Review: Starters, by Lissa Price (Mar. 2012, Delacorte)

The pitch: A couple of years ago, biological warfare wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. The vulnerable young and elderly were vaccinated, but they didn’t have enough for younger adults. Sixteen-year-old Callie and her little brother live like all Starters, kids without grandparents to claim them: squatting … Continue reading

Review: My Mother the Cheerleader, by Robert Sharenow (2007)

The pitch: No, not that kind of cheerleader. Louise’s mother Pauline is one of the women who stands outside William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans and throws tomatoes and insults at Ruby Bridges, its first African-American student. When a handsome stranger from New York shows up at Pauline and … Continue reading

Review: Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman (July 2012)

The pitch: In Goredd, dragons and humans have kept an uneasy peace for forty years. Dragons fold into human shapes to serve as ambassadors and professors, but they are far from trusted. When young musician Seraphina takes a position at court, she is drawn into  the investigation of a murder and … Continue reading

Review: Wentworth Hall, by Abby Grahame (May 2012)

This slight Downton Abbey knock-off takes place at Wentworth Hall, home of the Darlingtons, a down-on-their-luck noble family with nothing much left but their title. The book is full of the same sort of scandals that haunt the Granthams of Downton: illegitimate children, love between the classes, unfortunate matches with … Continue reading

Review: The Piper’s Son, by Melina Marchetta

This is a sequel (companion?) to Saving Francesca, though it can entirely stand alone. This time the story is from Tom’s point of view. After his uncle got blown up in the London Tube, he and his family fell apart. His  dad became an alcoholic and drove his mom away. … Continue reading