By the title of the book, you can probably guess the featured Star Wars character in Tom Angleberger’s sequel to The Strange Case of Origa...

Imagine a typical middle school. It’s morning, before classes, in the library. Sixth graders congregate to finish homework and play on com...

Not our truck and not our dirt, but you get the picture. When I was a kid, riding in the back of a pickup truck was, if not a regular occ...

I was recently given the honor of reviewing  The Dragon's Tooth by N. D. Wilson for The Rabbit Room , a website started by musician ...

Preparing for summer camp can be a stressful experience. Getting to camp, putting all that preparation to good use, and actually leaving a...

The big out-of-town, extended-time-on-the-beach, time-to-read vacation week fell during July. Add to that some reading I needed to do for ...

It's the end of the week and time for another Five O'Clock Friday update on books read but maybe not reviewed. Looking back, June w...

Back on track with Five O'Clock Friday and the May update. May: 3:15 Episode #2 by Patrick Carman 3:15 Episode #3 by Patrick Carman 3:...

Three weeks into this grand blog experiment called Five O'Clock Friday and I've already missed a post. And I can't even rememb...

Readers were introduced to Doug Swieteck in the 2008 Newbery Honor winning book The Wednesday Wars . He’s mentioned by name seven times in...

We're up to March in the look back at books I've read but might not have reviewed yet. (See more information here .) It was spring...

"You're killing me, Smalls!" The official youth baseball season has ended and along with it ends my coaching stint for thi...

As the summer progresses, I'm letting readers know what I've read earlier in the year before I start a weekly "Other Stuff I Re...

All the kids in school know, first graders through eighth graders, that if you need something or if you have a problem that needs solving, t...

I realized recently that I do a lot of reading that doesn't end up on the website. It wasn't so much as a realization since I alread...

Trackers is a story many middle grade readers will engage with immediately. At first readers’ interest may be more curious - There’s movies?...

Note: Not my lawn. The run-up to Father's Day is nearly over. My latest column is all about how the dads of the world can enjoy their...

I tend to like series books, much like many young readers. A new book in a favorite series is like a blanky fresh out of the drier: it’s sti...