Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
nhalsan's review: "4Q, 4P - With speak, Anderson creates a story with a cast of believable characters and approaches a delicate and rarely discussed topic in a fashion that leaves the reader moved,...
View ArticleWitches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer
nhalsan's review: "3Q, 2P – This is a simple recounting of the well-known events in Salem, Massachusetts at the end of the seventeenth century. It’s quick and to the point. The historical content...
View ArticleThe Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
nhalsan's review: "Illustrated account of one young boy's life behind the Iron Curtain. Artwork has limited color, but used to great effect overall."Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (2007), Edition:...
View ArticleThe Fault in Our Stars by John Green
nhalsan's review: "5Q 4P: John Green gives a glimpse into the short, yet incredibly real, relationship between Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters, two young adults with terminal cancer diagnoses. The...
View ArticleClaudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
nhalsan's review: "Q3 P4 Phillip Hoose’s Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice is incredibly informative. It draws readers in through interviews and primary resources in which he is able to...
View ArticleFeed by M.T. Anderson
nhalsan's review: "Q4 P4: Feed is a science fiction tale that is as believable as it is fantastic. Set on Earth, in it's lingering last days, we glimpse the life of an affluent group of teenagers...
View ArticleEvery Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deductions, and Debates by...
nhalsan's review: "Q3 P2: Every Bone Tells a Story is the kind of non-fiction book that comes up in conversations. It covers a 4 recent archeological finds that tell us more about the early...
View ArticleThe Arrival by Shaun Tan
nhalsan's review: "Q5 P4 With surreal flair, amazing illustrations (reminiscent at times of expressionist film) and use of not a single word, Shaun Tan’s The Arrival describes immigration, the journey...
View ArticleThe Book Thief by Markus Zusak
nhalsan's review: "Q5 P4 I enjoyed spending the last week with The Book Thief immensely. I am increasingly interested in creative ways of bringing history to youth, especially stories about World War...
View ArticleCeline by Brock Cole
nhalsan's review: "I want Celine to be my friend. Witty and sarcastic, yet real and mature, Celine tells it like it is and lives it like she wants."Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2003), Edition: 1st,,...
View ArticleWe Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
nhalsan's review: "The illustrations are huge and real. They bring this era of baseball to life, while the text flushes out the style of play, the greats who played it, and the lives of those unable...
View ArticleThe Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America by...
nhalsan's review: "The nicknames, the yarns and the detailed and well told history of some of the most amazing players the game has ever seen are all present in the magnificent...
View ArticleThe London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
nhalsan's review: "Q3 P3. I like mysteries and the London Eye Mystery is just that. It was a fun and quick read with sluethy, quirky, and enjoyable characters. Ted and Kat lead us on a wild goose...
View ArticleEin Land, genannt die DDR by Ulrich Plenzdorf
nhalsan's review: "Cool book that introduces the history of East Germany to a younger audience that would never have known it first hand."Fischer S. Verlag GmbH (2005), Paperback
View Article145th Street: Short Stories by Walter Dean Myers
nhalsan's review: "Q4 P4 I read the opening story of Dean Walter Meyer's 145th Street and was thrilled by the detail and depth such a short story could contain. Big Joe's Funeral was both funny and...
View ArticleEin Kinderbuch by Bertolt Brecht
nhalsan's review: "What more could you want than Brecht himself teaching kids how to read poetry."Aufbau Verlag GmbH (2006), Hardcover
View ArticleThe Diviners by Libba Bray
nhalsan's review: "Q5 P4 My first Libba Bray and certainly not my last! My first audiobook, and MAYBE my last. Libba Bray's Diviners might just have something for everyone: it's a mystery set in New...
View ArticleAsk Me No Questions by Marina Budhos
nhalsan's review: "4Q3P A fabulous glimpse inside the complicated and at times perilous situation of undocumented immigrants in the United States after the attacks of September 11th. After a failed...
View ArticleRace: A History Beyond Black and White by Marc Aronson
nhalsan's review: "4Q 3P I am often confused by history books written for young adults. It seems to me that most histories would be accessible to them, or at least as accessible as YA histories. The...
View ArticleThe Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
nhalsan's review: "A wildly interesting approach to you YA Historical Fiction. Engle writes a collection of poems, composed by a number of historical figures (an a few fictional) during Cuba's three...
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