Reviews written by Angela Blount, Staff Reviewer

A touching memorandum and homage to the armed forces—wrapped in a gentle and beautifully illustrated teaching tool. The premise is simple. A young boy travels cross-country with his beloved grandfather to Washington DC, where they attend the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom. His simple-yet-poignant understanding of why...

A stirring, tuneful tale of familial ties—those that bind and those that constrain. This contemporary Middle Grade book is told almost entirely from the third-person past-tense perspective of Clayton Byrd, a young boy who lives in New York City with his willfully single mother and his...

An enthralling and vital YA read—boldly tackling issues of mental and relational health within a compelling narrative. Jessa Gray has been broken on the inside ever since her parent’s divorce, when her father moved several states away and her mother quickly remarried. While her mother was busy...

For fans of the Shopkins phenomenon, this product has a lot going for it. Vibrant, cheerful, and devastatingly cutsie. This activity book is composed of 85 pages worth of coloring, mazes, connect-the-dots, drawing prompts, writing prompts, color-by-numbers, word finds, puzzles, spot-the-differences, and of course stickers–along with several...

A fun new read for LEGO and NEXO Knights fans. Following the same format as others in the NEXO Knights starter-level chapter books series, this 80-page read features large font, with 3D rendered stills from the TV show featured on nearly every page. The pacing is quick,...

This third and final book in Scott Sigler’s The Generations Trilogy picks up roughly a year after the second book left off, with Em Savage still the leader of the original “Birthday Children” who fled to the planet they were engineered for—with the “Grownups” who intended to overwrite their minds...

A quality, adventurous pick—ideal for reluctant young readers. This story abounds with mystery and action, along with the positive themes of research, responsibility, and teamwork. While this is actually #4 in the Eerie Elementary series, the book can adequately stand alone. Although, one continually gets the...

Hours of step-by-step projects--endless sculpting and light-up possibilities. This electrical sculpture kit contains four colors of conducting clay (purple, green, orange, and black), a pack of white insulating clay, 20 LED lights in five colors (red, white, yellow, blue, and green), and 53 paper punch-out pieces for embellishment....

“I ask no more than to live a hundred years longer, that I may have more time to dwell the longer on your memory.” This is my second experience with Jules Verne and one of his renowned Victorian era travelogues (my first being Around The World in...

More fun than barrel of sea-monkeys! With six air-dry colors, a carving tool, 49 insert pieces, and an Idea Book with 10 detailed step-by-step instruction options on differing critter assembly, this Klutz product introduces kids to the basics of sculpting vibrantly adorable sea creatures. The clay included...

Suit up, sci-fi fans—this isn’t your standard fare alien invasion plot. Several generations after being overtaken by a vastly different and technologically superior alien race called the zhree, humanity is divided on their perception of the occupation. Those who’ve strived for a peaceful and mutually beneficent...

Intricately illustrated and concise in explanations, this primer is a gorgeous and interactive addition to any D&D fan's collection. The book is narrated by the bard-like figure known as Volothamp Geddarm (or just Volo), who serves as your cavalier guide to becoming a "true Dungeonologist." The tone...

“Death may beget life, but oppression can beget nothing other than itself.” Slow to start, but intricately woven and stunning in its conclusion. So far my favorite work by Dickens--on par with my love for A Christmas Carol (although they are hardly...

A smart, solidly written work of Middle Grade sci-fi. The book is aptly named; the vast majority of it taking place on a future Mars colony during the last day of its existence--just before it is due to be abandoned by humanity. The bulk of the...

What begins as an altruistic desire for child labor turns into an a life-altering venture into parenting for an aging brother/sister duo. Set on Prince Edward Island somewhere in the very late 1800's or very early 1900's, the story is told in a third-person omniscient point...