Bibliophile Support Group

Today I continue the Scholastic I Read YA celebration with the second #YAStandsFor Daily Social Challenge to: Tell us about the YA book that helped you find your voice. It's likely going to be a choice of many, but I have to choose the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. Some people may call it a Children's series, but as he ages up to seventeen in the series, I think we can safely say it falls in the YA category safely also. My reason for picking this series, is that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the book that truly cemented by love of reading. As a kid, I loved reading Babysitter's Club and Goosebumps , Nancy Drew and other great stories - so I was already a fledgling bibliophile. But when my 6th grade teacher started reading from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to the class during the end of day free time, I fell truly, madly, deeply in love with stories. Never before had I felt so entranced by a narration, by the world build...

Howdy There, Bibliophiles! As part of Scholastic's teen community annual I Read YA , Scholastic is encouraging book lovers to share in fun challenges that spotlight how awesome YA is as a genre, a genre that is honestly pigeon holed by the age of the protagonist instead of the content of the story inside. So, I am going to participate in a few of these to get my toes back into the waters of the wonderful world of YA once more. I'd love for y'all to join in and tell me What Does YA Stand For... for you?!? For myself, YA stands for a genre that caused me some of  the best adventures in sci-fi, mystery and romance during my teenage years. I didn't stop reading YA when I entered my 20s, but my memories are vivid of when I identified with the characters that were placed in extraordinary situations. Whether the engrossing and wonderfully sarcastic heroines of some of Meg Cabot's early works when she wrote as Jenny Carroll - The Mediator series and 1-800-W...

Why hello there, loyal readers! It's been a long, long time since I last wrote about a new novel - or wrote much of anything original. Life has definitely changed for me in many ways, changing how and where I devote my time. But... whaddya know? I managed to finally finish a book! Gardenia is a YA genre mash of murder mystery with a dash of sci-fi/fantasy, written by author Kelsey Sutton. When Ivy's best friend died, it wasn't a surprise to her. Because, ever since she was little, Ivy has seen the numbers over everyone's heads. Their countdown, if you will. But she didn't know the cause of her best friend's death would be... murder. Labled as a bit of an outcast, due to her odd behavior and reaction to Vanessa's death, Ivy finds herself more alone than ever as she is determined to find her friend's killer. And she doesn't have much time, herself... as she's known her whole life. Now, she realizes, it may be that she may give u...

Hi My Lovelies!!! I apologize for being so absent this year - it's been Quite the Year!!! My life has been ridiculously busy and I unfortunately have to set aside my blog for a bit. Once thigns calm down - I do plan on returning to blogging and reviewing what I read. However, in the meantime - feel free to read through the 100s of reviews that have posted over all the many years of this blog. Have a happy and wonderful New Year!

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl is a YA supernatural novel by Paige McKinnon. The Awakening of Sunshine Girl is it's follow-up sequel, recently released this year. Sunshine has lived in sunny climates with her mother up until her sixteenth birthday, but now it is off to rainy, dreary Washington state. Her mom has a new job in a small little town. They move into a rather... creepy... house. She's trying to make the best of it. But things are seriously weird. It seems a cold breeze follows her throughout the house causing doors to slam. And she hears an eerie laughter that turns to sobs. She *knows* she is hearing it. And where initially her mom was skeptical but noticing some things... now she is completely oblivious to supernatural acts occurring right in front of her. Clearly she needs to figure out what is going on... Before it's too late. Okay. That synopsis was weak. Let's all agree to this. It was token. And the problem is... so was the book. I got 100 ...

Throwback review from June 2011! Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a middlegrade fantasy and Newberry Honor winner by Grace Lin. Minli lives in the Valley of Fruitless Mountain where she sees her parents work very hard every day in the fields with very little to show for it. Her favorite part of the day is the evening when her tired but pleasant father tells Minli tales about the Valley they live in and how it became Fruitless, as well as about the Old Man of the Moon, who knows the answers to everything. Then one day Minli decides to try and make things better for her family by setting out on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon - knowing that he will know how to change their fortunes. So she sets out on a journey that causes her to meet a talking fish, a dragon who can't fly, a powerful king, and more! First off, I must say that I love the vivid, eye-catching cover and illustrations that decorate this charming, sweet, earnest tale of magic and fantasy...

First of all, I am so sorry for two weeks off the map!! However, I am back with a BRAND NEW REVIEW. Worth waiting for, yes?!? Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne is the script that carries on the story of Harry Potter in a new modality. Beginning as Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione’s children are at the start of their Hogwarts education, Cursed Child introduces us quickly to our primary child character, Albus Severus. We had a brief meeting of him at the very end of the original series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , in which his name brought us to shuddering tears or scoffs of bewilderment of the terrible name – I was in the former category, unashamedly. Now, though, we see that something happens in the start of young Albus’s time at Hogwarts that puts a strain on his relationship with his father, Harry. And as some initial years pass – quickly in a montage-like scene in script format – grow...