In the work of historical fiction Caravaggio Signed in Blood, the Renaissance artist is depicted as a brawling, unrepentant, street fighter in Rome, spoiling for his next battle. Equipped with a flashing sword and an eye to mayhem, he encounters...
Read moreYA Book Review: “The Hired Girl” by Laura Amy Schlitz
Some of us complain about having it rough. Really? Take a look at fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs – the only girl in her house — who lives on a poor farm in Pennsylvania with her father and older brothers during the early 1900s. Here is her...
Read moreJuvenile Book Review: “The Nest” by Kenneth Oppel
The first time Steve sees the white-winged wasps he is sure they are really angels. Not only do they look like ethereal creatures, they can also speak to him. They say, “We’ve come because of the baby. We’ve come to help. We can fix what’s wrong...
Read moreYA Book Review: “All the Bright Places” By Jennifer Niven
They meet on a narrow ledge six stories above the ground in the bell tower of their high school. At first, only one student notices, but dismisses the image because he sees only Theodore “Freak” Finch, a known nutcase. But wait! There is a girl...
Read moreYoung Adult Book Review: “Bone Gap” by Laura Ruby
Corn fields. Farmers claim that you can hear the corn grow. And the corn does grow – tall and full –so thick that a person can appear or disappear between the rows. In the underpopulated town of Bone Gap, a beautiful girl from Poland appears in...
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