JACK KEROUAC IS DEAD TO ME is Gae Polisner’s most recent YA Contemporary novel. Like in her other books, she tackles difficult subjects, such as mental illness, absentee parents, alcoholism, and growing up. Also, like her other books, it’s fantastic. The story follows JL Markham, a soon-to-be sixteen year old...

WE ARE ALL HIS CREATURES by Deborah Noyes is a series of eleven short stories about the beloved showman, P.T. Barnum, his family, and performers in his show. Though fictionalized, we get a deeper look into the lives of his daughters, General Tom Thumb, Jenny Lind, the Bearded Lady, and...

Caroline Kaufman, otherwise known as @poeticpoison, has published her latest poems in WHEN THE WORLD DIDN’T END. The collection, which is autobiographical, addresses surviving, living, mental illness, sexual assault, and self-harm. In other words, this book doesn’t shy away from heavy topics. In fact, the perspective that Kaufman has about...

The wait is finally over! SENECA ELEMENT by Rayya Deeb is now available. As a huge fan of SENECA REBEL, the first book in this series, I couldn’t be more excited. The sequel picks up where we last left off. Doro is in search of her father in hopes that...

THE END AND OTHER BEGINNINGS is the latest from DIVERGENT author, Veronica Roth. The novel is comprised of six YA short stories, around forty pages each, and all of which have some sort of sci-fi element. Though most of the stories are standalones, they are linked, according to Roth, by...

BETWEEN WORLDS: FOLKTALES OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND is a collection of short stories that have been passed down over centuries in the United Kingdom. Most of these legends and myths were first committed to writing more than one hundred years ago and have probably existed via oral lore way before...

EVE OF MAN by Giovanna and Tom Fletcher is the latest in YA dystopias. In the story, a phenomenon of male-only births have occurred inexplicably for fifty years, until one day, Eve is born. As she is the only hope for perpetuating humanity, Eve is kept in a tower high...

THE HIVE by Barry Lyga and Morgan Baden is a YA sci-fi novel set in the near future. In this world, social media has evolved into a way of administering justice. People that are online can upvote or downvote another’s activity. The more downvotes someone has on BLINQ, a data...

THE YOUNG ACTOR’S HANDBOOK by Jeremy Kruse is essentially a 101 course on acting. With a bare bones approach, Kruse addresses the most important skills performers must learn, such as how to break down a scene, how to build the inner life of a character, and how to balance the...

THE SEASON by Sarah MacLean is a YA historical fiction novel that centers around seventeen-year-old Alex, who is coming of age in Regency London. Alex has been dreading this time because she hates dress fittings, forced conversations, and the idea of marriage. Her mother, however, an indomitable force to be...

WHAT IS POETRY: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING POEMS by Michael Rosen is a nonfiction, how-to book intended for a middle grade audience. In 190 pages, Rosen explores what poetry is and what it does in order to give a baseline understanding of it as an art form....

NO PLACE LIKE HERE by Christina June is a YA contemporary novel set in the Pennsylvania wilderness. Ashlyn, an admittedly bookish girl, is shipped off to work at a summer camp after she finds out her dad is going to prison for committing a white-collar crime and her mom is...

TIN HEART by Shivaun Plozza is a YA contemporary novel that follows Marlowe Jensen after she receives a heart transplant. She’s happy, but there is a little voice in the back of her head reminding her someone else had to die for her to live. If she could connect with...

NEXUS is the second and final book in the Androma Saga and it picks up right where Zenith left off. Andi wakes to find that her three crewmembers and best friends, along with most of the Mirabel Galaxy, were shot with a mind-control virus and now bow to Queen Nor....

COGHEART by Peter Bunzl is a thrilling adventure that blends a historical setting with futuristic elements. The author hints his characters are in Victorian England towards the end of the nineteenth century, but never gives a specific year. Lily, the protagonist, is the daughter of John Hartman, a master inventor...