2.5 / 5 Stars. YA sci-fi novel boasts an appropriate tone and humorous moments, but fails to sensitively depict its diverse characters.

5 / 5 Stars; Middle-Grade Fantasy I've had a special place in my heart for this story since I first saw the movie several years ago. Believe it or not, I just read the book for the first time, and HOLY CRAP, YO! It is both magnificent and heartbreaking. And now a slow anger is simmering in me as I consider the lame-ohs who made the movie and left out so many poignant pieces of the plot. They straight chickened out, and the movie is worse for it. To recap, or for those who do

4/5 Stars Not to insult the authors of other books I've read lately, but those novels were SO LAME compared to this debut novel by mind-blessed author Carol Beth Anderson, who imagined this amazing new fantasy series. Facing the Sun is the first in a young adult fantasy trilogy following a community whose members are "sun-blessed." If an infant is born facing the sun and receives the blessing from a Karian midwife, they receive power that manifests in a specific area of their

4/5 Stars I first experienced this book in audio while driving. The day after I finished the audiobook, I borrowed it from the library to read it again. The first time I savored it. The second time I analyzed the heart of it and was amazed. For starters, the opening chapter is gripping--and quite mysterious. I spent the majority of the book wondering if what happened in the first chapter was real or if it was just symbolic--but the message of the book didn't change either way

4/5 STARS Interspecies relationships have been rocky from the start, especially because the Others consider humans their prey. When a strange young woman named Meg blows in from the street asking Simon Wolfgard for a job in his town run by the shapeshifters (the Others), he is forced to consider the effect on the already tenuous relationship between the Others and the humans. A prophecy made about Simon compels the leader of the Lakeside Courtyard to hire Meg as Human Liaison

2/5 STARS Things I Learned While Reading "The Lightning Thief": -If your best friend eats tin cans, he's probably a goat -All it takes to defeat legendary magical monsters with magical powers is a sword -The gods play Pinochle and ride Harleys -The gods can hear you when you talk about them, but they require video cameras to be able to see you Percy Jackson is your regulation teenager who, one day, is attacked by a vicious demon and as a result discovers he is the son of a go

4/5 STARS Ursula K. Le Guin is an author who has no need for my review, but whose book rocked so hard I can’t help but give it props. In A Wizard of Earthsea, Le Guin places emphasis on the significance of a name, which is why the main character has three. For the sake of simplicity, Imma call him Ged. At a young age, Ged discovers he has a powerful talent for magic, and his talent grows with the help of his mentors. When Ged begins to study at a school for wizardry, he finds