Paiges of Books

  Hi Everyone! Today on my blog it’s my stop on the Shelter Blog tour. I’m very excited to share my thoughts on the book. Thank you TBR& Beyond for having me on the tour. Info about the book and where to purchase is below.    Genre: Middle-Grade Contemporary Publishing date: October 12th, 2021 Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound Synopsis : Perfect for fans of One for the Murphys and Paper Things , this heart-wrenching middle-grade debut considers homelessness from one girl’s perspective and explores deep truths about the resounding impact of empathy. Fifth grade can be tough for anyone. There are cliques and mean kids and homework and surprise math tests. But after tragedy strikes her family, almost-eleven-year-old Maya has a painful secret that makes many days feel nearly impossible. And today might be Maya’s toughest yet. Her family is on edge, she needs to travel alone across the city, a bully is out to get her, and Maya has to face this wint...

  Hi! I got this as a read now on Net Galley. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. While I received this book for free, this doesn’t affect my opinions on the novel.   Info Title: Sydney A Frankel’s Summer Mix Up  Author: Danielle Joseph Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary Add to Goodreads:   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55723102-sydney-a-frankel-s-summer-mix-up?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=TkQNKe4e2v&rank=4 Rating: ***** (5 stars) What I enjoyed   Characters The characters in this novel were crafted well. They read as though they were real people, and that Middle School readers and readers of all ages could relate to them. An ensemble of characters who help her learn more about herself over the summer joins the main character Sydney. What I enjoyed the most about the characters was that they all had different personality traits which played well together as the story progressed. Plot   The plot of thi...

  Hello! Welcome to my stop on the TBR & Beyond blog tour for Pighearted by Alex Perry. I received a of copy of this book for free, but this doesn't affect my review or opinions on the book.  Book Info: Pighearted by Alex Perry Genre: Middle-Grade Contemporary Publishing Date: October 26, 2021   Synopsis: Charlotte’s Web  meets  My Sister’s Keeper  in this charming story told from the alternating perspectives of a boy with a fatal heart condition and the pig with the heart that could save his life. Jeremiah’s heart skips a beat before his first soccer game, but it’s not nerves. It’s the first sign of a heart attack. He knows he needs to go to the hospital, but he’s determined to score a goal. Charging after the ball, he refuses to stop…even if his heart does. J6 is a pig and the only one of his five brothers who survived the research lab. Though he’s never left his cell, he thinks of himself as a therapy pig, a scholar, and a bodyguard. ...

Hi! This is a review for a book I read a few months back. I saw it on Edelweiss + Download now, and I knew I needed to at least give it a chance. While I got this book for free, this doesn’t mean I won’t be honest in my review. Info Title: Tink and Wendy Author: Kelly Ann Jacobson Genre: Retelling, Fantasy, Contemporary Add to Goodreads :  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57680483-tink-and-wendy Rating: 3.5, What I liked Characters The characters in this novel were one highlight of the book for me. I love Peter Pan, and I’ve read the original book, seen the movies, and different adaptations, and seen a few different takes on the story. Taking a beloved story such as this, you need to think about how the characters will pay homage to the original, and still be fresh, so people will want to read what you have to say. Kelly Ann Jacobson does a great job of making the characters new and different, while still paying homage to the original intent. I enjoyed seeing...

    Hi! Today I’m going to share my review for Barakah Beats. I read this book in September and I really enjoyed it. I received a paperback copy of the novel for review, but this doesn’t affect my opinions on the book as a whole. All information comes from Goodreads. Title: Barakah Beats Author: Maleeha Siddiqui Genre: Middle Grade Release Date: October 19 th, 2021 Add to Goodreads:  here Rating: 5 stars (*****) One of my favorite things in this book was the characters. I loved how they were crafted and how each of the characters were crafted in the novel. Each of the characters played off each other; and how they made each other better people. By the end of reading this book, I really thought the characters grew as people, and they learned about themselves. I also loved that the characters learned that they needed to follow their passions for them.  Another fantastic element of this book was the plot. I always love books that have a music elem...

Hi! This book was given to me for free to Net Galley Read Now in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, I loved this anthology, and it was one of my favorite E-Arcs I’ve read this year.   Characters The characters in each of the stories were well developed, and they each had their own personalities. With anthologies like this, characters can start to run together, but all the characters were different, and I could tell who I was reading about. All of the characters were sweet and really cared about the other people in the stories. The characters had interesting hobbies and backstories as well. Plots The plots to all the stories in this collection were interesting. Each one was different, and they were all unique based on the trope used. Some were modern stories, and some were fantasy and sci-fi. I enjoyed reading most of the stories here. Bloom, using the trope, Love Transcends Space and Time by Rebecca Barrow, follows a woman named Mera who is looking for someone she...

  This book was free from Edelweiss + Read Now. I read this book because it seemed like a fun read, and I picked it when I had been reading a lot of intense and heavy books. I had read the book Pippa Park: Raises Her Game was also by Erin Yun, and I really enjoyed it. This is a tough book to review, so I will talk about the back cover and how the activities inside relate to them. I wish I had a journal like this when I was younger because it was a mix of fun and questions that really made you think.       Me, Myself & I This book was a great way for a young person to explore all aspects of their personality. From quizzes to help you get to know yourself better to activity pages where you could post photos. One of my favorite sections on getting to know yourself was the spaces where you got to write an answer to a specific question, such as, how do you see yourself. I feel for a young person reading this book, you could learn a lot and really think. ...

    Overview Hi! I got this from Net Galley Read Now a while back and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t fully understand that this novel was in verse until after I started it, but I was enjoying the story, and so I wanted to finish to see where it would go. This was my first time reading a book in this style, and I want to look into it more because I think I would enjoy it. Read on to see my thoughts. There is an author’s note at the end of the book which reveals that this was inspired by the author's family and I loved that.  Goodreads Info Title: Call Me Athena: A Girl from Detroit Author: Colby Cedar Smith Genre: YA, Historical Fiction Expected Publication: August 17 th , 2021 by Andrews McMeel Publishing Rating: 4  stars Add to Goodreads:  here   What I enjoyed Characters One of my favorite things about this story was the characters. They were well crafted and well developed. The main character is Mary just wants to live her own ...

  Hi! When I saw this on Net Galley Read Now I knew I needed to read it. I try and read books that are new to me or books that I don’t read a lot of expanding my reading horizons. This graphic novel was so cute and I just loved it. Title: Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms Authors: Crystal Frasier and Val Weiss (illustrations)  Genre: Contemporary, Graphic Novel Pages: 128, Rep: Trans MC, POC MC, LGBTQ+, Add to Goodreads & Storygraph:  Goodreads  &  Storygraph     Characters Oh, my goodness I fell so hard for these characters. The story follows Annie, who is a senior and needs to get some more extra circulars for college. I adored how no non-sense and how much Annie cared about her best friend Beatrice. The supporting cast of other cheerleaders was also excellent, and I enjoyed getting to know them in this novel. The graphic novel might be short, but the characters really pack a punch. I also loved seeing all the representation ...

Hi! This book was Read Now on NetGalley, so I knew I needed to read it. The book was free for an honest review, but this doesn’t affect my opinions outlined in this review. Info Title: Phoebe Unfired Author: Amalie Jahn Expected Publication: June 15 th , 2021 by Bermlord Edition read: Digital E-ARC Add to Goodreads: Here Rating: 5 stars (*****)   Characters The characters in the book were so much fun to read about, so I knew I needed to give them a star in my review. Phoebe was the kind of character who didn’t have many friends until she met JP in the subway, and then he introduced her to other friends. Seeing Phoebe grow as she learned more about herself and how she interacted with her friends was lovely. This was also a group of friends that helped each other, and they were all there when someone needed something. The novel is also filled with lovely supporting characters like Toby, Phoebe’s brother, who Phoebe just wants to protect. Walter, Phoebe’s boss at...

  Graphic edited by me.  Hi! I read this book last month, and if you have been following me for a while, you know that I loved it. Seeing as it is Middle Grade May, I knew I needed to review this book this month. Info Title: The Chance to Fly Authors: Ali Stroker, Stacy Davidowitz Genre: Middle-Grade, Contemporary, Own Voices Published: April 13 th , 2021 Edition read: Hardcover Add to Goodreads:  here Rating: 5 stars (*****) Characters I gave the first star for this book for the characters. The principal character Nat was so cool, and I just loved her so much. This novel also has a group of supporting characters who were just as delightful as the main character. Nat had a friend before she moved, but once she moved, she met a core group of people who welcomed her with open arms. Like the book Fearless by Mandy Gonzalez, this book had a found friendship group, and it was just so cute. Each member of the group had an outstanding personality, and they balanced each other ou...

Hi! As some of you may know, Fearless was one of the top anticipated reads of the year. I read this book in eight days, and if you know me, that is fast for me to read a book. I wanted to do a review of this book because I loved it so much, and I wanted to talk about how much I devoured this book.   Info Title: Fearless (Fearless Series Book 1) Author: Mandy Gonzalez Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary, Mystery Publication: April 6 th, 2021 Edition Read: Hardcover Add to Goodreads:  Here Rating: ***** (5 stars) Explaining my star rating  Characters One of the first things that drew me to love this book was the characters. I loved each and every one of them, and I wanted to know more about their stories. The characters in this book were delightful, so I needed to give them a star in my rating. We follow Monica, a girl from California who moves to New York City for a job as an understudy. In New York City, she meets April, Hudson, and Relly, other k...

Hi! I saw this book on Net Galley Read Now a few months ago, and I grabbed it because it seemed like a fun Middle-Grade novel. I’m glad I decided to take the plunge and grab this because I had such a fun time reading this.  Title: Rule of Threes Author: Marcy Campbell Genre: Middle-Grade, Contemporary  Add to Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/fc4ee058-b834-44c5-8c35-2ac201a4db47 Characters   This book had wonderful and complex characters, which is why I gave it the first star. If you know me, you know that I prefer to read character-driven novels as opposed to plot-based ones. I loved the characters in this book because like the world they were living in, they were raw and real. I would call this book middle grade because the characters had personalities that kids of that age group tend to have. The principal character Maggie was sweet, and she had a passion for design, which I loved to see. Her half-brother Tony was a guy who wanted what wa...

  Hi! As a break from the E-Arcs, I reviewed the books I read for the 2021 New Releases challenge as well. I reviewed You Have A Match by Emma Lord last month, which you can read  here . I read this book last month and it was such a gem. This has made my list of favorite reads of the first half of 2021. All information comes from Goodreads.   Title: This Will be Funny Someday Author: Katie Henry Published January 19 th , 2021 Pages 400 Edition Read: Kindle Ebook Trigger Warnings: Deception and abuse Rep: w/w relationship (side characters), Characters of Color (side character) Rating: ***** (5 stars) Add to Goodreads  here   Characters I gave the first star for this book for the characters. They filled this book with characters who were so much fun, and such raw and honest characters. The principal character Isabel, sometimes called Izzy, was the most fun to read about because she was finding herself, and what she wanted from life, and I...