Lately, I’ve been debating a lot about whether I should write a review about some books I read. I like writing reviews for books. I love sharing my finds with others. Especially my children, middle readers and young adult reading, as it has been my experience that sometimes they are “shoved to the side” as afterthoughts, or dismissed as “just kids books,” or “not as good as adult reads.” I could go on. But back to debating on if I should review The Secret Society of the Willbrook Witches by Camille Perron-Cormier and Chickenpox by Remy Lai.
You see, neither were a WOW, this is an amazing book! It’s not that I disliked it, the opposite in fact. I did like them. I like that both are short, cozy stories. The Secret Society is more so, but I wanted a quick read and they supplied it. And our witches are for readers at least 10 and up and will be a solid read. With Chickenpox there is a coming of age story of one event (the children get the pox at the same time) and how communication is key. It is more fleshed out and there is more interaction between the reader and character narrator without breaking the fourth wall. This could be most ages up to around 12 or 13.
Granted, I would have liked more action in Perron-Cormier’s graphic novel but it is a good start to things. Which is explained when I realized it was book one of a series. I should have realized this by the cover, but wasn’t really paying attention to the fine print. I enjoyed looking at the character, guessing things about them on the cover instead. I was looking at the tree (what’s up with the purple spread?) and wondering what inside illustrations would be like. And those illustrations were nice. Nothing fancy. They fit the overall tone to things. They support the three main characters and what events occur. 
Chickenpox is right out of the gate having you assaulted by colors, busy pages and five siblings’ crazy actions. It fits the tone of things right away and there is no question this is a lighthearted, but thoughtful, story about an oldest sister and her pack of zoo animals, I mean siblings. I definitely related more to having siblings (or in my case a sibling, but my nephews were a pack of wild animals growing up) than a girl learning she is a witch, there is a coven (okay two other witches) on her university campus and a mystery of why the trees are hurting, yet it was relatable too (our main character is lonely, off beat, nervous, learning about her “true power” and we’ve all been the “odd one out” at times).
In the end, I obviously answered “Should I?” with a “Yes, I should” about writing a review. You see, I realized the reason I wasn’t sure about it was because I wasn’t sure if people would be interested in them. But like both books tell you, we all have our Group-Tribe- Family and these books have theirs, and I could be the one that helps them find their Reading Family-Tribe-Group by writing a review.
