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Category Archives: Book Review
Top 10 Most Influential YA Novels of 20th Century
Think the whole YA thing came after Harry Potter? Think again. Check out my guest blog for the bookstore Printsasia.com on the Top Ten Most Influential YA Novels of the 20th Century. You’ll find a few you know and perhaps a … Continue reading
The Book Thief’s stolen hype
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak “Here is a small fact: You are going to die.” This is not the opening line of The Book Thief. It’s the 5th or 6th, but it’s a grabber, no? And it just about … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review
Tagged death, fantasy, Markus Zusak, npr, sara zaske, teen reads, The Book Thief, Top Ten, World War II, WWII, YA, YA Fantastic Book Review, young adult
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The Giver and its dystopian descendants
The Giver by Lois Lowry Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a very orderly community. Everything happens in stages. Dreams are discussed at breakfast. Emotions after dinner. At at 9 you get a bike, at 12 you start training for your career. But … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review
Tagged Delirium, divergent, dystopia, dystopian ya, Lauren Oliver, louis lowry, sara zaske, the giver, Veronica Roth, YA, YA Fantastic Book Review, young adult
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Fantastic Recommends: Divergent
Divergent by Veronica Roth Beatrice lives in a dystopian Chicago where everybody is assigned to a faction, according to their dominant character trait. She is in “abnegation” which is a fancy word for selflessness. At 16-years-old, all the teenagers in … Continue reading
Graceling and Bad Ass, Killer Girls
Graceling by Kim Cashore Katsa has a talent for killing people, and she’s not an evil witch or nemesis in Graceling. She’s the heroine. Graceling is set in a typical high-fantasy world of small kingdoms with a bit of magic, a … Continue reading
Fantastic Recommends: The Wrong Sword
The Wrong Sword by Ted Mendelssohn Henry is a faker. He helps trick Parisian nobles into buying fake swords of power, medieval knightly knock-offs, if you will, but when he tricks the wrong person, he suddenly finds himself on an … Continue reading
Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and the adult “children’s book”
Wow. This is one terrific, terrible book! Let me explain… Coraline is about a young girl who likes exploring and finds a hidden door to another world… so far a pretty common premise for a “children’s book,” right? But what’s … Continue reading
Fantastic Recommends: Witch Child
by Celia Rees* Must have been tough to live during the times of witch hunts, especially if you were a real live witch. That’s the essential premise of Witch Child. It’s 1659, and Mary, a young English girl, finds herself … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review
Tagged 1600s, amazon, book, book review, Celia Rees, fantasy, historical, New World, Puritans, sara zaske, Sorceress, Witch, Witch Child, YA Fantastic Book Review, young adult
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Fantastic Finds: Somewhere Over the Freakin’ Rainbow
by L.L. Muir Never spy on the neighbors, even if they’re a cultish tribe of people who hold secret late-night rituals in the cornfields behind your house, and you have a tree house with a perfect view. Sounds pretty tempting, … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review
Tagged book, book review, indie, L.L. Muir, self-published, Somewhere over the Freakin' Rainbow, YA, YA Fantastic Book Review
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Fantastic Recommends: WAKE
by Lisa McMann For ages: 14 and up Talk about nightmares. Seventeen-year-old Janie is pulled into other people’s dreams. Sounds cool, except the dreams are usually the powerful, anxiety-ridden kind, and they make Janie blackout where ever she happens to … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review
Tagged book review, dream, Lisa McMann, sara zaske, wake, YA, YA Fantastic Book Review, young adult, young adult fantasy novel, young adult novels
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Sara Zaske 