#BookReview: Away Games (Camp Average #3) by @cthomasbattle

Synopsis: In the final book of the series, this summer is definitely not average

It’s another summer at Camp Avalon―also known as Camp Average to its campers―only this year, things are anything but normal. Mack and Andre are spending the summer at rival Camp Killington, where the competitive campers seem intent on making them suffer.

Meanwhile, at Camp Average, Miles is trying to keep the peace―which is not easy, due to obnoxious newcomer Garth and his pranks. On top of that, Miles has another impossible task on his plate: getting Mack and Andre back on home turf.

Things come to a head when Mack and Andre are forced apart, and Cassie challenges Garth to a do-or-die ball hockey showdown. Will the Camp Average crew find their way back together and come out on top? In this third and final addition to the series, the campers rally to support each other and discover once more how teamwork and cooperation win.

#Interview with Evelyn Rainey Author of Daisy and the Three Shoes

Synopsis: For Daisy, there are three kinds of shoes. The good kind – because her girl wears them when they go for walks. The bad kind – because her girl wears them when she leaves Daisy. And the very best kind – the ones with wheels! This wonderfully illustrated book for second, third and fourth grade readers also has a discussion guide and is listed with the Accelerated Readers program.

#Interview with Evelyn Rainey author of Caleb's Crop

Synopsis: Giles thinks his big brother Caleb can do anything. He knows how to say just the right things to make their mother smile. He knows how to milk cows and build chicken coops. Most importantly, Caleb knows how to read, and taught Giles how to read, too. Now Giles and Caleb have immigrated with their mother to a farming planet where no one else knows how to read!

#BookBlitz: Friends to the End by @cheriecolyer @XpressoTours #Giveaway

Friends to the End
C.L. Colyer
Publication date: September 27th 2021
Genres: Action, Adventure, Middle-Grade, Supernatural

Zach doesn’t believe in ghosts…but he should.

Twelve-year-old Zach is convinced he’ll never be happy without his best friend Jeremy by his side. But both of their lives changed with a bang five months ago, and as far as Zach’s concerned, it’s his fault Jeremy will never see his twelfth birthday.

When Zach moves with his family to a Chicago suburb, he quickly becomes friends with a group of thrill-seeking kids trying to find a disappearing haunted house. But Zach’s not worried. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, so he follows them into a wild, dangerous encounter that becomes a battle to decide what’s real and what’s not.

#BookTour: Relatively: Normal Secrets by @cwallenbooks #Giveaway @RABTBookTours

Middle-Grade Mystery Adventure

Release Day: September 7, 2021

Tuesday and Zed Furst are perfectly normal children with perfectly strange parents. Their father won't discuss his job, their mother never leaves the house without her guard dog, and the topic of the family tree is off limits.

When a last minute "business trip" gets the adults out of the way, Zed and Tuesday decide to get to the bottom of things once and for all. Too bad some thugs with shape-shifting weapons have other ideas. Their escape leaves them trapped in the modern-meets-medieval Falinnheim, where everyone insists their father is a disgraced fugitive. They hope whoever is leaving them coded clues may have some answers, but they're not sure they're going to like what they learn.

If they ever want to see their parents again, they'll need the help of a smuggler with a broken compass, their unusually talented dog, some extremely organized bandits, and a selection of suspiciously misquoted nursery rhymes.

Zed and Tuesday may not have all the answers, but one thing is certain—when it comes to normal, everything is relative.

#BookReview: Team BFF: Race to the Finish! (Girls Who Code #2) by @staciadeutsch

Synopsis: Perfect for fans of The Babysitters Club and anyone interested in computer science, this series is published in partnership with the organization Girls Who Code!

Sophia and her coding club BFFs have the best time together. Sure, they work on coding projects, but mostly they gossip about crushes, eat cookies, and do totally silly impersonations. Now they're about to participate in their first hackathon--a full day of coding and meeting other coders--so it's time to step up their game! 
Just when Sophia and her friends think their hackathon project is ready for the big time, a change of plans threatens to tear their group apart. Will they have each other's backs, or are they destined for an epic fail? They know that coding is all about teamwork and problem-solving--maybe friendship is, too!

#BookReview: Cursed Beauty by Stacey O'Neale

Synopsis: From USA Today bestselling author Stacey O'Neale comes a standalone YA fantasy retelling of Sleeping Beauty.

The day has come for sixteen-year-old Aurora to receive her witch mark. She should be thrilled. But unlike the rest of her coven, a centuries-old family curse has already decided her fate; the cost of her new power is her life.

After the ceremony, her grandmother offers her hope: Aurora can save herself and prevent her coven from dying by awakening a sleeping prince with the power to break her curse. Unfortunately, she must travel through the forbidden Shadowlands to reach him. 

The enchanted forest is filled with magical creatures—friends and foes—including the mysterious son of a powerful wolf pack leader. Can she find the prince in time, and if she succeeds, will he choose to help despite having been placed under the sleeping spell?

#BookReview: Cooper's Story (A Puppy Tale) by W. Bruce Cameron

Synopsis: A brand new Puppy Tale from the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the A Dog's Purpose series, W. Bruce Cameron! 

When Cooper -- a Malamute-Great Dane puppy -- is taken to an adoption fair, he finds the perfect forever home with a boy named Burke. Soon Cooper discovers his very important purpose: to help Burke by pulling his wheelchair, fetching things for him, and assisting him in and out of his chair.

Cooper's Story is an uplifting new Puppy Tale in the popular series by #1 New York Times bestselling author W. Bruce Cameron. 

#BookReview: Esme's Wish (Esme Series #1) by @e_foster3

Synopsis: When fifteen-year-old Esme Silver objects at her father’s wedding, her protest is dismissed as the action of a stubborn, selfish teenager. Everyone else has accepted the loss of Esme’s mother, Ariane – so why can’t she?

But Esme is suspicious. She is sure that others are covering up the real reason for her mother’s disappearance – that ‘lost at sea’ is code for something more terrible, something she has a right to know.

After Esme is accidentally swept into the enchanted world of Aeolia, the truth begins to unfold. With her newfound friends, Daniel and Lillian, Esme retraces her mother’s steps in the glittering canal city of Esperance, untangling the threads of Ariane’s double life. But the more Esme discovers about her mother, the more she questions whether she really knew her at all. 

Winner of a Purple Dragonfly Book Award for best fantasy.

“A fresh new fantasy of an enchanting world.” - Wendy Orr, New York Times best selling author of Nim’s Island.

#BookReview: Bea's Witch by Daniel Ingram-Brown

Synopsis: The future can be rewritten.

On the eve of her twelfth birthday, Beatrice Crosse runs away from her adoptive home only to encounter the ghost of England's most famous prophetess. The witch offers her treasure, but can she be trusted?

Bea must wrestle her past to discover the witch’s secret and find her way home.

"A deft blending of historical, fantasy, contemporary and adoption fiction. I was genuinely transported."
Dr Rachel Connor, Novelist and Dramatist

"A heart-warming coming-of-age story, with an added sprinkling of magic."
Hannah Seat, Early Years Lecturer and Adoptee

#BookReview: Cold-Blooded Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries #3) by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Synopsis: An Edgar Award–winning series!

Twelve-year-old Young Lady of Quality and Victorian amateur detective Myrtle Hardcastle returns, and now she’s on the trail of a serial killer in her hometown of Swinburne.
 
When Mr. Leighton, proprietor of Leighton’s Mercantile, is found dead on the evening his annual Christmas shop display is to be unveiled, it’s clear a killer had revenge in mind. But who would want to kill the local dry-goods merchant? Perhaps someone who remembers the unresolved, long-ago scandal that occurred when he was a professor and archaeologist. When the killer strikes again, ­­­each time manipulating the figures in the display to foretell the crime, Myrtle finds herself racing to uncover the long-buried facts of a historical scandal—and the motivations of a modern murderer. 

#BookReview: The Firebird Song by Arnée Flores

Synopsis: The Kingdom of Lyrica was once warm and thriving, kept safe by the Firebird, whose feather and song was a blessing of peace and prosperity. But the Firebird disappeared, and Lyrica is now terrorized by the evil Spectress who wields her powers from within a volcano. All that remains is a mysterious message scrawled on the castle wall in the Queen's own hand: Wind. Woman. Thief.

Young Prewitt has only known time without the Firebird, a life of constant cold, as his village is afraid to tempt the volcano monsters with even the feeblest fire. But he has heard whispers that the kingdom's princess survived the attack . . . and he is certain that if he can find her, together they can save Lyrica.

Princess Calliope has no memories beyond living on her barge on the underground lake. But as she nears her twelfth birthday, she is certain there is more to life than the walls of a cave. When Prewitt finds her, he realizes that she is the missing princess: the only hope for Lyrica. Determined to decipher the meaning of her mother's strange message and find the Firebird, Calliope and Prewitt set off on a quest that puts them in more danger than either of them ever anticipated.

#BookReview: Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera

Synopsis: Living in the remote town of Tierra del Sol is dangerous, especially in the criatura months, when powerful spirits roam the desert and threaten humankind. But Cecelia Rios has always believed there was more to the criaturas, much to her family’s disapproval. After all, only brujas—humans who capture and control criaturas—consort with the spirits, and brujeria is a terrible crime.

When her older sister, Juana, is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a powerful dark criatura, Cece is determined to bring Juana back. To get into Devil’s Alley, though, she’ll have to become a bruja herself—while hiding her quest from her parents, her town, and the other brujas. Thankfully, the legendary criatura Coyote has a soft spot for humans and agrees to help her on her journey.

With him at her side, Cece sets out to reunite her family—and maybe even change what it means to be a bruja along the way.

#NerdBlast: UNFORGOTTEN by @anitasilvey @JeanBookNerd #Giveaway

Explore the fascinating life and legacy of groundbreaking primatologist and conservationist Dian Fossey, who made it her life's mission to study and protect mountain gorillas, in this powerful biography from award-winning author Anita Silvey.

In 1963, young American Dian Fossey spent all her savings and took out a loan to realize her dream--to go to Africa. It soon became her life's mission to study and protect the few mountain gorillas left on Earth. Fossey had no experience or formal scientific training, but she was smart, passionate, and strong-willed--and she just happened to meet paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, who helped her pursue her goal of studying animals in the wild. Fossey set up a research camp and threw herself into tracking and observing mountain gorillas. Over the next 18 years, Fossey got closer to gorillas than any human ever had before. As she learned to mimic their behavior and became accepted by them, Fossey's studies grew into a labor of love and a mission to protect her beloved gorillas from poachers and other threats--no matter what the cost.

Sadly, Fossey was murdered at her camp in 1985, and to this day, her death remains a mystery. But her legacy lives on through the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund: In 1973 Fossey recorded only 275 gorillas living in Volcanoes National Park; there are about twice that many today. Fossey's story is one of tragedy, but also passion, science, and preservation. As Jane Goodall, once said, "If Dian had not been there, there might be no mountain gorillas in Rwanda today." Unforgotten is the dramatic conclusion to Silvey's trilogy of biographies on Leakey's "Trimates." With unparalleled storytelling, sidebars, maps, and an award-winning design, Unforgotten will inspire the next generation of budding scientists and conservationists.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ National Geographic Kids (June 29, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1426371853
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1426371851

Praise for UNFORGOTTEN

Silvey deals honestly with Fossey’s internal battles, including alcohol reliance and emotional trauma, and her murder in 1985, but largely elides the myriad repercussions of her anti-poaching efforts. Employing lush, full-color photographs of gorillas and rainforest-covered mountains, and informative sidebars on related themes (e.g., the history of San Francisco, the Leakey family) this is a visually compelling, though limited, treatment of its subject. Includes a foreword by Ellen DeGeneres, extensive notes, maps, and suggested resources for further study. —Publishers Weekly

#BookReview: The Last Windwitch by Jennifer Adam

Synopsis: Many years ago, in the kingdom of Fenwood Reach, there was a powerful Windwitch who wove the seasons, keeping the land bountiful and the people happy. But then a dark magic drove her from the realm, and the world fell into chaos.

Brida is content in her small village of Oak Hollow. There, she’s plenty occupied trying to convince her fickle magic to actually do what it’s meant to in her work as a hedgewitch’s apprentice—until she accidentally catches the attention of the wicked queen.

On the run from the queen’s huntsman and her all-seeing Crow spies, Brida discovers the truth about her family, her magic, and who she is destined to be—and that she may hold the power to defeating the wicked queen and setting the kingdom right again.

#BookReview: Fireborn by Aisling Fowler

Synopsis: Lyra. Lucy. Percy. Once in a generation, a hero emerges whose story enthralls readers worldwide. 

Fireborn is an epic quest, perfect for fans of the His Dark Materials and The School for Good and Evil series, that will spin readers into a magical world like no other--and introduce them to an unforgettable new heroine named Twelve.

Ember is full of monsters.

Twelve gave up her name and identity to train in the art of hunting them--so she says. The truth is much more deadly: she trains to take revenge on those who took her family from her.

But when Twelve's new home is attacked, she'll find herself on an unexpected journey, where her hidden past is inescapably intertwined with her destiny--and the very fate of her world.

#NerdBlast: Kyle's Little Sister by BonHyung Jeong @JeanBookNerd

My name is Grace, not "Kyle's little sister!"

Having a good-looking, friendly, outgoing older brother sucks—especially when you're the total opposite, someone who likes staying home and playing video games. Your parents like him better (even if they deny it!), and everyone calls you "Kyle's little sister" while looking disappointed that you're not more like him. I was really hoping I'd get to go to a different middle school, but no such luck. At least I have my friends...until he finds a way to ruin that, too...! Argh! What do I have to do to get out of his shadow?!

#BookReview: Delphine and the Silver Needle by @alyssamoonbooks

Synopsis: To unravel any mystery, find the knot.


When Delphine, a young orphaned dressmaker mouse living in the walls of Cinderella''s château, stumbles upon an enormous secret, it upends everything she thought she knew: The magical tailor mice of legend really existed. Racing to stay ahead of King Midnight, the fearsome leader of the rats who is bent on harnessing age-old magic, Delphine embarks on an epic quest to uncover the truth about the past. Joined by Alexander, the most pompous noblemouse in the royal court, she travels a perilous route, encountering strange enemies and unlikely allies along the way.


Can Delphine uncover the truth and save the kingdom? Or will the evil King Midnight succeed in harnessing the power of the tailor mice? This action-packed novel is sure to be a hit with readers who like magic, adventure, and very tiny heroes with very big hearts.

#BookReview: Even and Odd by @sarahbethdurst

Synopsis: A half-magic girl learns about heroism and taking action when she and her sister confront a wizard who endangers others for her own gain. 

Even and Odd are sisters who share magic. Lately, though, it seems like that’s the only thing they have in common. Odd doesn’t like magic, and Even practices it every chance she gets, dreaming of the day she’ll be ready to be a hero.
 
When the hidden border between the mundane world the sisters live in and the magical land they were born in shuts abruptly, the girls are trapped, unable to return home. With the help of a unicorn named Jeremy, they discover a wizard is diverting magic from the border to bolster her own power. Families are cut off from each other on both sides of the border, and an ecological disaster is brewing. But the wizard cares nothing for the calamitous effects her appropriation of magic is having. Someone has to do something to stop her, and Even realizes she can no longer wait until she’s ready: she needs to be a hero now.

#BookReview: The Memory Thief (Thirteen Witches #1) by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Synopsis: “This expertly crafted story thrums with magic, love, and tense action.” —Booklist (starred review)

Perfect for fans of The Girl Who Drank the Moon, this fantastical and heartfelt first book in a new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Jodi Lynn Anderson follows a girl who must defeat thirteen evil witches.

Twelve-year-old Rosie Oaks’s mom is missing whatever it is that makes mothers love their daughters. All her life, Rosie has known this...and turned to stories for comfort. Then, on the night Rosie decides to throw her stories away forever, an invisible ally helps her discover the Witch Hunter’s Guide to the Universe, a book that claims that all of the evil in the world stems from thirteen witches who are unseen...but also unstoppable. One of these witches—the Memory Thief—holds an insidious power to steal our most precious treasures: our memories. And it is this witch who has cursed Rosie’s mother.

In her quest to save her mom—and with her wild, loyal friend “Germ” by her side—Rosie will find the layers hidden under the reality she only thought she knew: where ghosts linger as shades of the past, where clouds witness the world, and a ladder dangles from the moon leading to something bigger and more. Here, words are weapons against the darkness, and witch hunters are those brave enough to wield their imaginations in the face of the unthinkable.

At the core of this stunning novel—the first of the Thirteen Witches trilogy from critically acclaimed author Jodi Lynn Anderson—is a passionate argument that stories have the power to create meaningful change...and a reason to hope even when the world feels crushing.