From OregonLive/ The Oregonian September 4, 2021: The start of the new school year makes it a fitting time to pick up Portlander Margot Wood’s debut young adult novel, Fresh, a queer retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma that spans its protagonist’s freshman year of college. Quick recap for those who haven’t encountered Emma in a while: …
Here’s something a little light. Nathan Pyle’s Strange Planet is back with The Sneaking, Hiding, Vibrating Creature. That’s right. Pyle’s big-eyed aliens have discovered the domestic cat, and their deadpan observations are both utterly alien and completely on-the-nose. A book both kids and adults can enjoy! And you can read it to your cat, who won’t …
Sometimes the right book comes along at just the right time. Hollow Kingdom was easily my favorite book of 2019, and its sequel, Feral Creatures (publishing this August) just f***ing ravaged my entire heart. Holy crow, apocalyptic fiction never hurt so good! Brb, I have to go snuggle my perfect tiny wild child baby and …
The most fun you’ll ever have reading a book about donkeys! Christopher McDougall combines a dire rescue situation, humor, and healing into a book that will leave you smiling. –Melissa, Trail’s End Bookstore, Winthrop, WA I loved this heartfelt and hilarious inside look at the quirky world of donkey running. This book has it all …
This is a book that is uplifting, funny, charming, hopeful, and HELPFUL to tweens! The main character, Yumi, wants to do stand-up comedy. Her parents want her to go to SSAT tutoring to get into a private school and earn a scholarship. But when a bizarre opportunity that just requires some identity theft and a …
I hope it doesn’t trivialize [the previous] week’s … Book of the Week, Erica C. Barnett’s memoir of alcoholic blackouts and self-destruction, to say that the humiliating confessions in this book are nearly as relentless and excruciating. Because the humiliations, in the case of this graphic memoir, are tiny: failed bookstore events, comicon party snubs, parenting meltdowns, …
The light went off as I watched a proud grandson selling honey from his sidewalk stand that he had collected from his dad’s hive. Figuring that creating my own hive might ramp me up in his eyes, I turned to this book. If a guy living on a houseboat in the Fraser River just south of …
A pea, a strawberry, and a cherry roll into the garden… and dare the pea to see what lies beyond the farm’s fence. On his quest, Pea befriends the studious Bee and shy bird Jay. What an unlikely trio! This short graphic novel is the first in a new series, and it’s delightfully punny. I …
I loved this smart, funny peek inside the high stakes world of San Francisco private schools. It has everything: social satire, family drama, friendship, a lot of laughs, a touch of romance, and lots to think about after. If you’ve been looking for that Where’d You Go, Bernadette feeling, try this. Bonus: The co-authors live in …
In uncertain and fearful times, there’s nothing like a light and happy love story to give you hope—and this contemporary fantasy novel fits the bill. “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” meets Terry Pratchett in this story of wayward magical children and their enigmatic, charming caretaker. Filled with humor, wit, and a cast of delightfully memorable …
