Alison Reads

A lyrical, poetic first novel about love and hate and magic, set in the steamy Texas swampland. A pregnant cat is dumped in the woods and makes her way to a shack where she makes friends with an old hound dog who is permanently chained to a post by his hateful master. The kittens are […]

Mibs Beaumont eagerly awaits her 13th birthday, when her “savvy” or magic talent will appear, as it has for every other member of her family. On her birthday, though, she hijacks a bus to get to her father who is gravely ill in the hospital, and a wild ride ensues. A rollicking fast read full […]

An autobiographical first novel by a Taiwanese-American, this book describes a year in elementary student Grace’s life as she moves between Chinese and American cultures. She is the only Asian student in her school until another Taiwanese girl arrives and the two quickly become best friends. I especially enjoyed the Christmas chapter, when Grace and […]

Greg Heffley is an undersized sixth grader who keeps a journal (not a diary!) of his first year in middle school. Greg’s questionable choices get him into trouble with bullies at school and with his parents and brothers at home. “Hand printed” on lined paper and filled with drawings, this book is a quick read […]

Eleven-year-old Mags schemes to help her talented new friend Gillian convince her father to pay for her to study violin at a conservatory in England. Very Irish, and some of the phrases may be problematic for Americans, but delightful. For grades 4-6.

Two stories bound together which were originally written in Britain several years apart and published separately. One story is about a girl who is very very strong and the other is about a boy who becomes invisible when he meets a young alien. The author is a Roald Dahl wannabe without any of his charm […]

One day, a boy reluctantly working in his father’s bookstore sees a strange man pull out a straw and stick it between the pages of a book. He follows the man and ends up at a cemetery on the edge of town, where he talks to the man and discovers that he’s an ink-drinking vampire […]

Subtitled “the autobiography of a stray”, this book is told from a dog’s point of view. Squirrel describes her life, from her birth in a rotting shed to her old age. She experiences both hardships and love. The dog’s-eye perspective is interesting. It reminded me of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. A 2008 YRCA […]

The last in a series of five books about 12-year-old Gregor’s adventures in the Underland below New York City. Not for the squeamish, this book contains graphic descriptions of battles and death, but it also addresses moral questions about right and wrong and standing up for one’s own values. Each child in the Underworld, no […]

Ten-year-old Zoe hears Vladimir Horowitz on the radio and wants to learn to play the piano; in fact, she wants to be a child prodigy. She begs her parents to buy her a piano and instead she is presented with a wheezy organ. Zoe perseveres, however, and with the support of her parents and a […]