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How much do you know about America's battle for independence from Great Britain?  If you need a quick refresher course, you may want to check out Liberty Lee's Tail of Independence, a new picture book by Peter and Cheryl Barnes, a husband and wife team from Virginia.  Told through the eyes of a mouse named Liberty Lee, the book talks about America's settlement by English pilgrims, the colonists' disagreements with their homeland, the writing and acceptance of the Declaration of Independence, the great battles of the Revolutionary War, and the hard-won freedom we now enjoy.  Appropriately, it also discusses how the Fourth of July became an official national holiday.

As much as I appreciated the information presented in the book as well as the authors' intention to teach a valuable history lesson to children, I wasn't all that impressed with the quality of this one.  The rhymes seem clumsy, the editing needs work and the illustrations are a little rough.  The book provides important facts, I'm just not sure they're presented in a way that's going to be appealing to kids.  

Overall, I think Liberty Lee's Tail of Independence is cute and informative.  However, it needs a lot of polish.  Without it, I just don't see children reaching for this kind of book—not when there are much more engaging stories out there.  I'm hoping the series (there are several more Mouse books coming out this year) will improve with time since I really do think it gives kids valuable information.  Here's hoping ... 

(Readalikes:  Um, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:  C

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  G

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Liberty Lee's Tail of Independence from the generous authors via the folks at TLC Book Tours.  Thank you! 

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London Castle misses her big brother every day.  Ordinary things—the sight of his car, the smell of his aftershave, the memory of his laughter—bring him back to her, but only long enough to remind her that Zach is gone forever.  Dead at sixteen.  London will never wrestle with him, never giggle with him, never fight with him ever again.  And it's all her fault. 

Zach's death has broken not just London, but her parents as well.  Her dad tries, but he's distant, always absorbed in his work.  And her mother?  She hasn't spoken one word to London since the day Zach died.  She won't even look at her remaining child.  London knows she deserves the silent treatment, but she longs for her mother's attention anyway.      

As London claws her way out of the well grief has dug in her heart, she finds strength in unexpected places.  With this new found power, she may finally be able to come to terms with what really happened the day Zach died and maybe—just maybe—find the redemption she's been seeking ever since.  

If you've read Carol Lynch Williams before, you know the YA author doesn't do light and fluffy.  Every book she writes makes a solid impact.  Her newest, a novel-in-verse titled Waiting, is no exception.  It might not be as lyrical as Glimpse, as haunting as Miles From Ordinary, or as memorable as The Chosen One, but it's just as affecting.  I would have liked more originality from this one, true.  Overall, though, I found it as well-written and powerful as Williams' other novels.  It's a quick read, but one that will stick with you for a good long while.      

(Readalikes:  Love You, Hate You, Miss You by Elizabeth Scott)

Grade:  B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), sexual innuendo and mature subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

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(Note:  Although this review will not contain spoilers for A Bitter Truth, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from earlier novels in the Bess Crawford series.  These mysteries stand alone better than most, but, as always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

After nursing the wounded on the front lines in France, Bess Crawford travels home to London for a much-needed Christmas break.  A long winter's nap is the only thing on her mind as she heads to her flat.  Startled to find a battered woman shivering in her doorway, Bess does the Christian thing—she ushers her inside, out of the freezing December night.  

Soon, Bess discovers that her houseguest is not the vagrant she first appeared to be.  In fact, Lydia Ellis is an upperclass officer's wife, on the run from her angry husband.  She admits that fleeing her home may have been a mistake and begs Bess to accompany her back to her estate in Sussex.  Reluctantly, Bess agrees.  Spending the night at Vixen Hill assures her that Lydia is safe enough, in spite of her husband's brooding, impatient manner.  But just as Bess is preparing to take her leave, another of the Ellis' overnight visitors is found dead.  Detained by the local police, Bess finds herself stuck at Vixen Hill, where she's dismayed to discover just how entangled she's become in the family's affairs.  

Even when the police allow her to leave Sussex, Bess is haunted by what she's learned at Vixen Hill.  She can't stop thinking about the Ellis Family's biggest secret, one that has her scouring France in search of answers.  When the mystery follows her back to England, Bess once again finds herself running for her life while trying to solve a puzzle that could change one family forever. 

If you've read the first two books in the Bess Crawford series by Charles Todd, this plot may sound familiar.  Without a doubt, A Bitter Truth follows the formula laid out in its predecessors.  But, wait!  There's a twist—an intriguing subplot that turned this third book into my favorite of the series.  While Bess continues to get on my nerves a little and I'm (im)patiently waiting for sparks to fly between our heroine and the loyal Simon Brandon, I'm still quite enjoying these mysteries.  Clean, entertaining and well-researched, the series continues to delight.

(Readalikes:  A Duty to the Dead; An Impartial Witness; and An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd; also reminds me of the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear)

Grade:  B

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG for mild language (no F-bombs) and violence

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of A Bitter Truth from the generous folks at Harper Collins.  Thank you!    

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It's bad enough that 16-year-old Sylvia "Vee" Bell can fall asleep at any time, in any place and with very little warning.  What's worse is that her narcolepsy isn't really narcolepsy at all.  When Vee has one of her "episodes," she's actually sliding—slipping into someone else's mind, seeing the world through their eyes.  Her freaky little "gift" has shown her myriad images she wishes she could forget, like her sister cheating on a test, her teacher sipping booze before class and her best friend betraying her with chilling indifference.  She doesn't want to see anymore, but she can't stop herself from sliding.  Worse, she can't tell anyone about her ability.  Not unless she wants to spend the rest of her life in a straight jacket.  

When Vee slides into the mind of a cold-blooded killer, she's so freaked out she doesn't know what to do.  Everyone thinks Sophie Jacobs committed suicide; only Vee knows the truth.  But how can she tell the police what she knows without getting herself thrown into the loony bin?  There's only one thing to do:  she has to find the murderer herself.  She can't tell anyone what she's doing, not even her best friend, Rollins.  He's been acting strange lately, anyway.  When a hot new guy walks into her life, though, Vee wonders—has she finally found someone in whom she can confide?  Can she trust Zane Huxley enough to divulge her deepest, darkest secret?  Can he help her find Sophie's killer before it's too late?  Or will Vee have to watch helplessly as more of her friends die?

Although there are plenty of teen-girl-solves-crimes-with-freaky-mind-tricks books out there, I still find such premises intriguing.  Which is why I liked the sound of Slide, a debut novel by Jill Hathaway.  Unfortunately, the story didn't really deliver to me.  The action moved along swiftly enough to keep me turning pages, but the plot quickly became too predictable and melodramatic for me.  As much as I wanted to love this one, I just didn't.  Will I give the sequel a try when it comes out?  Meh.  Maybe, maybe not.  There are plenty of other series that do the freaky mind tricks thing better than this one—I'll probably just stick with them.

(Readalikes:  the Wake series [Wake; Fade; Gone] by Lisa McMann and The Body Finder trilogy [The Body Finder; Desires of the Dead; The Last Echo] by Kimberly Derting; also reminded me a little of Evermore by Alison Noel)

Grade:  C

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG-13 for language (no F-bombs that I remember), sexual innuendo/content, and depictions of underage drinking and illegal drug use

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of Slide from the generous folks at Balzer and Bray (an imprint of Harper Collins).  Thank you!