Category: Young Adult

A Year of Diana Wynne Jones: The early 1990s!

Emily's photo of her bookcase shows her copies of all the Diana Wynne Jones books to be read in the readthrough. Many are tattered.

In my quest to read all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books in one year, this month I read Castle in the Air, Aunt Maria, A Sudden Wild Magic and Hexwood! Honestly, it was a big month. Those are some hefty ones, and I think Hexwood is among her very best. It’s a high bar! Castle …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/19/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-early-1990s/

Ex Marks The Spot by Gloria Chao

So excited I get to review this in the overlap between the Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day seasons! Gemma Sun is the perfect straight-A student. Hard-working and straitlaced to a fault, she’s always wanted to cause minimal trouble for her own mother Jean, who had her young and without family support. For as long …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/13/ex-marks-the-spot-by-gloria-chao/

A Year of Diana Wynne Jones: The late 1980s!

Emily's photo of her bookcase shows her copies of all the Diana Wynne Jones books to be read in the readthrough. Many are tattered.

In my quest to read all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books in one year, this month I read Howl’s Moving Castle, A Tale of Time City, The Lives of Christopher Chant and Wild Robert! It was fun to revisit Howl after the Ghibli film version became so popular, and Wild Robert was entirely new to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/07/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-late-1980s/

If You Knew My Name by Lisa Roberts Carter

I honestly don’t recall the last time I read a novel in verse, but I’m glad I broke that spell with this powerful debut! Mason Zy’Aire Tyndall is a high school senior who has two goals: hone his battle rap skills to better fit the “Legend” moniker he’s working on and find a cute girl …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/05/if-you-knew-my-name-by-lisa-roberts-carter/

Darkly by Marisha Pessl

You know how sometimes you have an author whose first work you encountered was so life-altering that you’re down for whatever they write after, no matter the quality of the subsequent output? Marisha Pessl is one of those authors for me. I fell in love hard with Special Topics In Calamity Physics, which was a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/30/darkly-by-marisha-pessl/

Castle Swimmer Vol 1 by Wendy Martin

Y’all, I did not expect to tear up at this sweet and surprisingly substantial look at star-crossed mermen fated by prophecy to lose one another. Kappa is born to be the Beacon. Almost immediately after he hatches from his egg, the God of the Surface informs him that his task is to swim around the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/21/castle-swimmer-vol-1-by-wendy-martin/

The Duchess Of Kokora by Nikhil Prabala (EXCERPT)

We have another great excerpt for you, readers, with a YA fantasy perfect for fans of Bridgerton and The Selection! Ngl, as soon as I read this, I knew I had to cram it into my already overstuffed work schedule, but since I still haven’t yet found the time, here’s a taster for the rest …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/08/19/the-duchess-of-kokora-by-nikhil-prabala-excerpt/

Unbecoming by Seema Yasmin

Every so often, the publicist Alex Kelleher-Nagorski (hi, Alex!) sends me a book and starts firmly (but gently) persuading me to read it. This is one of those books. I was genuinely afraid that I wouldn’t have time to get into it but Alex assured me that it would be totally worth my time. After …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/07/08/unbecoming-by-seema-yasmin/

Enemy Child by Andrea Warren

subtitled The Story Of Norman Mineta, A Boy Imprisoned In A Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II. Many Americans will know of Norman Mineta as a trailblazing Japanese American politician, a moderate Democrat who served in both Democratic and Republican cabinets. He always resisted having any books written about his life until he …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/09/enemy-child-by-andrea-warren/

Witch Hunt by Andrea Balis & Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Tim Foley

subtitled The Cold War, Joe McCarthy, and the Red Scare. Ever since the end of the Second World War, the word “communism” has been used as a bogeyman for the average American, and is often the default label for any behavior that threatens a selfish sense of privilege. Why explain why you don’t like something …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/29/witch-hunt-by-andrea-balis-elizabeth-levy-illustrated-by-tim-foley/