Review: Ogre Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Title: Ogre Enchanted
Series: Ella Enchanted
Author: Gail Carson Levine
Release Date: October 16, 2018
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 352

This post does contain affiliate links. I will receive a small amount from any purchases made through Book Depository at no extra cost to you.

In this prequel to Ella Enchanted, which can stand on its own, young healer Evie is transformed into an ogre by the meddling fairy Lucinda. She’ll turn back only if someone proposes and she accepts!

Returning to the land and many of the characters from her beloved Newbery Honor–winning Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine has written a delightful tale about a clever and endearing heroine who is determined to defy expectations.

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Review: The Echo Park Castaways by M.G. Hennessey

Title: The Echo Park Castaways
Author: M.G. Hennessey
Release Date: July 2, 2019
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 208

Content Warnings: death of a parent, foster care, cancer, deportation of a parent

This post does contain affiliate links. I will receive a small amount from any purchases made through Book Depository at no extra cost to you.

From the author of The Other Boy comes a poignant and heartfelt novel that explores what it means to be a family. Perfect for fans of Counting by 7s.

Nevaeh, Vic, and Mara are veterans of the Los Angeles foster care system. For over a year they’ve been staying with Mrs. K in Echo Park. Vic spends most of his time living in a dream world, Mara barely speaks, and Nevaeh is forced to act as a back-up parent. Though their situation isn’t ideal, it’s still their best home yet.

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Review: Secrets of a Fangirl by Erin Dionne

Title: Secrets of a Fangirl
Author: Erin Dionne
Release Date: May 28, 2019
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Pages: 272

Don’t have time to read the entire review? That’s okay! Scroll down to the very end for a TL;DR.

This post does contain affiliate links. I will receive a small amount from any purchases made through Book Depository at no extra cost to you.

Sarah Anne loves lacrosse, and the MK Nightshade series that everyone was obsessed over in grade school. The problem is that she’s still obsessed, which is way too nerdy for a popular kid like her. So she hides her geekiness with a set of rules meant to keep her geek and jock selves separate. 

Except when she’s offered a spot in a Nightshade fandom contest, where the winner gets to see the new movie premiere in LA. No one seems to think Sarah Anne can win, since she’s up against a pair of guys in high school–but the more she’s called a fake fan, the more determined she is to wipe the floor with her competition. As long as none of her friends or anyone at school knows what she’s doing.

Continue reading “Review: Secrets of a Fangirl by Erin Dionne”

Author Interview and Giveaway: Erin Dionne

Welcome to the Secrets of a Fangirl blog tour! Today I’ll be sharing with you an interview with the author and in a few weeks I’ll have a review for you as well!

This post does contain affiliate links. I will receive a small amount from any purchases made through Book Depository at no extra cost to you.

Sarah Anne loves lacrosse, and the MK Nightshade series that everyone was obsessed over in grade school. The problem is that she’s still obsessed, which is way too nerdy for a popular kid like her. So she hides her geekiness with a set of rules meant to keep her geek and jock selves separate. 

Except when she’s offered a spot in a Nightshade fandom contest, where the winner gets to see the new movie premiere in LA. No one seems to think Sarah Anne can win, since she’s up against a pair of guys in high school–but the more she’s called a fake fan, the more determined she is to wipe the floor with her competition. As long as none of her friends or anyone at school knows what she’s doing.

Continue reading “Author Interview and Giveaway: Erin Dionne”

Review: Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca



Title: Midsummer’s Mayhem
Author: Rajani LaRocca
Release Date: 6/4/2019
Publisher: Yellow Jacket
Pages: 352
Buy it!

This post does contain affiliate links. I will receive a small amount from any purchases made.

Eleven-year-old Mimi dreams of winning a baking competition judged by her celebrity chef idol. But she loses her best helper when her food writer father returns from a business trip mysteriously unable to distinguish between delicious and disgusting. Mimi follows strangely familiar music into the woods behind her house, meets a golden-eyed boy, and bakes with him using ingredients they’ve found in the forest. Then everyone around her suddenly starts acting loopy.

Squabbling sisters, rhyming waitresses, and culinary saboteurs mix up a recipe for mayhem in this Indian-American mashup of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and competitive baking.

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Mini Review: Hilda and the Hidden People by Luke Pearson

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Title: Hilda and the Hidden People
Author: Luke Pearson
Release Date: 9/4/2018
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Pages: 176
Buy it!

This post does contain affiliate links. I will receive a small amount from any purchases made.

Meet Hilda: explorer, adventurer, avid sketchbook-keeper and friend to almost every creature in the valley! Join our beloved heroine as she encounters her very first troll, negotiates peace with some very persnickety elves, and reunites two lovelorn ancient giants. Fantastic creatures and daring adventures are all just part of another average day for Hilda, but what will she do if she is forced to move to Trolberg city, far away from her beloved valley home? Dive into the adventure with this illustrated chapter book, based on the first two episodes of the show. 

Continue reading “Mini Review: Hilda and the Hidden People by Luke Pearson”

Ten Books with Rain on the Cover for a Rainy Day

My first thought when I saw this week’s topic of Rainy Day Reads was to come up with a list of happy books to beat the gray gloom on a rainy day. I like to try my best to put my personal spin on the topic every week though, so instead I’m going to be sharing with you ten books that have rain on the covers!

Continue reading “Ten Books with Rain on the Cover for a Rainy Day”
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