January 6, 2023
From the artist of Marvel Comics’ daredevil Marco Checchetto, comes a thrilling new adventure! Where were you when the cloud arrived? Where were you when the world changed forever? Where were you when people started dying? It’s at the limits between science fiction, action and horror. This graphic novel is gritty, with zombies and hard choices, heartbreak and tortured, war-weary characters. Note that there’s some language and graphic violence–if it was a movie, it’d be hard to escape an R rating, or a “not for people under 17.” Up to you, but consider yourself warned. A mysterious cloud spreads across […]
December 2, 2022
There’s plenty of tension and gore in this supernatural thriller, which is lightened up by an on-again/off-again pursual of romance between the lead characters. The story features a family of monster exterminators (headed by co-lead Liam, age 18) and a family in need of monster exterminators (featuring Olivia, age 18). The monster-chasers eliminate vampires, ghosts, witches, ghouls, indigos, wendigos and more, and come supplied with enough spook-demobilizing equipment and know-how to impress James Bond. The writing pulls you right along; it’s good enough to override some of the less believable aspects of the plot. For example, Olivia’s willingness to have […]
December 2, 2022
A coming-of-age teen is thrown into a world of ancient secrets when he discovers a supernatural artifact that protects a weapon of mass destruction. With the help of a diverse group of friends, he embarks on a global adventure, seeking the truth about his sister’s death, and uncovers two clandestine, supernatural societies waging an epic, hidden war that threatens the future of civilization. D. J. Williams’s suspenseful, page-turning style whisks readers into a wildly exciting, supernatural adventure that grabs hold of the imagination and never lets go. As Jack races to collect ancient artifacts critical to the survival of the […]
December 2, 2022
Isaac Blum (he/him) is a writer and educator. He has taught English at several colleges and universities, and at Orthodox Jewish and public schools. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers-Camden in New Jersey, and his stories and essays have appeared in The Iowa Review, The New York Times and One Teen Story, among other places. Isaac lives with his wife in Philadelphia where he watches sports and reads books that make him laugh while showing him something true about the world. He also loves birdwatching. The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen is his debut novel. Reviews […]
November 5, 2022
A twelve-year-old grave thief gets caught up in a royal heist in this compelling middle-grade fantasy in the vein of Kelley Armstrong’s A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying. Twelve-year-old Spade is a grave thief. With his father and brother, he digs up the recently deceased to steal jewels, the main form of trade in Wyndhail. Digging graves works for Spade — alone in the graveyard at night, no one notices his limp or calls him names. He’s headed for a lifetime of theft when his father comes up with the audacious plan to rob a grave in the Wyndhail castle cemetery. […]
November 4, 2022
Under a persistent rain, which seems destined to never subside, Stavros lives and moves through the streets of a dark and gloomy nameless city…. Several different voices talk to him – sometimes whispering, sometimes whining or yelling – whenever he hears the water running. One day, Stavros wanders the city under a heavy rain; voices become insistent, revealing his deepest, unspeakable secrets as well as his dreams and memories. He is tormented by these mysterious voices, perhaps a sign of his madness. Or perhaps of a wider, collective madness, which infects everyone around him, to the point of being transmitted […]
November 4, 2022
This lively graphic novel follows a diverse group of teenage friends as they discover that computing can be fun, creative and empowering. Taylor, Christine, Antonio and Jon seem like typical young teens–they communicate via endless texting, they share jokes, they worry about starting high school and they have each other’s backs. But when a racially-biased artificial intelligence system causes harm in their neighborhood, they suddenly realize that tech isn’t as neutral as they thought it was. But can an algorithm be racist? And what is an algorithm, anyway? Power On! follows the story of four teenagers trying to navigate their […]
November 4, 2022
Broken Trail, a white boy adopted by the Oneida First Nation and brought up to be a warrior, has seen much injustice done to his adoptive people and even more suffered by the Black slaves who spend their lives in bondage. The year is 1793, the year in which a new law is passed to gradually end slavery in Upper Canada. The new law is not perfect; it will leave hundreds still in slavery for the rest of their lives. But it is enough to make many slave owners afraid that their investment in slaves will soon be worth nothing. […]
November 4, 2022
Did you know that you can’t keep a goldfish in a round goldfish bowl in Rome? That you can’t take a selfie while running with the bulls in Pamplona? That you can’t climb a tree in a Toronto city park? This book is a look at some of the more curious rules and laws that have been created around the world over many years. Some of these rules and laws may make us laugh. Some may make us angry or frightened for the people they influence. All of these rules and laws will make us think. How did they come […]