Reviews written by Angela Blount

A bright and whimsical tale about a boy, a big sister, and a hungry feline of make-believe proportions. An unnamed boy and his older sister are home alone and left to their own devices in terms of entertaining themselves. The boy wants his sister to read him...

A classic, allegorical work of children’s fiction—one which may be more aimed at a jaded, unimaginative adult audience more so than at children. Over and over it points out the absurdities in many an adult endeavor or priority, whilst weaving a sojourning tale around the “Little Prince” of a tiny...

This book is essentially a 40 page illustrated biography, suitable for children ages 6 and up. Offering a bit of childhood background to help set the stage, it brings to life the true story of how the estranged daughter of a famous (and infamous) poet became a mathematical visionary—not to...

Expertly written historical fiction. A gutting, wrenching, reverberating work of heart. The subject matter made this reader hesitate initially to take it on, but enough endorsement finally pushed me over the edge. I’m glad it did. (And I owe thanks to everyone who warned me not to...

As YA fairytale retellings go, this one is a thoughtfully crafted fantasy smorgasbord. Redwine’s alternate version of Snow White isn’t some waifish, naive songbird—sleeping off her questionable life choices while waiting on a rescue. (Sorry, Disney fans. Please don’t troll me.) Here instead we...

DISCLAIMER: This book does not technically contain characters of a Young Adult age (unless one counts the relative maturity state of a certain artificial intelligence.) The hope was that there could be some crossover appeal, but that is for the individual reader to decide. While this is...

Delightfully quirky, and outlandishly fanciful. There once was a boy named Tim—whose fantastical imagination kept getting him in trouble. Whenever unfortunate things happen, Tim defers blame to an amusing cast of mischievous and unlikely characters. But his family isn’t buying the stories he weaves… ...

“Once upon a time, there were four friends, two couples, who stopped being friends before they stopped being couples.” The story takes place in contemporary Florida, nearly a year after five close friends are both the witnesses and unwitting participants to a catastrophic car...

Playful, vibrant, and enchanting—a light fantasy suitable for nearly all ages. Sophie the hatter settles into the curse placed on her by The Witch of the Wastes with little complaint, and an almost a tragic acceptance that artificial old age changes little in her uneventful life. But...

A timely, relevant, and thought-provoking debut. What We Saw is a well-constructed cautionary tale—littered with all too realistic considerations and consequences to issues American culture tends to downplay, glamorize, and otherwise distort for a variety of reasons. At its heart, this is a story about doing the...

Never will you come across a tree more deserving of a hug. As a child, this book stuck in my memory like few others. The tree represented, at least to my young mind, a sort of ideal nurturing parental figure--ever giving, never asking anything in return. I...

In reading this book, I tried to set aside the author’s well-documented disdain for C.S. Lewis and did my level best to consider this bit of middle-grade-ish fantasy in as objective of terms as possible. For the most part, I think I succeeded. Lyra is a wild,...

Good to finally grasp the full weight of the references our culture still makes to this classic. It’s one thing to understand the concept: “Kids left to their own devices on an uninhabited island experience rapid societal and moral degradation.” It’s quite another to put yourself...

Neil Gaiman and Adam Rex join forces for the third installment in this series about Chu the panda. Big things happen when little Chu sneezes. When his family visits the beach, the peculiar force of his sneeze causes all sorts of problems for beachgoers. Can Chu...

Yet another classroom-friendly ASL teaching tool from a company that offers consistent literary quality. This 28 page original American Sign Language tale is all about… well… tails! All Annie wants for her 5th birthday is a different animal tail she can wear for each day of the...