I was provided with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Antebellum Awakening is the second novel in Katie Cross’ The Network series. The story begins two months after the events of Miss Mabel’s School for Girls, and culminates with protagonist Bianca’s seventeenth birthday. Please proceed with caution if you have not read MMSFG– it’s difficult to discuss the plot of Antebellum Awakening without discussing the events of MMSFG. Read more
I was interested in A School for Unusual Girls from the moment that I first read about it on Goodreads. I immediately made a request at the library, and was thrilled when it arrived a few days later. This young adult novel was written by Kathleen Baldwin.
Miss Georgiana is a clever girl. In fact, she is deemed to be more clever than a girl ought to be in Regency England. She wins all the card games she plays because she counts the cards, and she once injured her arm jumping out of a window to see if she could replicate Da Vinci’s flying wings. But the last straw occurs when she sets fire to her father’s stables. It was an accident, of course; Georgie was trying to make an invisible ink, but she is packed off and sent to Stranje House. The headmistress, Miss Stranje, has a reputation of being able to tame her unruly charges, transforming them into model students, poised to take their place in Proper Society. The school is rumored to use ruthless discipline to achieve their end goal, and poor Georgie is terrified and wants no part of this new reality. Read more
I was provided with a copy of this novella in exchange for an honest review.
I recently read Miss Mabel’s School For Girls by Katie Cross. This is a young adult fantasy novel about a girl named Bianca who is desperate to remove a curse from her family. If she cannot remove the curse, she will die on her 17th birthday. Bianca enrolls in Miss Mabel’s School with the hopes of being able to undo the curse. I absolutely fell in love with Miss Mabel’s School and the world of The Network. So when I received an opportunity to review the other books in the series, I was very excited.
The Isadora Interviews is a short novella that takes place before the events of Miss Mabel’s School for Girls. I would say that readers need to have read MMSFG before reading The Isadora Interviews in order to have a better familiarity with the characters. Read more
I picked up I’ll Give You the Sun when it was the Audible Daily Deal. I had it checked out from the library at the time, so I was very excited to get the audiobook. I’ll Give You the Sun is a young adult novel written by Jandy Nelson.
This is the story of a pair of twins who live in California. Noah narrates half of the story, which takes place a couple of years in the past. Jude narrates the other half, which takes place in the present day when the twins are 16 years old.
When Noah narrates, he is a gifted young artist with a quirky way of looking at the world. He is also falling in love with the boy next door, who is home from boarding school for the summer. Noah has plans to apply to the special art school, but his twin sister isn’t interested. She is much more interested in surfing and hanging out with the popular crowd. Read more
I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
When I first saw the title Miss Mabel’s School for Girls, I imagined a Victorian or Edwardian setting, with the addition of some magic to liven things up. I was pleasantly surprised by magical world of The Network, which has regions with varying topography and factions with shifting alliances that make up Antebellum.
Bianca is a sixteen-year-old witch who has just enrolled at Miss Mabel’s School, an official Network school for the instruction of witchcraft. In this regard, it is not unlike that other famous school for witchcraft and wizardry. Young witches attend the school for three years, choosing a course of study best suited to their individual talents. Read more
I had gotten a copy of The Night Gardener from a neighboring library last year, but I didn’t get a chance to read it before it had to be returned. My town library acquired the audiobook version, so I added it to my pile. It’s often easier for me to listen to audiobooks because I can listen while I’m driving or straightening up the house.
The story begins with young orphans Molly and Kip traveling to their new home. They have been hired by the Windsor family to work as housekeeper and stableboy/gardener. Well, to be specific, they are hired by Mr. Windsor, who fails to inform his wife. When the siblings arrive, they are almost turned away by Constance Windsor, who doesn’t want anyone in their house. This sense of confusion and the pallid appearance of Constance and her children establishes an overwhelming feeling of dread. Read more
A few years ago, my mother went to France for a vacation. She brought back presents for my girls. Among other trinkets, she gave them bowls with a picture of The Little Prince and the quote “Mais les yeux sont aveugles. Il faut chercher avec le Coeur.” This translates to “But the eyes are blind. You must look with your heart.”
The girls love their bowls, and about a month ago, my oldest girl came out of Kumon with a copy of The Little Prince and was very excited that she had found the book about the boy on the bowl. This reminded me that The Little Prince had been an Audible Daily Deal that I had purchased, and I asked the girls if they wanted to listen to The Little Prince. Everyone said they did, so we listened to The Little Prince as we drove back and forth from our activities. Read more
I found Backlash at the library. It was on the new release shelf in the young adult section. I was not familiar with author Sarah Darer Littman, but I certainly plan to pick up her other books after this.
It’s hard to describe Backlash without venturing into spoiler territory. The story is told from multiple perspectives, and this is an absolute necessity when it comes to getting the whole story. As Backlash begins, a girl named Lara tries to kill herself because Christian, the boy she had a crush on, just publicly humiliated her on Facebook and told her the world would be a better place without her. Lara has a history of depression beginning when she was in middle school, but she gained new insight through therapy, lost 30 pounds, and just made the cheerleading squad. Read more
I found Extraordinary Means at the library. I had read one of Robyn Schneider’s other Young Adult books (The Beginning of Everything), so I was pleased to find this newly released book.
Extraordinary Means is the story of Lane and Sadie, two teenagers with an incurable strain of tuberculosis. They have been placed at Latham House, which used to be a boarding school, and now serves as a sanatorium. Lane and Sadie met before, several years earlier at a summer camp.
The chapters alternate between Lane’s perspective and Sadie’s. As the book begins, Lane is just arriving at Latham House; Sadie has been there for months. Lane’s biggest concern is keeping up with his AP coursework. Despite the diagnosis, he will not be deterred from his goal of getting into Stanford. The lackadaisical attitude of the teachers, and the busywork that the students are given comes as a shock to Lane. But everyone there is sick, and not everyone has energy to keep up with traditional coursework. Read more
As soon as I read the synopsis for The Carnival at Bray (written by first time author Jessie Ann Foley), I immediately added it to my checkout pile at the library. This novel is set in 1993; I turned 14 that year, so I felt an immediate connection with the story.
Maggie is 16 years old when she moves to Ireland with her sister, mother, and new stepfather. She leaves her grandmother and beloved uncle Kevin behind in Chicago, trading the big city for a small town on the Irish coast. Life is very different in Bray, and while Maggie’s sister acclimates quickly, she finds it a little more difficult to adjust. When Uncle Kevin gives her two tickets to Nirvana’s concert in Rome, it seems like a ludicrous gift. The concert is several months away, but how is she supposed to get from Ireland to Rome? Read more
"You Have Your Hands Full!" 