Ilse Stern is a normal 15-year-old girl: she fights with her mother, daydreams about Hermann Rød, the boy next door, and can’t wait for the chance to travel the world. Yet as a Jewish girl in Norway in 1942, any semblance of normality will soon vanish.
Alfie Bloom is a pretty normal kid (with the exception of his inventor father) until he receives a letter telling him that he’s inherited Hexbridge Castle. From that point forward, things are decidedly not normal: Alfie finds he can slip through time, he and his father are flown to a secret location to meet with an otherworldly lawyer, and the castle itself seems…magical.
It’s not often that we review picture books here on MuggleNet, but of course we weren’t going to pass up the latest release from author and illustrator Mary GrandPré, who also illustrated the original US editions of “Harry Potter”. In “Cleonardo, The Little Inventor”, GrandPré tells the story of Cleonardo “Cleo” Wren, daughter of Geonardo, granddaughter of Leonardo, and the latest in a long line of inventors.
The conclusion to Maggie Stiefvater’s “Raven Cycle” has got to be one of the most anticipated YA book releases of the season. Although many fans were disappointed when the release of the book was pushed back a few months, I think you’re going to find that the delay was worth the wait!
After losing her mother in a tragic car accident, Sass finds herself being shipped to Cornwall, England to live with an uncle she’s never met. The English seaside is beautiful, but it can’t heal the hole she feels inside of her. Alex is British royalty, fleeing to his ancestral home by the sea to try to escape the paparazzi swirling around him in the wake of his parents’ divorce. When he runs across Sass trespassing on family land, captivated by the family’s old race horse, Bo, he can’t believe she has no idea who he is. And Sass can’t believe that after all she’s lost, there just might be something to smile about again.
JT loves the fact that he’s gay – but it’s one of the only things he likes about himself. With high school graduation looming and lacking the funds for college, he worries that he’ll never make it out of his small Florida town and build a life for himself where he can be happy. When his boyfriend, Seth, and best friend, Heather, get wind of a Drag Teen competition in New York City where the winner takes home a full college scholarship, they’re convinced JT should enter. He’s tried drag before and loved it, but a disaster of a school talent show has him questioning if he’s fabulous enough to be a queen. But it’s his last shot at getting out of Clearwater, Florida, and so he’ll have to take the chance.
“A Tangle of Gold” is the final installment in Jaclyn Moriarty’s “Colors of Madeleine” trilogy, and picks up right where “The Cracks in the Kingdom” left off: Elliot has crossed over from the Kingdom of Cello to Earth, and discovered his missing father there. But as delighted as Madeleine is to have Elliot here in person, he has to leave almost immediately or risk forgetting his true identity. Before she knows it, he’s been whisked away back to Cello – where the world is still in turmoil and he’s a fugitive – and she’s left feeling like her part in the story might be over.
The women in Emma’s family have always done remarkable things, whether it’s serving as a spy in the Revolutionary War, becoming a champion boxer, or being a renowned singer. The one thing all these women have in common, besides being extraordinary in their own way, is the Destiny Dream they have, which shows them the path to follow. Emma’s been waiting for her own Destiny Dream ever since her mother told her about them two years ago, before she died. The thing is, right about now would be a great time for Emma to find her destiny, preferably a profitable one, because Emma’s grandmother is running out of money to keep their small cafe open, and a greedy buyer is eyeing the property. Can Emma save her home and find her destiny?
Many “Potter” fans were introduced to Kazu Kibuishi and his graphic novel series “Amulet” after Kibuishi illustrated new covers for the American editions of “Harry Potter” in 2013, just before the release of the sixth “Amulet” book, “Escape From Lucien.” It didn’t take long for Potterheads to get hooked on the series, and you’ll be happy to know that “Amulet #7: Firelight” has just been released!
Lily is not your average teenager – at sixteen years old, she’s already a first class computer hacker, and uses her skills to help her father, a lawyer, solve his toughest cases. But that still doesn’t prepare her for what she discovers one morning while out investigating a case: magic is real. Unfortunately, she finds this out in the worst way possible, by being attacked by a bandogge, a terrifying two-headed dog.
