March 7, 2025
The Unlikely Hero tells the action and adventure story of one of Yellowstone’s most famous animals, Wolf 8: a runt of the litter who surprised scientists by becoming a powerful leader. Newly reintroduced along with his pack to Yellowstone National Park, Wolf 8 struggles at first. Small and bullied by his siblings, he must learn to fend for himself in his new home. Can little 8 rise to the occasion? Is he ready to be an alpha wolf? Based on McIntyre’s own sightings of Wolf 8, this is a rare glimpse into the fascinating world of wolves and a coming-of-age […]
March 7, 2025
In this captivating debut YA graphic novel, two 8th-grade best friends become more than friends, which is great till entering high school complicates matters. Faced with early mornings, bullies and homework, Amber and Nico cling to each other, neglecting their friends. Then a sleepover literally turns into a dream. Will they ever want to wake up? First off, there’s no sex in this novel. It reads like a middle-grade story in which two friends with crushes on one another end up daring to confess romantic interest, which leads to a little kissing and hugging. Meanwhile, the reader gets to […]
March 7, 2025
Poor choices land four delinquent teens in summertime mandatory community service. Deemed good-for-nothing by those who judge, they label themselves The Nothing Club. The fast-paced and energetic novel is told from 15-year-old Grady’s humorous, often self-deprecating and sometimes insightful perspective. Anyone who likes an adventure story frequently interrupted by long diatribes about spirituality and religion, will enjoy this novel. Personally, I question trying to meld two very different approaches: the fast-paced, well-written, rollicking adventures of a group of disparate teens, and random, dragged-out, touchy-feely dialogues about everything from zodiac signs and Christianity to indigenous spirituality and meditation. It felt, […]
January 3, 2025
Crawford “Craw” Cope has anger issues. Or so they say. When Craw is sentenced to community service for hitting his father in the head with a baseball bat, he accepts his punishment without objection, knowing he’s actually lucky. If he weren’t the son of a famous former baseball player, he’d probably have gotten it a lot worse. So, Craw keeps his mouth shut and takes what life gives him. Like always. But when he arrives at community service, he meets Hannah Flores, a punk rock enthusiast trapped in the Ozarks with zero filter. As Craw navigates his own explosive home […]
January 3, 2025
After a first episode of psychosis lands him a stay in a psychiatric hospital, all 16-year-old Kai Lum wants to do is reclaim his life. But now that he’s back home, everything is different. He has medications to take, his dad is always hovering and everyone at school keeps staring at him. Kai’s determined not to let any of that distract him from proving he can make it as a chef. But finding his new normal is harder than Kai expects. His medications have side effects he doesn’t know how to control. His dad pushes him to accept more clinical […]