by Tamara Bundy (Author) Set in the 1940’s, life is hard for most people in America. Men – dads and brothers – are off to war while their families struggle as best they can on rations and victory gardens. Life for Pixie Davidson seems even harder, and she’s carrying around a guilt complex heavier than a…
by Dusti Bowling (Author) A startling book for middle-grade kids about a girl who refuses to believe she is a freak or disabled. In fact, Aven Green is very capable of doing just about everything she wants despite being born without arms. She has a very cool can-do attitude that will change readers’ opinions about…
by Alex Woolf (Author), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Author), Thomas Judd (Narrator), Arcturus Digital (Publisher) An AUDIOBOOK Review I loved all the stories in this “retold for kids” version of Sherlock Holmes. They are very like the original ones that I read years ago, so the retelling of them is done well. I suppose some objectional words or objects, and maybe Holmes’…
by James Ponti (Author) (a middle grade book) A Book Review by Jackie Houchin I loved this book! I ate it up! I could hardly put it down. I sped through all 400 pages in no time, and this is pretty good for me, as I usually like much shorter books. But James Ponti wrote CITY SPIES…
by Alan Gratz (Author) A Children’s Book Review by Jackie Houchin BAN THIS BOOK by Alan Gratz, is an excellent book for middle grade and middle school kids (And older! Hey, I liked it!). It’s the story of Amy Ann, a 4th grade girl, and her reaction (and the good and bad consequences that happen) when she discovers…
Chronicle Books (Author, Publisher), Allan Corduner (Narrator), Juha Sorola (Narrator) An Audiobook Review by Jackie Houchin NORDIC TALES is a good variety of 16 fables and tales from Scandinavia involving poor, but brave and kind peasants who do good and are generously rewarded; fights with goblins and giants and dragons and trolls to win back stolen inheritances, the hearts of fair…
Tom Phillips (Author), James Fouhey (Narrator), Blackstone Publishing (Publisher) An Audiobook Review by Jackie Houchin Tom Phillips has an amazing imagination for thinking up plots and twists and cliffhangers and laugh out loud characters. And James Fouhey has just as much imagination in voicing all the wacky characters Tom Phillips creates! From a young boy (John, our red-headed hero, who…
by Peter Brown (Author), Kate Atwater (Narrator), An Audiobook Review by Jackie Houchin This is a fun, adventurous, and imaginative story that Peter Brown has written for children. There are lessons of kindness and getting along, lessons on how not to judge people (animals) who are different than you, and how to work together in emergencies. The Wild…
Audible Audiobook – Unabridged – Paul Moxham (Author, Publisher), Anne-Lise Kadri(Narrator) THE MYSTERY OF SMUGGLERS COVE is a fun kids’ adventure-mystery book. It’s the beginning of the 20-book Mystery Series by Paul Moxham. Dire situations to overcome on every page will keep readers holding their breaths and rapidly turning pages, to see what’s next, and how will…
by Dan Smith (Author) An Book Review by Jackie Houchin Wow! What an adventure! Impossible to put down. A 12-year-old boy, on the even of his birthday, goes into the dense forest of Northern Finland to hunt with the tribal bow and arrows. He is to bring in some trophy to prove he is a man. A…
Words and Reviews 