Book Reviews | Maw Books

Book Reviews

In addition to this archive of all of my book reviews, my Reading List (currently under construction) is searchable by title, author, and tag of all of the books that I have reviewed as well as books I’d like to read. There will you find book details, book cover, a short synopsis, and links to my book reviews.

In addition to this list, broken down by age level, you may also find book reviews alpha by author (further down this page)

FICTION

Adult

Young Adult

Middle Readers

Picture Books

NON-FICTION

Memoir/Biography

General

Picture Books

Book Reviews Alpha by Author

A | B | C | D| E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q |R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi – Half of a Yellow Sun
Agarwal, Shilpa – Haunting Bombay
Ajak, Benjamin (with Benson & Alephonsion Deng)- They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys From Sudan
Aksomitis, Linda – Longhorns and Outlaws
Alexie, Sherman – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Alley, Zoe B. – There’s a Wolf at the Door: Five Classic Tales
Anonymous – Go Ask Alice
Appelt, Kathi – The Underneath
Asher, Jay – Thirteen Reasons Why
Asgedom, Mawi – Of Beetles & Angels, A Boy’s Remarkable Journey From a Refugee Camp to Harvard
Atwater, Richard & Florence – Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Aurebacher , Inge – I Am a Star, Child of the Holocaust

B

Baker, Tiffany – The Little Giant of Aberdeen County
Baraket, Ibtisam – Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood
Barrows, Annie (with Mary Ann Shaffer) – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Bashir, Halima – Tears of the Desert, A Memoir of Survival in Darfur
Bauer, Joan – Hope Was Here
Bauer, Marion Dane – On My Honor
Beccia, Carlyn – The Raucous Royals
Beck, Glenn – The Christmas Sweater
Becker, Bonny – A Birthday for Bea
Becker, Bonny – A Visitor for Bear
Becker, Bonny – An Ant’s Day Off
Becker, Bonny – Holbrook: A Lizards Tale
Becker, Bonny – My Brother, The Robot
Becker, Bonny – The Christmas Crocodile
Bedford, David – I’ve Seen Santa! by David Bedford
Berg, Elizabeth – The Handmaid and the Carpenter
Bishop, Nic – Frogs
Bitton-Jackson, Livia – I Have Lived a Thousand Years
Blume, Judy – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Blume, Judy – Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Boston Weatherford, Carole – Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom
Boyne, John – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Boynton, Sandra – Consider Love, It’s Moods and Many Ways
Bradbury, Ray – The Halloween Tree
Brady, Catherine – The Mechanics of Falling and Other Stories
Breen, Susan – The Fiction Class
Brenner, Marie – Apples and Oranges, My Brother and Me, Lost and Found
Bridges, Ruby – Through My Eyes
Brown, Peter – The Curious Garden
Brown- Waite, Eve – First Comes Loves, Then Comes Malaria
Buckley, Carol – Travels with Tarra
Buckley, Carol – Just for Elephants
Buckley, Michael – The Sisters Grimm, The Fairy Tale Detectives
Bunting, Eve – Who Was Born this Special Day?
Burg, Shana – A Thousand Never Evers

C

Campbell Bartoletti, Susan – The Boy Who Dared
Campbell Bartoletti, Susan – Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow
Carman, Patrick – Ghost in the Machine by Patrick Carman
Carman, Patrick – Skeleton Creek
Carson Levine, Gail – Ella Enchanted
Center, Katherine – Everyone is Beautiful
Center, Katherine – The Bright Side of Disaster
Chaltas, Thalia – Because I Am Furniture
Cheadle, Don (with John Prendergast) – Not On Our Watch
Claus, Elsbeth – Mrs. Claus Explains It All: (At Last) Answers to the Questions Real Kids Ask!
Clayson Johnson, Jane – I Am a Mother
Coelho, Paula – The Alchemist
Coetzee, J.M. – Slow Man
Coles, Robert – The Story of Ruby Bridges
Collins, Ross – Dear Vampa
Collins, Suzanne – Catching Fire
Collins, Suzanne – The Hunger Games
Coman, Carolyn – What Jamie Saw
Cottin, Menena – The Black Book of Colors
Cotton, Ronald (with Jennifer Thompson-Cannino) – Picking Cotton, Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption
Cottonwood, Joe – Quake
Craighead George, Jean – Julie of the Wolves
Crimi, Carolyn – Where’s My Mummy
Curtis, Christopher Paul – Elijah of Buxton
Cushman, Karen – The Midwife’s Apprentice

D

Dahl, Roald – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Dahl, Roald – Fantastic Mr. Fox
Dahl, Roald – James and the Giant Peach
Dahl, Roald -The Witches
Dalgliesh, Alice – The Courage of Sarah Noble
Dallas, Sandra – Prayers for Sale
D’Amico, Carmelia & Steven – Ella the Elegant Elephant, Ella Sets the Stage, Ella Takes the Cake and Ella Sets Sail
Dashner, James – The 13th Reality: The Hunt for Dark Infinity
Dashner, James – The 13th Reality, A Journal of Curious Letters
Deedy, Carmen Agra – 14 Cows for America
Deng, Benson & Alephonsion – They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys From Sudan
DiCamillo, Kate -The Magician’s Elephant
DiCamillo, Kate -The Tiger Rising
DiCamillo, Kate -The Tale of Despereaux
DiCamillo, Kate -Because of Winn-Dixie
DiCamillo, Kate -Great Joy
DiCamillo, Kate -The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Dirie, Waris -Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad
Doctorow, Cory -Little Brother
Dormen, Lesley -The Best Place to Be

E

Ebershoff, David -The 19th Wife
Edwards, Kim -The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
Eeckhout, Emmanuelle -There’s No Such Thing as Ghosts
Eggers, Dave -What is the What
Ellis, Ann Dee -Everything is Fine
Ellis, Ann Dee -This is What I Did
Ellis, Deborah -The Heaven Shop
Ellis, Deborah -Lunch with Lenin and Other Stories
Ellis, Deborah -Parvana’s Journey
Ellis, Deborah -The Breadwinner
Ellis, Deborah -Mud City
Evans, Richard Paul – The Christmas Box
Evans, Richard Paul -The Christmas Box Miracle
Evans, Richard Paul – Finding Noel
Evans, Richard Paul -The Gift
Evans, Richard Paul -The Light of Christmas

F

Fitmaurice, Kathryn -The Year the Swallows Came Early
Fleischman, Sid -The Whipping Boy
Filipovic, Zlata -Zlata’s Diary, A Child’s Life in Sarajevo
Forkner, Tina Ann -Ruby Among Us
Fox, Paula -The Slave Dancer
Frazee, Marla -Santa Claus the World’s Number One Toy Expert
Frazee, Marla -Walk On! A Guide for Babies of All Ages
Freedman, Russell -The Voice That Challenged A Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights
Freedman, Russell -Freedom Walkers, The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Freeman, Ru -A Disobedient Girl
Freese, Mathias B.- Down to a Sunless Sea
Fullerton, Alma -Libertad

G

Gaiman, Neil -The Graveyard Book
Galante, Cecilia -The Patron Saint of Butterflies
Galloway, Steven -The Cellist of Sarajevo
Garton Scanlon, Liz -All the World
George Speare, Elizabeth -The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Gephart, Donna -As If Being 12 3/4 Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother is Running for President
Gilbert, Elizabeth -Eat Pray Lov
Goldberg, Myla -Bee Season
Gourevitch, Philip -We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda
Grime, Nikki -Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope
Grogan, John -A Very Marley Christmas

H

Haddon, Mark – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Haines, Lise -Girl in the Arena
Hale, Shannon -The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
Hale, Shannon -Austenland
Hale, Shannon -Book of a Thousand Days
Hale, Shannon – Princess Academy
Hale, Shannon (with Dean Hale) – Calamity Jack
Hale, Shannon (with Dean Hale) -Rapunzel’s Revenge
Halse Anderson, Laurie -Chains
Halse Anderson, Laurie – Speak
Halse Anderson, Laurie -Wintergirls
Hardy, Edward -Keeper and Kid
Hari, Daoud -The Translator, A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur
Harrington, Karen -Janeology
Harris, Paul -The Secret Keeper
Harris Douga, Terrell -That Went Well, Adventures in Caring for My Sister
Helgerson, Joseph – Horns & Wrinkles
Hemphill, Helen -The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones
Henkin, Joshua -Matrimony
Hesse, Karen -Out of the Dust
Holloway, Kris – Monique and the Mango Rains
Holm, Jennifer – Penny from Heaven
Hopkins, Ellen -Identical
Hornby, Steven -Secrets of a Christmas Box
Hosseini, Khaled -The Kite Runner
Hosseini, Khaled -A Thousand Splendid Suns
Hrdlitschka, Shelley -Sister Wife

I

Ilibagiza, Immaculee -Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
Isaacs, Anne -Torn Thread

J

Jal, Emmanuel – War Child, A Child Soldier’s Story
James, Emmett -Admit One: A Journey into Film
Jessop, Carolyn -Escape
Jules, Jacqueline -Unite or Die, How Thirteen States Became a Nation

K

Kadohata, Cynthia -Kira-Kira
Kadohata, Cynthia – Weedflower
Kamata, Suzanne – Losing Kei
Kasischke, Laura -Feathered
Katin, Miriam – We Are On Our Own: A Memoir
Kinney, Jeff – Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
Kinney, Jeff -Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
Kinney, Jeff -Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons
Knowles, Jo -Lessons From a Dead Girl
Krouse Rosenthal, Amy -Duck! Rabbit!
Krull, Virginia -Saying Grace: A Prayer of Thanksgiving

L

Larson, Hope – Chiggers
Larson, Kirby – Hattie Big Sky
Larson, Kirby – The Magic Kerchief
Larson, Kirby – Second-Grade Pig Pals
Larson, Kirby (with Mary Nethery) – The Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival
Law, Ingrid – Savvy
Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
Leembruggen, Melissa – Benny the Baffled Behemoth
Leembruggen, Melissa – The Sudan Project
L’Engle, Madeline – A Wrinkle in Time
Levine, Ellen – Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
Levine, James A. – The Blue Notebook
Levine, Karen – Hana’s Suitcase
Levy, Janey – Genocide in Darfur
LeZotte, Ann Clare – T4
Lisle, Janet Taylor – Sirens and Spies
Lockhart, E. – The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Look, Lenore – Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters
Look, Lenore – Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things
Lord, Cynthia – Rules
Lowry, Lois – Gathering Blue
Lowry, Lois – The Giver
Lowry, Lois – Messenger
Lowry, Lois – Number the Stars
Lowry, Lois – The Willoughbys
Lyons, Mary E. – Letters from a Slave Girl, The Story of Harriet Jacobs
Lynch Williams, Carol -The Chosen One

M

Maclachlan, Patricia – Sarah, Plain and Tall
Mam, Somaly – The Road of Lost Innocence, The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine
Marlowe, Jen – Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival
Martin, C.K. Kelly – I Know It’s Over
McBride, Susan – The Debs
McCall Smith, Alexandar – The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
McCarty, Peter – Jeremy Draws a Monster
McCormick, Patricia – Cut
McCormick, Patricia – My Brother’s Keeper
McCormick, Patricia – Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick
McCormick, Patricia – Sold
McCourt, Frank – Angela and the Baby Jesus
McCracken, Elizabeth – An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination
McEwan, Ian – Saturday
McMann, Lisa – Fade
McMann, Lisa – Wake
Meister, Ellen – The Smart One
Meldrum, Christina – Madapple
Meyer, Stephenie – Breaking Dawn
Meyer, Stephenie – The Host
Miller, Kristen – Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City
Mochizuki, Ken – Baseball Saved Us
Mochizuki, Ken – Heroes by Ken Mochizuki
Mochizuki, Ken – Passage to Freedom, The Sugihara Story
Mohammed, Khadra (with Karen Williams) – My Name is Sangoel
Monroe, Colleen – A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree
Moore, Julianne – Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully
Mora, Pat - Gracias Thanks
Mora, Pat – Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Qué Rico! Americas’ Sproutings
Mukherjee, Bharati – Jasmine
Mull, Brandon – Fablehaven
Murphy, Louise – The True Story of Hansel and Gretel

N

Nangle, Paula – The Leper Compound
Napoli, Jo – Zel
Nash, Jennie – The Last Beach Bungalow
Nash, Jennie – The Only True Genius in the Family
Nazer, Mende – Slave: My True Story
Neri, G. - Chess Rumble
Nethery, Mary – Mary Veronica’s Egg
Nethery, Mary (with Kirby Larson) – The Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival
Niederhoffer, Galt – The Romantics
Norman, Kim – Crocodaddy
Novet Saint-Lot, Katia – Amadi’s Snowman

O

O’Roark Dowell, Frances – Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell
Otsuka, Julie – When the Emperor Was Divine

P

Paterson, Katherine – A Midnight Clear, Selected Family Christmas Stories
Paterson, Katherine – Bridge to Terabithia
Paterson, Katherine – The Great Gilly Hopkins
Patricellli, Leslie – All Board Book Titles
Patron, Susan -The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
Paulsen, Gary – Nightjohn
Pearson, Mary E. – The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Peck, Richard – A Long Way from Chicago
Peck, Richard – A Season of Gifts
Peck, Richard – A Year Down Yonder
Peck, Richard – On the Wings of Heroes
Pennypacker, Sara – Clementine
Pennypacker, Sara – The Talented Clementine
Pennypacker, Sara – Clementin’s Letter
Perkins, Lynne Rae – Criss Cross
Perl, Erica S. – Chicken Butt!
Perry, John – The Book That Eats People
Picoult, Jodi – Change of Heart
Picoult, Jodi – Plain Truth
Picoult, Jodi – The Tenth Circle
Picoult, Jodi – Nineteen Minutes
Portis, Antoinette – A Penguin Story
Powers, Kim – Capote in Kansas, A Ghost Story
Prendergast, John (with Don Cheadle) – Not On Our Watch

Q

Quartey, Kwei – Wife of the Gods, An Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery

R

Raleigh Baskin, Nora – Anything but Typical
Reagan, Jean – Always My Brother
Reilly Giff, Patricia – Lily’s Crossing
Reilly Giff, Patricia – Pictures of Hollis Woods
Rex, Michael – Goodnight Goon, A Petrifying Parody
Riordan, Rick – The Lightning Thief, Book One of Percy Jackson & The Olympians
Rockwell, Thomas – How to Eat Fried Worms
Rodman, Mary Ann – Jimmy’s Stars
Rodman, Mary Ann – Yankee Girl
Rodriguez, Deborah – Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
de Rosnay, Tatiana – Sarah’s Key
Rowling, J.K.. – The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Roy, Jennifer – Yellow Star
Russell, Rachel Renee – Dork Diaries: Tales from a NOT-SO-Fabulous Life
Rylant, Cynthia – All in a Day
Rylant, Cynthia – Missing May
Rylant, Cynthia- Snow

S

de Saint-Exupery, Antoine – The Little Prince
de los Santos, Marisa – Love Walked In
Schiltz, Laura Amy – Good Masters! Sweet Ladies
Schmidt, Gary – The Wednesday Wars
Schroeder, Lisa – I Heart You, You Haunt Me
Schwartz, Alvin – Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Collected from Folklore
Shields, C. Comfort – Surviving Ben’s Suicide, A Woman’s Journey of Self-Discovery
Shore, Diane Z. – This is the Feast
Scott, Elizabeth – Living Dead Girl
Scott, Elizabeth – Something, Maybe
Sebold, Alice – The Almost Moon
Sedaris, David – Holidays on Ice
Sendak, Maurice – Where the Wild Things Are
Setterfield, Diane – The Thirteenth Tale
Sherman, Rachel – The First Hurt, Stories
Shaffer, Mary Ann (with Annie Barrows) – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Sijie, Dai – Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Simmons, Kelly – Standing Still
Smith, Betty – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Smolinksi, Jill – The Next Thing On My List
Snicket, Lemony – The Lump of Coal
Soo, Kean – Jellaby
Sparks, Nicholas – The Lucky One
Spencer, Irene – Shattered Dreams, My Life as a Polygamist’s Wife
Sperry, Armstrong – Call It Courage
Spiegelman, Art – The Complete Maus
Sppinelli, Eileen – Where I Live
Stead, Rebecca – When You Reach Me
Steidle, Brian – The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur
Steinbeck, John – Of Mice and Men
Stockett, Kathryn – The Help
Stott, Ann – Always

T

Tamaki, Mariko – Emiko Superstar
Taylor, Mildred D. – The Well
Ten Boom, Corrie – The Hiding Place
Thompson-Cannino, Jennifer (with Ronald Cotton) – Picking Cotton, Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption

U

Uchida, Yoshicko – Journey to Topaz

V

Venkatraman, Padma – Climbing the Stairs

W

Waddell, Martin – Room for a Little One, A Christmas Tale
Walker, Anna – I Love Christmas
Wall, Elissa – Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
Walton, Rick – A Very Hairy Scary Story
Weatherford, Carole Boston – Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom
Whitney, Tim – Thanksgiving at the Inn
Williams, Mary – Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan
Woolfolk Cross, Donna – Pope Joan
West, Michael Lee – Mermaids in the Basement
Wight, Eric – Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom
Willems, Mo – Leonardo the Terrible Monster
Williams, Karen Lynn (with Khadra Mohammed) – My Name is Sangoel
Wing Smith, Emily – The Way He Lived
Winter, Kathryn – Katarina
Wolf, Joan M. – Someone Named Eva
Woodson, Jacqueline – Behind You
Woodson, Jacqueline -Feathers
Woodson, Jacqueline – Hush
Woodson, Jacqueline – I Hadn’t Mean to Tell You This
Woodson, Jacqueline – If You Come Softly
Woodson, Jacqeuline – Locomotion
Woodson, Jacqueline – Miracle’s Boys
Woodson, Jacqueline – Peace, Locomotion
Wodson, Jacqueline - Show Way

X

Xinran - Sky Burial

Y

Yeahpau, Thomas – X-Indian Chronicles
Yolen, Jane – Briar Rose
Yolen, Jane – The Devil’s Arithmetic

Z

Zarr, Sara – Once Was Los
Zarr, Sara – Story of a Girl
Zarr, Sara – Sweethearts
Zevin, Gabrielle – Elsewhere
Zusak, Markus – The Book Thief
Zusak, Markus – I Am The Messenger