Weathernose by Maram Taibah

June 25, 2020 By Leave a Comment


Weathernose by Maram Taibah
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Childrens, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical
Length: Short Story (120 pages)
Age Recommendation: 8+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Why in the world do kids have to go and invent things these days? Welcome to this steampunk universe! If you like inventions, power games, strawberry tarts, and hot air balloons then this is the book for you!

In the Cerulean Universe, the world is only just awakening to scientific discovery and invention. And Tart Morning hates change. He’s had the same old quilt since he was twelve, if you know what I mean. And now, thanks to a ground-breaking invention called “the weathernose” – a machine that calculates weather predictions, Tart’s career is on the line. His only choice is to destroy the weathernose, but the machine’s smug ten-year-old inventress, Cypress Korkul, is far too clever for him. Also, she has no sense of humor.

In his scrambling efforts to keep up with the times, Tart finds himself willing to go to ever more dastardly lengths. How far is he willing to go to get his job and his old life back? What will he find out about Cypress – and himself – along the way?

The fastest way to get out of a rut can also be the hardest one.

What an interesting main character Tart was! He was the sort of person who had plenty of flaws that he wasn’t aware of in the slightest. I honestly didn’t like him very much in the beginning because of that, but I soon changed my mind as he began his journey of personal growth. He had a long way to go, and it was marvellous to see how he changed as a result of meeting Cyprus and losing his job.

There were pacing issues. The plot started off slowly and then became uneven. Adjusting to how quickly things were moving over and over again made it tricky for me to lose myself in the storyline. No sooner would I get used to one of the speeds than the next scene would switch things up again.

This story was filled with whimsical moments. It was set in a hazy portion of the past that only added to its charm, especially once I got to know the characters better and realized that weathernoses were the only option for anyone who wanted to know whether or not a thunderstorm might interrupt the picnic they had planned for tomorrow. Their world was a wonderfully quaint one where time passed leisurely and just about any interaction with the neighbors carried with it the possibility of something magical happening.

Weathernose should be read by anyone who has ever wished they could predict the weather.

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Flight of the Spark by Evelyn Puerto

June 24, 2020 By 2 Comments


Flight of the Spark by Evelyn Puerto
Publisher: Open Water Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Young Adult, Action/Adventure
Length: Full Length (406 Pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Age Recommendation: 13+
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Alstroemeria

Duty. Desire. Destiny.

How far would you go to be safe… to be free…to be loved?

Iskra doesn’t question the rules. The rules are there to keep her safe from those who are deemed unsafe or unfair. Anyone who breaks the rules is taken, never to be heard from again. But that’s the price everyone gladly pays for peace and safety. And no one wants to live like the Riskers–barbarians who reject order and justice, and could kill or be killed at any moment.

When a friend is taken because of Iskra, the guilt forces her to do the unthinkable: seek out the Riskers. Iskra’s quest to save her friend quickly entangles her fate with a cryptic prophecy and a young Risker named Xico, who ensnares her heart and is willing to put it all on the line to win her.

With every risk Iskra takes, the closer she gets to true freedom. But every choice carries a consequence. The choices she makes set events she never imagined into motion, and the price of her freedom could very well be her life and the life of the man she loves.

Devastatingly beautiful from start to finish, Flight of the Spark left me completely enthralled and praying to the sky-god that my predictions for the sequel would come true! I find that my heart actually feels like breaking knowing that at least for now the story is over and that I will have to wait to find out the fate of these wonderful characters.

Iskra fights with everything she has, risking it all for the truth about her society where injustices keep her questioning what is safe, and what is just there to keep her controlled. The exponential growth we experience with Iskra as she battles her way through her story grips us at our very core and pulls us along with her through order, rebellion, and through a beautiful bond she shares with her forbidden love.

Xico, the fearless, charming, and patient boy of practically a different world from Iskra, guides us along in learning that fears that have been faced can become strengths. He never gives in, and brings color to Iskra’s world of mandated gray.

I am in awe. Truly, I am emotional and delighted that I could fall so easily into a book like this again. All the nostalgia of falling for a dystopian series, gripping the edge of my seat while the turning pages grip the edge of my heart, having me question if any of us, (me and the characters), are going to make it out unscathed from the story that Evelyn Puerto has brought us.

Though Flight of the Spark was written for a teen audience, it brought with it so many important lessons that especially in today’s world would be so immeasurably important for audiences of all ages. It took me away to a different world, but saddled itself up parallel to the one we live in now, helping me find perspective in these unsure times.

Don’t pass up the opportunity to enter the world that Evelyn Puerto has so passionately created for us. Flight of the Spark will fill you with a magic you may have thought disappeared a long time ago. I can’t wait for the sequel.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Ollie’s Haffiness by Riya Aarini

June 23, 2020 By Leave a Comment


Ollie’s Haffiness by Riya Aarini
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Childrens
Length: Short story (36 pages)
Age Recommendation: 6+
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Ollie receives a chameleon he calls Haffiness. When Ollie forgets to give Haffiness the attention he deserves, the lizard disappears! Ollie searches high and low for his beloved pet. Out of the blue, Haffiness returns. Ollie learns to take care of what makes life meaningful. He also discovers that Haffiness can be found in the most unexpected places!

When Ollie’s second tooth falls out the tooth fairy brings him a wonderful surprise – a pet chameleon. Ollie loves Haffiness – his pet – but one morning he forgot to close the door to Haffiness’ tank. Can Ollie find his pet Haffiness?

This is a fun and very sweet children’s story. The illustrations were brightly colourful and I enjoyed how they were consistent and really showed clearly the story graphically so smaller children should easily be able to follow along as the adult reads the words. I also liked how the story itself was written simply but still conveyed multiple items in a sentence. I feel this is a story that children will relate to and enjoy and can be a good tool for adults/parents to teach kids why it’s important that they take care of their possessions.

I feel the age range for this story is about right – kindergarten and prep for children to be read the story by adults and Grade 1 and Grade 2 level the children should be able to read it themselves, but I feel the strongest part is the lesson parents can explain to the children about how why taking responsibility and care of possessions and pets is important. I feel this story is strong because it’s clear and simple but has a critical lesson underpinning it.

Brightly colourful and with a simple but important message this is a great story and one I enjoyed.

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Hunger Winter by Rob Currie

June 19, 2020 By Leave a Comment


Hunger Winter by Rob Currie
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Genre: Historical, Middle Grade, Inspirational
Length: Full (272 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Rose

Thirteen-year-old Dirk has been the man of the house since his papa disappeared while fighting against the Nazis with the Dutch Resistance. When the Gestapo arrests Dirk’s older sister, who is also a Resistance fighter, Dirk fears that he and his little sister, Anna, might be next.

With only pockets full of food and his sister asleep in his arms, Dirk runs away to find his father. As Dirk leads Anna across the war-torn Netherlands, from farmyards to work camps, he must rely on his wits and his father’s teaching to find his way.

This is an exciting look back at a time in history when life was hard for everyone–the period of the Hongerwinter, the Dutch famine of 1944-1945 during the time the Netherlands was occupied by Germany, at the end of World War II. I have to admit I did not know much about this part of the war before reading this book, and it has spurred my interest to learn more.

Told from the points of view of Dirk, a 13-year-old boy who is trying to find his way to safety with his young sister, Anna, and his older sister Els, who is part of the Resistance and has been captured by the Gestapo, Hunter Winter, shares a  snapshot of the dangers and difficulties that people were facing during this time. It’s written simply so a child could understand, but is full of suspense at the same time and kept this grandmother on the edge of her seat wondering how these children would be able to survive…. to the extent that I finished the book in one sitting.

There is a Christian message throughout the book; not heavy-handed but enough to show where this family gets its strength. One of the many pieces of advice Dirk’s father had shared with him was “Keep your hopes up and your prayers strong,” and it definitely helped him as he struggled to keep his sister safe.

I highly recommend this book to families with children 10 and up. It might be a little much for younger kids, but it’s important that our children learn about times like these so hopefully they’ll know enough to keep history from repeating itself. There are some violent moments, but this was a violent time, so to leave those elements out would have been doing the readers a disservice.

The author has obviously put a lot of research into this time period and, until I reached the end of the book and discovered the characters were fictional, I would have sworn the author was telling a story torn out of his own family’s history–the characters were that real to me. Good job, sir.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love by Nancy Tillman

June 19, 2020 By Leave a Comment


I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love by Nancy Tillman
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Genre: Childrens, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (34 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

There are things about you quite unlike any other.
Things always known by your father or mother.
So if you decide to be different one day,
no worries… I’d know you anyway.

Every child is special and unique, but every child also loves to dream of being something different. In I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love, bestselling author and artist Nancy Tillman has created another heartfelt masterpiece celebrating the joys of imagination, and the comfort of always knowing that “you are loved.”

Everyone needs unconditional love.

Most picture books are written for children in a specific age group for totally understandable reasons. What made this one unique was how widely and successfully it cast its net. Yes, a patient three-year-old could enjoy it, but that child’s older sibling, parent, or grandparent could also find plenty of stuff that spoke to them at their stages of life as well.

There was so much love packed into every single scene. The narrator appeared to be having a conversation with a young child whose precise words weren’t recorded. What the audience received instead were the parent’s responses about how they’d react if their child suddenly transformed into any number of creatures, from a camel to a white snowy owl. It was like listening in on a delightful conversation.

Sometimes the storytelling flirted with some light otherworldly influences in ways that made me grin. They weren’t strong or clear enough for me to tack on a fantasy or science fiction genre label since they could have easily been explained away by discussing all of the imaginative things children come up with on their own without any prompting. Still, I thought it was best to mention this since some parts of the conversation did involve things that aren’t strictly possible in our non-magical world. I loved the way this straddled the line between something clearly set in the here and now and something that required the existence of magic.

I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love was a heartwarming tale I’d wholeheartedly recommend to readers of all ages.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Just Me by Deidre Huesmann, Roxas James, Madeia Sharif, and Kate Larkindale

June 11, 2020 By Leave a Comment


Just Me by Deidre Huesmann, Roxas James, Madeia Sharif, and Kate Larkindale
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (186 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Age Recommendation: 16+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Love is in the air…
JUST ME is a hand-picked collection of stories about self-discovery and being true to yourself. This LGBTQ+ young adult anthology is not afraid to take on real issues facing today’s teens.

“Witty, fast-paced, and well written.”

Wilde Girls by Deidre Huesmann
Broken Rules by Roxas James
Bullet Me by Medeia Sharif
We’ll Always Have This by Kate Larkindale

Coming out isn’t always easy, but it is rewarding.

Aislynn got a summer job working at the same shop as her bully in “Wilde Girls.” There were so many plot twists from this point forward that I continued to be delighted by what happened when each of them were revealed. One of the other things I enjoyed about it had to do with the backstories of the two main characters. They were both far from perfect people, but the reasons for behaving the way they did made their previous choices understandable if nothing else.

Slogging through a busy shift at work while nursing a hangover isn’t fun, but it’s exactly what Bastian had to do in “Broken.” In between bussing tables, the question of what really happened at the party the night before loomed in his mind. It was so much fun to see him wrestle with this issue and search for clues. While Bastian could be a little impulsive at times, deep down he was a good kid who wanted to make the right decisions in life. Getting to know him was a treat.

Lonetta was hiding a crush on her best friend in “Bullet Me.” When another student discovered her secret, she had to decide whether she’d give in to his blackmail attempts or allow the whole school to find out what she’d been hiding. This tale was filled with moral dilemmas that were as complicated as they were fascinating. I was especially interested in the ways the adults in Lonetta’s life behaved. Some of them were kind while others were dangerously dismissive. Knowing that she had to be careful about who she trusted only made her limited choices even more important.

After his brother tried to commit suicide, Leo spent the night in his brother’s hospital room looking out for him and talking to the other visitors at that facility in “We’ll Always Have This.” As much as I loved seeing this character’s dedication to his sibling and entire family during this crisis, it did feel a little odd to me to have such a sombre setting for the beginning of a romance. This became even more true once I realized the sad truth behind why Leo’s love interest was spending so much time at the hospital. I wish these subplots could have been separated into individual, related stories. They were all well done, I simply thought they weren’t good matches to be all mixed into the same tale.

Just Me was the perfect thing to read as summer begins. Anyone who is in the mood for something breezy should definitely check it out.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Imagination Vacation by Jami Gigot

June 3, 2020 By 1 Comment


Imagination Vacation by Jami Gigot
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Genre: Childrens, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Age Recommendation: 6+
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Sam has a very busy family. Mom works late; Dad’s projects pile up. Even Sam’s younger sister Marla is always doing something. Everyone in Sam’s family has their own idea of what the perfect vacation would look like. But there’s one thing they all agree on: they just can’t get away right now. So Sam comes up with a different kind of getaway. With a little planning, a few supplies, and a touch of creativity, she finds that her family’s dream vacation wasn’t so far away after all.

Nobody needs a passport or plane ticket for these adventures!

I adored Sam’s dedication to researching the places her family dreamed of visiting someday. She was such an intelligent and persistent kid. The fact that she imagined every detail of these trips and insisted on making them come true for her family only made me love her even more.

So many things in life can be made better if we approach them with the right attitude. This family wasn’t able to physically visit places like Paris, but that didn’t mean their imaginary trips were any less fun than the real ones. Seeing how they turned a negative situation into a positive one made me smile. There is definitely something to be said for looking for the good in the world and responding to it with gratitude.

Having a vivid imagination is a wonderful gift. There were so many things I enjoyed about these characters, but by far my favorite part of them had to do with how joyfully they mixed their imaginations into ordinary settings in their home and nearby places. Any place can be exciting if it’s viewed in the right light and allowed to shape shift into something truly special in the minds of everyone who is experiencing it.

To make things clear, this tale was written last year before the Covid-19 pandemic began. There were no references to it in the plot itself, but it could certainly be interpreted as a creative response to current travel restrictions by readers who wanted to discuss that topic with the children in their lives.

Imagination Vacation is the perfect picture book for anyone who wants to find new ways to see their old, familiar surroundings no matter what their reasons are for doing that.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Unusual Confusion by Ada Almond

June 2, 2020 By Leave a Comment


Unusual Confusion by Ada Almond
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (116 pages)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

“I was an outsider all my life. The only people in this world that wanted me were my family. But I had a way of escaping that world. I had my own world.”

Lexi Miller never had any friends. She was the type of girl who would always get bullied, sit in a corner by herself at break, never put her hand up in class. She kept quiet, to not make the situation worse. She was a freak, and with psychic powers too. At age 5 she discovered a weird secret about herself – she could teleport to her very own dimension, which she used as a coping mechanism. But as it usually happens in story beginnings like these, someone comes along and saves the lonely main character. The “hero” in this book is the new girl Melodine Saunders. Lexi is confused about her feelings, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering stronger every time the girls meet. Gradually, she starts working things out and everything is finally going as planned. Until one day, unusual things – more unusual than normal, that is – start happening. Lexi shrugs them off, but you can’t put things off forever…

Sometimes the quiet kids are the most interesting ones of them all.

Lexi was a well-developed and sympathetic character. One of the things I liked the most about her was how realistically her voice was written. She acted and sounded exactly like a young teen her age should act and sound. That isn’t an easy thing to accomplish by any means! Ms. Almond put a lot of effort into this subtle but important part of writing this genre, and her hard work was appreciated by this reader.

I would have preferred to see more time spent developing the sections of the plot that talked about Lexi’s ability to transport to her own dimension. It was nothing like what I expected it to be. As fascinated as I was by the explanation for how this worked and why it wasn’t part of the science fiction genre like I originally assumed, it sure would have been nice to have more information here.

The subplot of this story about bullying was handled sensitively. Some of the best scenes in it involved how the adults in Lexi’s life reacted to hearing about the way she was mistreated by certain classmates. Their responses were as compassionate as they were realistic. I also enjoyed reading about how Lexi herself coped with all of the teasing. That’s a difficult thing for any kid to go through, and her coping mechanisms were good ones.

Unusual Confusion should be read by any preteen or teen who feels lonely or misunderstood.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

May Book of the Month Poll Winner ~ Monty and the Monster by Rhonda Smiley

May 31, 2020 By 3 Comments


Monty and the Monster by Rhonda Smiley
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (232 pages)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

When seventh grader Monty Hyde moves for the fourth time in two years, it’s the same old story. New neighborhood, new school, new bullies, no friends. With his dad working all the time and his older brother too popular to notice, he’s the lonely outcast yet again. That is until he finds a mysterious replication serum in his basement and decides to make a friend. From scratch.

But when his creation turns out to be a stinky, hairy eight-foot-tall monster that might be eating the neighborhood kids, Monty knows he must undo his experiment. Problem is, it’s the best friend he’s ever had.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE!

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Horror, Mainstream Fiction, Mystery/Suspense, Non-Fiction, Other, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: ,

Frederick Fly-Catcher by Helen C. Johannes

May 27, 2020 By Leave a Comment


Frederick Fly-Catcher by Helen C. Johannes
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (80 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Frederick the frog isn’t looking for adventure. His life in the family pond—hanging out and catching flies—is perfect. Or it would be if a bully wasn’t harassing the youngest frogs. To defend them, Frederick accepts a fly-catching challenge, but what he catches isn’t an insect. It’s a magic ring, and Frederick has swallowed it! Whenever he burps or coughs, something terrifying happens to the pond.

“Frogs shouldn’t have anything to do with human things,” says wise Uncle Ben, so to protect his family, Frederick must leave the only world he knows.

The world beyond the pond is frightening, but rather than hide or mope, Frederick sets out to get rid of this dangerous human thing. His only hope is to find the small human who tossed the ring into the pond, the boy chased by big men and bigger horses. The boy is in trouble, too, but how can Frederick, one little frog, save a human, much less the pond from an evil sorcerer?

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, including small, green ones.

This was the first time I ever remember reading about a character who accidentally swallowed a magic ring. Small details like that one were what made Frederick’s adventures stand out to me. While they followed many of the rules about what should happen in a fantasy story, the ones they purposefully bent in order to surprise or delight the audience were what made this such a fun read. The author clearly knew this genre well, and it showed.

I would have liked to see more attention paid to the world building in this story, especially when it came to the characters and their backstories. There were some fascinating things going on with the other creatures Frederick met while he was on his quest to get the magic ring out of his throat and back to wherever it was supposed to go. The connections between everyone were briefly touched upon, but there was so much going on that it sure would have been helpful if those explanations had been a bit longer and more detailed.

The magic in this universe was delightfully unpredictable. At first I wondered what the rules governing it were, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t meant to figured out ahead of time. Anything could happen each time Frederick burped, coughed, or otherwise jostled it as it was lodged in his throat. The best thing I could do was to relax and enjoy the ride, so that’s exactly what I did.

Frederick Fly-Catcher should be read by anyone who is looking for a lighthearted adventure.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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