Reviews written by Francesca Amendolia

Perhaps you've read Frindle, or No Talking, or another of Andrew Clements' many school stories. (Parenthetically, if you haven't, go do it now. You're missing out.) If so, you're used to the bright, modern covers that usually grace his books. This sturdy little hardback is a wee bit different, indeed,...

What if, when Alice emerged from the rabbit hole, everything she thought she knew about the world had changed? What if trees were now sentient, mobile creatures that feasted on unwary birds? What if sow bugs were as large as hippos, and communicated telepathically? What if she was twice as...

Darius is the youngest member of the Bell Family, a once-wealthy clan that is now poor in everything but pride. Still, their grand house and large estate might be a bit run down, but theyre homey and Darius loves them, from the sofa with the broken spring to the silent...

The first of a trilogy called The Three Thieves, the graphic novel Tower of Treasure is a rollicking, engaging fantasy-adventure story about Dessa, an orphaned 14-year-old acrobat. Although she has found a family of sorts in her fellow circus performers, she has never stopped searching for her twin brotheror for...

The builders of the great cathedrals and churches of medieval England left us proof in the stones they carved of their belief not just in angels and saints, but in demons, sprites and the ancient spirits of Britain. Theirs was not an age of doubt, nor of reason, but of...

Ill let you in on a secret. I had to race to finish reading The Kneebone Boy in time to write this review. Not because I had a hard time reading it: in fact, I found it a pleasantly gripping read. No, the problem was that my son had picked...