in time where they’re forced to battle the raging sea and pirates bent on their destruction. Pete and Henry will have to work together to fix the broken past—or they won’t have a future to return to.

Labyrinth Lost ★★★★★

Córdova immerses us in fantasy, language, and LGBQT in a way I haven’t seen done successfully in today’s YA literature.

Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.

I fall to my knees. Shattered glass, melted candles and the outline of scorched feathers are all that surround me. Every single person who was in my house – my entire family — is gone.

Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange markings on his skin.

The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…

King’s Cage ★★★★★

Blog Features & Headers (3)

So not that long ago, I posted Full Series Stop, in which I was talking about how the preview for this book was making me less excited for it. I would now like to apologize for letting my enthusiasm wane. We waited for King’s Cage and Aveyard delivered.

In this breathless third installment to Victoria Aveyard’s bestselling Red Queen series, allegiances are tested on every side. And when the Lightning Girl’s spark is gone, who will light the way for the rebellion?

Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning, tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at the mercy of a boy she once loved, a boy made of lies and betrayal. Now a king, Maven Calore continues weaving his dead mother’s web in an attempt to maintain control over his country—and his prisoner.

As Mare bears the weight of Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organizing, training, and expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to linger in the shadows. And Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare’s heart, will stop at nothing to bring her back.

When blood turns on blood, and ability on ability, there may be no one left to put out the fire—leaving Norta as Mare knows it to burn all the way down.

Let’s first talk about the viewpoints. Of course, we stay with mare throughout her imprisonment in Whitefire castle, but we also see Cameron and… wait for it…

SPOILERS

Phoebe and Her Unicorn in the Magic Storm ★★★★★

LOVED THIS! Phoebe and Her Unicorn is one of my favorite middle grade comic series.

Phoebe and Marigold decide to investigate a powerful storm that is wreaking havoc with the electricity in their town. The adults think it’s just winter weather, but Phoebe and Marigold soon discover that all is not what it seems to be, and that the storm may have a magical cause. To solve the case, they team up with Max, who is desperate for the electricity to return so he can play video games, and frenemy Dakota, who is aided by her goblin minions. Together, they must get to the bottom of the mystery and save the town from the magic storm.

Unicorn on a Roll ★★★★★

Blog Features & Headers.png

I had the absolute pleasure of reading this adorable middle grade graphic novel by Dana Simpson. Unicorn on a Roll is the modern Calvin and Hobbes, with girls and unicorns.

Serafina and the Black Cloak ★★★★☆

Blog Features & Headers (12).png

Serafina’s father always told her to never go into the deep parts of the forest, “for there are many dangers there, and they will ensnare your soul.” She never had a reason to disobey her father’s wishes for her to remain on the grounds of the Biltmore estate, exploring its many rooms, taking care to never, ever be seen by anyone (especially since the Vanderbilt’s don’t know she exists or that she and her pa have been living in their basement).

When children start to go missing, however, Serafina hunts down the culprit. Even though it means disobeying her father and going into the woods.

Hinges Book Two: Paper Tigers ★★★★★

Blog Features & Headers (11).png

Amazing. Can that be my review?

Just–amazing.

Orio and Bauble have settled nicely into the city of Cobble. But as more of Bauble’s nature reveals itself they find themselves facing a much greater world outside of Cobble’s walls.

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

SPOILERS

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this: