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Lori K. Joyce

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Sammy’s wild ride

Review by Lori K. Joyce

In The Somewhat True Adventures of Sammy Shine, by author and prolific illustrator Henry Cole, Sammy the pet mouse is mouse-napped by his owner’s older brother and put inside a remote-controlled airplane. When the brother accidentally steps on the control device, rendering it useless, Sammy becomes a most reluctant pilot. He struggles with the onboard controls as the plane does loop-de-loops, finally coming to a crash landing at the edge of the big woods.

Although woozy from the crash, Sammy realizes he is somewhere quite different from his shoebox home containing peanuts and sawdust. He’s somewhere rather special, surrounded by flowers and plants of all kinds. After Sammy is rescued by a mouse colony, he sets off on a journey to find his airplane and then to find Goggles the raccoon, the only creature who can help him fix the plane. He knows his trek to find Goggles is dangerous; there is a trouble-making weasel who is also on the hunt for the plane. Sammy and crew have scary adventures while looking for the plane, but they also find true friendship, which is the real treasure that shines throughout the story. 

Cole’s intimate line sketches in shades of grey depict realistic yet whimsically drawn flora and fauna. Illustrations of each character, whether the crow, newt, shrew or mouse that Sammy befriends, exudes a wealth of personality. Delightful hidden numbers may be spied in the artwork found at the beginning of each chapter.

In The Somewhat True Adventures of Sammy Shine, by author and prolific illustrator Henry Cole, Sammy the pet mouse is mouse-napped by his owner’s older brother and put inside a remote-controlled airplane. When the brother accidentally steps on the control device, rendering it useless, Sammy becomes a most reluctant pilot.

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Back to Gettysburg

Review by Lori K. Joyce

If you could go back in time, when and where would you go? This is the question that inventor/scientist/billionaire Miss Z poses to a group of four handpicked 12-year-olds in Flashback Four: The Lincoln Project. Prolific writer Dan Gutman’s new middle-grade series introduces the time-traveling Flashback Four, and in their first adventure, they’re headed to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1863.

The time-travel machine is an ingeniously modified white board, like those found in classrooms across the country. Once the children are convinced that Miss Z is the real deal, they receive their mission: They must take a picture of President Lincoln giving the Gettysburg Address. Because his speech was so short, photographers didn’t have enough time to get a picture, so none exists of this historic event. While their task sounds easy enough after being coached in the manners and speech of the era, all does not go according to plan. A series of unforeseen events keeps the tension high, and the ending tantalizes. Gutman includes helpful asides that expand on interesting historical facts.

 

This article was originally published in the March 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

If you could go back in time, when and where would you go? This is the question that inventor/scientist/billionaire Miss Z poses to a group of four handpicked 12-year-olds in Flashback Four: The Lincoln Project. Prolific writer Dan Gutman’s new middle-grade series introduces the time-traveling Flashback Four, and in their first adventure, they’re headed to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1863.
Mystery & SuspenseFictionSuspense

How long to keep these secrets

Review by Lori K. Joyce

Fiona Barton’s slippery debut is a top-notch addition to the growing field of psychological thrillers starring untrustworthy female characters, such as The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl.

In the first chapter, readers learn a possible kidnapper and child molester is dead. Four years earlier, he was accused and tried for the disappearance of 2-year-old Bella Elliot, but found not guilty—in the legal sense. All of England was riveted to the trial, and the court of popular opinion considered him guilty. Now, in a freak accident, he has been run over by a bus and killed. In the immediate aftermath of his death, reporter Kate Waters seeks to interview his vulnerable widow, a woman who sometimes seems to know more than she’s letting on.

The intensity of the story comes from the three people who each share their perspectives of the events, as chapters alternate between the widow, the reporter and the detective assigned to solve the missing child case. Each telling takes up where the previous chapter left off, creating a continuous, intriguing storyline. These brilliantly crafted, revolving narratives form a realistic thriller that compels readers to continue reading, just as the detective compulsively continues to probe the case.

Readers will question what the widow knows—and when she first knew it. Through the three-pronged narrative, The Widow examines the depths of what spouses really know about each other and how they respond to each other’s needs. It also serves as a cautionary tale of Internet exposure.

Fiona Barton’s slippery debut is a top-notch addition to the growing field of psychological thrillers starring untrustworthy female characters, such as The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl.

YA FictionYAHistorical Fiction

An unlikely caretaker and ally

Review by Lori K. Joyce

At the beginning of the German invasion of Poland during World War II, a young girl matures and crafts a life out of the madness of war.

Seven-year-old Anna and her father, a professor, maintain a pleasant routine in the city of Kraków. One day, Anna’s father leaves her in the care of a friend while he attends a mandatory university meeting, but her father never returns. When the friend subsequently abandons Anna, she falls under the authoritative scrutiny of the Swallow Man, a tall, very thin, rather scary man who has the ability to communicate with birds.

Anna decides to place her trust and her life in the Swallow Man’s hands. Her instincts serve her well, as he keeps Anna safe for several years, teaching her to survive in the wilderness. They walk endlessly through forests, avoiding towns and people, even at times removing items from dead soldiers in order to survive.

Gavriel Savit’s debut novel doesn’t avoid the hard topics as it addresses the extermination of Jews and lays bare the devastating effects of war. However, all is not grim once the Swallow Man allows a cheerful young man to join them. This newcomer adds a semblance of normalcy to a world strafed by war, and the ending sees Anna heading toward a bright future.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

At the beginning of the German invasion of Poland during World War II, a young girl matures and crafts a life out of the madness of war.
Mystery & SuspenseFictionSuspense

Mind games in suburban New York

Review by Lori K. Joyce

Vincent Zandri captures readers’ attention from the opening scene of his new suspense novel, Orchard Grove, and proceeds to careen through lust and lives. Lana, as a young girl, brutally slays her stepfather who has been sexually abusing her for months. In an unusual twist, Lana relishes the power she experiences when she kills him, and he becomes the first of many men she murders throughout her life.

Fast forward about 36 years, and Lana returns to the bucolic area near Albany, New York, where her murderous spree occurred. Now, however, she’s bored, is married to a police detective and has a proclivity for topless sunbathing. Her neighbor, has-been Hollywood writer Ethan Forrester, stares at her from his bedroom window and fantasizes about a relationship with her. As his fantasy becomes a reality, the story charges up and down a razor’s edge of tension and seduction.

Ethan’s obsession with Lana only increases after they have sex, and he puts their marriages, his welfare and his sanity on the line. Meanwhile, Lana also exerts her mesmerizing sexual powers over Ethan’s wife. The Forresters recognize the havoc Lana is wreaking on their marriage, but Lana’s allure is impossible for them to resist. So when Lana devises a diabolical plan and needs Ethan’s help to execute it, he ignores his better judgement and agrees to her scheme, forever altering the course of his, his wife and Lana’s lives.

While the characters don’t have many redeeming qualities, Zandri manages to create a likable persona in Ethan for whom readers can root while head-smacking him for his stupidity. The sheer audacity of the violence and sex in the novel creates a story that, much like the Forresters' obsession with Lana, is hard to tear away from once a reader is hooked.

Vincent Zandri captures readers’ attention from the opening scene of his new suspense novel, Orchard Grove, and proceeds to careen through lust and lives. Lana, as a young girl, brutally slays her stepfather who has been sexually abusing her for months. In an unusual twist, Lana relishes the power she experiences when she kills him, and he becomes the first of many men she murers throughout her life.

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Deep down underground

Review by Lori K. Joyce

Public speaking tops the list of the most common fears, followed closely by claustrophobia and the fear of the unknown. The latest heart-pounding novel from Newbery Award winner Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Shiloh) taps into these fears in very real ways.  

Small seventh-grader Buck stutters and suffers from bullying at the hands of his peers, even as he pursues a path of self-improvement and tries to reduce his stutter. He and his best friend, David, spend their spare time secretly exploring the caves of Northern Virginia, where they dream of finding a never-before-entered cave. Their fun explorations end when David moves away, but Buck continues to search, ultimately finding an opening that leads far underground. But Buck breaks the cardinal rule of caving by exploring this new fissure by himself, and readers will find themselves holding their breath as Buck struggles to free himself from the tunnel. 

Cavers use the term “going down in” for descending deep into a cave. Readers will enjoy “going down in” this book, traversing Buck’s above and belowground worlds, right up to the story’s intense climax.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Public speaking tops the list of the most common fears, followed closely by claustrophobia and the fear of the unknown. The latest heart-pounding novel from Newbery Award winner Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Shiloh) taps into these fears in very real ways.
YA FictionYA

No coasting through senior year

Review by Lori K. Joyce

Emma Mills’ debut YA novel plants a Jane Austen-loving high school senior squarely on the playing field with a football jock in this story about growing up, feelings and forgiveness.

Devon Tennyson is a likable slacker—until a teacher seizes an offhand comment Devon makes about college and propels her toward some new extracurricular activities, which place her in the path of Ezra, the football phenom. While she’s prepared to dislike him on principle, she actually thinks he’s pretty nice, especially when he takes her awkward cousin under his wing. Of course, Ezra's not nearly as nice as her best friend, Cas, a boy she’s crushed on since middle school.

Even with the drama associated with teen dating and mixed messages, Devon’s able to keep everything in perspective until she sees the true nature of her relationship with Cas. A friend’s close call with death and her cousin’s injury during a football game help Devon learn a little something about priorities.

Profanity appears sparingly in First & Then, and the story covers parental death and abandonment, teen pregnancy and drinking. Despite these topics, the story remains upbeat. Devon transforms from an aimless girl to a mature young adult as she begins to recognize her own special ability to really listen to others.

Emma Mills’ debut YA novel plants a Jane Austen-loving high school senior squarely on the playing field with a football jock in this story about growing up, feelings and forgiveness.

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

The magic of sisters

Review by Lori K. Joyce

Sisterly bonds are often far-reaching, but in Melanie Crowder’s A Nearer Moon, that sibling union transcends worlds.

This hauntingly beautiful fantasy unfolds through two storylines. The first takes place on a swampy Earth-like planet where stilt houses are connected by swinging bridges. Danger lurks just below the still surface of the marsh, and anyone who swallows the water is cursed, doomed to die in 21 days. Luna and her younger sister, Willow, are boating in the eerie fen, having a great and joyous time and refusing to let the ominous atmosphere spoil their fun. But when a swamp monster tips the boat, water splashes into Willow’s open mouth, and thus begins Luna’s quest to save her sister.

The other storyline follows twin water sprites, sisters who can sense each other through the thumping of their hearts, whether near or far. In the old days, sprites populated the world and shared their magic with people. But humans’ mining has created a hostile environment for the sprites, and they must leave Earth through a magic door to a new world. However, one of the twins fails to make it through the door and is left behind.

The real magic of this tale lies in how the storylines intertwine, through the unbreakable ties between the sets of sisters.

Sisterly bonds are often far-reaching, but in Melanie Crowder’s A Nearer Moon, that sibling union transcends worlds.

Children's & YAPicture Book

An imaginary friend goes missing

Review by Lori K. Joyce

Phillip has a problem with his imaginary friend Brock. It’s quite an unusual problem, even for an imaginary friend. At the end of an exhausting trip to the Big Fair, Phillip falls asleep, and upon waking up at home, he realizes something has gone very wrong: Brock isn’t in the car! After frantically searching the house and not finding Brock, Phillip has a full-fledged meltdown, screaming, “We forgot Brock!”

Brock is a motorcycle-riding, mustachioed, brawny man who wears a sleeveless T-shirt emblazoned with a skull and crossbones and polka-dotted pants. Once he realizes he has lost Phillip, he searches the Big Fair for him, without any luck. Anne, the only other person who can see Brock, befriends him. Anne and her imaginary friend, purple Princess Sparkle Dust, try to cheer up Brock, which works for a little while. Meanwhile, plucky Phillip takes to his bike, scouring the neighborhood for his buddy.

In We Forgot Brock!, author-illustrator Carter Goodrich’s personality-plus watercolor illustrations charmingly capture Phillip and Brock’s emotions: gleeful, agitated, sad and happy. The imaginary friends are sketched in crayon like children’s drawings, making them stand out from the other characters and setting and mimicking the idea that only children believe in these pals—though a surprise at the book’s end makes readers wonder about the nature of imaginary playmates.

Phillip has a problem with his imaginary friend Brock. It’s quite an unusual problem, even for an imaginary friend. At the end of an exhausting trip to the Big Fair, Phillip falls asleep, and upon waking up at home, he realizes something has gone very wrong: Brock isn’t in the car! After frantically searching the house and not finding Brock, Phillip has a full-fledged meltdown, screaming, “We forgot Brock!”

Mystery & SuspenseFictionMystery

Far from idyllic

Review by Lori K. Joyce

The fictional town of Idyll, Connecticut, is anything but idyllic for a gay police chief in 1997.

Former New York City detective Thomas Lynch recently became the Idyll police chief in an attempt to flee his guilt regarding his NYC partner’s on-duty death. In the 1997 macho police world, gay jokes are abundant, and though Lynch is out to his family, he keeps his personal life hidden from his colleagues. Everything threatens to collide when a chance sexual encounter places Lynch in the path of a young woman who’s murdered on a golf course only a few hours later. Lynch decides to solve the murder without revealing he had encountered the victim. Leading his team of officers is his first true test as chief, and he must balance being a confident leader with being one of the boys. Adding further drama is the town’s mayor, who wants the murder solved quickly to avoid negatively influencing the town’s huge festival, Idyll Days. Lynch’s diligent police work, mixed with intuition and a bit of subterfuge, ultimately triumphs, both in solving the murder and earning his men’s respect.

The story’s backdrop features small-town staples such as a Founders Day festival, a postal worker who knows everything and relatives who work in the various town departments. Author Stephanie Gayle’s attention to realistic details creates a fun portrait of small-town America.

Readers will hope that Gayle won’t be idle, and that this book will be the first of many with Thomas Lynch as the multidimensional and likable police chief.

The fictional town of Idyll, Connecticut, is anything but idyllic for a gay police chief in 1997.

Mystery & SuspenseFictionMystery

A Curious Beginning

Review by Lori K. Joyce

Veronica Speedwell, the Victorian sleuth in A Curious Beginning, is observant, outspoken and a bit risqué. Fans of Deanna Raybourn’s Lady Julia series will be delighted with this intrepid new heroine in what promises to be a vastly entertaining series.

Readers meet the scientific butterfly-net carrying protagonist immediately after the funeral of her lifelong chaperone. Rather than feeling distraught about being alone in the world, Veronica relishes the idea. Upon returning home from the funeral, a heretofore unknown benefactor offers her transportation to London, and she readily jumps at the opportunity, thus launching a series of events that all center on her mysterious origins. Although unconvinced that someone is after her or something she possesses, Veronica agrees to her benefactor’s request to stay with Mr. Stoker, a damaged man who’s hiding under this alias. Stoker is an explorer, a taxidermist extraordinaire and rather rough around the edges, and their relationship at times sizzles and always provides entertainment with their bickering.

Veronica and Stoker flee London and find sanctuary with a traveling show. In order to remain with the troupe and earn their keep, they must become an act in the show. But after only a few performances, they’re on the run again, this time back to London—where Veronica’s mysterious benefactor has been murdered.

While they piece together clues and try to determine which pursuers are good guys and which are bad, Veronica and Stoker ultimately unravel the surprising secret of her parentage. Readers can be assured that many more adventures are in store for this duo.

Veronica Speedwell, the Victorian sleuth in A Curious Beginning, is observant, outspoken and a bit risqué. Fans of Deanna Raybourn’s Lady Julia series will be delighted with this intrepid new heroine in what promises to be a vastly entertaining series.

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Choosing sides in war-torn Germany

Review by Lori K. Joyce

History remembers the various resistance groups that cropped up during World War II, but few people know about the Edelweiss Pirates, formed by German young adults aged 14 to 17. A factually accurate portrayal of this group serves as the backdrop to My Brother’s Secret, the gripping tale of 12-year-old Karl, a staunch supporter of Hitler and the Hitler youth group to which he belongs.

The best day of Karl’s life is when he’s recognized for having the potential to make Hitler proud—but this day is also his worst, as his family learns that his German soldier father was killed on the Russian front. Following this soul-shattering event, Karl begins to question the wisdom of blindly following Hitler, but he finds it difficult to get any real answers in this untrustworthy environment where children are encouraged to turn in their parents as enemies of the state. Karl inadvertently runs afoul of the local Gestapo, putting himself, his friends and his family in grave danger.

My Brother’s Secret weaves a heart-stopping tale that doesn’t avoid the overt brutality and subtle coercion present in Nazi Germany. Young readers will learn a great deal from this up-close and personal story.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

History remembers the various resistance groups that cropped up during World War II, but few people know about the Edelweiss Pirates, formed by German young adults aged 14 to 17. A factually accurate portrayal of this group serves as the backdrop to My Brother’s Secret, the gripping tale of 12-year-old Karl, a staunch supporter of Hitler and the Hitler youth group to which he belongs.
Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Surviving and healing from natural disaster

Review by Lori K. Joyce

Tamara Ellis Smith’s first novel sweeps readers up in a tale imbued with magical realism, a definitive mix of gritty realism and magic that allows the possibility for life-affirming choices.

The adventure begins in the middle of Hurricane Katrina as Zavion and his father fight to stay alive amid rising floodwaters. Zavion manages to survive the harrowing ordeal, but he has difficulty dealing with the emotional trauma caused by the storm and the recent death of his mother. 

Another boy, Henry, is on a quest after his best friend’s death on a mountain in Vermont, a death for which he feels responsible. Henry believes he must find the magic marble that he and his friend shared, and the trail leads him to New Orleans immediately following Katrina. These two protagonists’ storylines weave together like a knitted scarf, ultimately becoming one unified story.  

Another Kind of Hurricane recognizes diversity in many forms, depicting two boys in pain who begin healing and, in the process, learn about themselves.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Tamara Ellis Smith’s first novel sweeps readers up in a tale imbued with magical realism, a definitive mix of gritty realism and magic that allows the possibility for life-affirming choices.

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