MADreads

Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

Old Sins Cast Long Shadows

Cover of Ghost Boys
A review of Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

I liked Jewell Parker Rhodes' book Towers Falling. So it was with great anticipation that I picked up her newest, Ghost Boys. Ghost Boys confronts another difficult, and all too real issue in today's society.  Twelve-year old Jerome is shot and killed by a police officer while playing with a toy gun in a park near his house.  Now, as a ghost, Jerome sees the devastating aftermath of his killing on his family, his friend, and his community.  Jerome meets the ghost of Emmett Till and hundreds of other ghost boys roaming the earth as their tragic history keeps replaying.

Posted by Jennifer on Feb 6, 2019

2019 Morris Award Winner (and Finalists)

Cover of Darius the Great is Not Ok
A review of Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

One of the awards announced Monday in Seattle is the William C Morris YA Debut Award. This is a lesser known award (compared to the big hitters like Newbery and Cadlecott), but it's the one I look most forward to. They release a list of finalists in December, so right there you have a handful of brand new YA authors you know you should keep an eye on. And the choices are always thoughtful, exciting, and fresh. 

Posted by Beth M on Feb 5, 2019

One letter at a time

Cover of Purple and Black
A review of Purple and Black by K. J. Parker

Purple and Black is brilliantly done - a gem of a book (if I may be so cliche). Tightly woven. Thought-provoking. And all of that in a slender 113 pages. This is a fantasy novel, but don't let that prevent you reading it. It's only a fantasy in that it has a made up country. Everything else about it reads like historical fiction.

Posted by Jane J on Feb 4, 2019

Newbery Greatness

Cover of Merci Suarez Changes Gears
A review of Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina

This year's Newbery Medal went to Merci Suarez Changes Gears, a snappy and emotional novel about a middle school, family, and how little life changes add up fast. Sixth grade is not off to a great start for Merci-- things she's always loved to do are no long "cool", friendships seem to suddenly come with all these unwritten rules, and her beloved grandfather is acting more and more confused.

Posted by Beth M on Feb 1, 2019

Keeping the light on

Cover of Hello Lighthouse
A review of Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall

Sophie Blackall has won the Caldecott Medal for her incredible ode to lighthouses and the extraordinary lives of lighthouse keepers and their families. Blackall has illustrated such a broad range of books for children, including a board book featuring a GLBT family, the chapter book series, Ivy & Bean, and picture books about wild boars who go out to dinner, an only child who wishe

Posted by Karen L on Jan 29, 2019

Snowed In

Cover of May B
A review May B by Caroline Starr Rose

If there is one thing the collective body of literature about frontier life has told us, it's that life on the prairie was rough stuff. In Caroline Starr Rose's riveting novel in verse, a lone little girl goes up against the Kansas grasslands, where being alone means being ALONE, and winter can come as early as it wants.

Posted by Beth M on Jan 25, 2019

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