reviews

RULES AND REGULATIONS Author: TJ Klune I am fully aware that YA magical fiction is not everyone’s cup of tea. But perhaps sometimes we don’t know our cup of tea until we drink it. Or in this case, read it. For I fully believe that The House in the Cerulean Sea rises above genres and age groups to sit firmly in humanity’s happy place. The House in the Cerulean Sea opens with an introduction to Linus Baker. Linus works at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, or DICOMY. He is a caseworker, traveling from orphanage to orphanage, assessing that [...]

Spiked Jam, Fêtes, and Fate Author: M.C. Beaton Agatha is once again using her magic (and bullish influence) for PR to support the church fête of a nearby village at the behest of Mrs. Bloxby and to gain the attention of George Selby, a handsome widower. The fête attracts people and news channels from far and wide when Agatha trucks in a singer who owes her a favor, but the event soon takes on a darker note when a man throws himself off a nearby roof.  It’s not long before the police discover that the jam-tasting booth is at the [...]

An Addictive Detective Treat Author: Holly Jackson For her senior capstone project, Pippa Fitz-Amobi has decided to solve a murder. And not just any murder, the one that rocked her town five years ago and continues to define the undertones of fear and hatred. Andie Bell was your stereotypical perfect high-school princess: beautiful, popular, an all around American-pie kind of girl with a bright future. . . until her boyfriend, Sal Singh, murdered her, hid the body, texted his confession to his parents, and then killed himself. But Pippa knew Sal, at least a little, and something doesn’t quite add up [...]