In "Frankie and the Gift of Fantasy", a ten-year-old boy finds independence and purpose when he is transported from California to a distant planet. Francesco, who goes by Frankie, is always being nagged to be productive instead of... Read More

Anne Egseth’s captivating epistolary novel "This Is All He Asks of You" is about growing up and finding light in the darkness. Luna is Norwegian; when she is twelve, she spends time living with her single mother in the US. The book’s... Read More

"The Collective" is Lindsey Whitlock’s alternative American history novel. It’s set in the early 1800s in rural Badfish Creek, a community deep in the Illinois territory where trappers, escaped slaves, and anarchists build their... Read More

A forty-something father copes with his changing circumstances, grappling with his role in his family and society, in Jesse Edward Johnson’s literary novella "The King of Nothing Much". This enjoyable novel blends everyday humor with a... Read More

An uplifting coming-of-age novel in which a high school senior figures out how to be himself, Kim Oclon’s "Man Up" finds David wondering how to come out to his baseball team. Heading into his final year, David is feeling good. He has a... Read More

With twists, loyalty between friends, and its cast’s cleverness, the middle grade fantasy The Eye of Zeus hits all the right notes. Action-packed and empowering, Alane Adams’s The Eye of Zeus combines plucky modern characters with a... Read More

Marty Chan’s fascinating "Metamorphosis" takes place in a steampunk, alternate reality version of early twentieth-century New York City, wherein interdimensional travelers and Earth’s natives clash. Ehrich Weisz, a former demon... Read More

A story told in seasons, L. B. Simmons’s We, The Wildflowers unfolds across a little more than a year as Chloe enters foster care and the group home that changes her life in radical ways. The Wildflowers—made up of Genesis, Adam,... Read More