Blue is having a hard time moving on. He’s in love with his best friend. He’s also dead. Luckily, Hamal can see ghosts, leaving Blue free to haunt him to his heart’s content. But something eerie is happening in town, leaving the local afterlife unsettled, and when Blue realizes Hamal’s strange ability may be putting him in danger, Blue has to find a way to protect him, even if it means . . . leaving him.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
This graphic novel followed a gardener, Hamal, who can see ghosts. I thought this was absolutely adorable and quirky and really enjoyed watching Hamal come into his own. The art style was whimsical and bright, which was so lovely to read. I did feel like this could easily have been more little vignettes into Hamal’s life after the initial story, and there was a little snippet of something similar at the end. All in all this was a very enjoyable read and I would definitely read more.
A beautifully illustrated and compelling collection of more than 30 ancient Norse myths for children.
Exciting stories, extraordinary creatures, and compelling gods, goddesses, and heroes come together in this compendium of Norse myths–first told long ago by the Vikings. Perfect for children ages 7 to 9, this collection contains more than 30 enthralling new retellings.
Read about Thor, the god of thunder and how he once disguised himself as a bride to seek revenge on a giant and retrieve his powerful hammer, Mjolnir; and how Sif, the goddess of fertility, had her long golden hair cut off by Loki, the trickster god. Each myth is told with thrilling immediacy, in language that is easy for children to understand, while retaining the awe, majesty, and intrigue of the original tales. Stunning illustrations by multi-award-winning artist Katie Ponder breathe new life into each story.
Additional feature pages delve deeper into the mythical world, providing profiles of the featured gods and goddesses and giving the context behind the myths. The reference section provides key background information, such as Norse cosmology and facts about the incredible Norse characters, and comes complete with a pronunciation guide.
Norse Myths is the perfect gift, featuring foil on the cover and beautiful illustrations throughout. Children will love exploring the tales by themselves or as bedtime stories. This stunning book will be treasured forever.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
As soon as I heard this second installment to these books was coming out I had to preorder it. The art, just like in Greek Myths, was wonderful and perfectly fit the different settings, creatures, figures and more. I felt like this was a really good selection of stories from Norse mythology that will give the overall scope of the gods and their tales. I liked that the stories were separated by more informational sections specifically about the gods, goddesses and other figures. This is in a great format for younger readers to digest either in a single setting, or here and there.
On the historic streets of Charleston, where true life is stranger than fiction, narrators Ed Macy and Geordie Buxton leave embellishment by the wayside to let these stories–in ghastly and sometimes dreadful detail–tell themselves. Combing through the oft-forgotten enclaves of the Holy City, Macy and Buxton bring readers face to face with a group of orphans who haunt a College of Charleston dorm, a Citadel cadet who haunts a local hotel and the specter of William Drayton at Drayton Hall Plantation, to name just a few. Based on historic events and specific details that are often lost in most ghost stories, this collection of haunting tales sparks curiosity about what figure might still be lurking in the alleyways of Charleston’s storied streets.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I love a good collection about ghost stories, especially when they center on a certain location or region. I’ve been to Charleston and loved the time I spent in it, so I was especially excited to see stories about the original Citadel, since I’ve stayed in the hotel it’s become. The stories were well researched and I felt there was a good balance of history with the experiences that people have had. The writing style was really easy to read and flew by with each story. I also really liked how focused on a few specific locations the book was as it was able to dive fully into their history.
Tara and her brother Kyle are sent to stay with their estranged grandparents when their mother is hospitalised. May and Peter Folcroft seem warm and charming at first, and the house, hidden in the base of the mountains, is idyllic.
But strange things keep happening.
The swing moves on its own. Peter paces around the house late at night. Doors slam and curtains shift when no one is inside. Tara begins to suspect the old house is haunted.
When a storm cuts the phone line, May shifts from doting to obsessive. Tara and Kyle must try to keep up the pretext of a happy family, but an empty journal and locked room provide clues to the unforgivable lies, secrets and decades-old murders entwined with the Folcrofts’ history.
And the ghosts are growing restless…
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Having enjoyed one of Darcy Coates’ other books I was excited to give this a read. It definitely had some interesting concepts to it and the last 20% was really the best part of the book as things started unraveling and the truths started coming out. It was a good read, but the pacing for the first 2/3 of the book were a little slow. I liked Tara and Kyle’s relationship and interactions and that really made the book for me. It was an enjoyable story, with lots of questions as to whether it was paranormal or not.
When the heroic princess Amira rescues the kind-hearted princess Sadie from her tower prison, neither expects to find a true friend in the bargain. Yet as they adventure across the kingdom, they discover that they bring out the very best in the other person. They’ll need to join forces and use all the know-how, kindness, and bravery they have in order to defeat their greatest foe yet: a jealous sorceress, who wants to get rid of Sadie once and for all. Join Sadie and Amira, two very different princesses with very different strengths, on their journey to figure out what “happily ever after” really means–and how they can find it with each other.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
As I’ve read other works by O’Neill I definitely wanted to pick this one up when I had the chat. This story was quick and cute, telling the stories of two princesses as they become friends and go on a journey together. They help each other break through previous opinions they may have of themselves or other people. I felt like the story in its entirety was a tad short, but it was still fun and adorable.
Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.
Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I was not expecting the twists and turns that this book took, it was quite a ride. I really enjoyed the format of this book where you get a chapter in present day and a chapter from the book that Maggie’s father wrote. Sometimes the extreme of Maggie’s anger towards her parents was a bit much, but I suppose in most instances it was appropriate considering she had been made a public figure by the book her father wrote. This was crafted incredibly well and I have to say there was only part of the twist I guessed, and only at the last minute, which was pretty extraordinary. While I didn’t like Final Girls, after reading The Last Time I Lied and this one, I’m definitely looking forward to reading the others Sager has out!
Perfect for fans of Small Spaces and Nightbooks, Ally Malinenko’s middle-grade debut is an empowering and triumphant ghost story—with spooky twists sure to give readers a few good goosebumps!
Zee Puckett loves ghost stories. She just never expected to be living one.
It all starts with a dark and stormy night. When the skies clear, everything is different. People are missing. There’s a creepy new principal who seems to know everyone’s darkest dreams. And Zee is seeing frightening things: large, scary dogs that talk and maybe even . . . a ghost.
When she tells her classmates, only her best friend, Elijah, believes her. Worse, mean girl Nellie gives Zee a cruel nickname: Ghost Girl.
But whatever the storm washed up isn’t going away. Everyone’s most selfish wishes start coming true in creepy ways.
To fight for what’s right, Zee will have to embrace what makes her different and what makes her Ghost Girl. And all three of them—Zee, Elijah, and Nellie—will have to work together if they want to give their ghost story a happy ending.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I was not expecting to fly through this one as fast as I did, but it was definitely a one sitting read. I really have a soft spot for Zee as she tries to navigate school, friendships, bullies, the death of her mother and absence of her father and more. Elijah was also a wonderfully crafted character as he dealt with the pressure he experienced at home and with expectations that are laid upon him. A lot of the characters in this story had clear voices and were able to be seen easily in the mind’s eye as they went about their daily lives while also trying to figure out what was happening in their little town. There are a lot of real issues that kids deal with featured in this book and honestly I think a lot of people in the target audience would be able to see themselves in at least one of the characters.
Malinenko’s writing is easy to read and flows really well, while there are clear breaks between chapters and scenes, everything flows together really well. I also felt that the three main characters she put together played off each other really well, even if they struggle to be friendly at times. This is definitely a great spooky middle grade that is fun for young readers while still having depth and real world issues woven in.
Ally Malinenko is a poet, novelist, and librarian living in Brooklyn, New
York, where she pens her tales in a secret writing closet before dawn each day. Connect with Ally on her website at www.allymalinenko.com.
Thanks so much to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book for review. Make sure to check back on release day, August 10th, for a Q&A with Ally!
Seattle may not be as old as some would expect from a haunted city. But it has a large number of haunted sites and stories. Spooked in Seattle will lead readers on a journey through Seattle’s neighborhoods and reveal the city’s public locations, history, and tales of strange encounters. For those who love to venture off into corners in search of ghosts and the unknown, this book will set readers forth in the right direction.
Spooked in Seattle features more than 150 haunted locations, historic and contemporary photos, top ten questions about ghosts, Seattle’s top ten most haunted places, location maps and addresses, Seattle history and haunted facts, Seattle cemeteries and tombstone symbols, and more.
Spooked in Seattle presents many locations throughout the city that are believed to be haunted, claim to have ghosts, or have undergone investigation. All of these stories are broken down into sections based on the city’s neighborhoods with corresponding addresses to make finding them easier for the ghost enthusiasts. Maps and photos help bring to life the locations, making the Seattle ghosthunting experience easy and enjoyable.
As someone who loves reading ghost story collections, I was really excited to dive into this one. Some things that I really enjoyed about it were how in depth some of the history was, there were some really great passages about the city’s beginnings and some of the historical figures associated with the city. The haunted facts sections at the end of chapters, with information on hauntings in general, were fun to read.
That being said this book was in dire of one thing – a proofreader. There were so many instances where the author clearly meant a different word, but the word in place of it was spelled correctly, so it wasn’t something spell check would catch. Some examples were “foots steps” instead of footsteps or “leather jack” instead of leather jacket. This is something that happened many many times throughout the book that always took me out of my reading enjoyment. A second pair of eyes looking over the book before it went to publication could have fixed it – and honestly could have bumped it up to 3-4 stars for me (yes, the history and stories were that interesting). I had a really hard time though because these errors stood out to me and would slow down my reading.
If you’re looking for a book with a lot of great background information on Seattle, this is a solid pick, but be aware of the errors.
A new season leads to a new beginning in New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne’s latest heartwarming romance!
Will the secrets of her past…
Prevent her from having the future she’s always wanted?
Rosa Galvez’s attraction to Officer Wyatt Townsend is as powerful as the moon’s pull on the tides. But with her past, Rosa knows better than to act on her feelings. When Wyatt and his adorable son become Brambleberry House’s newest tenants, Rosa finds her resolve slipping. Her solo life slowly becomes a sun-filled family adventure—until dark secrets threaten to break like a summer storm.
If you’re looking for a fun and easy read for the summer this is definitely a good one. It’s very much a low angst story and is really light and heartwarming. There are certainly some moments of tension, but nothing that is extreme. I really liked the relationship between Rosa and Wyatt, but also the one between Rosa and Wyatt’s son. I also love that it was set in Oregon, as it’s a beautiful state, so it’s pretty much an auto buy location for me. Thayne’s writing in this book was light and refreshing and made this story a perfect summer read.
New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains where she lives with her family. Her books have won numerous honors, including six RITA Award nominations from Romance Writers of America and Career Achievement and Romance Pioneer awards from RT Book Reviews. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.
In Laguna Beach, California, sixteen-year-old Kendra Dimes is preparing for the 2010 USA Surfing Prime West. She’ll be competing this year in honor of her brother, who was a surfer too, but who died from a drug overdose. Kendra has suffered anxiety attacks ever since her brother’s death, and surfing is what’s been helping her heal.
Brock Parker is the new bad boy at school; he deals drugs to the high school clientele for his parents, who work for a Mexican drug lord. Though Brock and Kendra come from two different worlds, sparks fly when they meet at the homecoming dance—their attraction is magnetic. When they start a game of 21 Questions one night, they begin to learn more about each other—and, surprisingly, about themselves too. But some questions aren’t answered with the whole truth; after all, Brock can’t tell Kendra what his parents do for a living.
As Kendra and Brock experience all of life’s most exciting firsts, they prove that even when life throws you the perfect storm, you can make it through and come out stronger than before. 21 Questions is a coming-of-age journey packed with passion and heartbreak, risk and romance.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I was not expecting this one to hit me in the feels the way it did, but it did. Don’t let the summery beach cover fool you, this is a book containing some very real and heavy issues, mostly in the realm of drug use and selling. While the romance between Kendra and Brock is very much at the forefront, it is not the only focus. We get to see both of their points of view, which I felt really added to the story and all the different aspects of subjects that were included. Being someone who actually lost their older brother to drugs Kendra’s story hit especially hard – including her coping mechanisms, internal dialogue and specific memories of her brother. So much of the events and actions of people based on past experiences (especially Kendra’s) were so spot on in those situations.
Rizik’s writing flowed really well in both viewpoints and I really enjoyed the characters she crafted. There were a couple characters that I didn’t enjoy, but even they had some redeeming factors (and all teenagers can have moments of cringiness…so realistic). There were also characters who I really felt for and wanted to know more about, which is a sure sign that they are well crafted. Keep in mind that there are definite trigger warnings for death of a loved one, drug use, drug dealing, grief and more.
Alexandria Rizik is an award-winning filmmaker and the author of two books, the poetry collection Words Written in the Dark and the children’s book Chocolate Milk. She was born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she was brought up by a large Armenian family. She received her bachelor of arts in English literature from Arizona State University. Alexandria’s love for writing began when she was a young child: her aunt bought her a journal and told her to write her a story, and the rest is history. Her favorite part about writing is being able to write the happily ever after that doesn’t always happen in real life. Besides writing, Alexandria loves yoga, wine, and family time. She lives in Scottsdale, AZ. Learn more at https://www.alexandriarizik.com.
A huge thank you to SparkPress for sending me a copy of this book so I could review it! Come back on release day (8/3) for a Q&A that I was able to have with Alexandria!
The Wandering Wordsmith 