‘The Blackbird Girls’ by Anne Blankman is a touching story of Chernobyl, of the Holocaust, of love, and of friendship

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blackbird girls

“The Blackbird Girls” by Anne Blankman is so much more than its description. It is about two young girls who are rivals, Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko who end up escaping from the town of Pripyat, their town near the nuclear power plant Chernobyl where their fathers worked. After the explosion, we learn that the government hid news of the explosion for two days, and the day after it happened, residents of that small town strolled about the streets as if it were a normal day in spite of the clouds of blue smoke and the red skies that lit up over Chernobyl. Continue reading →

‘The Lost Orphan’ by Stacey Halls is a fascinating trip back to 18th century England and two very different mothers

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lost orphan

What would you do with your newborn baby if you were a poor, uneducated, unwed mother in 1747 London? In “The Lost Orphan” by Stacey Halls, main character Bess is a seller of shrimp. She lives with her father and brother in a tiny two-room apartment, and they struggle to pay the rent and stay warm in the cold London winters. They rise before dawn and, no matter the weather, venture out to sell shrimp in the streets. It’s no life for an infant, and Bess doesn’t have the ability to stay home to raise a child. But she does have the opportunity to leave her baby at a foundling home where they will care for her infant, and when she is ready to reclaim her baby, she will be able to. Continue reading →

‘No Bad Deed’ by Heather Chavez; one wrong move and watch out!

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no bad deed

In “No Bad Deed,” debut author Heather Chavez presents readers with the thought that making one wrong move or just one poor decision, might change our lives. In fact, Cassie Larkin has always regretted not helping a victim of abuse she witnessed when she was in college, and she’s tried to make up for that lack in her current life. She’s a veterinarian whose heart is bigger than her pocketbook as she helps her patients with their beloved pets even when they can’t afford her skills. She’s a loving mother to her two children and a devoted wife to Sam, every woman’s idea of a perfect husband. He understands when she has to work long hours and can’t always be home for dinner or the children’s events. Continue reading →

“Do not miss” nonfiction picture books: three books for children about RBG, an iconic figure, plus the stories of two other important women in history

/ Pamela Kramer

3 RBG books

There’s a pandemic going on, and now more than ever, children need to read about inspirational figures. Few women have motivated more young girls than Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Three recent releases celebrate her life; each is appropriate for a different age group of children and all three are books that are worthy to be read to children and by children right now. All of them cover the amazing life of Ginsburg, but each is special in a different way. Additionally, two other new picture books feature the lives of two relatively unknown women, Mother Jones and Febb Burn, both of whom changed the lives of women in our country. Continue reading →

‘City Spies’ by James Ponti is a fast-paced thriller for middle grade readers that’s a perfect adventure to escape into

/ Pamela Kramer / 4 Comments

city spies“City Spies” by James Ponti is an action story that kids (and adults) will love. A group of underdog kids as young as twelve live in an old manor home in Scotland and work with a British spy nicknamed “Mother” as a team foiling international villains.

First we meet Sara, from whose perspective the story is mostly told. She is in custody after hacking into the New York City computers to expose her cheating, horrible foster parents. But when a debonair man offers to represent her, she quickly chooses him as her lawyer rather than the public defender who was going to agree to her serving time in a juvenile detention home. After she quickly hacks into the State of New York court computers to substitute in the new lawyer, the change of attorneys looks legitimate . By that evening, she’s on a plane to Scotland and a new life. Continue reading →

‘Golden in Death’ by J.D. Robb is the 50th novel in this fabulous futuristic detective series

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golden in death

It’s proof of J.D. Robb’s talent that “Golden in Death” is the 50th novel in this popular series featuring New York Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas, yet one could just as easily  pick it up and read it as a stand alone mystery — and enjoy it just as much as a fan who’s read all the previous 49 novels.

In this mystery, a well-liked pediatrician is found murdered by a mysterious substance that killed him in minutes, evaporated almost immediately, and is unknown to the authorities. Soon after, there is another, similar murder. In each case, a package had been delivered to the murdered person with a fake return address. When each victim opened the outer shipping box, there was another box inside — a cheap wooden box — and inside that box was a plastic egg painted gold. When the clasp was unhinged, allowing the egg to open, the murderous substance was released. Continue reading →

‘After Sundown’ by Linda Howard and Linda Jones is a story of survival, solitude, and two lonely people who find each other

/ Pamela Kramer / 2 Comments

after sundown

While the publicity for “After Sundown” by Linda Howard and Linda Jones emphasizes that it’s a love story, it’s also quite a tale of survival — how appropriate for right now. In this novel, there is a huge CME, or coronal mass ejection, that hits Earth, causing a massive disruption of the electrical grid. Sela Gordon and Ben Jernigan live in rural Tennessee, and have met infrequently at her gas station/general store when Ben has purchased gas. And while there was a mutual interest, neither of them actually did anything about it. Continue reading →

‘The Life Below’ is the sequel to “The Final Six,” both dystopian YA scifi novels you’ll love

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life below

If you like a quick read that will keep you in suspense until the last page, pick up “The Life Below” by Alexandra Monir. If you haven’t read the previous book, “The Final Six,” be sure to pick it up and read it first. You’ll find both books are hard to put down, as the protagonists struggle, first to make the cut to participate in an important space mission to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, and in the second novel, to actually get there alive.

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‘A Dog’s Promise’ by W. Bruce Cameron is a promise kept; there’s nothing like a dog

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dogs promise

With “A Dog’s Promise,” W. Bruce Cameron continues faithful uber-dog Bailey’s story. Bailey is the dog who helped “his” people in “A Dog’s Purpose” and “A Dog’s Journey” He’s the dog who made readers cry as he died over and over and each time was reborn as a different dog destined to help his person again. Often, Bailey would find his way back to Ethan in the first book and CJ, Ethan’s granddaughter, in the second. Continue reading →