Review of Doll Bones by Holly Black

 

 

Doll Bones by Holly Black

 

Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing . . . and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice.

But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll – who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity . . .

Review of Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

 

 

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

 

Life is quiet and ordinary in Amal’s Pakistani village, but she had no complaints, and besides, she’s busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when–as the eldest daughter–she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn’t lose hope and finds ways to continue learning. Then the unimaginable happens–after an accidental run-in with the son of her village’s corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family’s servant to pay off her own family’s debt.

Life at the opulent Khan estate is full of heartbreak and struggle for Amal–especially when she inadvertently makes an enemy of a girl named Nabila. Most troubling, though, is Amal’s growing awareness of the Khans’ nefarious dealings. When it becomes clear just how far they will go to protect their interests, Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams.

Middle Grade Events for May

 

I am participating in multiple events for May in TBR and Beyond.   There may be more, but I wanted to share the ones I’m signed up for.

 

First is our group read/book of the month.

 

Tackle Your TBR Readathon 2017 #TackleTBR

 

I need a little push on my reading right now, so I’m going to sign up for the Tackle Your TBR Readathon hosted by Wishful Endings.

 

The Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon begins Monday, September 11th and ends Sunday, September 24th, with a wrap-up (including giveaway winners) on September 25th.

 

Help me choose what to read for the Make Me Read It Readathon

I saw this readathon on Kourtni’s blog Kourtnireads and decided to try it out, too.  This readathon is by theinnocentsmiley and teaandtitles and runs from August 6th through August 13th.  #MakeMeRead

“Look at the books you own, either physical, e-book or ones you’ve borrowed from the library and pick out a few you really want to read, or feel like you should read. It’s up to you how many you pick, personally I’d pick a few more than you expect to be able to read in a week. Example: if you think you’ll only read two, pick out five books or if you think you can read seven, pick out ten.

 

Make a list of these books on your blog, or make a video, or a Goodreads shelf or post a picture on Instagram—whatever is easiest for you. Then get friends, other bloggers/booktubers/bookstagrammers etc. to vote on which books you HAVE to read.

 

When the readathon comes along, you read the books in the order of most votes. For example, if one book gets 10 votes—you read that first, then the one that got 7 and so on. If there’s a tie, then it’s your preference. The goal is to read as many as possible.” 

 

  

You get to choose what I will be reading.  Please vote on this poll and I will attempt to read the top 3 books chosen during this time period.  

If you are doing the readathon, comment below and let me know.

I will close the voting for this around August 3rd and announce the winners in a new blog.