Category: Book Recommendations

Book Recommendations, Young Adult

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

Rebecca J. AllenLeave a comment
Author, Book Recommendations, Interviews, Middle Grade

Interview with debut author A.M. Morgen: The Inventors at No. 8

The gorgeous cover of THE INVENTORS AT NO. 8 by debut author A.M. Morgen pulled me in immediately. Imagine my delight when I realized it was a middle grade #STEM historical adventure fantasy starring Ada Lovelace and written by a NC author! Like a moist, delicious piece of chocolate cake, I ate it up much faster than I wanted to! The Inventors at No. 8 publishes … Continue reading Interview with debut author A.M. Morgen: The Inventors at No. 8

Michelle Leonard1 Comment
Book Recommendations, Windows & Mirrors, Young Adult

Windows & Mirrors: One Last Word

We are coming to the end of another Poetry Month, and we would be remiss to let it go without highlighting a staggering new work by Nikki Grimes. ONE LAST WORD is an ode to the Harlem Renaissance, but also thoroughly modern. It utilizes the Golden Shovel form, in which a line from a previous poem, or the entire text of a short poem, is … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: One Last Word

Kate HillyerLeave a comment
Book Recommendations, Middle Grade, Young Adult

Book Recommendation: How I Resist: Activism and Hope For the Next Generation

No matter who you are and where you live, you have to admit there are problems in every country and the world. They are individual and global issues, and each one affects us differently. You may be passionate about gun violence, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, poverty, war, global warming, or hundreds of other issues. Even looking at just one and what it … Continue reading Book Recommendation: How I Resist: Activism and Hope For the Next Generation

Halli GomezLeave a comment
Book Recommendations, Windows & Mirrors, Young Adult

Recommended: ALLEGEDLY by Tiffany Jackson

Publisher’s Description Orange Is the New Black meets Walter Dean Myer’s Monster in this gritty, twisty, and haunting debut by Tiffany D. Jackson about a girl convicted of murder seeking the truth while surviving life in a group home. Mary B. Addison killed a baby. Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that … Continue reading Recommended: ALLEGEDLY by Tiffany Jackson

Rebecca J. AllenLeave a comment
Book Recommendations, Interviews, Middle Grade

Stacy McAnulty Interview: The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

I’ve been a fan of Stacy McAnulty’s picture books and chapter books for years now. Last September, I got the opportunity to read the manuscript for her latest book, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl. I set aside the other books I was reading and devoured it in exactly 1.0000 sittings. Lucy, a.k.a. Lightning Girl, is a once-struck-by-lightning middle-school math savant with a serious case of OCD. … Continue reading Stacy McAnulty Interview: The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

Michelle Leonard3 Comments
Book Recommendations, Middle Grade, Windows & Mirrors

Windows & Mirrors: Ghost Boys

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 Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Jewell Parker Rhodes is the author of now five wonderful middle-grade books. Ninth Ward, a Coretta Scott King honor book, Sugar, winner of the Jane Adams Peace Association book award, Bayou … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: Ghost Boys

Michelle LeonardLeave a comment
Author, Book Recommendations, Interviews, Middle Grade

Recommended: BOY BITES BUG by Rebecca Petruck

Publisher’s Description Will didn’t plan to eat a stinkbug. But when his friend Darryl called new kid Eloy Herrera a racial slur, Will did it as a diversion. Now Will is Bug Boy, and everyone is cracking up inventing insect meals for him, like French flies and maggot-aroni and fleas. Turns out eating bugs for food is a real thing, called entomophagy. Deciding that means … Continue reading Recommended: BOY BITES BUG by Rebecca Petruck

Rebecca J. Allen2 Comments
Book Recommendations, Young Adult

Book Recommendation: Lizzie

There are specific types of books I’m drawn to, and because of my long career with police departments (as an employee, not a criminal!) murder mysteries are at the top of my list. When I saw this book about Lizzie Borden, I knew this was a must read. The fictional tale of Lizzie by Dawn Ius was just what I hoped it would be. Seventeen-year-old … Continue reading Book Recommendation: Lizzie

Halli GomezLeave a comment
Book Recommendations, Middle Grade, Windows & Mirrors, Young Adult

Windows & Mirrors – Celebrating National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month, so Windows & Mirrors is back with another great list of books by under-represented voices. This time, in verse. The Poet X This new release by Elizabeth Acevedo is taking the publishing world by storm, debuting on the New York Times best seller list. This story about a young poet who dreams of performing all the poems in her notebook … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors – Celebrating National Poetry Month

Julie ArtzLeave a comment
Book Recommendations, Writer's Life, Young Adult

Fangirl Report: LOVE, SIMON

Several Winged Pen members loved Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. A couple of us saw the movie adaptation last weekend. We’ve been fangirling behind the scenes and thought it would be fun to chat about the book/movie here and to invite our readers to join the conversation. We’ve never tried a post like this, but we thought we’d give it a … Continue reading Fangirl Report: LOVE, SIMON

Rebecca J. Allen5 Comments
Author, Book Recommendations, Interviews, Publishing & Promotion

Happy US Book Birthday – Too Close to Breathe

Today I’m happy to interview my fellow Winged Penner and critique partner, Olivia Kiernan, to celebrate the US release of her adult thriller, Too Close to Breathe. Driven. Polished. Perfect. Dead. Eleanor Costello is found hanged in her home. There is no note. And her husband is missing. The suicide turned murder investigation soon spirals outwards leading Detective Frankie Sheehan and her team onto a … Continue reading Happy US Book Birthday – Too Close to Breathe

Mark HoltzenLeave a comment