Blog
As a homeschooling veteran, I review middle-grade stories to help parents, librarians, and teachers choose good books.
Look for author news here too!
Introducing Free Homeschool Unit Studies: New Classics Literature
Would you love to find a free unit study guide for a good book your child hasn't read yet? I read a lot of recent middle-grade literature (for kids 8-12). As a homeschool veteran and curriculum provider and also a children's author, I feel a burden to help...
First Contact by T.D. Patrick: A Good Homeschool Read-Aloud
This chapter book for early readers makes a very good homeschool read-aloud. In First Contact, Book 1 of Terra Prime Adventures, T.D. Patrick tells the story of Zack, 12. He’s one of 1500 colonists snoozing in hyper-sleep for nine months while rocketing away...
The Edge of the Ocean, Strangeworlds Travel Agency #2, by L.D. Lapinski, a review
The Edge of the Ocean (Strangeworlds Travel Agency #2) by L.D. Lapinski tells a high-action tale with emotional resonance. Flick is a girl (age 12?) who lives in Little Wyvern, England. When her parents aren’t looking, she travels to other worlds through a magical...
Being Clem by Lesa Cline-Ransom, a review
Being Clem by Lesa Cline-Ransome tells a coming-of-age story set in 1940s Chicago. A nine-year-old African American boy loses his soldier father, a hero. It's sad, especially because his father has been gone so long that Clem hardly knew him. As time goes by, Clem...
Five Books for Boys This Christmas
These days, a great recent book for a boy can be hard to find, what with all the new offerings featuring girl power. But boys are still out there, and many of them like to read. If you want to promote reading in your family, perhaps a list of good recent boy books is...
I got a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award!
I've got big Moonbeam news! But first, I apologize for being quiet. You may have been wondering what I am doing. I've been working on writing more fiction for kids. I've now got a study guide for homeschoolers reading The Long Shadow! And, there are plenty of tales...
Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment by James Patterson, a review
Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment is a middle grade book that takes the female scientist character to a whole ‘nother level. But does the book grab our hearts?
Spark by Jill Shope Hackman, a review
Spark by J.M. Hackman tells the Christian fantasy tale of Brenna, a Pennsylvania schoolgirl just turning 16. Brenna discovers to her dismay that flames shoot from her fingertips when she’s angry. After she sets a school display on fire, causing the sprinkler system to...
An Unexpected Adventure by Kandi J. Wyatt, a review
In this middle-grade story, An Unexpected Adventure by Kandi J. Wyatt, eighth-grader Harley and two friends help a geologist look for geodes on the beach. Instead, they find what seems to be a huge egg. Soon it hatches –into a dragon!
The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt, a review
I was delighted to find Tonke Dragt's novel The Letter for the King. It was originally published in 1962 in the Netherlands. It won many awards and sold a million or so copies, but it made its way into English only after fifty years, in 2013. Now Tonke Dragt's tale is...
Thick as Thieves by Susan K. Marlow, a review
Susan K. Marlow's middle grade novel Thick as Thieves tells a tale of 1880s California, ranching in the San Joaquin Valley. Thirteen-year-old Andi Carter immerses herself in caring for her horses when her mare gives birth to twins. At school one day, a new kid sits...
Light of Mine by Allen Brokken, a review
Light of Mine by Allen Brokken tells an allegorical tale of three children, ages 6, 9, and 12, set in what seems like 19th century rural America. The idyllic farm life of Ethan, Aiden, and Lauren descends into turmoil when Dad declares that he will leave to fight approaching Darkness.