‘Pinkalicious at the Fair’ by Victoria Kann captures the adorable nature of a girl named Pinkalicious and a fun day out with her friend, Molly, at the fair. Now that Pinkalicious has a new show on PBS, it’s hard to see her without her brother, Peterrific. However, Pinkalicious is a force unto herself, spreading joy and love everywhere she goes through her excitement about every situation.

From riding the carousel to eating cotton candy, playing Unicorn Ring Toss to visiting a petting zoo, Pinkalicious and Molly enjoy being a pair and roaming the fair grounds as they take on each new adventure.

Fans of the Pinkalicious books as well as the TV show will feel right at home in this new installment in Kann’s series. A delightful read for children and their parents.

You can find ‘Pinkalicious at the Fair’ by Victoria Kann here.

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*

‘Rabbit & Possum’ by Dana Wulfekotte is a sweet story about two friends who are having a rough day, but end up making the most of it. When Possum is scared by a “monster” in the bushes, he rushes up a tree. While Rabbit scrambles to find a way to get Possum down safely, including getting the “monster” – which turns out to be a moose – involved, Possum all but gives up hope, sure that nothing Rabbit will do will help him escape the clutches of the tree in which he is now stuck. The fact that the moose is involved in one of the rescue attempts only strengthens Possum’s resolve to stay put. The cutest solution was when Rabbit built a ladder that turned out to be way too small for what Possum needed, showing Rabbit’s resolve when he continued to attempt to save his friend.

Rabbit’s tried and true attempts, including bringing the thing that Possum is most afraid of – the moose – shows how sometimes being scared is only a product of not knowing enough about what one fears. Friendship and seeing how things can work out in the end despite constantly thinking to the contrary are relevant themes in this adorable story that anyone can relate to, and which is brought more to life through the simple, yet enjoyable illustrations.

You can find ‘Rabbit & Possum’ by Dana Wulfekotte here.

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*

‘If the S in Moose Comes Loose’ by Peter Hermann, illustrated by Matthew Cordell, is a fun and adventurous story about a moose whose letters break apart, making it impossible for him to be who he is, while his cow friend hurries around trying to put him back together again. Playing with words is always fun, and showing children through a story like this how words are very adaptable based on just one letter gives the story an invigorating quality. Cow has to use his knowledge of what letters other words have to find the letters he needs to glue moose’s letters back together. From searching for an “L” and finding a “lake” to exchanging the “L” for a “C” to make “cake,” all the while trying to form the letters to make the word “glue,” there is much fun to be had in Hermann and Cordell’s story. Cow’s insistence on making things right shows how the power of letters is not the only important theme at work in the story, as friendship and hard work are also quite evident.

Language, despite seeming easy when you know the words, can still be a mystery at times. ‘If the S in Moose Comes Loose’ proves that this is really true, and the fact that it is reminiscent of a similarly themed kids’ show, Word World, makes it even more engaging through familiarity, for those who have both seen the show and read this book. Definitely recommended for young children, as they will be spelling out words and testing out sounds as they read.

You can find ‘If the S in Moose Comes Loose’ by Peter Hermann here.

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*

‘Rebel with a Cupcake’ by Anna Mainwaring deals with a vast array of themes, mostly stemming from self-esteem issues that the main character – Jesobel, or Jess for short – encounters. It doesn’t do much to stroke her ego that her mother is a former model and her sister, Cat, is thin and beautiful. However, despite Jess’ weight, she tends to feel good about herself, until a brawl at school with one of the mean girls makes her start questioning what she wants to do to make some sort of change. Coupled with the mean girl, Zara, who has nothing better to do with her life than make mean remarks for the sake of staying on her high horse, Jess also is trying to win the attention of Matt, a cute musician from whom she gets some mixed signals. He seems to like her, but he also comes across as sort of being for himself. The thing is, though, that when a girl likes a guy, it tends to happen that she disregards things that anyone not interested in the guy could otherwise see very easily. Being smitten takes away a certain amount of clarity, which could be good if the guy has good and noble intentions, but in Jess’ case only keeps her from seeing that someone else is waiting in the wings, hoping that she will realize that Matt is not necessarily the answer to the problems she is trying to solve.

Along with her best friends and her sometimes snarky, yet witty and sweet attitude, she comes across as a girl who shouldn’t be so worried about the pressures of teen life, yet falls victim to them just like anyone else. She learns that everyone has self-esteem issues, no matter how seemingly thin, heavy, happy, or mean they may be. This sometimes gave way to unnecessarily rude comments that surely happen, but seemed to plague Jess more than what the average person should have to endure in terms of comments about her weight. Even teachers and her own family, at times, caused her undue stress that should have been minimized by these people rather than maximized. Despite this, she finds solace in her family as the novel progresses.

In ‘Rebel with a Cupcake,’ Anna Mainwaring has shown that everyone has issues that trouble them. It’s the way that people cope with those issues and face the problems and people that have caused them stress that shape the path for becoming a newer version of oneself.

You can find ‘Rebel with a Cupcake’ by Anna Mainwaring here.

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*

‘Smart Cookie’ by Elly Swartz was a predictable, yet cozy feeling story about growing up and all of the troubles that go along with it. Main character Frankie is a friendly and sweet girl, alternately longing to set her father up so she can once more have a “complete” family, while at the same time trying to figure out her own friendships as well as how to save the bed and breakfast she and her family own. Frankie thinks she can solve it all, but the fact that she is only a sixth grader throws a wrench in her plans much of the time.

Along with her best friend and neighbor, Elliot, she tries to figure out how to save the day and what she feels is left of her family. After her mother died when she was four years old, it hasn’t felt quite whole enough for her, despite her maternal grandmother (Gram) moving in and being there for Frankie and her father. Now that years have passed since she lost her mother, her father is mysteriously even more busy than usual much of the time, as is Gram, and Frankie and Elliot are doing what any pre-adolescents would be doing – looking for something to occupy their time. They (mostly Elliot, but Frankie goes along for the ride) dabble in looking for ghosts, which seems to be a big reason why the bed and breakfast is not doing so well, since people are under the impression that the place is haunted, leading Frankie to believe their business and home is in a lot of trouble since town bad guy Reggie always seems to be lurking and waiting to snatch up the B&B the first chance he gets.

As the story continued, the feeling of family that Frankie felt was not necessarily around is obviously there, despite her not noticing it, lending an ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ style vibe. Her relationship with ex-best friend Jess seemed believable, as kids are always going in and out of friendships, but it was never really explained what happened with them to begin with, beyond Frankie and Elliot’s own speculation on the matter. However, the family and friends vibe, coupled with the idea that things can work out even when you least expect them to, makes the predictability of ‘Smart Cookie’ something that readers can be okay with, since it’s sometimes nice for things to work out just the way one expects, but with a few twists and turns along the way for good measure.

You can find ‘Smart Cookie’ by Elly Swartz here.

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*

‘The 11:11 Wish’ by Kim Tomsic basks in the power of the unthinkable, yet totally imaginable. Every young person (and adult, for that matter) has moments when they wish that things could go their way, even if just for a little while, to make the universe seem right and in order with what they feel will give them happiness. So it is for Megan Meyers as she finds herself worried about whether she will fit in at her new school after a move and a big change in her family.

Along with her dad and her sister, who provide just the right amount of empathy and care, even though they don’t always know what’s going on with her, Megan works to fit in at Saguaro Prep. This is made all that much more difficult when she unwittingly finds herself smack in the middle of a power struggle for Spirit Captain between two of the more popular girls in school, Ally and Rhena. While Ally befriends Megan and makes her feel like she isn’t alone, Rhena tacks on a lot of phony kindness of her own, showing her true colors, yet at the same time causing Megan to question herself about how she wants to fit in at her new school and what the best way to do that is – even if it’s not necessarily what would be considered the “right” way to go about it.

Between her love of animals and her crush on a guy she’s just met but feels connected to, Megan has a lot going on as the school year begins. When she wishes on a clock in the shape of a cat in one of her classrooms, life takes some crazy turns, bringing magic and mystery to everything Megan desperately longs for but thinks she can’t have without wishing for it.

Even though the fantasy aspects of the story were beyond the realm of reality, the underlying themes of figuring out one’s own way of fitting in, learning how not to care what others think, and keeping a promise to oneself that might include owning one’s own voice and not letting others speak on one’s behalf are all incredibly relevant themes for young people nowadays. Tomsic has crafted a strikingly real world with a magical touch always surrounding it. It shows that wishes can come true, and maybe sometimes even through one’s own means.

You can find “The 11:11 Wish’ by Kim Tomsic here.

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*

‘Without You’ by Yesenia Vargas had many sweet moments. It told of a relationship between Ariana and Lucas, as well as of the friendship between Ariana and her best friend, Mayra, as well as Ariana’s brother, Jimmy. These four main characters spent a lot of time together, and their parents also played a role in the story.

The relationships were told in a sweet way, even if the love between Ariana and Lucas felt a bit rushed. It was interesting to see how Lucas’ ex-girlfriend, Wendy, factored into Ariana’s new relationship with him, but the way she acted around her was quite different than how she was with everyone else. It tends to be true, though, that there are people who can bring out the best in you and those who can bring out the worst. Wendy seemed to be one who brought out the worst, but Ariana seemed smart enough to have been able to stand up to her in a stronger, more positive way.

The best and most strongly written relationship in the book was that between Ariana’s best friend, Mayra, and Ariana’s brother, Jimmy. It was nice to watch that grow, and to see how much Ariana supported it. It evolved slowly, between two people who were friends first. The truth behind this made it that much better of a plot point within the storyline.

The novel was interesting enough to keep reading, but there was quite a bit of telling and not showing within the story, which made it hard to continue at times. Many of the same words were used to explain ideas that were somewhat obvious to readers. This could have been enhanced through further description and more dialogue. As the story progressed, this began to happen more, but mostly within the last quarter of the novel. There was also the fact that Ariana’s relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Carlos, was hinted at many times in terms of how hard it was for her and how she was thankfully able to get out of it, mostly unscathed. Yet, readers were not let in on what exactly happened with him. There is a prequel to this novel that tells their story for those who want to learn more about it, but incorporating some of who he was and what happened between them into ‘Without You’ would have been helpful in making the novel seem able to be read as a standalone, rather than an accompaniment to the prequel.

In ‘Without You,’ Yesenia Vargas has shown that there are some friendships meant to stand the test of time, and those that may peter out, but people can always find strength, love, and truth in each other, if they know where to look for it.

You can find ‘Without You’ by Yesenia Vargas here.

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*

‘Alicia and the Light Bulb People in Star Factory 13’ by Barbara Roman, illustrated by Vladimir Cebu, is a sweet and heartwarming story about the beauty of getting to know how ideas shape our lives. When Alicia is magically transported from a department store to Star Factory 13, she begins to learn about all of the different light bulbs and their purposes in the grand scheme of life, as well as the night sky. The fact that she nor the lightbulbs can leave until they are “ready” presents the power of certainty in one’s life and how moving on and having things work out just as expected is not always the norm.

Friendship, kindness, and empathy are but a few of the themes at work in Roman’s story. Each idea creates a different form of motivation within the characters, and allows Alicia to summon the courage to stand up for herself and others. A tale that brings with it a healthy dose of morals and symbolism, ‘Alicia and the Light Bulb People in Star Factory 13’ is not your average story, and the illustrations help bring it to life all the more.

You can find ‘Alicia and the Light Bulb People in Star Factory 13’ by Barbara Roman here.

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*

‘The Boyfriend Agreement’ by Seven Steps is definitely a hard one to put down! With a mix of romance, intrigue, and even some violent streaks mixed in, this novel is chock full of page-turning goodness. The author also uses plenty of Disney parallels that keep readers thinking and lends a light feeling to the book even when the themes seem darker than necessary.

Main character Bella French doesn’t know it, but she is in love. The problem is that she’s falling for the wrong brother. Jake Winsted seems like the ultimate guy. The hot and popular football player, being newly single, is all Bella thinks about, and she knows it’s only in her wildest dreams that she’ll ever land a chance with him. When that chance comes, though, it’s at a much higher cost than she ever thought possible, and she begins to realize that what one sees on the surface is definitely not all there is to someone. Despite all of Jake’s popularity and charm, she keeps finding herself drawn to his nuisance of a brother, Cole, who drives her crazy with his jokes about his slightly higher GPA.

Along with her two best friends, Bella tries to traverse what she finds out to be a pretty treacherous world of popularity, trying to maintain who she is while yearning to be someone she’s never been and doesn’t know that she truly wants to be. Mean girls aren’t her only worry, either, when she finds out about a drug scheme going on in her own school and discovers that Jake might be involved, bringing her deeper into the world to which she once desperately longed to belong. All the while, she is realizing what she truly cares about, and figuring out how to maintain it all while trying to balance her lies and deceit, mostly directed at the people she cares about for what she maintains is their sake.

Anyone looking to be fully submerged in a novel, and feel the rush of being involved with something exciting that eventually turns out to be nothing it was cracked up to be, and even scary, must check out ‘The Boyfriend Agreement’ by Seven Steps. It will shake readers to their core, yet bring the brightest spots of romance that will spread smiles across the faces of those who read it. This is only the first of this series by Seven Steps, so checking out the rest is also a must!

You can find ‘The Boyfriend Agreement’ by Seven Steps here.

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*

‘Crunch Time Cam’ by Jordan Lyons shares the story of Cameron, a young boy who wants to live up to the expectations he feels exist for him regarding his interest in playing basketball. He strives to go out of his way to fill the shoes that his brothers have worn before him in their basketball league.

Even though it was clear where Cam got his sense of determination and perseverance from as he aimed to be the best and win the season, his character, as well as others, could have been further fleshed out. The story seemed very much on the surface at times, and it would have been nice to delve more into the inner workings of some of the secondary characters, like Cam’s best friend Braxton, in order to more fully develop the relationships among the characters. One way to do this would be through more showing rather than telling. The story did a nice job explaining what was happening, but more action sequences coupled with added dialogue rather than quite as much description would help present readers with a more thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. It is nice to feel like you are in the book, and it seems that readers might often feel like they are on the outside of Cam’s life looking in rather than being right there with him.

All in all, Lyons showed through ‘Crunch Time Cam’ that valuable lessons can be learned, even when you least expect them. From learning how to be independent on the court to figuring out how to best work on a team, the importance of friendship, empathy, and maintaining focus are only three of the themes that this book captures in its short but sweet 111 pages.

You can find ‘Crunch Time Cam’ by Jordan Lyons here.

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*