Mafia Approved Reading

MG Book Review: Charlie Hernandez & the League of Shadows by Ryan Calejo
October 16, 20180Kevin Springer Stories that feature a child main character that is suddenly transported to a world that forces him to overcome overwhelming odds to save the world/family/friends are very common (heck, I even wrote one). What sets certain books apart from the masses are dynamic characters and/or amazing world building. Ryan Calejo's contribution to this genre, Charlie Hernandez & the League of Shadows, delivers on both. Calejo's pacing of his debut novel is perfectly balanced to provide the reader... Read More

Book Review: The Right Hook of Devin Velma by Jake Burt
September 10, 20180Kim Zachman Addison Gerhardt would do anything for his best friend Devin Velma. After all, it was Devin that rescued him when he accidently locked himself inside the snack cabinet in kindergarten. Devin has been saving Addison from embarrassing social situations ever since and since every social situation is paralzyingly  embarrassing to Addison, it’s almost a daily occurrence. Devin wants to make a viral video.  What better way than the Double-Barreled Monkey Bar Backflip of Doom? That... Read More

MG Book Launch: A Long Line of Cakes by Deborah Wiles
August 28, 20180Debbie D'Aurelio Happy book birthday to Deborah Wiles and her latest book in the Aurora County series, A Long Line of Cakes. In her latest novel, we are introduced to the Cakes, a large family of itinerant bakers, roaming the country wherever their talents are most needed. Emma Lane Cake has five brothers and four dogs. Her parents are the ones that decide when they're no longer needed and it's time to leave. That's usually right around... Read More

MG Book Review: Stu Truly by Dan Richards
August 24, 20183Kevin Springer Stu Truly's life had been going on like it always had - hanging with his best friend Ben, eating left over pork chops for lunch at school, and always (pretty much) telling the truth.. That all changed when new girl, Becca, came to their school. Suddenly, he had sweaty palms, stumbled over his words, and proclaimed to be a vegetarian. Dan Richards's STU TRULY tells a story of an awkward time in life where boys... Read More

MG Book Review: Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship
August 10, 20180Lisa Lewis Tyre I knew that I'd like CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR by Irene Latham and Charles Waters because I was already a BIG fan of Latham's work. Her book, WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON ANTARCTICA, is one that I gift to every animal-loving kid I know. Still, I wasn't prepared for the full-blown love I'd experience when reading her newest. The blurb: How can Irene and Charles work together on their fifth-grade poetry project? They don't know each... Read More

MG Book Review: You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly
July 17, 20180L.S. Bridgers 2018 Newbery Medal winner Erin Entrada Kelly treats us to another expertly crafted story about friendship. Charlotte Lockard and Ben Boxer are unlikely friends. They are both shy and live far apart—she’s in Philadelphia and he’s in Louisiana. They meet playing an online Scrabble game. When life gets complicated- Ben’s parents announce they are getting a divorce- Ben does the unthinkable. He calls Charlotte on the telephone! Breaking out of the near anonymous world of... Read More

MG Book Review: A Stitch In Time by Daphne Kalmar
July 12, 20182Lisa Lewis Tyre A few weeks ago, I saw the Book Release announcement for A Stitch in Time by Daphne Kalmar come across Twitter. All it took was one click to Amazon and I was hooked. Check out this first paragraph: In her nightclothes in the early morning light, Donut perched on the chair at the small desk in her room. She held a number sixteen glass eye with a clamp, lining up the iris so it looked... Read More

MG Book Review: Greetings From Witness Protection by Jake Burt
July 3, 20180Kim Zachman     Nicki Demere is a 12-year-old, sarcastic, street-wise, expert pickpocket and a long-term participant in the foster-care system. That makes her a top candidate to assist the FBI in hiding a family from the most dangerous crime syndicate in the country. What better way to hide a family of three than to make it a family of four? When Nicki learns that her father had been out of prison for two years and hadn't come to... Read More

MG Book Review: The Lifters by Dave Eggers
June 18, 20180L.S. Bridgers There are invisible doors in the town of Carousel. Something strange is going on in the town of Carousel. Sinkholes are swallowing up buildings whole. There’s little warning of the impending disasters unless you happen to notice things like walls and mailboxes get crooked. Twelve-year old Granite Flowerpetal (Gran) notices. He’s an observant kid. It’s probably because he’s worried about fitting in his new school. But it could be because a mysterious girl named Catalina... Read More

MG Book Review: Bob by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead
June 12, 20181L.S. Bridgers An instant classic! Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead bring us an unforgettable story about the meaning of friendship and family. It’s been five years since Livy visited her grandmother in Australia. Not surprisingly, everything looks different.  Her grandmother seems disappointed Livy doesn’t remember things. She worries Livy is growing up so fast, they won’t be able to stay a family living so far apart. Livy figures all of this is normal. She was only five... Read More