Posted on by Maureen

The Classy Crooks Club by Alison Cherry

51af1qhsmflThe Classy Crooks Club had not been on my radar, but as soon as I saw one of the authors I follow on Twitter talking about it. My interest was immediately piqued based on the title alone, and within a week, a copy of the book had arrived via the library network.   The Classy Crooks Club is a middle grade novel written by Alison Cherry.

It is hard not to like narrator A.J. In one of the first scenes of the book, she describes how to emerge the victor if one were to encounter an anaconda in the jungle. It’s rather gruesome, but it gives great insight into A.J.’s personality. She is not the sort of girl to be afraid of danger or conflict.

A.J.’s parents need to travel to the Amazon for a month during summer vacation, so A.J. is sent to her grandmother’s house. Her grandmother is very strict, and does not approve of A.J.’s unladylike hobbies. Case in point: she refers to A.J.’s skateboard as “that infernal plank”. A.J. just wants to spend time with her best friends, but she only sees them at soccer practice. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here by Anna Breslaw

61zc8irjtalI’ve had Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here on my radar, so I was very pleased to have found it at my town library. This YA novel was written by Anna Breslaw.

Scarlett is a high school student living in suburban New Jersey. She lives in public housing with her mother. Scarlett loves watching Lycanthrope High on television, and writing fanfic stories about the characters. As the story begins, Scarlett’s beloved show has just been canceled. She isn’t sure what to do about this; she has devoted so much of her spare time to writing fanfic, and she isn’t ready to move on to another television show.

Scarlett starts writing a spinoff story featuring some of her classmates. This proves to be very cathartic, and helps Scarlett with some of the turmoil in her personal life. But what will happen with her classmates find out that she’s writing about them? Read more

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The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks

51dw9wblpmlThe Lifeboat Clique is a young adult novel written by Kathy Parks. This book had been on my radar, so I was pleased to find it on the shelf at the library.

Denver is a relatively unpopular girl at her Southern California high school. She goes to a party thrown by the popular kids because her crush Croix invites her. Before Denver can have a cliché movie moment and kiss her crush, an earthquake strikes and then a tsunami destroys the beach house house where the party is taking place. Denver manages to scramble onto a small boat, along with a few other kids- one of whom is her ex-best friend Abigail.

The group is swept out to sea, and they have limited resources. They have no way of knowing when they will be rescued- or if there is even anything for them to go back to.  And it doesn’t seem to matter that they are in the very definition of a precarious situation; they might die of dehydration, but the popular kids are still sniping at Denver! Read more

Posted on by Maureen

The Cresswell Plot by Eliza Wass

61wnx8qycilI received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

There have been a few recent YA novels that also dealt with cults that I enjoyed reading. I have been seeing quite a bit of chatter about Eliza Wass’s The Cresswell Plot, so I was excited about the opportunity to read an advanced copy of it.

Castella Cresswell serves as our narrator. Castley’s family is different than the other families in the area. They live on the outskirts of town, and she and her five siblings have limited contact with the outside world. Their father has preached of their difference for years; the Cresswells are special, and that God has singled them out among the heathens. Read more

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The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe

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I received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I love reading novels set in the 19th century. I was not familiar with Anita Hemmings, the first African American woman to graduate from Vassar College, and I was intrigued by the premise of Karin Tanabe’s The Gilded Years.

Anita Hemmings is considered to be one of the great beauties of the class of 1897 at Vassar. She seems to have it all: she is a talented singer, and a gifted scholar. But Anita is hiding a terrible secret: her skin is light enough to pass as white, but she is actually a black woman. At the end of the 19th century, there are very few colleges that admit black women, and Vassar is not one of them. If anyone found out the truth about Anita, it would ruin her.

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Posted on by Maureen

The Memory of Us by Camille DiMaio

51-g1gh-lflI received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Memory of Us was written by debut author Camille DiMaio. One of the first scenes involves protagonist Julianne visiting her twin brother at the institution that serves as his home. Julianne is not supposed to know that her brother exists; not only is she aware of him, she also makes regular clandestine visits to spend time with him. This defiance of convention and of parental wishes sets the tone for the rest of the book.

It is at Bootle House that Julianne first encounters Kyle McCarthy. Julianne is accustomed to moving in the upper echelons of Liverpool society, and Kyle is completely like any of the other boys that she knows. Not only is he an Irish Catholic, but he also attends a seminary and intends to become a priest. Read more

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Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten

41u7xy0kizlI received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Beware That Girl is a YA psychological thriller by Teresa Toten. Kate O’Brian is a girl with a past. When we first Kate, she’s living in a hovel, but preparing to start her senior year at Waverly, a Manhattan girl’s school. Kate is confident, and Kate has aspirations for greatness. Part of Kate’s plan involves befriending Olivia Sumner, a former “it girl” who is now only a fragile shell of what she used to be.

It seems clear that Kate plans to use Olivia to further her own agenda, but that’s not quite what’s happening at all. As Kate becomes comfortable moving in Olivia’s circle, there is a dangerous new staff member whose obsession with the girls might ruin everything Kate has worked so hard to achieve. Read more

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The Underdogs by Sara Hammel

51k6b112r5lI received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

My oldest daughter is nine years old, and she and I are very fortunate to have received the opportunity to read ARCs of some middle grade books. When I first read the synopsis of Sara Hammel’s The Underdogs, I knew that I would like it, but I wasn’t sure how my daughter would react. She tends to be a sensitive soul, but we had enjoyed reading Isabel Feeney, Star Reporter– which is also about a murder mystery- so I gave it a shot.

Chelsea and Evie are best friends, who spend their days together at a tennis club. Chelsea’s mom works at the front desk, and Evie’s dad is a tennis pro. Their club is rocked to its core when one of the most popular members is found murdered. Annabel Harper was beautiful and vivacious, and did not seem to have any enemies. Chelsea and Evie are stunned, and they decide that it’s up to them to help the police solve the case. As they follow the detective around the club, the two girls discover that the club holds many secrets- but none of these secrets seem to lead the girls any closer to discovering who could have killed Annabel. Read more

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I Thee Wed by Celeste Bradley

517cudu1fqlI received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review

I have not read any of Celeste Bradley’s books before, but I enjoy historical romances set in the Regency era, so I was excited about reading I Thee Wed.

This is the fourth book in the Wicked Worthingtons series, which follows the exploits of the Worthingtons, a family with eight children. Each book is devoted to one of the siblings, and follows his/her love story.

The books function reasonably well as stand-alones. I did not have to read the previous books in the series to get the sense that Orion Worthington wants to distance himself from his family. He loves his family, of course, but he has chosen a career in science, and that is very different than their penchant for being free-spirited. Read more

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The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox

41ijyi-d4ulI had been eagerly awaiting The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle, and was very excited when I finally had time to read it. This middle grade novel was written by Janet Fox.

Katherine Bateson and her siblings are sent to north to Scotland and Rookskill Castle to escape the London Blitz. They are joined by several other children, and they are all the guests of Lady Eleanor, who had graciously turned her manor house into a school for the children. Read more