Dear Dragon: A Pen Pal Tale by Josh Funk
Dear Dragon: A Pen Pal Tale is a book that is on sale. And if you wish to read, this book by Josh Funk, I say don’t be a punk and go forth and do so! You will be happy and look like a pro. Okay, that is the last rhyme I will do (or at least for a time). This picture book came onto my radar when I learned that Josh Funk was having the book Dear Unicorn (illustrated by Charles Santoso) published in […]
The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itaranta
I was in a weeklong writing class recently where they interviewed various authors. One of the more interesting was Emmi Itaranta, a Finnish author, and I ordered her latest book, The Moonday Letters, after hearing her discuss her process. She writes in Finnish and English simultaneously as she had beta readers in both languages. I can’t imagine writing in two languages at the same time. Writing in one is difficult enough. The Letters are an interesting format: epistolary. The protagonist writes unsent letters to her […]
The Appeal by Janice Hallett
Poppy, the two-year-old granddaughter of the Haywoods, is diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, the whole community rallies around them to raise money for her treatment. But not all is as it seems in this little town, and when someone turns up dead on the night of the Fairway Players’ dress rehearsal, the truth must be uncovered. I picked up this book because someone here recommended it (thank you!) and because it’s been a while since I read a good epistolary novel. Certainly I’ve never […]
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
“I am so fearful, Ella, as to where this all may lead. A silly little letter, to be sure, but I believe its theft represents something quite large and oh so frighteningly ominous.” There is small island called Nollop off the east coast of the United States named after Nevin Nollop, the author of the pangram “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”. In Nollop’s honor they have erected a statue of Nollop’s likeness with his famed sentence hung underneath. One morning, the […]
Letters to Phil: Memories of a New York Boyhood 1848 - 1856 by Gene Shermerhorn
In trying to find some primary source material on the 19th century history of New York, I stumbled upon Letters to Phil: Memories of a New York Boyhood 1848 – 1856. It was right in the time period I needed, so I took a shot on the old edition. Published in 1982, it’s a slim book, and not much more than the sum of it’s parts on the surface. A New York native named Gene Shermerhorn wrote a series of letters to his nephew, who was […]
For Every One by Jason Reynolds
For Every One by Jason Reynolds is my first attempt at this young adult author. I have not read his novels, which are getting much praise and press, but I found this one and thought “Why not?” Unfortunately, I was surprised at the content as it did not fit what I expected. Fortunately, I was surprised at the content because it gave me something else. This book is not poems as I first thought. But one long poem. But then again, it is not a […]
