First of all, I love all of Alix E. Harrow’s books. They have strong female protagonists who push back against the hands that they’re dealt.
This book is, at its core, the tale of a haunted house, but it’s so much more than that. There is love and death and class warfare and sentiment and harsh reality, all intertwined in the breathing soul of a house with something to prove, someone to protect, a lineage to honor.
Like all of Harrow’s works, there’s magic in the mundane, and she brings the dead-end town in Appalachia to pulsing life despite the grit and destitution built into its system. It was a joy to snuggle down to another chapter or two every night.
'Alix E. Harrow is an exceptional, undeniable talent' - Olivie Blake, author of The Atlas Six
Step into Starling House - if you dare . . . Alix E. Harrow reimagines Beauty and the Beast in this gorgeously modern Gothic fantasy, perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab and Naomi Novik.
Nobody in Eden remembers when Starling House was built. But the town agrees it's best to let this ill-omened mansion - and its last lonely heir - go to hell. Stories of the house's bad luck, like good china, have been passed down the…
Having never read the epic poem of "Beowulf," I didn’t quite know what to expect from this book, but I was truly amazed and enchanted by this skewed retelling.
Zach Weinersmith clearly shows his scholarship in the source material, peppering the plot with prickly pops of alliteration and silkily sliding along the songs of the original while making it totally, completely, marvelously its own creature.
Boulet’s black-and-white illustrations meld with the prose so that each page is a feast, a sumptuous serving of slightly silly strength that left me hungry for more. Yes, maybe it’s a kid’s book, but then again, maybe it’s not!
A modern middle-grade graphic novel retelling of Beowulf, featuring a gang of troublemaking kids who must defend their tree house from a fun-hating adult who can instantly turn children into grown-ups.
Listen! Hear a tale of mallow-munchers and warriors who answer candy’s clarion call!
Somewhere in a generic suburb stands Treeheart, a kid-forged sanctuary where generations of tireless tykes have spent their youths making merry, spilling soda, and staving off the shadow of adulthood. One day, these brave warriors find their fun cut short by their nefarious neighbor Grindle, who can no longer tolerate the sounds of mirth seeping into…
This is a hefty graphic novel, but it never feels like too much. It’s a snapshot of a time and place, three college girls visiting New York City for five days, and there’s not an overload of plot, but it still flows along sweetly.
It’s printed in tri-tone, and there are pages that simply evoke the sights and sounds (and even smells) of New York. The characters are presented simply, but their complexities are brought to life through their interactions with each other and their surroundings.
I went in with zero knowledge of who these kids were and came out feeling as though I knew them personally. It brought back memories of kicking around a city, at once aimless and with purpose, where nothing much changes, but everything’s different.
Spring Break, 2009: Five days, three friends, and one big city. Roaming marks a triumphant return to the graphic novel and a deft foray into new adult fiction for Caldecott Medal authors Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki. Over the course of a much-anticipated trip to New York, an unexpected fling blossoms between casual acquaintances and throws a long-term friendship off-balance. Emotional tensions vibrate wildly against the resplendently illustrated backdrop of the city, capturing a spontaneous queer romance in all of its fledgling glory. Slick attention to the details of a bustling, intimidating metropolis are softened with a palette of muted…
Hi. My name’s Lea. I’m sixteen, and I live on a farm that’s too far away from the public schools, so I’m home-schooled, but not, like, Christian home-schooled. I read a lot of books, and all that knowledge gets me in trouble because I mouth off to my dumb neighbors when they push God and guns in my face. And I stick up for the people that they hate, the outsiders, the freaks, the people who live different lifestyles than them. And when I do that, a lot of bad things happen, and people get hurt. I dunno; maybe I should’ve kept my mouth shut, but when injustice happens, you gotta stand up to it. I tried to, anyway...
