Reviews written by Beth Rodgers, Staff Reviewer

'It's Not Me, It's You' by Stephanie Kate Strohm provides a unique and somewhat irregular look into the dynamics of breakups. Main character Avery decides to do one of her final senior projects from a historical viewpoint, but not in a way that has ever been done before, at least...

'You're Weird: A Creative Journal for Misfits, Oddballs, and Anyone Else Who's Uniquely Awesome' by Kate Peterson will allow anyone looking for ideas to stumble upon something great. All people, no matter how normal they think they are, can be classified as weird in some way. There is absolutely nothing...

'Zog and the Flying Doctors' is another great story by Julia Donaldson, and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The two have their share of books written and illustrated together, including 'The Gruffalo' and 'Room on the Broom,' two adorable and poetic stories about interesting creatures. In this tale, Zog, a dragon-ambulance,...

'Swing It, Sunny' by Jennifer L. Holm is a graphic novel about middle school student, Sunny, and her strained relationship with her older brother, Dale, set in the 1970s, with ample pop culture references to make it as realistic as possible. While Dale is away, Sunny finds it hard to...

'The Law of Tall Girls' by Joanne Macgregor is a lighthearted and enjoyable read about Peyton Lane and all of the insecurities that she fights to hide behind her tall exterior. After all, Peyton is tall - very tall - and what she considers her freakish height gets in the...

'Choices: The True Story of One Family's Daring Escape to Freedom' by J.E. Laufer is a short, yet instantly compelling story. A little more than a decade after the horrific acts of the Holocaust have ravaged innocent families, young mother Kati and her husband, Adolf, come to the conclusion that...

'The Anchor Clankers' by Renee Garrison has an interesting premise. The main character, Suzette, is shuttled around with her parents as her father moves from job to job. His current job placement is at a boys' naval academy in Florida, outside of Orlando. Life is not necessarily easy for Suzette,...

'Blue vs. Yellow' by Tom Sullivan focused on the creative ways in which those two colors can be used, along with the ways in which they are both similar and different. The give and take between the two colors and how each felt it was best was written in a...

'Nothing' by Annie Barrows has an intriguing premise. The two girls in the story - Charlotte and Frankie - feel that nothing in their lives ever happens in the way that it does in young adult novels. To prove this, Charlotte begins writing their story. She calls it 'Nothing' and...

'Confiscated' by Suzanne Kaufman tells the story of two dinosaur brothers who each want the same toys. When their mother finally gets fed up with their insistence on arguing, she takes all of the toys away. Boredom eventually kicks in, and the brothers realize that they can actually have a...

'The 12 Dares of Christa' by Marissa Burt is a sweet story of friendship, determination, strength, and forgiveness. Main character Christa is taken aback when, as she starts with her yearly Christmas preparations, she finds that her parents are throwing her a pretty large curveball - they're divorcing, and Christa's...

'Frazzled: Ordinary Mishaps and Inevitable Catastrophes' by Booki Vivat is an adorable, illustrated story that not only proves a fast read, but also a truly enjoyable one. From the accurate and telling illustrations, to main character Abbie Wu's questioning and uncertain attitude about life in general, Vivat has crafted a...

'See Fred Run' by Kevin Bolger, and illustrated by Ben Hodson, is a story about main character Fred and his desire to do anything but what the book's pages are telling him to do. There is another character in the book named Ed, but his purpose is not overly clear,...

'11 Before 12' by Lisa Greenwald will put you right back in that time of your life when everything mattered too much and nothing at all mattered more than your best friend. Kaylan and Arianna find this to be true as they gear up for sixth grade. They are chock...

'It's Your World' by Chelsea Clinton does a nice job of anticipating questions teens (or adults) may have about a wide variety of topics, including, but certainly not limited to, poverty, inequality, illnesses, hunger, and many, many more. It also focuses on routes that will hopefully lead to solutions for...