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Pieces Of Granite by Brenda Anderson
In God’s Arms Pieces Of Granite by Brenda Anderson is a most delightful Christian contemporary novel about families. It is part of the Coming Home and the Mosaic Collection series. I originally read Pieces Of Granite in 2014 and was blown away by it. Reading it again in 2020 I found it equally powerful. God […]
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Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar
Are you brave enough to rescue a bully from a hazardous substance, at your own risk? A thought-provoking middle grades read from the author of Holes. Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar. Delacorte, 2015. 208 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended For: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 “Fuzzy mud” is a mud that gets, well, fuzzy as potentially deadly microbes multiply exponentially. If the mud remains uncontained, the results will be catastrophic. And it’s been doing its little multiplying act unnoticed by the neighboring town…. Until two middle school kids flee into the woods in a desperate attempt to escape a big-time bully. When anyone is fleeing into uncharted wilderness…
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The Mutant Mushroom Takeover by Summer Rachel Short
Bioluminescent fungi, a strange death, and zombie-like side effects threaten Maggie and Nate’s small town. Can they solve the mystery in time to save the town? The Mutant Mushroom Takeover (A Maggie and Nate Mystery**) by Summer Rachel Short. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2020. 256 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended For: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Magnolia Stone is going to win the Vitaccino Junior Naturalist Merit Award. She has to; she’ll do anything to get her dad back from his far away job in Yellowstone National Park. But her definite-award-winning-potential photograph of a mutant insect leads her and Nate, rising YouTube star and detector…
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The Cedar Key by Stephenia H McGee
New Beginnings The Cedar Key by Stephenia H McGee is a most charming Christian contemporary novel that will warm your heart, leaving you smiling and hopeful. The novel deals with loss, belonging and roots. Loss cuts us to our core. We see the pain but there is hope too as a character made provision for […]
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*Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
In this one-of-a-kind, richly evocative memoir, “Everything Sad” disguises an otherworldly joy. *Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story) by Daniel Nayeri. Levine Querido, 2020, 351 pages. Reading Level: Teen, 12-15 Recommended for: ages 13-up All Persians are liars and lying is a sin. . . My mom says it’s true, but only because everyone has sinned and needs God to save them. My dad says it isn’t. Persians aren’t liars. They’re poets, which is worse. As for Daniel (whose original, Persian name is Khosrou), he speaks truth through story, like Scheherazade of the 1,001 Arabian nights. She told stories to save her life, and perhaps Daniel’s motivation isn’t much…
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The Stolen Sisters by Louise Jensen
Damaged Goods The Stolen Sisters by Louise Jensen is a fabulous compulsive contemporary psychological thriller that I just could not put down. Louise Jensen lures the reader into the story from the start as we immediately feel sympathy for the characters. We begin asking questions as to what has happened to damage these young adults […]
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The Winter Garden by Heidi Swain
Warm And Welcoming The Winter Garden by Heidi Swain is the most charming contemporary novel set during the autumn in the run up to Christmas. It is the third book in the Nightingale Square series but can be read as a stand-alone. I enjoyed catching up with familiar faces. Once more the characters are warm […]
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*Swift by R. J. Anderson
A young piskey girl searches for truth as danger threatens her home and loved ones. *Swift by R. J. Anderson. Enclave Publishing, 2020. 272 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 15 and up Recommended For: Ages 15 and up Ivy loves the Delve, but she struggles to belong. Ever since her mother disappeared, life has been difficult. And why must others pity her? She might have been born without wings, but she is just as much a piskey! And more than other piskeys, she hates the mysterious spriggans who took her mother years ago. When more piskeys begin disappearing from the Delve, Ivy is too stubborn to sit back and…
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Protecting Tanner Hollow by Lynette Eason
Exciting Suspense Protecting Tanner Hollow by Lynette Eason is an exciting collection of four contemporary Christian suspense novellas. All are set in Tanner Hollow and entitled Lethal Homecoming, Lethal Conspiracy, Lethal Secrets and Lethal Agenda. The stories are all linked by the characters with the focus shifting in each one. Familiar faces from the Blue […]
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Entangled Objects by Susanne Paola Antonetta
Entwined Entangled Objects by Susanne Paola Antonetta is a unique novel exploring the lives of three women. These women are all totally different in terms of lifestyle, money etc but they are also remarkably similar in their experiences. Their lives all intersect at various points. There was the theme of fake compared with being real. […]
