Remember, today is the LAST DAY to enter this awesome giveaway!

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Fans of Snow Treasure, Once, Number the Stars, and Each Little Bird That Sings.

Synopsis (provided by the publisher): 
Set in Norway during World War II, Bjorn’s Gift continues the adventures of Mari, a young Norwegian girl who faces growing hardships and dangers in her small village in a western fjord. German occupation troops and local Nazi supporters move closer to her family’s daily life, and her classmate Leif becomes active in
the Norwegian Nazi youth party. Mari struggles to live up to her brother Bjorn’s faith in her, as she becomes more involved in risky resistance activities, trusting only her family and a few close friends. Across Norway, oppressive laws are imposed in the months from Fall 1941 to the early 1943, with dire local consequences. Difficult decisions force Mari to admit that many things in life are not easily sorted into good or bad, and she begins to wonder if Hitler will ever be defeated and . . . whether the occupation of Norway will ever end.

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Four

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Warriors, Wings of Fire, and other similar series. 

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
The blue jays and cardinals of Stone-Run Forest have turned against each other. According to legend, only Swordbird, son of the Great Spirit, has the power to conquer evil and restore peace to the land. But is he real or just a myth? Can Swordbird arrive in time to save the forest . . . or will it be too late?

(click the Read More button in the bottom right hand corner of this post to read the full review)

Reviewed by Olivia


Rating: High Five!


​Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Snow Treasure, Once, Number the Stars, and Each Little Bird That Sings.


Synopsis (from Amazon):
Eleven-year-old Mari grew up tucked under the wings of her parents, grandma, and older siblings. After Hitler's troops invade Norway in Spring 1940, she is forced to grow beyond her "little girl" nickname to deal with harsh new realities. At her side for support and protection is Odin, her faithful elkhound. As the year progresses, Mari, her family, and her neighbors are drawn into the activities of the Norwegian underground resistance. 

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Mayday, Lost in the Sun, the Thing About Jellyfish, and other compelling realistic fiction books surrounding a tween's struggles with death. 

Favorite Quote: "Be light like a bird, and not like a feather."

Synopsis (from Amazon): After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Wren finds her life thrown into upheaval. And when her mother decides to pack up the car and forces Wren to leave the only home she's ever known, the family grows even more fractured. As she and her mother struggle to build a new life, Wren must confront issues with the environment, peer pressure, bullying, and most of all, the difficulty of forgiving those who don't deserve it. A quirky, emotional middle grade novel set in Michigans Upper Peninsula, Be Light Like a Bird features well-drawn, unconventional characters and explores what it means to be a family and the secrets and lies that can tear one apart.

Hi everyone! We have some exciting news for you today: we are hosting our first ever GIVEAWAY! 

The one winner will receive two books in a new trilogy by Sandy Brehl, Odin's Promise (see cover to the left) and Bjorn's Gift, which will be released late September to early November. Both books will be signed by the author, Sandy Brehl.

Here is the synopsis for Odin's Promise, from Amazon:
"Eleven-year-old Mari grew up tucked under the wings of her parents, grandma, and older siblings. After Hitler's troops invade Norway in Spring 1940, she is forced to grow beyond her "little girl" nickname to deal with harsh new realities. At her side for support and protection is Odin, her faithful elkhound. As the year progresses, Mari, her family, and her neighbors are drawn into the activities of the Norwegian underground resistance."

All you have to do to enter is fill out the form below. A winner will be randomly picked. Giveaway closes September 30th. Winners will be notified by October 5th. Parental permission is needed if you are under the age of 18. The author will send the books directly to the winner's
address. Giveaway open only to the US and Canada, however, if you live in any other country, we are still able to send you, if you win, free Kindle copies of the books.

[NOTE: any new subscriptions NOT on this form will be not be entered in this giveaway.]

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of I Am Malala and other books about women prevailing in extraordinarily terrible predicaments.

Synopsis (from Amazon):
Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Parvana’s father — a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed — works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day, he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food. As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner. 

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Eragon, The Ranger's Apprentice, and the Young Samurai series.

Synopsis (from Amazon):
When the Brotherband crew are caught in a massive storm at sea, they’re blown far off course and wash up on the shores of a land so far west that Hal can’t recognize it from any of his maps. Eerily, the locals are nowhere in sight, yet the Herons have a creeping feeling they are being watched.
 
Suddenly the silence is broken when a massive, marauding bear appears, advancing on two children. The crew springs into action and rescues the children from the bear’s clutches, which earns them the gratitude and friendship of the local Mawagansett tribe, who finally reveal themselves. But the peace is short-lived. The Ghostfaces, a ruthless, warlike tribe who shave their heads and paint their faces white, are on the warpath once more. It’s been ten years since they raided the Mawagansett village, but they’re coming back to pillage and reap destruction. As the enemy approaches, the Herons gear up to help their new friends repel an invasion.

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Lost in the Sun, The Thing About Jellyfish, and anything by Jerry Spinelli.

Synopsis (from Amazon):
Wayne Kovok lives in a world of After. After his uncle in the army was killed overseas. After Wayne and his mother survived a plane crash while coming back from the funeral. After he lost his voice.

Wayne has always used his love of facts to communicate ("Did you know more people die each year from shaking a vending machine than from shark attacks?"). Without his voice, how will he wow the prettiest girl in school? How will he stand up to his drill-sergeant grandfather? And how will he share his hopes with his deadbeat dad? It's not until Wayne loses his voice completely that he realizes how much he doesn't say.

We're always looking for the next best read, whether it's through recommendations, bestseller lists, or ARCs. Here's a list of the books we're most excited to read this month (note: not August's new releases, but books on our to-read shelf).
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​Odin's Promise

​Sandy Brehl, the author of Odin's Promise, was kind enough to give us a free copy of this book. And how could we resist? It's been compared by many to Snow Treasure, one of our favorite books. 

Here's the synopsis (from Amazon):
"ODIN'S PROMISE is a historical novel for middle-grade readers, a story of the first year of German occupation of Norway in World War II as seen through the eyes of a young girl. Eleven-year-old Mari grew up tucked under the wings of her parents, grandma, and older siblings. After Hitler's troops invade Norway in Spring 1940, she is forced to grow beyond her "little girl" nickname to deal with harsh new realities. At her side for support and protection is Odin, her faithful elkhound. As the year progresses, Mari, her family, and her neighbors are drawn into the activities of the Norwegian underground resistance. "