Welcome to Litsy!

My last completed book of the year! This middle grade novel includes comics, dealing with enemies that used to be friends, medical issues as a kid, losing family members, absent parents, and new friendships. I enjoyed it, but it just felt like too much forcing of the authors‘ lessons on me as a reader.

#middlegrade #TRS2019 #MsDsLibrary

This is a great story of family and friendship, with a fantastic dynamic between Marcus, his brother Charlie, and their mother. The description of the travel and culture in Puerto Rico was wonderful.

Just a note, there‘s a fair amount of Spanish and a little bit of German on a few pages.

#middlegrade #TRS2019 #MsDsLibrary #PuertoRico

This book has a fun premise, shape shifting dragons called wyverns from another world were exiled to Earth long ago and now live among humans hoarding gold. Sky‘s family is in turmoil after her mother disappeared during a heist gone wrong, and she is determined to learn the truth and redeem her family name. Yet, the world building lacked depth and I wanted more complexity in the plot and character relationships.

#YA #TRS2019

I finished this listening to this book, including a scene with monster unicorns chasing the characters along a forest path, during my afternoon walk. The story is a modern Hansel & Gretel retelling with aspects of Arabian Nights as Alex tells creepy stories to keep himself safe. There are magical plants, an amazing library, great characters, a wonderful friendship, and a positive message of being true to yourself.

#MiddleGrade #audiobook #TRS2019

This #NovelInVerse is set in 1972 as schools in Houston are integrating, but that is mainly background to the personal trauma of a family dealing with the death of one of their own. It touches on many tough topics, but in the end, I felt it tried to do too much. I had to reread carefully to figure out certain details with some historical background, and I‘m not sure most #middlegrade readers would catch and understand all of them.

#TRS2019

This is the second book in a row I‘ve read about children leaving (or attempting to leave) Europe in the wake of WWII. This historical fiction is based on the stories of survivors of a ship carrying English children that was sunk by a German U-Boat. It is written in verse and clearly conveys the experiences of one of those boys while on a lifeboat in the Atlantic. At the end there‘s also a section of photos.

#MiddleGrade #NovelInVerse #TRS2019

This book weaves together the story of Imani, an African American girl adopted by a Jewish family, with her great grandmother Anna‘s story of leaving Luxembourg to live with a couple in New York City in 1941. I enjoyed the way the diary made the past real to Imani and also helped her better understand her own adoption. It is a wonderful combination of historical fiction and the reality of family as more than genetics.

#TRS2019 #MiddleGrade

This is a great survival story. It‘s dark and grim, including murder, but it‘s also a story about a tough teenage girl who refuses to give up when she ends up alone in the Canadian wilderness. There‘s also a revenge subplot, but the main emphasis was the survival story.

#YA #TRS2019

This was a fun read with some solid positive messages. The story combines a family‘s struggle to return to a life in New Orleans with the story of the author of an unpublished comic from the 1950s. There‘s also a great ghost story. It‘s told in chapters interspersed with a few pages of comic panels. I thoroughly enjoyed how all the pieces were woven together.

#YA #TRS2019

I finished this book with a hot mug of cocoa on this dreary afternoon. The story had an interesting premise, but it just didn‘t wow me.

#TRS2019 #MsDsLibrary #middlegrade