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 …
Category: Young Adult
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/19/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-early-1990s/
Feb 13 2025
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/13/ex-marks-the-spot-by-gloria-chao/
Feb 07 2025
A Year of Diana Wynne Jones: The late 1980s!
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/07/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-late-1980s/
Feb 05 2025
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/05/if-you-knew-my-name-by-lisa-roberts-carter/
Dec 30 2024
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/12/30/darkly-by-marisha-pessl/
Nov 21 2024
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/21/castle-swimmer-vol-1-by-wendy-martin/
Aug 19 2024
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/08/19/the-duchess-of-kokora-by-nikhil-prabala-excerpt/
Jul 08 2024
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/07/08/unbecoming-by-seema-yasmin/
May 09 2024
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/09/enemy-child-by-andrea-warren/
Apr 29 2024
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/29/witch-hunt-by-andrea-balis-elizabeth-levy-illustrated-by-tim-foley/