From the back cover: 'It' is a Psammead, an ancient, ugly and irritable sand fairy the children find one day in a gravel pit. It grants them a wish a day, lasting until sunset. But they soon learn it is very hard to think of really sensible wishes, and each one gets them into unexpected difficulties. Magic, the children find, can be as awkward as it is enticing. Review: After … [Read more...] about Five Children and It by E. Nesbit: B+
Rurouni Kenshin 1-6 by Nobuhiro Watsuki: B+
It feels like I last read Rurouni Kenshin eons ago, even though it's only been five years since the US edition came to an end. The siren call of a potential reread has been increasing in volume lately and finally, I could take it no more. Joined by my friend and fellow Kenshin fan, K, I'm yielding to temptation and diving back in! Over the course of the next few months, I'll be … [Read more...] about Rurouni Kenshin 1-6 by Nobuhiro Watsuki: B+
Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke: A-
From the back cover: Flung far across the universe, from star to star, faced with monsters, magicians, and maybe new friends... an Earth girl named Zita must find a way home. Review: I'm always impressed by children's fiction that doesn't underestimate its audience, especially stories with multiple plot threads that wind up stitching together in a way that's both surprising … [Read more...] about Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke: A-
Wandering Son 1 by Shimura Takako: A
Book description: The fifth grade. The threshold to puberty, and the beginning of the end of childhood innocence. Shuichi Nitori and his new friend Yoshino Takatsuki have happy homes, loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates. But they share a secret that further complicates a time of life that is awkward for anyone: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and … [Read more...] about Wandering Son 1 by Shimura Takako: A
Playing for the Ashes by Elizabeth George: A-
Book description: When country milkman Martin Snell makes his usual delivery to fifteenth-century Celandine Cottage one fine spring morning in Kent, he expects to be greeted by the cottage's seductive tenant, Gabriella Patten, not the ugly remains of a fire pointing to murder. As all of England, as well as the magnetic world of national cricket, discovers itself reeling from … [Read more...] about Playing for the Ashes by Elizabeth George: A-