Why am I passionate about this?

I have an expertise for middle-grade and fantasy because I’ve been writing in those genres for over fifteen years. However, it’s my passion for that age group and theme that has me writing for them to begin with. I feel that the age group of about nine to thirteen is just such a magical, free time. They’re not too young to get it yet, but not old enough to have been tainted either. They’re in that beautiful state of curiosity, play, adventure, exploring where they fit in. Just the fact that there’s still this possibility of magic, then there’s hope. And with hope, there’s still a possibility of magic.


I wrote

Rainbow Crystal

By Samantha Caprio-Negret,

Book cover of Rainbow Crystal

What is my book about?

The tragic loss of her best friend leaves 10 y/o Seraphina on a quest to bring order back to a…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Samantha Caprio-Negret Why did I love this book?

It is the best middle-grade fantasy series ever written! It is a phenomenon! The writing is so descriptive, and the storyline and premise have so much creative imagination. 

Good versus evil. Good always wins. Magic is real if you believe in its power. Anything is possible if you believe in yourself; the power of the universe is always working out for you in your favor, even when you think it’s not. Even with the bad, it’s still working out.

It’s the bad that makes you see the good, and the darkness that guides you to find the light within yourself. Sometimes the most powerful light is found within those least expected, even an orphaned child.

By J.K. Rowling,

Why should I read it?

40 authors picked Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Galloping gargoyles ... 2022 is the silver anniversary of J.K. Rowling's magical classic Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone!

The boy wizard Harry Potter has been casting a spell over young readers and their families ever since 1997. Now the first book in this unmissable series celebrates 25 years in print! The paperback edition of the tale that introduced us to Harry, Ron and Hermione has been updated and dressed in silver to mark the occasion. It's time to take the magical journey of a lifetime ...

Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping…


Book cover of The Wizard of Oz

Samantha Caprio-Negret Why did I love this book?

This book is the best book in helping you to discover that you never really have to go on an outward journey or to look to others for the answers to find what is inside you all along. They are always within.

However, it’s the characters and journey along the way that usually guide us to discover what those weaknesses and strengths are. It’s a story of friendship, adventure, hope, and home (and the answers) are ultimately where the heart is. I love stories that give the readers hope; the rainbow is the symbolism of hope. There is a rainbow at the end of a storm. Never give up. 

By L. Frank Baum,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Wizard of Oz as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.

'"Come along, Toto," she said. "We will go to the Emerald City and ask the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again."'

Swept away from her home in Kansas by a tornado, Dorothy and her dog Toto find themselves stranded in the fantastical Land of Oz. As instructed by the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins, Dorothy sets off on the yellow brick road to try and find her way to the Emerald City and the Wizard of Oz, who can help her get home.…


Book cover of Twilight

Samantha Caprio-Negret Why did I love this book?

I loved this series so much! A story about a mediocre, low-key girl, looking to fit in in a new city with a single father.

She thinks she is ordinary and boring, yet she couldn’t be further from that, even according to the most sought after, handsome vampire who can’t stop his obsessive, blood-sucking thoughts about her. A fish out of water story that turns into a hot and steamy romantic, teenage love story.

I think the reason that people are so drawn to it is, beside the interesting characters and very thrilling storyline, everyone is captivated by the magnetizing love between Bella and Edward. There’s nothing like a hopeless romantic story about your first true love…especially if you’re young, immortal, and it’s happily ever eternity. 

By Stephenie Meyer,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked Twilight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

When 17 year old Isabella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father she expects that her new life will be as dull as the town.

But in spite of her awkward manner and low expectations, she finds that her new classmates are drawn to this pale, dark-haired new girl in town. But not, it seems, the Cullen family. These five adopted brothers and sisters obviously prefer their own company and will make no exception for Bella.

Bella is convinced that Edward Cullen in particular hates her, but she feels a strange attraction to him, although his hostility…


Book cover of Wonder

Samantha Caprio-Negret Why did I love this book?

Just an overall, very well-written middle-grade story about a family and a boy who’s different.

He has a special condition that makes him look and learn differently. He would be considered to have special needs in society. But in this story his family and extra love of his mother makes him feel like he is no different than anyone else, and he has his own unique abilities where he stands out. They help him to discover that about himself.

Ironically, through his own unique abilities and talents, he ends up inspiring so many others around him. His disabilities are in fact his super-abilities. I love books with special needs characters. All my books have a special or disabled character in them.

I grew up with a mentally challenged sister and my son is autistic. Special individuals to me are a huge part of my life!

By R.J. Palacio,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Wonder as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

'Has the power to move hearts and change minds' Guardian

'Tremendously uplifting and a novel of all-too-rare power' Sunday Express

'An amazing book . . . I absolutely loved it. I cried my eyes out' Tom Fletcher

Read the award-winning, multi-million copy bestselling phenomenon that is WONDER in this new tenth anniversary edition.

'My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.'

Auggie wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things - eating ice cream, playing on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside. But ordinary kids don't make other…


Book cover of The Fellowship of the Ring

Samantha Caprio-Negret Why did I love this book?

If you haven’t read this series, you’re missing out! The most captivating, exhilarating, imaginative, epic fantasy ever written!!!

The character development, down to the plot and world-building, good vs. evil, etc…will keep you on the edge of your seat, page after page. Even the book to movie adaptations were some of the bests I’ve ever seen!!

How could an average little hobbit go on a dangerous quest to save the world from complete and utter destruction and darkness? Just brilliant!!! There’s just so much magic and adventure to keep it thrilling along the way.

By J.R.R. Tolkien,

Why should I read it?

24 authors picked The Fellowship of the Ring as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

This brand-new unabridged audio book of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic adventure, The Lord of the Rings, is read by the BAFTA award-winning actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense task. He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power - the only thing that prevents the Dark Lord Sauron's evil dominion.

Thus begins J. R. R. Tolkien's classic tale of adventure, which continues in…


Explore my book 😀

Rainbow Crystal

By Samantha Caprio-Negret,

Book cover of Rainbow Crystal

What is my book about?

The tragic loss of her best friend leaves 10 y/o Seraphina on a quest to bring order back to a world inside a rainbow called Raiven with its six different, colored realms by finding and returning a powerful rainbow crystal back to its wizard owner, which was stolen from an evil witch and her trolls. Seraphina will even meet and bond with a warrior fairy-boy and her own unicorn, which she unknowingly birthed through a wish on a shooting star. Throughout her journey, she passes a series of tests and discovers self-confidence and hope. Most importantly, she learns that her best friend is more of a guardian angel to her than she realizes. It doesn't even require magic, just faith.

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Follow Me to Africa

By Penny Haw,

Book cover of Follow Me to Africa

Penny Haw Author Of The Invincible Miss Cust

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Storyteller Dog walker Dreamer Runner Reader

Penny's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

Historical fiction inspired by the story of Mary Leakey, who carved her own path to become one of the world's most distinguished paleoanthropologists.

It's 1983 and seventeen-year-old Grace Clark has just lost her mother when she begrudgingly accompanies her estranged father to an archeological dig at Olduvai Gorge on the Serengeti plains of Tanzania. Here, seventy-year-old Mary Leakey enlists Grace to sort and pack her fifty years of work and memories. 

Their interaction reminds Mary how she pursued her ambitions of becoming an archeologist in the 1930s by sneaking into lectures and working on excavations. When well-known paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey…

Follow Me to Africa

By Penny Haw,

What is this book about?

Historical fiction inspired by the story of Mary Leakey, who carved her own path to become one of the world's most distinguished paleoanthropologists.

It's 1983 and seventeen-year-old Grace Clark has just lost her mother when she begrudgingly accompanies her estranged father to an archeological dig at Olduvai Gorge on the Serengeti plains of Tanzania. Here, seventy-year-old Mary Leakey enlists Grace to sort and pack her fifty years of work and memories.

Their interaction reminds Mary how she pursued her ambitions of becoming an archeologist in the 1930s by sneaking into lectures and working on excavations. When well-known paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey…


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