Tag Archives: young adult

Beast – Margaret Wild

Jaime is superstitious and he’s also got obsessive compulsive disorder. He doesn’t know what he has; he only knows that if he doesn’t do certain repetitive things, he’ll have bad luck. Every night, he dreams that a beast comes and looks in his window. He’s terrified that someday, the beast will break through and get him, and he adds more repetitive things to his to-do list each day, but that list is taking longer to get through and his compulsion is starting to upset his daily schedule. Despite the fact that he has a loving, supportive family, he doesn’t feel … Continue reading →

The Road to Paris – Nikki Grimes

Paris Richmond is an eight-year-old girl who has already seen more of her fair share of difficulty in her life. The daughter of a black mother and a white father, she has darker skin but blonde hair, which gains her curious and often critical looks from people she meets. What’s worse, though, is the fact that her mother is an alcoholic and her father hasn’t been seen for years. Neither has her brother Malcolm’s father. These two children wouldn’t know what to do with a full-time father in their lives. When the Department of Family Services finds out just how … Continue reading →

An Acquaintance with Darkness – Ann Rinaldi

“An Acquaintance with Darkness” is the story of Emily Pigbush, a fourteen-year-old girl who lives in Washington D.C. with her mother at the close of the Civil War. Her father was killed and her mother was left with nothing. With the wasting disease upon her, Mrs. Pigbush knows she will soon die, leaving her daughter alone in the world. Emily’s good friend Johnny Surratt comes to say goodbye, telling her that he’s headed for Canada. Deep in her heart she knows she will never see him again, that he’s mixed up with something sinister. When she meets an actor by … Continue reading →

Serpent Tide – K. L. Fogg

”Serpent Tide,” a young adult adventure novel by author K. L. Fogg, is an exciting read. Wesley Vandergriff is a rich twelve-year-old who is coddled and protected to within an inch of his life by his mother, Imogene. His father isn’t in the picture, but Imogene makes up for that lack with toys, games, lavish birthday parties, tuition at an exclusive private school – in fact, the only thing Wesley doesn’t have is a life. His mother keeps him so safe and so protected, he never gets to go anywhere or have any fun. One day he finally gets the … Continue reading →

Leepike Ridge – N.D. Wilson

“Leepike Ridge” is a young adult adventure novel about an eleven-year-old boy named Thomas Hammond. His father passed away a couple of years previously and he lives with his mother in a house that is chained to the top of a mountain so it won’t slide off. They love their rural house but the appliance deliverymen don’t care for it – power surges are frequent and every time they have one, their refrigerator goes out. Sure enough, the deliverymen have to lug a new fridge up that mountain with regularity. They aren’t amused. Thomas is also not amused that Jeffrey, … Continue reading →

Stargirl – Jerry Spinelli

She was unique. She marched to the beat of a different drummer. She came like a whirlwind into the high school in Mica, Arizona, dressed like a Victorian bride, playing her ukulele in the lunch room, and no one in the whole school knew what to make of her. Leo certainly didn’t, but he sure wanted to figure her out. She chose the name “Stargirl” for herself, feeling that it more closely resembled who she was than her own given name of “Susan.” She wore what she felt like wearing. She did what she felt like doing. She was her … Continue reading →

Jud’s Journey – Fay Waldemar McCracken

During the early years of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many of the church members were forced to flee their homes to escape mob persecution. They traveled across the country with handcarts or covered wagons and made their home in the Salt Lake Valley, in the region that would become the state of Utah. They faced perils along the way, many dying from accident, disease, or hunger. “Jud’s Journey,” while a fictional young adult novel, is an accurate depiction of what many of those early Saints had to face. Jud is the only son and the middle … Continue reading →

Running Out of Time – Margaret Peterson Haddix

“Running Out of Time” was Margaret Peterson Haddix’s first novel, and it’s completely fascinating. Jessie is a young teenager living in the 1840’s. An outbreak of diphtheria sweeps through their small town of Clifton, and there is no medicine to help with it. Jessie’s mother is the one everybody comes to when they’re sick, but even with her skills, she’s powerless to stop the disease. She takes Jessie to a secluded spot in the woods and there tells her the surprising truth about their town. To them, it’s 1840, but in the outside world, it’s 1996. She then goes on … Continue reading →

My Louisiana Sky – Kimberly Willis Holt

Tiger Ann Parker is a twelve-year-old girl with an unusual name living an unusual life. Her mother and father are both mentally slow, and they live with Granny, who oversees the household and basically is the only adult. Tiger’s parents love her deeply, but aren’t capable of giving her the care she needs, and Tiger spends much of her time caring for her mother instead, who is mentally six years old. Tiger’s father has a job at a nearby nursery and is a real whiz with the plants, but he can’t read or write at all. When Tiger was younger, … Continue reading →

Girl in Blue – Ann Rinaldi

Young adult historical fiction novelist Ann Rinaldi brings us “Girl in Blue,” the story of Sarah Louisa Wheelock. She is about to be married off to a mean-spirited man who lives on a nearby farm, a new widower and the father of two small girls. Sarah Louisa knows that if she were to marry this man, her life would be full of hard work, no love, and an occasional beating, if the man’s first wife’s appearance was any indication. She makes up her mind that she will not go through with it, even though her father has commanded her to … Continue reading →