Flip open This One Summer and you’ll be greeted by beautiful graphics. They’re art pieces in and of themselves. The illustrations are set in monotone though rather than black ink, dark blue has been chosen. This adds softness to the images fitting for the contemporary summer setting of this graphic novel. I could stare at the pages over and over again, allowing my eyes to feast upon the beauty. Sadly, that’s all that my two stars are for.
DECKED WITH HOLLY by Marni Bates
Happy First Advent! What better way to get into the Christmas season than with holiday-day themed books? So I picked up Decked With Holly by Marni Bates to get into the mood. It was a little less Christmassy than I had expected because one of the main characters, Holly, is of Jewish descent, so Christmas wasn’t…
HOW I LOST YOU by Janet Gurtler
For sports lovers, I’d say this is a good book. While the synopsis doesn’t mention it, Grace and Kya are really into paintball. They play competitively and aim to be part the Grinders, an all-women’s college team, when they leave high school. Grace’s father owns a paintball place, so the two of them and their…
RIPTIDE by Lindsey Scheibe
When I picked up this book, I expected a light summer read about surfing. It turned out to be much more than that. For better or for worse, it turned out to be an issues book. Grace has a lot of trouble with her parents at home, and family to her doesn’t quite mean safety…
KITE SPIRIT by Sita Brahmachari
There are books that entrap readers—they can’t put them down until they have read them cover to cover. Those books don’t allow readers to do anything else but read because they must know what happens next. This was no such book. No, it was great in a different manner. Plot was not what drove the…
