Phineas and Ferb

“There’s 104 days of summer vacation, and school comes along just to end it. So the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it. Like maybe…”
So begins the theme song of the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb. Phineas and Ferb are brothers with a perpetual summer [...]

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Ghost Town, by Richard W. Jennings

This book was very different than I expected. Given the description of a book featuring a camera that can take pictures of people who aren’t there, wouldn’t you expect a scary story? After all, it is called Ghost Town. But no, there’s not a spooky page to be found in this book. [...]

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Pretty Little Devils, by Nancy Holder

Every school has them, the popular clique of girls whom everyone wants to date or be best friends with. The Pretty Little Devils (PLDs) are such a group of girls, at Brookhaven High School in California. While they are pretty and intelligent, they are also manipulative, and can get away with anything, maybe [...]

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Sea Change, by Aimee Friedman

Miranda was planning a quiet summer vacation at home in New York City. She needed time to get over her cheating ex-boyfriend, and was looking forward to an internship at the Museum of Natural History. Then she receives word that her grandmother has passed away, and that her mother has inherited the family [...]

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Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

I’m breaking a rule I set for myself with this blog. I didn’t think I would ever blog a sequel. After all, if you liked a book, and a sequel comes out, you are probably already planning to read it. If you didn’t like a book, why would you want to read [...]

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Distant Waves: a Novel of the Titanic, by Suzanne Weyn

While you seldom come across a book that has something for everyone, Distant Waves: a Novel of the Titanic truly does. It has history, philosophy, and science, suspense, romance, and action, all mixed in with elements of the supernatural. It is the story of five sisters, born to a mother who makes her [...]

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Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

I hope you have all enjoyed this week of Twilight alternatives. And now, in the immortal words of Monty Python, for something completely different:
Summer is nearly upon us and it is starting to get hot. While I cannot help with the heat, I can recommend a great set of wintery short stories. Set at Christmas, [...]

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Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

In the history of star-crossed loves, the story of Miranda and Zachary ranks right up there with Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, or perhaps more appropriately, Buffy and Angel, with a bit of role reversal. Miranda is a vampire and Zachary is an angel, but their story doesn’t start out that way. Miranda was [...]

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Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez

Nightshade, California, the setting of Dead is the New Black, shares quite a bit in common with another strange California town. No, I don’t mean L.A. I’m referring to Sunnydale, CA. For those who don’t get the reference, Sunnydale is a fictional town, and the home of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Like Sunnydale, Nightshade has [...]

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Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

Jessica thought her life was going pretty well. She had adopted parents who loved her, a best friend, and a crush who actually seemed to share her desire for a relationship. Until, on her first day of senior year, Jessica hears her name being whispered at the bus stop. Not the name Jessica, but her [...]

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