This book creeped me out a lot at the beginning, to the point where I almost put it down. A boy creates a separate world just so a girl would love him? I found that creepy, although I think high school me would have not had as many concerns. Anyway, Johnathan Aubrey has been able to build worlds since he was in a plane crash when he was ten. However, recent events have caused his "Kylie-loves-me" world and the real world to start colliding. Can he put everything back to normal?

I sat down and read the book in one day, so it definitely has the plot to keep you reading. I'm not 100% sure I understand the whole world-building thing (to explain why risks spoilers) but it was an interesting concept I haven't read about a billion times before. I'm not sure it will end up high in my list of favorites, but I'm definitely intrigued enough to see what else Jen Brooks can come up with.

An excellent overview of Norse stories, which will pair well with the recent interest due to Thor movies and Riordan's series.

I liked this biography, which consists of little vignettes from Manzano's life. I'm not 100% sure it will appeal to young kids, but I could see older tweens and teens getting into this book. As an adult, I enjoyed it. Manzano's writing is clear, and her stories transport you into her life in the South Bronx, and beyond.

This is an amazing book. It reminded me of "Far, Far, Away" by Tom McNeal, which is high praise for me, as that was one of my favorite books I read that year.

Triss wakes up after an accident, but nothing feels right. She doesn't really seem to remember who she is, her sister is afraid of her, and she's ravenously hungry. Also, nothing about her accident is clear. Can she figure out what happened to her, before everything in her life starts to unravel?

To tell you more about this story would be a mistake, as it is beautiful and comes together in such a magical way. Hardinge's writing is something to be savored, as she describes Triss's world. If you read Deva Fagan's review, that's a good summary of how I feel about this book.

An excellent science fiction offering for next year's MSBA list.

Jasper has been bred from birth to be a bounder which he thinks will be great once he gets to school. When he meets his group, however, things are different. Can he find a place in his new school and figure out the mysteries that surround him?

Beautiful, strong and moving story.

I'll admit, it took me a while to get into this one. It was the characters' names that did it. I was bothered that Firefly was a firefly but the other ones didn't have names? Or are they all named Firefly?Was her Elder capitalized because they had a relationship? It continued with the crickets and the vole. Once I got past that name confusion, I settled into a lovely story about dreams, individuality, adventure, and coming to terms with bad things that happen to you. The illustrations are definitely worth looking at.

There is an unnamed war zone, and young Malik and his grandfather are trying to escape it. There is a ship at the dock but tickets are expensive. Will they be able to get on board? Who can they trust?

while I understand the reasoning behind not getting into specifics with locations, I would have preferred that. I have no idea where they are traveling except it is three days by boat. Otherwise, it was almost a little too gentle to me. I don't know. I will sit with it for a bit and see.

Heartbreaker

A little bit too much science for me, and I think I would have preferred the book to be in color. Some of the images, as they were transposed in the black and white, were a little confusing for me. Not my favorite.