Parenthetical

Teenie’s best friend Cherise has always been a little wild. Now that she’s accepting money from a guy she met online (who goes by the totally non-sketchy name “Big Daddy”), though, Teenie is really worried. Teenie herself is much more straight-laced and studious, but when a few new clothes get her the attention of hot [...]

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Conor has had the same nightmare every night since his mother began her treatments. But one night he wakes up to a different dream: a monster has come calling. The monster wants to tell him three stories, and in exchange Conor must tell the true story of his nightmare. Conor scoffs, but as his mother [...]

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Best friends Kayla and Mishalla are GENs, Genetically Engineered Non-humans. In other words, slaves. Built in tanks from human and animal DNA, designed with special “skets” (skill sets), they are at the bottom of the strictly hierarchical society humans have built on their colony planet Loka. They have no say about where they work, where [...]

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Happy second round of Nerds Heart YA! After much deliberation, Allegra of My Library Card Wore Out and I chose Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson as our winner. It was a tough call, of course, as I loved many things about Tall Story. But ultimately we decided Toads and Diamonds had more “kid appeal.” [...]

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This was the other book in our Nerds Heart YA round, against Toads and Diamonds. We ultimately selected that one to go on, but here is my review of Tall Story. Andi adores basketball, and is devastated to learn that her new London school has no girls’ basketball team. Meanwhile, in a small village in [...]

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Ben (short for Benevolence), the only child of the King of Montagne’s younger brother, is an indulged wild child, raised well clear of palace life — until she becomes heir when her beloved parents and the King are all killed. Princess training and responsibility do not suit her, but with the neighboring kingdom of Drachensbett [...]

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Ambrose is the son of Martin Truax, wealthy and mysterious inventor of the social network Unison. Everyone who’s anyone has a login, and Ambrose’s entire life is devoted to running the company for even bigger profit. Mistletoe has no idea whose daughter she is — she lives with junk dealer Jiri in the impoverished subcanopy [...]

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To understand how excited I was to read this book, you have to know that I am a huge fan of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. I’ve said for years that I want Sisterhood Goes to Grad School, Sisterhood of the Traveling Wedding Dress, Last Summer in the Nursing Home, etc. So when [...]

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A lesbian retelling of Cinderella. The Cinderella components are all pretty straightforward at first: dead mother, wicked stepmother and stepsisters, dead father, drastic change in circumstances. The fairies, in this case, are British-style — otherworldly long-lived beings who trap humans when they wander to the wrong part of the forest — which added an enjoyably [...]

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“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.” So begins this lushly imagined tale of “forbidden love, an ancient and epic battle, and hope for a world remade.” The real story opens with Karou, blue-haired and tattooed Prague art student. She is the human foster child [...]

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