Reviews written by Angela Blount, Staff Reviewer

A quick read from the LEGO City realm, presented in introductory comic format using what looks like 3D cell shading. A trio of crooks have been planning their escape from Prison Island, and tonight is the big night. Driven by a longing for pizza, visiting grandma, and...

This LEGO/DC collaborative is a quick read with an introductory comicbook feel and a kid-friendly execution. Usually it’s the headline heroes who steal the spotlight… but in this story, someone’s stolen them! That leaves the sidekicks (Robin, Batgirl, and Supergirl) to battle it out against Harley...

A masterpiece of folded paper engineering, loaded with a wealth of interesting LEGO history and facts. From its humble beginnings in 1950’s Denmark, LEGO has grown and developed into an empire of unparalleled success. This book sets out to educate readers on the origins, evolution, and...

LEGO continues its tried and true tactic of combining real world pictures and period art with their cell-shaded cartoon figures, rendering an engaging blend of education and entertainment. Did you know that the winner of a joust was often allowed to take the loser’s horse? Or that...

Coming in at 128 pages, this chapter book is the 3rd in the LEGO Bionicle series—tacking lore and backstory onto the existing toys and webisodes. The action runs high, and the pacing is fairly steady throughout. The island ambiance is almost a character unto itself. Points...

A fictional travelogue of sorts, this steady-driving journey began a bit blandly but picked up steam and endearment as it went. Phileas Fogg is an unlikely hero—a stoic British gentleman with no family or friends and an OCD-level obsession with timeliness and routine. We are introduced...

“I have never heard a more eloquent silence.” A noteworthy forerunner in the teen “Issues” subgenre, and one of the first to so directly confront rape. This is an indisputably important book. It offered insight and acknowledgement on an all-too-frequent...

This book attempts to serve as a non-exhaustive world history primer, with an eye-catching cover and plenty of threaded imagery to enhance the experience. Disclaimer: This reviewer’s grasp on history is fairly weak. After reading The Literature Book from this same topic-encompassing series and finding it...

The sarcasm is strong with this one. This format will likely hold the most appeal for young video game fans. The character verses character concept is straightforward—presenting readers with a paragraph worth of whimsical and sometimes pun-laden bio info about each character, along with a 1-10 Stat...

A quick, whimsical companion guide to the Magnus Chase world; this book presents Norse mythos on a middle-grade level, yet proves palatable for nearly all ages. Rather than a single tale, what we have here is a compilation of bite-sized biographies and illuminating short stories, all intended...

Featuring mystery, history, and puzzles, this steady-paced Middle Grade work takes off near the end and sprints full-tilt. When 12-year-old Ted Gerson has his first conversation with his namesake—his mother’s beloved Uncle Ted—it’s on the man’s deathbed. And it’s there that Ted receives what turns out...

In this informative introductory guide, LEGO borrows heavily from NASA images and taps a comic-style to walk kids through our solar system—and beyond. Planet stats include: Material composition, Distance from the sun, number of probe missions, and notation on any existing moons or rings. Most...

An action-dense sci-fi full of politics and intrigue—with strong crossover appeal for fantasy fans, especially those who enjoy works along the same lines as The Queen Of The Tearling trilogy. Set nearly two millennia into the future, the story is told in first-person past-tense entirely from...

A light urban fantasy—venturing into the unsettling concept of mind control and the usurping of free will. Aspen Quick comes from a long line of mind-reading thieves—born with the ability to rummage about in other people’s heads and steal whatever suits them. Feelings, memories, motivational drives…...

Once again LEGO and DC deliver with this simple-yet-valuable storyline, featuring beloved characters and stylized artwork. The Teen Titans are having some trouble working together as a team, so Batman decides to drop them off at a mysterious new Carnival in town and let them do some...