5 Stars for COUNTING THYME by Melanie Conklin

Counting Thyme by Melanie Conklin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story was very special, heart-rending, realistic, and beautifully written.

Twelve-year-old Thyme has moved to New York City, leaving her friends and Grandmother behind in San Diego. She longs to return. She saves her slips of time to return and plans to get back to her best friend and grandmother no matter what. She has a plan.

Except, she’d have to leave her father, mother, teenage sister, and her five-year-old brother, who’s undergoing cancer treatment for neuroblastoma behind. She struggles with this. Thyme loves her brother, and he needs her, she’s the one he talks to.

At least, they won’t be in New York City much longer, thank goodness. The apartment is terribly small, not like her house in San Diego. There are grouchy neighbors, stinky subways, and her parents never seem to hear her anymore. Then there’s public school. It does offer a few distractions, with the new friends she’s met and the approaching talent show. She doesn’t want to tell anyone about her brother and risk having them feel sorry for her. Thyme is one tough and loveable kid. She bares much through the trials her brother goes through.

Such a tough subject, written clearly and deftly; explaining much about the type of cancer and the experience Thyme’s brother goes through. It will rip your heart out.

But there’s hope and a lot of love. I wanted to underline over half the book. There's so much to relate to, so many emotions. One of my favorite Middle-Grade reads this year, a classic in the making.


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NA Book Review: The Right Kind of Mistake by Rebecca Thomas

Right Kind of Mistake by Rebecca Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Arc for an honest review:



What a sizzling start! I haven’t read many NA books, so I was taken by surprise, and a little flustered, feeling quite the same as the MC, Haylie did, wrestling with her mind, in a tug of war with her heart over dating any more hockey players. Ever. After the last one, Tyler deserted her to follow his dream, even though she followed him to Alaska to attend the same University.

The sacrifice she’s made, and continues to make, being off limits to any hockey players, tests her resolve. But it’s ok because she isn’t looking for a boyfriend. She wants to try being a little daring, adventurous, wild. She throws herself at Cam, also on the hockey team, and sidekick once to Tyler. “Retaliation sex” That’s her reasoning. She convinces herself she can do it—after only ever have one serious boyfriend, she was finished with being good. But she struggles with this idea too.

There’s quite a bit of suspense in Haylie’s wrestling with her doubts. She tries to find a reason—aside from crippling desire—to be with Cam again. He confesses he’s always pined away for her and has actually waited for her. And he’s unlike anybody she’s ever met before. Trust me, he’s pretty damn sexy, and his patience endearing.

Haylie’s two best friends help her along, which is good because I wanted to do what BFF Maya tried to do—and help her to not make the mistake of losing someone really special because of her jaded self-talk. But Cam does one hell of a job convincing her to give him a shot because he isn’t looking for a fling, he’s waited too long for her.

Haylie soon discovers more about herself as her heart opens, her latent artistic talents, that she just may decide to put to good use. I look forward to seeing how Cam and Haylie’s relationship develops. See what else Haylie discovers about herself—her multiple talents and her dreams. It’s time for Haylie to live! Without her ex-boyfriend telling her how to think or to feel—she’s ready to break down every invisible wall! Go Haylie!

Please know this is part one of two, and by the end of The Right Kind of Mistake, the build up's percolating very nicely.



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MG Book Review: The Tiara on the Terrace by Kristen Kittscher

The Tiara on the Terrace by Kristen Kittscher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an ARC for an honest review.

The second book to The Wig in the Window and I loved this middle-grade adventure just as much, if not more because the main characters feel even more familiar to me. Sophie Young and Grace Yang, the tween super sleuths, are at it again and they’ve brought another friend, Trista, into their triumvirate alliance.

A fun whodunit that kept me guessing the entire way through, and I was completely surprised by the culprit. It’s the biggest crime to hit the girls’ hometown Luna Vista since the last large crime the girls solved, turned them into household names.

And now with the backdrop of the Winter Sun Festival, a festival similar to the Rose Bowl, Sophie and her BFF Grace have quite the caper ahead when the president in charge of the Festival is killed by a freak accident on the first day of preparations. But the girls don’t buy it after they learn that a mechanical marshmallow whipped the Festival president, Mr. Steptoe, out of his senses and left him dead, was an accident. The police assume it was a malfunctioning mechanical marshmallow. The have to act fast before the next president of the Festival gets knocked down and taken out.

It’s too suspicious, and there are so many suspects. The girls try and narrow it down, but first they have to go undercover as court pages. Sophie doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to have to spend three days alone with High School girls on the Royal Court, covering them with fake tans, sorting their clothes, and doing their bidding. It’s only when Grace has done a sufficient job convincing her, she’s on the team, and they make it in. All three girls make the cut. They spend the next three days, away from their parents, and get busy snooping, and deducing, and creating a little mischief of their own.

But something amazing happens. The seventh-grade girls grow closer with the high school girls, even after Sophie lets out an embarrassing secret that belonged to Grace when she wasn’t around to tell it herself. Things come together–after a few obstacles to a very satisfying end. Such a great middle-grade read. I could probably read about these sleuths in volumes. LOVED this sweet and madcap caper.


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A HOLD ON ME by Pat Esden Book Review and Giveaway!

A Hold on Me by Pat Esden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Annie Freemont and her father, spend their lives on the road scouring for antiques, and encountering mysteries, and make quite the bargaining pair. Until his illness sends them back to a past, his past, the place her mother died: The family home of Moonhill. The last place her father wants to go.

Annie wants nothing more than to leave Moonhill, after meeting the strange sorts: her aunt, grandfather, and the cousins, especially when she discovers that someone drew a pentacle of salt under her bed. But when her aunt hides her father away, without explanation, Annie’s on the hunt and getting angrier. She soon learns that her mother died under mysterious circumstances, and when she next sees her father, he’s changed. His illness has rapidly progressed, but the methods her aunt and grandfather use to help him are unorthodox to say the least.

Annie questions everything. But Chase, the cute groundskeeper she tries to ignore and eventually can’t, warns her things aren’t what they seem. He’s not what he appears, nor are the others in her family. Plus they own him.


Annie, Chase, and newly aquatinted cousin, Selena join forces to help her father, but they soon discover they’re up against more than they could ever bargain for.


I loved the build up of this book. I didn’t think this was your typical paranormal thriller. The twist near the end gave the story such an exotic humor. An engrossing gothic read. I highly recommend it. I cannot wait to learn more about the Freemont family business in Book 2! Coming February 2016 from Kensington.


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MG Book Review: Anywhere But Paradise by Anne Bustard.

Anywhere but Paradise by Anne Bustard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I won Anywhere But Paradise in a giveaway, and thoroughly enjoyed reading this historical middle-grade book. Thanks, Egmont!

12-year-old, Peggy Sue has moved from Texas to Paradise, aka Hawaii. What a fluid, transporting entrance into the story it is. In its visual splendor, you’re sent back to 1960, Hawaiian Island Oahu, filled with sunshine, hula, salt, and hibiscus flowers. But Peggy Sue isn’t happy. Not happy at all.

She misses her understanding grandparents, her home in Texas, and worst of all, her cat has to stay in quarantine for 120 days! He’s slipping away, not purring, and barely notices her when she visits. If that’s not bad enough, she’s being singled out for Kill Haole Day, which is what the locals call her kind, the kind of people who dethroned their Queen Liliuokalani in 1893. Who continue to take their jobs, make them do all the work, or at least that’s what Peggy Sue’s nemesis, Kiki, tells her. And Kiki wants revenge.

Peggy Sues starts a couple odd jobs to earn enough money so she can fly back to Texas. She makes a friend in Malina, who helps her start a sewing business. It’s something Peggy Sue is really good at – and Kiki knows this and exploits her talents, bringing them a little too close for comfort.

The pacing is snappy; the chapters are quite short, making for a brisk read. And just when you think everything is simmering down – a terrible disaster strikes, and reorganizes many of Peggy Sue’s held beliefs. It changes her way of thinking and eventually changes the way others view her. She’s quite a tough cookie, even when she doesn’t think so.

A few historical events are entwined in this book, which makes for fun research later. The end is unexpected. An all around great read for 8-12-year-olds, and as someone who had to move too many times growing up, it’s very relatable and at times, a little scary.


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YA Book Review: Blackfin Sky by Kat Ellis

Blackfin Sky by Kat Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sixteen-year-old, Skylar Rousseau walks up the beach and into school like nothing’s happened. When everyone jumps out of his or her skins upon seeing her—because they watched her pulled limp out of the ocean, and buried in the ground, three months ago. She thinks they’re nuts. Sky was just with her two besties, Bo and Cam, the last she remembers. But piece-by-piece, people she doesn’t know, and places she’s never been, creep in until she, too, begins to wonder where she was.

The start of this book begins with a spirited weathervane with a view, and a voice, lulling you into the world that is Blackfin, a town where everyone is a little different, or flat out strange. As pieces of the last three months return to Sky, she wrestles with her part in it. Where did she go the night of her birthday after she ran from Sean’s kiss?

Sky begins to tie things together after a trip to a big top circus, which in present day has burned to the ground. Clues surface, about her family, and about herself. About her talents, and how she can move through timelines. She winds up meeting her real father, and discovers where her gift as a Pathfinder came from. But she’s not safe. There are those from that past who want to destroy Sky and her family.

I really enjoyed the pace of this book, the twists, and the characters, the mysterious tone, and visual detail, and hey—a creepy circus. I cannot resist a freaky-creepy circus.

I can’t go on too, much more, or I’ll kill the suspense. I enjoyed Kat Ellis’ writing style very much. It’s riveting till the end of the last paragraph. My only regret is I didn’t finish this as quickly as I could have–because of “life”. There were a few things I wanted explained, or drawn out, but I suspect Skylar Rousseau has more to tell us. Or at least, I think those around her have big secrets to share. I do hope there’s another book about Blackfin in the works.

Overall, this is my kind of sordid, twisty tale, with a bit of magic, mystery, and a lot of timeline jumping. It was a heck of a lot of fun to read. Good work, Kat. Plus, I particularly enjoyed the fact that the MC has my very same birthday.

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My YA Book Review for Kidliterati.

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Madness Underneath (Shades of London #2) Maureen Johnson.


A YA paranormal. With secret police!


Rory Deveaux, the Louisiana girl in London, is back at Wexford Academy after a fixed twit of fate. Her crew Boo, Callum, and Stephan reunite to try and stop the madness that lies underneath London town. Rory’s new skill plays a huge roll in the current challenge she must face that lurks beneath the cracks in the pavement. She’ll need to trust those skills and use them before all hell breaks lose. Enemies come from unexpected places, and Rory will have to learn for herself, who to trust. An exciting adventure of teen ghost sleuths.


I read The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1) where Rory goes after a modern Jack the Ripper, albeit a ghost. I love Rory’s voice, her crazy family history and her quirky over-talkative nature, especially when she became nervous. A trait I could definitely relate to.  Rory has to deal with a lot since the first book, and this second addition to the series lives up to the first and pumps it up a notch.

The pressure and separation from all that is normal in Rory’s life is excruciating as she takes you through it. You feel her pain. But Rory has a lucid sense of humor. I love Maureen Johnson’s writing, very lyrical and real. Her characters are well drawn, with the simplest descriptions, making the story feel very much alive. Every character breathes life—even the ghosts.

Rory spends much of the first part of the novel trying to figure out what to do, and if she’s making the right choices. He schoolwork becomes over bearing; the weight of her problems, heavy, and she must make choices. She meets new people, some of which offer surprising alternatives to the life she’s leading. There are some wham-bam surprises that left me reeling, and heartbroken.

I’d recommend this book to all young adults who love ghost stories--with secret police! Those who enjoy reading books where the teens get the work done and dispel the world of disruptive, lingering ghosts, for the guys higher up who hide behind suits. This series is a little like Scooby Doo, for big kids. Which, I really, really like. I CANNOT wait to dig into The Shadow Cabinet (Shades of London #3), and mend my sorrow.


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