Reviews written by Ed Goldberg

Valerie and her boyfriend Nick had a Hate List. It was those kids who treated them like crap, who played jokes on them, who bumped them in the hall, who called her Doctor Death because of the way she dressed, who had that Im better than you attitude. ...

Ash by Malinda Lo is a new twist on the Cinderella fairy tale. Aislings (Ash) mother dies when she is twelve. She misses her dearly. As in the Cinderella story, Ashs father remarries, this time to Lady Isobel who has two daughters, Ana (the favored daughter) and...

Rosie is a high school sophomore and her sister Skate (real name Olivia) is a year older. Rosie is boyfriendless and Skates boyfriend, Perry, just went off to Rutgers in New Brunswick, NJ. Shes actually living with Perrys mother, Julia. Rosie is living at home with her...

In Purple Heart, Patricia McCormick has tackled another serious issue: the trauma of war. Private Matt Duffy, an American soldier in Iraq, wakes up to find himself in a military hospital. Hes not quite sure how he got there or why. Dr. Kwong tells him hes...

This time it wont fail. This time, with the proper planning, with the help of Through-the-Light, Daelyn will be able to successfully take her own life. Not like the other times, like when she slit her wrists or&.. Daelyn is only fifteen, yet she has...

Marcus Jordon just moved from Kansas to upstate New York--Kennesaw, NY to be exact. A JV football star at his old high school, Marcus is focused on varsity football this year. So focused that before school starts in the fall, he practices by himself in Three Alarm Park...

Odd is sort of odd, but thats not what his name means. In Norse, his name means tip of a blade, which in my mind signifies strength. Looking at his skinny frame, watching him limp as he walks, Odd looks anything but strong. His stepfather feels the...

Peter Augustus Duchene held a coin that did not belong to him. It was the property of his guardian, an old soldier named Vilna Lutz. Vilna had sent Peter to buy fish and bread. But in the market there was a fortune teller and Peter was torn....

Its the summer of 1975 and Grace Barnett has just graduated high school in the Tidewater area of Virginia. Shes looking forward to a carefree summer before college in the fall. But life doesnt always give you what you want. The first few days of summer bring...

Francisco X. Stork has written a thought provoking book in Marcelo in the Real World. Marcelo is bright but his mind processes verbal and written communication slowly and he is a very literal processor. The Paterson School which he attends and loves has taught him to somewhat recognize...

Grandma Dowdel is back to her old shenanigans in Richard Pecks A Season of Gifts. This sequel to A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder takes place in 1958. Twelve year old Bob Barnhart and his family have moved to town from Terre Haute, right...

Quinn Hunts parents are divorced and for the longest time she didnt see her dad, Barry. But, for the past three years, she and her younger sister Charlotte (aka Sprout), alternate weekends at home in Seattle with their mother and with their dad in Portland. When his latest...

Arden Vogel is 19 and an Army brat, moving every few years.  She last lived in Germany and now attends Vanderbilt University in Nashville.  Her mother is a nurse, deployed to Iraq.  Her father was killed in an auto accident three years earlier.  Arden's only contact with her mother...

Shannon Hales tale of Bayern continues in Forest Born.  Rinna, Razos sister, has a power that she doesnt understand and cant necessarily control.  She can convince people to do things they would not ordinarily do.  Having used that power for selfish reasons, she is uncomfortable with herself.  While communing...

Chincoteague is a small island off the coast of Virginia.  It is protected from the ocean by a larger island, Asateague, which is a wildlife refuge for wild fowl and wild ponies.  Each year there is a round up of ponies from Asateague so that they dont overrun the...