book review

Kids and Teens: Win $100 for Writing the Best Book Review!

Book Review Writing Contest. Kids and Teens: You could win $100!

Do you love reading and talking about books? Are you the friend (or the influencer) with all the best book recommendations? Is your bookshelf a carefully curated trophy case of all your favorite reading adventures? This could be your time to shine! 

Win $100 in cash for writing the most persuasive book review and be one of our guests of honor at a special event downtown all about celebrating reading!

Staff Picks Book Review - The Incredible Events in Women’s Cell Number 3 by Kira Yarmysh

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Though far from a hardened criminal, Anya has found herself arrested in Putin's Russia. Her crime is organizing an unsanctioned political protest. She is soon sentenced to ten days in a detention facility, but she is not alone. Five other women share women's cell number 3. Read more about The Incredible Events in Women's Cell Number 3 by Kira Yarmysh and other books with strong female characters that meet the Bechdel Test.

Staff Picks Book Review – The Culture Wars of Warren Folks by Tim Gilmore

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When we think of the study of history, many draw images of strangely dressed figures from hundreds or even thousands of years ago. When learning about American History, we learn about the Founding Fathers and the Civil War. When learning about Florida history, we learn about the Seminole tribe, Ponce de Leon, Ribault, and the founding of St. Augustine

Staff Picks Book Review - Divine Providence through a Child’s Drawing: On Fateful Meetings in Dan Santat’s Caldecott Winning Picture Book

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The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend wasn’t Dan Santat’s literary debut, but it was the book that made him a kid lit superstar. The New York Times bestselling author and illustrator received the Caldecott medal for Beekle at the 2015 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Dedicated to his oldest son, Alek, Santat has described the book as a metaphor for awaiting the birth of his first child. As a matter of fact, Beekle’s name comes from the way Alek would pronounce the word “bicycle” as a toddler.

Staff Picks Book Review - Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

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Angeline Boulley’s critically acclaimed novel starts out with most of the things the average teenager is concerned with: dating, friendships, school, sports, and family relationships. The tone of the book switches about a quarter of the way through with a gunshot that takes away Daunis’ closest friend and the innocence of her small community

Staff Picks Book Review - Sensitive: The Hidden Power of the Highly Sensitive in a Loud, Fast, Too-Much World

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Founders of the Highly Sensitive Refuge site who tell visitors “high sensitivity can be strong” and “it’s okay to be a highly sensitive person”, Jenn Granneman and Andre Solo share their thoughts on how to develop the gift of sensitivity into a powerful tool to enhance your own life and the lives of others around you.

Staff Picks Book Review - Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson

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As Dr. Sudbury tells the junior doctors in her hospital, "a hospital is a dangerous place to be". This message is driven home by the unnamed narrator in Sometimes People Die. A Scotsman by birth, the young doctor has joined the staff of St. Luke's Hospital. A former opioid addict who used his role as a health care provider to fuel his addiction, the young protagonist opens up about the life of a doctor, particularly an overworked one in London's east end. Late nights, the pressure of career advancement, the deaths of patients and loved ones, and the stress of a job with the ever-present mantra to "do no harm" come through wonderfully in the narrator's candid dialogue with the reader.

Staff Picks Book Review - Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

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One of my earliest memories of the Medusa comes from the 1981 classic stop-motion animation Clash of The Titans. A serpentine monster that kills indiscriminately, the Medusa of these earlier versions is without voice or childhood. An established author in the classics, Natalie Haynes gives a voice to Medusa and allows the reader to decide if the young gorgon really deserves the label of "monster"

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