Reviews on Children's and MG books (with a dash of YA!)
Author: Plaid_Reader
I'm a reader and reviewer. I focus mostly on children's books, middle grade, and young adult fiction. My favorite genre to read is fantasy. I'm also especially interested in how disability is portrayed within said media.
So that 24 hour readathon really took a lot out of me, I think with my medicine and chronic illness it will probably be the last one for me. Too many recovery days. Getting back to our Zodiac posts our next sign is Leo, often represented by a Lion.
Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac (July 22 to August 23), it is a
-fixed sign
-fire sign
-ruled by the Sun
Leo Personality
Sign Positives
People born under this sign are natural born leaders with natural charm. They are dramatic self confident and extremely difficult to resist. On the positive side Leos can achieve anything in any area of life they commit to. They often have many friends and are generous and loyal people.
Self confident they are able to unite different groups toward a shared cause. They also have a great sense of humor which makes uniting people easier. People who are this sign are also warmhearted, loving to laugh and they love to have a good time. These people like to use their mind to solve complicated problems.
Sign Negatives
On the bad side they can have a dominant personality. They can easily ask for everything they need and easily unconsciously neglect the needs of those around them in their own chase for personal gain or status.
The can easily become too fond of their achievements and status setting themselves up for a downfall. They will use their anger as a protective wall to shield their vulnerabilities. They want to be perceived as unbreakable because they are scared of admitting vulnerability, needing things from other people, being incomplete.
What does this sign hate
This sign despises being bossed around. They feel very much in charge of their own worlds and destiny. Leos are perpetually wounded by perceived betrayal and abandonment. They wield their pride as a sword to wield to protect themselves. Their ingrained need to be acknowledged and validated can be can border on narcissistic.
They hate being told what to do, but if you get them to think it was their idea you can usually persuade them. This sign demands respect and they don’t take kindly to people who don’t respect them.
So I was able to stay up for more of the 24 hours than I thought I would be able to, and even though I mostly finished comics and graphic novels I started two books and it kind of got me out of a reading slump.
What did I read:
Shellder: A comic
Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld
This was a cute read that I needed towards the end of the day when I was getting tired it was very beautiful, I need to look more into the Gemworld fandom because this was very pretty and the art was done by someone from somewhere I have live.
This was an easy prompt and since I need Polar Fantasy for Eskana I thought it would be a good pick. Plus anything with Ice Princesses is going to catch my attention since I’m a Frozen fan to the max.
This book is confusing but eventually it leads to a very sweet ending the journeys the main characters take just aren’t straight forward. But it is a very beautiful book and I’d read it again just for the illustrations.
I got maybe a third of the way through though now I’m interested and I think it’s a polar fantasy so I can kill a couple of birds with one stone. I’m going to try and read more today.
This was going to be my LGBT book but I just got too tired even though I probably could have finished it.
In this 24 Hour Readathon I caught a lot of Pokemon, more than I expected, I also caught a Goldeen for treat yourself for playing video games, and a Magikarp for hydrating and I got a Lapras for taking my pain meds and resting throughout the readathon. So I think overall I did very well on this readathon.
I’m taking part in Jadeyraereads Pateron exclusive 24 Hour readathon based on catching Pokemon via reading books, I was just recently told about this on Discord by two lovely people who aren’t on Twitter. This weekend we are taking on the Cerulean Gym so we are catching water Pokemon. I’m not going to try to do all the prompts because I know I won’t finish but I’m going to do as many as possible.
Squirtle-A Blue Cover
When I found out we were doing this readathon I went out and had to find something cool with a blue cover. I’ve never read this book but it’s a fantasy and it looks really good. Plus fighting princesses are always awesome.
A splashy, contemporary middle grade graphic novel from bestselling comics creator Johnnie Christmas!
Bree can’t wait for her first day at her new middle school, Enith Brigitha, home to the Mighty Manatees—until she’s stuck with the only elective that fits her schedule, the dreaded Swim 101. The thought of swimming makes Bree more than a little queasy, yet she’s forced to dive headfirst into one of her greatest fears. Lucky for her, Etta, an elderly occupant of her apartment building and former swim team captain, is willing to help.
With Etta’s training and a lot of hard work, Bree suddenly finds her swim-crazed community counting on her to turn the school’s failing team around. But that’s easier said than done, especially when their rival, the prestigious Holyoke Prep, has everything they need to leave the Mighty Manatees in their wake.
Can Bree defy the odds and guide her team to a state championship, or have the Manatees swum their last lap—for good?
Because I needed something scary on this list and this is also a middle grade I’m adding the Keeper on here. I think I can finish this in 24 hours along with Shielded.
This book is beautiful and I’ve been wanting to read it for awhile I got it on Netgalley but I managed to let it expire so I’m glad I at least get a chance to read it. I’m excited to read it for the 24 hour readathon as it looks like a comfort read.
Finally for the comic I’m choosing Sheets, I’ve wanted to read it for awhile but just haven’t around gotten a chance to do it.
I’m going to do Kingler and buy a book tomorrow probably a polar fantasy so I can use it for Realm a Thon.
Other the that I’m going to do all the self care prompts for the Cerulean Gym like Goldeen-Treat Yourself, Magikarp-Hydrate, and Lapras-Self Care. I’m going to try and take out as many prompts as I can without burning myself out. I’m also I’m probably going to chill on the Discord. But overall I think the Cerulean Gym will be a good opportunity to get reads in for me.
We explored the sign Cancer and how they like home and family and how if they get in fights its usually to protect their home and family. While many characters fit the trope of loving home and family I thought I’d highlight a few of our Cancer characters traits by showing a few of Crab examples.
Red, White and Whole
Despite her wanting to pull away early in the book like a normal teen, she really does love her family deeply, and they really do love her. She’s willing to fight her own issues and fight for her mom. That’s why I think Reha is one of our Crab characters willing to at home with the family and only willing to start a fight when it comes to them.
What Stars Are Made Of
Libby is definitely a character who cares for her family above all else and is willing to put her work and her heart into making sure that her family is okay. In fact the whole plot of the book is her making a deal with the universe to make sure that her pregnant sister has a healthy baby. So she definitely fits our Crab type
Autumn is another character I could see as being one of our Crabs while she chares about her family she also cares about her two new friends and the animals around her as well. Also when she does fight in the book its because she fighting for something that she cares about animals, like Cancers do.
These are just a few examples of Crab characters or those who fit the Cancer traits I’m going to get back to my Zodiac posts now that I have everything established. There will be updates throughout the month on how I’m doing and more Zodiac and Tarot content.
For our Chopped Seek and Find we came up with a week of prompts to keep everyone interested for our little Easter adventure of fun where there will be prizes, surprises and who knows what else.
Flower – The first book that you think of or the first book that you see.
Gallant
Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for Girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home; it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile, or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.
Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.
Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?
All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain—an evil which has already killed nine of her village’s men.
She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove.
Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother’s shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you?
This is an ARC so I can’t say too much about it but I know it’s going to be very cute.
Bunny – a short read
Making Friends: Back to the Drawing Board
Dany, Madison, and…wait-another Dany?!-must navigate some very complicated friendships while trying to capture a magical dog that is turning their town upside-down!Almost everything is going great for Dany. She and Madison are still best friends, she still has her magic sketchbook, and the new school year is looking up. But when Dany creates a duplicate of herself to secretly help with homework and raise her social status, the two of them accidentally unleash a magical dog that wreaks supernatural havoc on the town. Now, with the big school dance coming up, time is running short for Dany, Madison, and their friends to set things right before the night is completely ruined!
Sun – Non-book prompt – such as watch bookish videos, take a bath etc have some self care
Play video games.
Moon – a mystery
All for One
Tania de Batz is most herself with a sword in her hand. Everyone thinks her near-constant dizziness makes her weak, nothing but “a sick girl.” But Tania wants to be strong, independent, a fencer like her father—a former Musketeer and her greatest champion. Then Papa is brutally, mysteriously murdered. His dying wish? For Tania to attend finishing school. But L’Académie des Mariées, Tania realizes, is no finishing school. It’s a secret training ground for new Musketeers: women who are socialites on the surface, but strap daggers under their skirts, seduce men into giving up dangerous secrets, and protect France from downfall. And they don’t shy away from a sword fight.
With her newfound sisters at her side, Tania feels that she has a purpose, that she belongs. But then she meets Étienne, her target in uncovering a potential assassination plot. He’s kind, charming—and might have information about what really happened to her father. Torn between duty and dizzying emotion, Tania will have to decide where her loyalties lie…or risk losing everything she’s ever wanted.
Living in the remote town of Tierra del Sol is dangerous, especially in the criatura months, when powerful spirits roam the desert and threaten humankind. But Cecelia Rios has always believed there was more to the criaturas, much to her family’s disapproval. After all, only brujas—humans who capture and control criaturas—consort with the spirits, and brujeria is a terrible crime.
When her older sister, Juana, is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a powerful dark criatura, Cece is determined to bring Juana back. To get into Devil’s Alley, though, she’ll have to become a bruja herself—while hiding her quest from her parents, her town, and the other brujas. Thankfully, the legendary criatura Coyote has a soft spot for humans and agrees to help her on her journey.
With him at her side, Cece sets out to reunite her family—and maybe even change what it means to be a bruja along the way.
I’m also reading this final one to help finish up my dwarven character for Orillium as I needed to read a book set in the desert.
So what are you all going to read, I can’t wait to see all your lists!
My plans for April are going to be a little different than most months of the year. I’m hosting and a Chopped mini Readathon with The Blind Scribe, this one is a Seek and Find based on an Easter Egg hunt, we’ll have prizes and sweets and fun galore. We’ll be back for the full length readathon in July, whose theme we will reveal sometime between now and then.
Also post may be a little later in the day for the first week of March and the beginning of April, I have realized I needed glasses and went to the eye doctor yesterday so my glasses are being made, but until I get them, I’ll have to limit my screen time to avoid headaches.
1) Plans for Readathons
So I’m doing at least two other readathons besides my own. I also think I saw another readathon I wanted to do last evening but can’t remember so far I’m doing Magical Readathon and Realm A Thon along with our own readathon so of course some books will be cross used.
2)Getting back to my reading goal
Since I’ve gotten to the root of why I haven’t been reading as much now I can read more through audio books and printed books until my glasses arrive then get back to reading on my devices once they do.
3) Books on Vacation
I’m going to a slightly bigger city to see a production of the travelling cast of the Broadway Show of Frozen. Slightly bigger city equals more book shops so I’m probably going to come home with goodness knows how many books. I will have so many pictures to post from this vacation I can’t wait.
4) More plans on my novel
I’ve been doing some solid work on my novel, but I make plans to need to do more research. But that has been a priority this past month I’d like to continue to make it a priority in April and get more scenes done.
Another Readathon I’m doing called the Realm a Thon, it’s a military fantasy based readathon. But you can read lots of other types of books basically the idea is fighting for your country by reading book to add magic to your realm or take away magic from realm. You pledge magic to one of the countries. I’m pledging my magic to
I decided to pick Eskana because it was snowy and in the mountains. I like that snowy mountain atmosphere. Also the sub-prompt was polar fantasy so I figured there were a few of those on my list that I’d probably read.
For this readathon you can use up to 5 prompts for one book and they are repeatable they just have to be all negative or all positive so I see myself using a lot of the books I’m doing for Orillium here as well.
However there are a few polar fantasies I’ve been putting off that I’ll do on this one since I get extra points
Ember and the Ice Dragons
Ember St. George is a dragon. At least she was before her adoptive father—a powerful but accident-prone Magician—turned her into a human girl to save her life.
Unfortunately, Ember’s growing tendency to burst into flames at certain temperatures—not to mention her invisible wings—is making it too dangerous for her to stay in London. The solution: ship Ember off to her aunt’s research station in frigid Antarctica.
Though eccentric Aunt Myra takes getting used to, Ember quickly feels at home in a land of ice storms, mischievous penguins, and twenty-four-hour nights. She even finds herself making friends with a girl genius called Nisha and a mysterious orphan named Moss.
Then she discovers that Antarctica is home to the Winterglass Hunt, a yearly tradition in which rare ice dragons are hunted for their jeweled scales. Furious, Ember decides to join the hunt to sabotage it from the inside.
But being an undercover dragon isn’t easy—especially among dragon hunters. Can a twelve-year-old fire dragon survive the dangers that come her way in the Antarctic wilderness and protect the ice dragons from extinction?
All Ekata wants is to stay alive—and the chance to prove herself as a scholar. Once Ekata’s brother is finally named heir to the dukedom of Kylma Above, there will be nothing to keep her at home with her murderous family. Not her books or her experiments, not her family’s icy castle atop a frozen lake, not even the tantalizingly close Kylma Below, a mesmerizing underwater kingdom that provides her family with magic. But just as escape is within reach, her parents and twelve siblings fall under a strange sleeping sickness, and no one can find a cure.
In the space of a single night, Ekata inherits the title of duke, her brother’s captivating warrior bride, and ever-encroaching challengers from without—and within—her ministry. Nothing has prepared Ekata for diplomacy, for war, for love . . . or for a crown she has never wanted. If Kylma Above is to survive, Ekata must seize her family’s magic and power. And if Ekata is to survive, she must quickly decide how she will wield them both.
Seventeen-year-old Sena Korhosen hates the sled race, especially after it claimed both her mothers’ lives five years ago. Alone on her frozen planet, she makes money any other way she can–until she double-crosses a local gangster.
Desperate to escape, Sena flees with his prized fighting wolf, Iska, and takes an offer from a team of scientists. They’ll pay her way off-world, on one condition–that she uses the survival skills her mothers taught her to get them to the end of the race. But the tundra is a treacherous place. When the race threatens their lives at every turn, Sena must discover whether her abilities are enough to help them survive the wild, and whether she and Iska together are strong enough to get them all out alive.
I’m sure I have some more polar fantasies I will find as I’m looking around my shelves as well as other books I want to read for this readathon that don’t fit Orillium. I’m looking forward to this readathon because it’s unlike any readathon I’ve done lately, I think it’s a very unique concept that I will enjoy and hope my nation wins.
The Orilium Readathon is back! So for my character the Novice Path was a life changing experience they have changed their name to Fable and are now using they/them pronouns. Now that they are at Orilium they have to choose a career, they were sorted into the Mind Walkers Guild last time and have found they like it there so they want to go with a career close to the guilds ideals. Hence they have decided to be a Dream Walker though they know this will be hard work in the Fall Equinox they are ready to face the Spring Equinox
Here is an image of them.
Here are the list of classes they they’ll be taking and books that will be read.
Astronomy-Top of your to be read list
Loveless
This is the funny, honest, messy, completely relatable story of Georgia, who doesn’t understand why she can’t crush and kiss and make out like her friends do. She’s surrounded by the narrative that dating + sex = love. It’s not until she gets to college that she discovers the A range of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum — coming to understand herself as asexual/aromantic. Disrupting the narrative that she’s been told since birth isn’t easy — there are many mistakes along the way to inviting people into a newly found articulation of an always-known part of your identity. But Georgia’s determined to get her life right, with the help of (and despite the major drama of) her friends.
Ophelia Rojas knows what she likes: her best friends, Cuban food, rose-gardening, and boys – way too many boys. Her friends and parents make fun of her endless stream of crushes, but Ophelia is a romantic at heart. She couldn’t change, even if she wanted to.
So when she finds herself thinking more about cute, quiet Talia Sanchez than the loss of a perfect prom with her ex-boyfriend, seeds of doubt take root in Ophelia’s firm image of herself. Add to that the impending end of high school and the fracturing of her once-solid friend group, and things are spiraling a little out of control. But the course of love—and sexuality—never did run smooth. As her secrets begin to unravel, Ophelia must make a choice between clinging to the fantasy version of herself she’s always imagined or upending everyone’s expectations to rediscover who she really is, after all.
Art of Illusion-A Book with a Trope You Like Disabled Badasses
Fight or Flight
Can’t say too much on this book for the Equinox as it is an ARC but it does fulfill the prompt
Spells and Incantations-Short stories/essays
The Fire Never Goes Out
In a collection of essays and personal mini-comics that span eight years of his young adult life, author-illustrator ND Stevenson charts the highs and lows of being a creative human in the world.
Whether it’s hearing the wrong name called at his art school graduation ceremony or becoming a National Book Award finalist for his debut graphic novel, Nimona, ND captures the little and big moments that make up a real life, with a wit, wisdom, and vulnerability that are all his own.
Psionics and Divinations-A book set in the future
Victories Greater than Death
Tina never worries about being ‘ordinary’–she doesn’t have to, since she’s known practically forever that she’s not just Tina Mains, average teenager and beloved daughter. She’s also the keeper of an interplanetary rescue beacon, and one day soon, it’s going to activate, and then her dreams of saving all the worlds and adventuring among the stars will finally be possible. Tina’s legacy, after all, is intergalactic–she is the hidden clone of a famed alien hero, left on Earth disguised as a human to give the universe another chance to defeat a terrible evil.
But when the beacon activates, it turns out that Tina’s destiny isn’t quite what she expected. Things are far more dangerous than she ever assumed–and everyone in the galaxy is expecting her to actually be the brilliant tactician and legendary savior Captain Thaoh Argentian, but Tina….is just Tina. And the Royal Fleet is losing the war, badly–the starship that found her is on the run and they barely manage to escape Earth with the planet still intact.
Luckily, Tina is surrounded by a crew she can trust, and her best friend Rachel, and she is still determined to save all the worlds. But first she’ll have to save herself.
Fifteen years ago, eight supernatural criminals fled Estero City to make a new life in an isolated tropical hideout. Over time, seven of them disappeared without a trace, presumed captured or killed. And now, the remaining one has died.
Left behind to fend for themselves are the criminals’ five children, each with superpowers of their own: Birdie can communicate with animals. Brix has athletic abilities and can heal quickly. Tenner can swim like a fish and can see in the dark and hear from a distance. Seven’s skin camouflages to match whatever is around him. Cabot hasn’t shown signs of any unusual power—yet.
Then one day Birdie finds a map among her father’s things that leads to a secret stash. There is also a note:
Go to Estero, find your mother,and give her the map.
The five have lived their entire lives in isolation. What would it mean to follow the map to a strange world full of things they’ve only heard about, like cell phones, cars, and electricity? A world where, thanks to their parents, being supernatural is a crime?
When Pegasus crashes onto a Manhattan roof during a terrible storm, thirteen-year-old Emily’s life changes forever. Suddenly allied with a winged horse she’d always thought was mythical, Emily is thrust into the center of a fierce battle between the Roman gods and a terrifying race of multiarmed stone warriors called the Nirads. Emily must team up with a thief named Paelen, the goddess Diana, and a mortal boy named Joel in order to return Pegasus to Olympus and rescue the gods from a certain death.
Along the way, Emily and her companions will fight monsters, run from a government agency that is prepared to dissect Pegasus, and even fly above the Manhattan skyline—all as part of a quest to save Olympus before the Olympic flame burns out.
I think this is a good variety of books for the Spring Equinox I may read more or create another character for the Spring Equinox. There are a few more Callings I’m interested in but we’ll see April is busy for me. As I’m also doing Realm A Thon as well as running my own Chopped Readathon It all depends on how busy I am. I’m really looking forward to a challenge this Equinox even if that makes the Fall Equinox harder this one of my favorite readathons and I’ve been looking forward to this for awhile.
I’ve been meaning to read Fire Becomes Her for awhile but I finally got the hardback copy and I’m glad I did. This is one book I want to have a hard copy of the author has said inspirations were drawn from the 2016 Presidential Election, but as much as this is a story about politics and power, it is ultimately a story about love.
Summary
Ingrid Ellis thinks she know what she wants knows who she loves. She wants power and she’s going to find it on the arm of Linden Holt, the man she love, or does she, but she has no background monetary or magical and Linden’s father won’t acknowledge her and will never approve of her hoped for marriage to Linden
Unless she agrees to spy for the other side.
Gwendolyn Meyers, Holt’s opponent is everything Ingrid wishes she could be, independent. She speaks her mind shares her love with another woman. Gwendolyn and her staffers show Ingrid a different kind of love and family than she could have ever imagined. Then there is Alex, a friend at first until Ingrid could see him as something more.
But there is fire on the horizon, and it’s coming for the Meyers campaign when a fire rocks the Presidential Ball and soon after Ingrid’s secret is revealed. She soon finds herself going back where it all started and working with someone who could make things equal for everyone if only they can make things work.
With a lot of hope and a chance for forgiveness Ingrid is about to face down one of the most powerful men in the country by herself? Will the truth prevail?
Review of Fire Becomes Her
This book was engaging from the first page because at first you don’t want to like Ingrid. But that’s because Ingrid doesn’t want to like Ingrid, as the book goes on and Ingrid sees more of love and learn more about what love can be and the many ways it can be expressed she becomes happier and more comfortable especially when it comes to her relationships with Linden and Alex.
I love the different identities represented in this book this is great and I really want to read more of Rosiee Thor’s work.
March was a pretty creative month, I didn’t work on other readathons as much as I liked because the Blind Scribe and I have got a plan for an April one in the works and there has been much planning and lots of cackling, all from me.
1) Read Everyday
I may not have read as much I would have liked in March but I did enjoy what I read. I’ve also got things requested that I want to read, I’m focusing less on numbers and more on just enjoying my reads
2) Write Everyday
I’ve finally found my place with writing in March and have started to write important scenes for my novel. I have figured out plot point that had me stumped. I’ve figured out villain motivation and some things that will collect the tears of my readers. I don’t know if its right but I started at the end and am working forward to the beginning.
3) Post Everyday
Except for a few days when I was chronic fatigued I’ve posted to the blog pretty much every day, and I’ve done pretty good to keep my posts in advance for the case that I’m tired or chronic fatigued.
4) Participate in Readathons
Well I worked on my own Readathon, does that count. I’m saying it does indeed. The Blind Scribe and I have been working away on a little Easter/Ostra adventure for all of our Chopped fan readers from last time and to all the new faces we hope to see for April. The surprises will arrive at the beginning of April leaving you plenty of time to plan for your books for the readathon the week of Easter, April 10th-17th. While this is a mini readathon don’t worry were coming back with a whole month of fun in July.
