Category Archives: young adult

Chasing Bats and Tracking Rats by Cylita Guy

Posted on May 2, 2022 by thebookgator

Read April 2022 Recommended for junior high libraries ★   ★   ★   Stellar, top notch idea that seems less than expertly executed to this adult reader. Written by Cylita Guy, illustrated by Cornelia Li, and apparently assembled by committee, Chasing Bats … Continue reading →

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Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater

Posted on May 1, 2022 by thebookgator

Read April 2022 Recommended for magical animal-lovers ★   ★   ★   ★    In kindergarten, I wanted to be a veternarian. So I have some empathy for Pip, the main character in a series by Pearce and Stiefvater, who is fascinated … Continue reading →

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A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Posted on September 21, 2021 by thebookgator

Recommended for: fans of magic schools, Murderbot Read in August 2021 ★   ★   ★   ★   ★  Undoubtedly five stars. What makes it so? The ability to capture my attention and hold until finished, the daze of finishing, and the desire … Continue reading →

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Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Posted on August 16, 2021 by thebookgator

Recommended for:  fans YA UF, Pride reads Read in August 2021 ★   ★   ★    Oh, I knew what I was getting into. You should too. Cemetery Boys is definitely young adult, young teenage level with angst on the level … Continue reading →

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Calling on Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Posted on August 10, 2021 by thebookgator

Recommended for fans of cracked fairy tales Read in August 2021 ★   ★     My least favorite of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. When I recently acquired the e-box set, I discovered Wrede put a little introduction in front of each … Continue reading →

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Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Posted on August 9, 2021 by thebookgator

Recommended for:  fans of fractured fairy tales Read in August 2021 ★   ★   ★   ★   ★    Charming and cute. Nostalgia and a sale on the electronic boxed set brought this to my attention; while I have the paperback set, … Continue reading →

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European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss

Posted on June 15, 2021 by thebookgator

Read June 2021★  ★  1/2 To be blunt, this was a chore. Though the premise was intriguing–the female children of some of book-history’s most villainous men come together as a Society–the execution made it an exercise in perseverance.  But that … Continue reading →

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Three Times Lucky by Shiela Turnage

Posted on January 11, 2021 by thebookgator

Read December 2020 Recommended for fans of plucky young detectives  ★     ★     ★     ★   Occasionally I dip my toe into the waters of middle-grade fiction, hoping for that playful feeling of reading The Size of the Truth … Continue reading →

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Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

Posted on November 19, 2020 by thebookgator

Read November 2020 Recommended for people who don’t understand sisters  ★     ★      Do you remember how it feels to spend a long road trip in the car, arguing with your sibling? Telgemeier has been kind enough to … Continue reading →

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The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Posted on October 13, 2020 by thebookgator

Read September 2020 Recommended for seriously hetronorms  ★      No one knows a girls’ friendship like a guy, amIrite? Just kidding, totally sexist of me, just like this entire hetronormative mess of a Hogwarts derivative with more contradictory messaging … Continue reading →

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