Category: Book Recommendations

cybils ya spec fic short list books
Book Awards, Book Recommendations, Windows & Mirrors, Young Adult

The CYBILS Award YA Speculative Fiction Short List – A Wrap-up

Serving as a judge for the CYBILS Book Awards provided me with the opportunity to discuss 7 great stories with fellow book nerds. I read the spec fic category, which includes fantasy, sci fi, magical realism, and alternate history – all genres with lots of world building and action! If this is the type of story you enjoy, you should check out these short-listed books. It was hard to pick a winner! Continue reading The CYBILS Award YA Speculative Fiction Short List – A Wrap-up

Rebecca J. AllenLeave a comment
Book Recommendations, Middle Grade, Windows & Mirrors

Featured: GAME OF STARS

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. This week we are featuring GAME OF STARS, book #2 in the KIRANMALA AND THE KINGDOM BEYOND series by Sayantani DasGupta. Princess Kiranmala is back home in plain old New Jersey, trying to readjust to normal middle school life. Just four months ago … Continue reading Featured: GAME OF STARS

Michelle LeonardLeave a comment
Book Recommendations, Craft Books, Creativity and Craft, News, Publishing & Promotion, Writer's Life

Book Release! Emotion Thesaurus Second Edition

Hello! Today I’m helping authors Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi launch their new book, The Emotion Thesaurus (Second Edition)! You might know about The Emotion Thesaurus and even have it on your shelf. But chances are, you may not have known a second edition was in the works. Becca and Angela decided to keep it a surprise and only recently announced the book was releasing! So not only … Continue reading Book Release! Emotion Thesaurus Second Edition

Halli Gomez5 Comments
Book Recommendations, Windows & Mirrors, Young Adult

Featured: WATCH US RISE by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan

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. This week we are featuring WATCH US RISE by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan. Chelsea and Jasmine grow frustrated with the way girls are treated at their supposedly progressive New York City high school– body shaming, stereotyping, and unapproved … Continue reading Featured: WATCH US RISE by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan

Michelle LeonardLeave a comment
Middle Grade, Windows & Mirrors

Featured: The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away by Ronald L. Smith

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. This week we are featuring The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away by Ronald L. Smith. I have been wanting to read The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away since before I knew the title! Ronald. L. … Continue reading Featured: The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away by Ronald L. Smith

Michelle LeonardLeave a comment
Middle Grade, Windows & Mirrors

Featured: THE BRIDGE HOME by Padma Venkatraman

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 THE BRIDGE HOME by Padma Venkatraman. Eleven-year-old Viji and her younger sister Rukku quickly discover how vulnerable they are when they run away from their abusive father and try to make a home for themselves … Continue reading Featured: THE BRIDGE HOME by Padma Venkatraman

Michelle Leonard1 Comment
Book Recommendations, Middle Grade, Young Adult

Celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day- Featuring TWO Wonderful Biographies: VIRGINIA HAMILTON-AMERICA’s STORYTELLER by Julie K. Rubini and DELORES HUERTA STANDS STRONG by Marlene Targ Bill

It’s my honor to participate in Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 to celebrate the gift of story and diversity in children’s books. To celebrate, I’m featuring two recent biographies about important women trailblazers. First up, Virginia Hamilton: America’s Storyteller by Julie K. Rubini. Virginia Hamilton was a shy, quirky, and extraordinary author that I knew very little about before reading VIRGINIA HAMILTON: AMERICA’S STORYTELLER. In this biography, … Continue reading Celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day- Featuring TWO Wonderful Biographies: VIRGINIA HAMILTON-AMERICA’s STORYTELLER by Julie K. Rubini and DELORES HUERTA STANDS STRONG by Marlene Targ Bill

Michelle Leonard1 Comment
Book Recommendations, Middle Grade, Publishing & Promotion

Recommendation: Pink Hair and Other Terrible Ideas

Kids have so much going on in their lives today with school, grades, friends, and family, it’s hard to get through it all, especially for kids who keep their struggles to themselves. What I love about books is that they are friends, the kind who show kids they’re not alone. Pink Hair and Other Terrible Ideas, by Andrea Pyros, does that by tackling issues such as … Continue reading Recommendation: Pink Hair and Other Terrible Ideas

Halli GomezLeave a comment
Book Recommendations, Craft Books, Creativity and Craft, News, Publishing & Promotion, Writer's Life

Big News: New Thesaurus Revealed!

Have you ever held onto a secret you’ve been dying to share, and then finally…you can? For the last few weeks I’ve been helping Angela and Becca at Writers Helping Writers keep a BIG secret…what the next book in their thesaurus series will be. It might seem strange to not tell one’s readers what book you’re planning to release…unless you happen to write books on Show, … Continue reading Big News: New Thesaurus Revealed!

Halli Gomez1 Comment
Book Recommendations, Windows & Mirrors, Young Adult

Featured: THE LOVE & LIES OF RUKHSANA ALI by Sabina Khan

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 THE LOVE & LIES OF RUKHSANA ALI by Sabina Khan.  Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali’s life is nearly perfect. She has great friends, good grades, and she and her very cool girlfriend are headed to Caltech in the … Continue reading Featured: THE LOVE & LIES OF RUKHSANA ALI by Sabina Khan

Michelle LeonardLeave a comment
Windows & Mirrors, Young Adult

Featured: THE MUSIC OF WHAT HAPPENS by Bill Konigsberg

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 THE MUSIC OF WHAT HAPPENS by Bill Konigsberg! Max and Jordan couldn’t be more different on the outside. Max is an athletic, half white/half Latino dude bro who is in the closet about his sexuality with his … Continue reading Featured: THE MUSIC OF WHAT HAPPENS by Bill Konigsberg

Michelle LeonardLeave a comment