Review – www.aryssareads.com

The Labors of Hercules Beale

December is always a really fun reading month that feels either incredibly stressful because it’s award season, or really really stressful for the same reason. This December was somewhere in the middle, because I was DONE with one award committee, but I was looking forward to participating in Heavy Medal for the 3rd year in…

December 30, 2023

Grave Mistakes

Looking for something to quench the Wednesday-thirst for kids who maybe aren’t into the goriest of murder, or who are but also want a family story that’s got a little mystery and friendship? Grave Mistakes by Kitty Curran it is—this is a lower middle grade novel, something I could easily hand to a strong reader…

December 29, 2023

A Shot in the Dark

I do always find it quite funny when I so eagerly anticipate a book—I pre-order it! I download the ARC as soon as I can!–and then I do not read it for like months after publication because I am simply out of time. Especially when a book is not assigned to me for a magazine…

October 23, 2023

Hispanic Star: Ellen Ochoa

I love a good kids biography. I find them inspirational, short enough to keep me interested and not bogged down in information, and usually really engaging. The writing quality though…it can vary. I first read a Hispanic Star book last year when Capitol Choices considered one of them, and so when Ellen Ochoa came across…

July 29, 2023

Lo and Behold

Calling all graphic novel fans! Paging people waiting for the new Raina! I’ve got a great middle great graphic novel you have to read. A big shoutout to Melissa at What to Read to Your Kids for putting this on my radar. Part VR adventure, part coming of age middle grade in a new, temporary…

July 10, 2023

The Dog Knight

A non-binary tween gets a chance at superhero-dom in this graphic novel that’s perfect for bridging the divide between reluctant readers and passionate comic readers. Frankie knows they are non-binary, and their mom supports that, but they know that things aren’t always easy out in the world. When they came out, they lost their best…

June 25, 2023

Squished

It’s been almost 2 years since ALLERGIC hit shelves, and so when my hold of SQUISHED became available at the Arlington Public Library, I rushed right over to pick it up and dive in. I loved ALLERGIC, but I also just love this style of graphic novels—if you’re a fan of the BSC, or Raina,…

May 18, 2023