Reviews written by CJ Redwine, Site and Staff Manager

LEAP WRITE IN is a comprehensive tour of a writer's inner thoughts, emotions, and memories while also providing opportunities to flex one's creative muscles by trying new styles of writing. There are prompts for poetry, stream of consciousness, memoir writing, and sensory descriptions, among other things. Emerging writers will find...

This story reminded me of the Little House on the Prairie books. The chapters are very episodic, and the main focus of the book is to show the reader pieces of the Amish lifestyle through the life experiences of Lily Lapp. The Amish culture, schooling, and farming lifestyle are depicted...

What I Loved: There's no shortage of adventure in MONEY RUN. The plot twists and turns with every chapter. Readers who love books that give you very little down time will enjoy this story. There are spies, assassins, thieves, billionaires, rare cars, cops, gadgets, improvisation, chase scenes,...

In this beautifully illustrated book, Zach the bear has a loose tooth and worries that the tooth fairy is human and either won't visit him because he's a bear or will be dangerous to him when she does visit. The story sets up the potential to teach a valuable lesson...

Beautiful illustrations and a strong plot line make this an interesting book for young readers. The excellent financial lessons (living within a budget, approaching money needs with an entrepreneurial spirit, and factoring in the cost of supplies when figuring out profit) are made easily accessible to kids. ...

Fans of the Fancy Nancy books (and new readers as well) will love this collection of six classic Fancy Nancy stories. Each story presents scenarios that young readers can relate to (staying up past bedtime and paying for it the next day, struggling to do a school assignment with a...

What I Loved: I finished reading over an hour ago, and I still don't know how to sum up my thoughts. IF YOU FIND ME is at once heartbreaking, compelling, insightful, and achingly beautiful. The story wrapped around me from the first page and wouldn't let me...

In this beautifully illustrated book, a little duckling refuses to stop trying to befriend a cat and insists on calling the cat "duck." Young readers will be amused as they will immediately be "in" on the fact that the duckling is mistaking the cat for a fellow duck. The rhyme...

Not That Tutu is an adorable book full of lively illustrations that are sure to engage young readers. My toddler also wears her tutu to bed, to the store, outside, and basically everywhere, so this story was perfect for her. She was instantly drawn to the cover (which has a...

This clever book explores what it means to be different from those around you and to have a unique talent that you haven't yet discovered. It also cleverly teaches the difference between a period, a question mark, and an exclamation mark. Young readers will be fascinated by the exclamation mark's...

What I Loved: This book is hard to put down, and it's all because of the narrator, Blaze. She's funny, addicted to comic books (vintage ones, thank you very much), and loyal to her loved ones. She's also blind or too willing to forgive the people she...

What I Loved: POISON is a fun fairy-tale that moves along at a swift pace without delving too deeply into the dark, grim themes that are often found in YA fantasy. Because the fight scenes are swift and everyone lives to either go to prison or fight...

Trolls vs. Cowboys in the Arctic is another fun installment in the Mega Mash-up series. The illustrations are colorful and full of life and are stylistically reminiscent of the show Johnny Test. The adventure is action-packed, a little bit silly, and guaranteed to keep young readers engaged with the story...

What I Loved: FLOWERS IN THE SKY isn't the kind of book I'd usually be drawn to, but I'm so glad I read it. I loved so many things about it. First of all, the setting (both the seaside town of Samana in the Dominican Republic and...

Fans of Judy Moody, Clementine, and Ramona will love the Starring Jules series. Jules is a girl who colors outside the lines and is fortunate enough to have parents who embrace and encourage her uniqueness. Her grandmother is also hugely supportive of her. Young readers will relate to Jules' difficulties...