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Tag: historical fiction

October 17, 2025 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri

I’ve noticed something about Daniel Nayeri. With every middle grade novel for kids that he writes he gets a little bit sharper. A little bit sleeker. A little bit funnier. A little bit faster. And this latest title? It’s a little bit one of the best books of the year

January 21, 2024 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz

Here we have WWII spy antics, hungry kangaroos, and a hero determined against all odds to help his parents, even if that means fooling Nazis.

September 22, 2023 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

If you think the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, the famine in Ukraine in the 1930s, and Brooklyn at that same time makes for an awkward tri-narrative, you are wrong. And if you also think that it would be highly difficult to weave three such perspectives together, there you are correct, but it can be done. The Lost Year proves as much.

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Review of the Day: The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri, ill. Daniel Miyares

February 10, 2023 by Betsy Bird

Nothing about this novel is wholly ideal except possibly its intentions and its ability to charm some readers into a general state of submission. The question now is: Are you such a reader?

Review of the Day: Three Strike Summer by Skyler Schrempp

November 10, 2022 by Betsy Bird

“Three Strike Summer” is the sports book/ escape narrative / union organizing novel you wish every kid had the chance to read. Good news. Now they can.

Review of the Day: The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo, ill. Sophie Blackall

September 10, 2021 by Betsy Bird

Pairing with the utterly lovely Sophie Blackall, Kate DiCamillo presents us with a story that has all the trappings of a fable, and all the reality of a thoroughly thrilling tale.

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Review of the Day: Amber and Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz, ill. Julia Iredale

January 27, 2021 by Betsy Bird

This is a book positioned to impress, that then sneaks over and steals your heart. Hermes would be proud.

Review of the Day: Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte

July 1, 2020 by Betsy Bird

May casual cruelties fall by the wayside in the presence of such books as this ione. May our children find it and love it and read it repeatedly. And may we see more such books from Ann Clare LeZotte and authors like her, that put work and care into the very folds of their stories.

Review of the Day: Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk

January 31, 2020 by Betsy Bird

Hand this to the kid that yearns for that freedom. For wide-open spaces and mysterious figures hiding in the shadows and snot nosed brothers and lots and lots of puppies. Hand it to someone who needs their own mountain. Even if it’s just a literary one.

Review of the Day: The Line Tender by Kate Allen

April 10, 2019 by Betsy Bird

There are books for kids that dare to be more thoughtful than pulse pounding. If chosen freely by a child, they can unlock something inside. Something that means more to the person reading than anyone else. The Line Tender carries this promise in its pages. It's the right book for the right reader.

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