Reviews written by Jan Farnworth, Digital Manager/Blog Assistant and Staff Reviewer

What I liked: The Swifts is a kooky murder-mystery debut where the children are named from the dictionary-a family heirloom treasure. The day has come for the legendary family reunion, which leads to the family attempting to find a treasure that has long been hiding in the...

What I liked: The Swifts is a kooky murder-mystery debut where the children are named from the dictionary-a family heirloom treasure. The day has come for the legendary family reunion, which leads to the family attempting to find a treasure that has long been hiding in the...

What I liked: Children of the Black Glass is a high fantasy debut story for Middle-grade readers. Wren and Tell are part of a community of remote mountain dwellers whose sole income is from mining black glass. They travel to a city every year to trade it and...

What I liked: One of the things I like most about W. Bruce Cameron's Puppy Tales series is that he writes these books for children with great respect. He never talks down to children. Instead, he takes the best part of his adult novels about dogs and tells...

What I liked: Take a stroll through memory lane with none other than Dracula himself! Read his tales about yetis, lake monsters, invisible men, werewolves, and the dreadful Van Helsing. This a great book to be told at bedtime with your children, as it is an all too...

What I liked: Elf Academy Happy Santa Day is the third book in the Quix Fast Fun Reads from Aladdin, and this time the elves and Santa are very thankful. Happy Santa Day is a delightful chapter book for 5-8 years old who are ready to read beyond...

What I liked: Elf Academy Reindeer Games is the second book in a series about young elves and their merry misadventures, part of the Aladdin Quix Line of fun-to-read short chapter books. The length of this book is perfect for budding readers who want to read books that...

What I liked: Crimson has always wanted to go to the city to the fancy store called Broomingdales, and she is very excited to find just the correct item to purchase. Broomingdales, as you can imagine, is meant to be just like Bloomingdales, the story that has just...

What I liked: Goldilocks and The Three Knocks aim to tell you how the whole story of Goldilocks and Three Bears began. You all know the tale. Goldilocks is walking through the woods and then comes across the three bears' home and makes herself home. What if that...

Armadas in the Mist is the last novel in Christian Klaver's Empire of the House of Thorns series. Justice, her extended family, friends, and crew continue their war against Faerie. From the start of this book, we enter the story's climax. Plots and loose ends are pulled together in this...

Stellarlune is book 9 of The Keeper of Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger, and 2022 is the year I read or listened to them all in anticipation of book 9. I was not disappointed in the least, and I read the whole thing this time, but I also have the...

What I liked: Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria is a rich cultural story about a young boy from Lebanon who lives in America with his very sick Grandma. His mother is in Lebanon with her other family and has nothing to do with Shad and his...

Unseelie is the story of twin sisters, one who is a changeling and her human sister. Seelie finds it very hard to fit in with the humans surrounding her; her magic is unpredictable, and she finds it challenging to interact with anyone beyond her twin. In a...

What I liked: Puffin is written by a conservation biologist, who shares his knowledge of this beautiful books in-depth picture book for children. Children are curious about this world we live in, and animals are one of the hot topics, usually about why, where, and how. Puffin gives...

We know Rudolph and how he guided Santa sleigh through the dark one winter Christmas eve with his glowing red nose. But what about before Rudolph joined the crew. Dasher is that story, Dasher and her family lived in a traveling circus, and she knew she was made for...