Reviews written by Ed Goldberg

It’s 1996 and Emma and Josh are both high school juniors. They live next door to each other and have been best friends until six months ago when Josh misread the signs and kissed Emma. Since then things have been sort of uncomfortable. Emma’s father, divorced and living...

Now Playing: Stoner & Spaz II leaves off immediately after Stoner & Spaz ends, despite the 10 year hiatus between the writing of the books. Colleen, the stoner, has just ditched Ben, the spaz with cerebral palsy, to hook up with some guy she doesn’t know, Nick, to get...

Stoner & Spaz. Colleen is the stoner, hooked on drugs of any sort; weed, cocaine, whatever. Ben is the spaz, weighed down by the deformities of cerebral palsy. They meet at the Riolto movie theater. Ben spends his solitary Friday nights watching old movies, like the Bride...

A talking radio is at the heart of this cute story about Davina and her friends who solve mysteries based on clues they receive from their magical radio. It is Davina’s twelfth birthday and she’s celebrating with her best friends Fabie and DeBrina. Her world famous detective uncle can’t make...

What can cause a family eruption every time the family gets together? In The Sweetness of Salt by Cecelia Galante, Julia is going to finally find out. She just graduated from high school, valedictorian. Her sister, Sophie, 8 years older, surprised her by coming to the graduation from Vermont, a...

When we left Ginny at the end of Maureen Johnson’s 13 Little Blue Envelopes, she had her bag stolen in Greece and had to come home to New Jersey, unable to finish following Aunt Peg’s posthumous 13 letters of instructions. Well, it’s several months later and Ginny is trying unsuccessfully...

Whats worse than being named after a flower and having a little sister named after a dead president? Yep, having a free-spirit, performance artist mother who doesnt understand you. And thats just what thirteen-year-old Marigold Bailey has. This is her third school in four years because whenever her...

Sometimes you know why a book is an award winner and sometimes you dont. In the case of Moon Over Manifest (Newbery Award winner), a debut novel by Clare Vanderpool, it is evident from page one that you are reading a wonderful book. The story itself, the characters, the...

If you are looking for a book with drama, treachery, romance, war, spirit and heroism, then, Eona: The Last Dragoneye by Alison Goodman is perfect for you. It is a continuation of Eon: Dragoneye Reborn. As per the publisher, in the first book, twelve-year-old Eon has...

If for no other reason, you must read Small as an Elephant because every chapter starts off with a fact or myth about elephants. Thats reason enough. But there is another reason: ten-year-old Jack Martel has an elephant sized adventure. Jack and his mother are taking...

Franny Parker, written by The Properties of Water author Hannah Roberts McKinnon, is about people living in Two houses, side by side along the same bubbling river: one brimming with warm voices that spilled from its windows, one aching with a sadness that rippled from its shingled roof like...

Dash, a Strand Bookstore frequenter, is perusing the shelves when he finds a red moleskin journal. He did what anyone would do. He opened it. Inside he finds the following note: Ive left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. ...

Beatle Meets Destiny is Gabrielle Williams first foray into young adult literature. Lets hope she makes a second and third foray. John Lennon, not the John Lennon, but an Australian John Lennon is coming home early on Friday, February 13 and meets an odd girl at the bus...

The Properties of Water, a debut novel by Hannah Roberts McKinnon, was a pleasant surprise. It is a beautifully written story about two sisters, Lace and Marni Martin, although there is little interaction between them in the book. Marni, the older sister was always the best....

Im going to make the world a better place, one cupcake at a time, is Foster McFees motto. Her goal is to have her own childrens cooking show on The Food Network, just like her idol Sonny Kroll. But first shes got to overcome a few obstacles. ...