Recommended: SALT by Hannah Moscowitz

Publisher’s Description of Salt Roaming the Mediterranean Sea on sailboats and hunting down monsters is the only life seventeen-year-old Indi and his siblings have ever known. He never loved it, but now that his parents are gone—vanished during a hunt three months ago—it’s harder and harder to fight his desire to escape. He’s constantly battling his ferocious love for his siblings and the temptation of … Continue reading Recommended: SALT by Hannah Moscowitz

Book Recommendation: The Spy with the Red Balloon

THE SPY WITH THE RED BALLOON is the second book in the Balloonmakers series by author Katherine Locke. I loved the first book THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON so much, I couldn’t wait to read the second. (read about book one here) THE SPY WITH THE RED BALLOON is the second book, but it occurs earlier than the first, a nice twist. This time we are … Continue reading Book Recommendation: The Spy with the Red Balloon

Interview with NY Times Bestselling Author Beth Revis: GIVE THE DARK MY LOVE

If you crave terrifyingly dark teen fiction filled with danger, impossible choices, and twisty political intrigue, GIVE THE DARK MY LOVE, is your next book! Sometimes to make things better, we have to do things that seem wrong or even horrible to others. Does that make us monsters? Or saviors? Seventeen-year-old Nedra Brysstain leaves her rural island home to attend the prestigious Yūgen Academy as … Continue reading Interview with NY Times Bestselling Author Beth Revis: GIVE THE DARK MY LOVE

Windows & Mirrors: PRIDE by Ibi Zoboi

Welcome to Windows & Mirrors, where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences. Today we are featuring PRIDE by IBI ZOBOI. Zuri is the second oldest of five sisters in their family living in The Bushwick region of Brooklyn. Her older sister is coming home from college for the summer after her freshman … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: PRIDE by Ibi Zoboi

Recommended: NOT EVEN BONES by Rebecca Schaeffer

Publisher’s Description Nita doesn’t murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet—her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they’ve been “acquired.” Until her mom brings home a live specimen and Nita decides she wants out; dissecting a scared teenage boy is a step too far. But when she decides to save her mother’s victim, she ends up sold in … Continue reading Recommended: NOT EVEN BONES by Rebecca Schaeffer

Cybils book awards

6 Reasons Writers Should Judge a Book Award Such as the CYBILS [Updated 2020]

Writers frequently hear that one of the most important things they can do to improve their craft is to read. Read in their genre. Read broadly. Read critically. Today I’m going to ask writers to consider going one step further. Don’t just read, but to serve as a judge for a book award. Judging a book award forces you to read A LOT over a … Continue reading 6 Reasons Writers Should Judge a Book Award Such as the CYBILS [Updated 2020]

10 Young Adult Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Thriller Books You Want in Your Beach Bag

July is here and my mind is on vacation. And if you know me, then you know that thoughts of vacation naturally lead to books. I’ve been reading a lot of young adult books in the fantasy, sci-fi and thriller genres, so I thought I’d put together a list of ones I loved. I added some recommendations from the Pennies too. This list focuses on … Continue reading 10 Young Adult Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Thriller Books You Want in Your Beach Bag

Recommended: HULLMETAL GIRLS by Emily Skrutskie

Publisher’s Description Aisha Un-Haad would do anything for her family. When her brother contracts a plague, she knows her janitor’s salary isn’t enough to fund his treatment. So she volunteers to become a Scela, a mechanically enhanced soldier sworn to protect and serve the governing body of the Fleet, the collective of starships they call home. If Aisha can survive the harrowing modifications and earn … Continue reading Recommended: HULLMETAL GIRLS by Emily Skrutskie

Launch of BRAVE NEW GIRLS: TALES OF HEROINES WHO HACK and Interview with Contributor, Halli Gomez

We Pennies are very excited about the Brave New Girls anthology because one of our own, Halli Gomez, contributed a short story to this year’s edition. Halli’s here to talk about the anthology and her story today! Publisher’s Description Welcome to the sci-fi worlds of brainy teen heroines who hack not just computers, but whatever puzzles come their way. A scrappy mechanic on an oppressed … Continue reading Launch of BRAVE NEW GIRLS: TALES OF HEROINES WHO HACK and Interview with Contributor, Halli Gomez

Recommended: LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff

Publisher’s Description On an island junkyard beneath a sky that glows with radiation, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap. Seventeen-year-old Eve isn’t looking for trouble–she’s too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she spent months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, she’s on the local gangster’s wanted list, and the only thing keeping her grandpa alive is the money … Continue reading Recommended: LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff

Windows and Mirrors: Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now

  Welcome to Windows & Mirrors, where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences. Today we’re featuring TIFFANY SLY LIVES HERE NOW by Dana L. Davis TIFFANY SLY LIVES HERE NOW encompasses many different issues that make it a perfect book for our Windows and Mirrors series. Tiffany Sly lost her mom … Continue reading Windows and Mirrors: Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now

Recommended: BLOOD WILL OUT by Jo Treggiari

Publisher’s Description Ari Sullivan is alive–for now. She wakes at the bottom of a cistern, confused, injured and alone, with only the shadowy recollection of a low-pitched voice and a gloved hand. No one can hear her screams. And the person who put her there is coming back. The killer is planning a gruesome masterpiece, a fairytale tableau of innocence and blood, meticulously designed. Until … Continue reading Recommended: BLOOD WILL OUT by Jo Treggiari