Raven Summer
By Augusta Scattergood | 11.14.09
When boys dream of woodland adventures, hiding out where adults will never find them, they no doubt imagine exactly the kind of place where Liam Lynch and his friend Max found the Death Dealer. Although just an old, tarnished pruning knife uncovered as the two were “messing about, digging for treasure,” in Raven Summer, David Almond’s skillfully crafted young adult novel, it becomes a symbol of both the adventure and the danger that boyhood summer held. (more…)
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The Magician’s Elephant
By Augusta Scattergood | 09.22.09
Peter Augustus Duchene waits, coin in hand, in front of the fortuneteller’s red tent. The coin is not Peter’s, but he’s going to spend it because there’s a dizzying question he must ask: Is his sister alive? Follow the elephant, the fortuneteller tells him, and you will find your sister. (more…)
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Al Capone Shines My Shoes
By Augusta Scattergood | 09.11.09
Moose Flanagan is back, and you don’t have to have read “Al Capone Does My Shirts,” Gennifer Choldenko’s Newbery Honor-winning first book, to appreciate the sequel, Al Capone Shines My Shoes. This second book about Moose and his hapless adventures on Alcatraz Island may be even more fun than the first. (more…)
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When You Reach Me
By Augusta Scattergood | 07.27.09
On the surface, Rebecca Stead’s middle-grade novel When You Reach Me seems like an ordinary friendship story. Miranda’s best friend forever, Sal, is ignoring her, shooting baskets with other boys outside their New York City apartment building. In school, girls are mean, then they aren’t. Her single mom despises her job and is indecisive about Richard, her perfect boyfriend. (more…)
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Mare’s War
By Augusta Scattergood | 07.05.09
What teenager relishes the idea of giving up summer vacation for a 2,000-mile cross-country road trip with her grandmother? Even though the grandmother in question wears stilettos, fake nails, and a flippy wig, the prospect of hours cooped up in a car with her doesn’t interest Octavia and her older sister Tali. (more…)
