Posts Tagged: Middle Grade

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang

Posted by • 1 Comment

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Secret Coders by Gene Luen YangSecret Coders Published by First Second on September 29th, 2015
Genres: Graphic Novel, Middle-Grade
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three-half-stars

Welcome to Stately Academy, a school which is just crawling with mysteries to be solved! The founder of the school left many clues and puzzles to challenge his enterprising students. Using their wits and their growing prowess with coding, Hopper and her friend Eni are going to solve the mystery of Stately Academy no matter what it takes!

Things to know about Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang

1. It’s for a much younger audience. I didn’t realize this at first but while I was reading it, it become clear that I was not the intended audience of Secret Coders. This didn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the graphic novel, it just meant that it took me longer to get involved in the novel.

2. It isn’t just about coding and computer science-y stuff. If that isn’t your thing, don’t worry. It isn’t my thing either but I definitely enjoyed Secret Coders. There is a mystery element that makes itself known towards the end of the novel and that is what tied the knot for me. I want more Secret Coders because I needs to know the answers.

3. The illustrations are AMAZING. They aren’t in full color but they are so much fun to look attttt.

4. Themes. Okay, so now I feel like I am writing a book report a la 8th grade but THE BOOK HAS SOME REALLY GOOD THEMES relating to identity, family and such. Also there is one really amazing friendship that made me super happy to read about.

Basically, I don’t know how much someone over the age of 12 would enjoy the book but I am definitely not 12 any more and enjoyed it so I’d still say it’s worth giving a shot or recommending to a younger kid you know! Also, can I haz book 2? I want more time with these kids.

three-half-stars

3.5 Hot Espressos

Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki

Posted by on 04/20/2016 • 1 Comment

When I found out that Mariko Tamaki had a book coming out, I was so excited!  I was curious to see how Tamaki’s storytelling style would differ from This One Summer and it helped that the book had a stunning cover.

Montgomery Sole’s voice is truly unique and stands out. She is angsty like many young adults (in YA novels and in real life) but her way of dealing with her angst is usually not dealing with it at all which explains the title and her need to be ‘saved.’ Montgomery Sole also spends a surprising amount of time searching conspiracy theories and buying rocks we know won’t actually do anything. That’s okay though because Montgomery Sole is a precious child that needs to be protected from the world. All of this…

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Blog Tour: Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff – Review

Posted by on 03/11/2016 • 4 Comments

 

Hello everyone!! I am honored to be participating in this huge blog tour for Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood. I adore fairy tales and I love retellings, so naturally I had to take part. This tour has been running for about a month and there is plenty more to come. You can refer to the tour schedule that will be at the end of this post. Don’t forget to check out the other stops for really great guest posts and fun things! For my post I am doing a review of this book.

This book was all sorts of fun. The characters were fantastic and the storyline was great. There was a bit of mystery to it as well as magic (of course), friendships, and adventure….

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Book Recommendations Based on Your Favorite TV Shows

Posted by on 12/02/2015 • 26 Comments

I while ago, I finished a book and my immediate reaction was that the book would be PERFECT for people who watch X tv show. Having seen various posts like this on the internet, I decided I wanted to do one too but wanted to highlight titles that aren’t as popular so that they get some love. There is a good chance I wasn’t able to cover your fav TV show because there are only so many I can do in one post, but if you’d like to see another post like this with some specific TV shows let me know in the comments!

Quick note: I am not so great with designing fancy things so bear with me.

 

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Audiobook Review: The Last Ever After (The School for Good and Evil #3) by Soman Chainani

Posted by on 10/08/2015 • 4 Comments

I am going to try to do this review with no spoilers for the previous books, but seeing as it’s the third and final book, no promises. You have been warned to continue at your own risk. I have to say that this series in general was fantastic and I was so excited for this last book. It totally lived up to my expectations! I have listened to the whole series on audio and it’s one of the best audiobook series. The narrator, Polly Lee, is the perfect voice for the story. She makes it very easy to tell between the characters, and brings a fantastic story to life. This book was full of all the build up off all the things that came before and all the new dangers…

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Review: A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano

Posted by on 10/01/2015 • 2 Comments

This book was all sorts of fun to read. The characters were interesting and so was their story. What I love the most about middle grade books is that even if there is a bit of child romance, that is not the focus. Instead, the focus is more on what is happening or a building friendship. Initially I was thinking, “Oh boy, another ghost story.” but although it does have ghosts, it didn’t wear on me or feel like every other ghost book out there. There was a bit of creepiness to the story, and a lot of thrills. This is a great story for younger ones leading into Halloween season or anytime.

Pram is a very smart little girl who lives with her aunts. Her mother died when…

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Review: The Sleepwalker Tonic (Nightmares! #2) by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Review: The Sleepwalker Tonic (Nightmares! #2) by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Posted by on 09/14/2015 • 1 Comment

I really enjoyed the first book, so I was eager to get to this one right away. Just when Charlie is finally happy with his family and life, things start to get weird again. Him and his brother Jack have sealed the portal to the nightmare realm, but now he has discovered that Jack has been visiting, and with the odd stuff happening in the waking world his little brother may become the one they blame. Things aren’t going so well with Charlotte’s business either, and they may lose their house.The purple mansion with the portal that they must protect. Charlie starts to discover that the weird events, and the pending doom of Charlotte’s store are connected. Now it’s up to him and Jack to save the nightmare world again,…

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Review: Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Review: Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Posted by on 09/10/2015 • 4 Comments

I love a good middle grade book filled with adventure and fun! This is a somewhat horror, but it’s not really all that scary. Of course, it’s for kids so that makes sense. The characters in this book were great, and I loved getting lost inside their adventure along with them. It’s such a great blend of fantasy, adventure, and great lessons. I think that is what really draws me to MG books. There is usually such a great lesson for kids thrown into all the fun and fantasy of reading the story. This one is a lot about family and I thought it was done so well. This book was published last year, but since I was invited to review the second book, I needed to read and review…

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