The Legend of Black Jack By A.R. Witham #Blogtour @arwitham @The_WriteReads #TheWriteReadsOnTour #Fantasy #YoungAdult

Today I have a spotlight for The Legend of Black Jack. Thanks to The Write Reads for inviting me to spotlight this fantasy for 13 to 18 year olds. Find out more below…

#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Norse Myths & Legends
Prepare to be whisked away to another realm in this epic fantasy adventure, perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust characters or Patrick Rothfuss’s prose in The Name of the Wind.

Jack Swift can remember anything—even the horrible things he’d like to forget. To keep his guilt-ridden memories from haunting him, and to dodge his abusive foster mom, he buries himself in any book he can find, dreaming of his ultimate escape: becoming a doctor.

But fate has another escape in mind.

At 3:33am on his fourteenth birthday, Jack is kidnapped by a monstrous rhinoceros and whisked away to another sphere of existence: the land of Keymark. Though this world is filled with pixies, monsters, pirates, elves, warriors, and all sorts of mythical wonders, it is without healing magic—that magic was stolen by an evil, immortal prince hell-bent on domination. With no understanding of medical science to heal their wounds or illnesses, Jack’s kidnappers ask the impossible of him: use his knowledge to save a life…or be trapped in this bizarre world with no chance of rescue.

Jack doesn’t have secret magic, a great destiny, or any medical experience.

Why do they all expect him to become a legend?

They say he was an outsider. A man with no home, no family, and no friend to call his own. The man with nothing left to love. The empty man.

They say he talked to animals. They say he traveled between worlds. They say he killed a god, and they may be right. He prowled the border between light and dark. He beat the devil himself with a walking stick. He healed a thousand people in a single day and killed a dragon the same midnight.

They say there was a woman. They say he died for her. No one knows the truth.

Those are the legends about him.

If you want to know the truth I will tell you.

About the Author

A.R. Witham is an Emmy-winning writer who has written for film, television, and books. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and son, who is the reason Black Jack is being published (he’s just old enough to read it). He has hiked the Appalachian Trail, canoed to the Arctic Circle, and been inside his house while it burned down. This is his first fantasy novel.

#Review By Lou of #YA duology #BetterTogether Series – Being Is Better and Beyond Invisible By Marjorie Jackson @aurorapub #YA #MarjorieJackson #BeingIsBetter #BeyondInvisible

Being Is Better and Beyond Invisible
By Marjorie Jackson

I have a review encompassing what is a duology of books for Young Adult readers, which are best read one after the other. The first is Being is Better and the second is Beyond Invisible. The books encompass themes of epilepsy, family circumstances, loneliness, new-found friendship and coming-of-age. Find out more in my review. At the end of this I have included a blurb.
Thanks first to Pam Labbe for the opportunity to review.

This is a dual series for Young Adults. Both books would work okay as stand alone, but I’d recommend they are read together as this is how the story has been plotted. They are about Amber and Missy, in which the chapters in both, alternate between each other.

Amber suffers from epilepsy and Missy is struggling to come to terms with her brother dying in Afghanistan arms is a carer to her depressed mum.

There is an introduction to how the author was inspired by her own daughter’s epilepsy in the first book – Being Is Better.

Life can be a struggle for Amber and her epileptic seizures leave her exhausted, but then there is a new doctor on the scene, so all readers can do is hope that this doctor can help.

The book also highlights the issue of loneliness in teenagers, which both Amber and Missy, who become friends are also suffering from, even though they come from very different backgrounds. It’s an important issue to highlight as still, people perceive it to be mostly older people who get lonely, and yet it is endemic amongst all age groups. The book speeds up once a positive vibe of friendship begins and the pace, I felt was right as it matches the changing circumstances well, carrying readers on to see other aspects of their lives, including friendship, develop.

Being Is Better strongly establishes the characters and readers can enjoy getting to know their situations and finding out what happens when their worlds collide.

Beyond Invisible carries on with their story, moving forwards. There’s rocky relationships between Missy and her father that emerge. There is not only her dad she has been summoned to meet, but it comes with meeting his new girlfriend.

There’s also more burgeoning friendship between her and Amber and teenage hormones and moods and first love and a whole gambit of emotions and having to deal with the many situations life throws at them.

These are two excellently written books for the Young Adult market and will be relatable to so many as well as stories just to purely enjoy and take away whatever aspects they desire.

Being Is Better blurb

Fourteen-year-old Amber has battled medical challenges – specifically epilepsy – her whole life. Due to her physical limitations, she has no friends, but does her best to trudge through each day with a smile.

Fellow “middle-school senior” Missy has struggles of her own. Following her brother’s death in Afghanistan, her father uprooted them from everything familiar, only to divorce Missy’s mother and move away, leaving Missy friendless and angry, forced to care for her deeply depressed mother.

Two girls with different pasts, both fighting loneliness.

Can they learn to overcome life’s struggles and tragedies? Can they find each other and battle teen awkwardness together?

#Review By Lou of The AntiRacist Kid By Tiffany Jewell #TiffanyJewell #YA #USA

The AntiRacist Kid
By Tiffany Jewell

Informative and something to debate, really suitable for 10 plus, this book is written with a large US slant and suitable at them and gives them a starting point that for the most part, is clear and concise.
Thanks to Clarion Books for gifting me a copy. Discover more below in the blurb and review below,

From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of This Book is Anti-Racist, Tiffany Jewell, with art by Eisner-nominated illustrator Nicole Miles, The Antiracist Kid is the essential illustrated chapter book guide to antiracism for empowering the young readers in your life!

What is racism? What is antiracism? Why are both important to learn about? In this book, systemic racism and the antiracist tools to fight it are easily accessible to the youngest readers.

In three sections, this must-have guide explains:

– Identity: What it is and how it applies to you
– Justice: What it is, what racism has to do with it, and how to address injustice
– Activism: A how-to with resources to be the best antiracist kid you can be

This book teaches younger children the words, language, and methods to recognize racism and injustice—and what to do when they encounter it at home, at school, and in the media they watch, play, and read.

Review

The title gets a point across, even though a bit pedantically, but I opened it up, hoping for improvements and expecting much as it seemed to have potential to be a useful classroom tool. There are some improvements and some potential. It’s marketed for young children, but really some of the content is aimed more for children from 10/11 plus, even though there are illustrations, which are really good. There are useful questions throughout that schools can use in their discussions and there are elements of the content that are excellent, especially the first sections about identity and the justice part is okay, but I felt sadly that there were elements that could be tighter, although for the most part, it is clear and concise and diagrams aid in this. There could have been a few more useful elements to help with inclusivity.
It is very much for the American market but if you pick it up in other countries, some of the content is relevant or useful. There’s a definite slant on it and quite a bit of emotion from the author that comes through, but there is solid fact in many areas of the book, which is more useful in there too that can provoke discussion and thoughtfulness. It is the facts that pull the rating up a bit and the layout makes it easy to read. The resource at the back of bullet points of what kids just read is useful.
All in all it is an okay book that has some potential for discussions.

#BookReview By Lou – Lies Like Wildfire by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez #JenniferLynnAlvarez #YA #Mystery @penguinrandom #BookTwitter #BookRecommendations

Lies Like Wildfire
by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

A compulsive, intensive read for 12-17 year olds that will have their noses stuck in a book until the end. Thanks to publisher – Penguin Random House Children’s UK for gifting me the book to review. Discover more in the blurb and scroll on down to the rest of my review.

Blurb

Secrets and lies are everywhere in this compulsive page-turner, perfect for fans of TikTok favourites One of Us is Lying, We Were Liars and This Lie Will Kill You.

An intense high-stakes story about five friends and the deadly secret that could send their lives up in flames, perfect for fans of Karen McManus and E. Lockhart.

In Gap Mountain, California, everyone knows about fire season. And no one is more vigilant than 18-year-old Hannah Warner, the sheriff’s daughter and aspiring FBI agent. That is until this summer. When Hannah and her best friends accidentally spark an enormous and deadly wildfire, their instinct is to lie to the police and the fire investigators.

But as the blaze roars through their rural town and towards Yosemite National Park, Hannah’s friends begin to crack and she finds herself going to extreme lengths to protect their secret. Because sometimes good people do bad things. And if there’s one thing people hate, it’s liars.

Review

The gang, the teenagers make up – 2 boys, 3 girls, are called The Monsters, are also out to protect each other and themselves when a huge, catastrophic, very destructive fire breaks out in a town, with the wild flames heading towards Yosemite National Park. It’s pretty graphic in some places, especially with the fire, which really highlights the seriousness of the situation.

It’s a dark, twisty young adult book which highlights unhealty, toxicity in some relationships between the characters. There’s also the chase of future life dreams, such as teenagers wanting to become a nurse, work in criminology and more… Each is far, far from perfect. They tried to be good, but they are also far from this too as secrets are kept and many lies are told. Older teenagers and early 20 somethings will find this a gripping read as the story builds as the flames and realisation of the fire does too and there’s nothing much that can be done to fan them as the gang begins to crack here and there, but Hannah tries to hold tight and keep the gang close. As the net closes in on them, one of the gang disappears, creating further speculation and intrigue.

Lies Like Wildfire is about teens, who have their whole lives ahead of them, falling apart and readers can find out how far they are willing to go in their lies, even to the most powerful of authorities in law to try and coverup their terrible secret. There’s the intrigue as to whether they will eventually come good or not and what will happen to them.

#BookReview By Lou of Stranger Back Home By E.L. Haines #ELHaines #Fantasy #YoungAdult #YA

Stranger Back Home
By E.L. Haines
Rated 5 stars *****

Stranger Back Home by E.L. Haines is a well-crafted fantasy book for Young Adults and Adults alike who enjoy this genre. Thanks to E.L. Haines for contacting me via my Contact Me page on my blog to request I review this book and for gifting me a copy to review from. Find out a little about the author, the blurb and the rest of my review below…

About The Author

Ethan reads all the time, and writes so that you can read. He travels the world, ignoring the usual boundaries of space and time, collecting stories, which he loves to tell almost as much as Sparrow himself does.
He has visited more than 25 countries in person, and perhaps more than a hundred in books. He has also time-traveled to more than 40 different years in history. We won’t tell you exactly which ones.

Blurb

One day, your father is a renowned diplomat. The next day, he’s an infamous terrorist.

When Sparrow is summoned to the reading of his father’s last will and testament, the most he hoped for was a minor bequest. Instead, he inherited suspicion and accusations from the Empire that his father helped unite.

Locked away in a vault are the secrets that will reveal Xavier DuMont’s mysterious past and shine a light on Sparrow’s future. Perhaps even the future of the entire realm.

Of course, these secrets won’t be obtained easily. Especially when everyone in this magical world seems so casually racist.

Social dynamics in this world were already pretty strange. Somehow, Sparrow makes everything stranger.

Review

Told in the first person, the character of Sparrow really takes you with him into the fantastical dystopian world he and others find themselves in. It gives Sparrow a really compelling voice, as though the storyteller is with you.
There is a map of Middle Telleron, which is great for illustrating the size of the area and the places around it, and in detail, a map of City of Dragon’s Mouth where the more official government buildings are and where the upper and middle classes reside.

Apart from Sparrow, there are also orcs and an old wizard, gobins, dwarfs as well as humans and halflings. It’s a bit The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings like in this respect and readers who are fans of those books will enjoy this. The world building is is done well and the writing is beautifully descriptive of the places and of Lazaretto Manor, where you can be met by a butler who is a ghost and there is talk of vampires who are pretty fiesty.

As much as it feels like every fantastical creature and being is thrown into the world, it is done so in a way that still flows and it feels like different communities of people or creatures, just like you get different communities of people in the real world.

The book has a grounding in the real world too and almost straddles between the fantasy and world we know as it highlights issues, such as a grim robbery happening and other social and class issues. There are also jobs, such as tax collectors, barbers, actors and there are even laws. There are also family fueds about life choices, conflicts and tensions amongst characters as tensions rise due to suspicions being created due to certain events surrounding Sparrow’s father.
This all adds something more identifiable, in this otherwise, strange, yet intriguing world that sees peace and unrest within it as well as mystery, the prospect of kidnapping or death looming, secrets and a touch of humour. There is also the existence of retirement, but not as we know it…

The book sweeps you along into its world as there are so many hooks within it and it is pretty entertaining to read.

Dragons Walk Among Us by Dan Rice @TheWildRosePress #Fantasy #Dragons #YA

Dragons Walk Among Us
By Dan Rice

A mysterious procedure, dragons that may or may not be there amongst themes of climate change, health and friendship make this a twisty fantasy for Young Adults. Dragons Walk Among Us is Dan Rice’s debut.
Thanks to Dan Rice for contacting me via Contact Me on my blog and gifting me his book.
Fly down below to discover a bit about the author, the blurb and the rest of my review.

About the Author

Dan has wanted to write novels since first reading Frank Herbert’s Dune at the age of eleven. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he often goes hiking with his family through mist-shrouded forests and along alpine trails with expansive views.

Dragons Walk Among Us is his debut novel. He plans to keep writing fantasy and science-fiction for many years. You can explore his blog at https://www.danscifi.com.

Dragons Walk Amongst Us Cover

Blurb

Shutterbug Allison Lee is trying to survive high school while suffering the popular girl’s abuse. Her life is often abysmal, but at least her green hair is savage. Her talent for photography is recognized by the school paper and the judges of a photo contest.

While visiting her friend Joe, a homeless vet, Allison’s life irrevocably changes after an attack leaves her blind. All her dreams as a photojournalist are dashed as she realizes she’ll never see again. Despair sets in until she is offered an experimental procedure to restore her vision. But there are side effects, or are they hallucinations? She now sees dragons accompanying some of the people she meets. Can she trust her eyes, or has the procedure affected her more than she can see?

Dragons Walk Amongst Us Cover

Review

Cascadia Prep High School is where the book begins, with some powerfully described photographs. There’s quite a competition on, especially where pupil, Leslie and Allison Lee are concerned.

The book is bang on topic when it comes to climate change and public transport versus cars, it also includes figures. This may make some people really think about how they travel. I like that a lot. Climate change, homlessness and race relations are hot topics and they are both combined in this book. The book also turns into a detective story, which is interesting as it will appeal to young readers who enjoy a bit of a mystery as Allison suffers from an attack, rendering her blind, until an experiment is performed on her. Haji, who is very significant in her life and Dalia kindly visit her as she begins her journey in her different sort of life from what she knew before, which readers are taken on.
Readers are basically asked to be patient before anything fantastical occurs, but the background is pertinent and then comes the intriguing part when it comes to the treatment. Then Allison’s world becomes fascinating as glimmers of a dragon merges with the real world and there’s a sinister doctor and strange magician.

There are interesting concepts with the sort of experimental treatment conducted on her and the side,-effects experienced. It then gets more intense as further twists involving everyone’s lives occur, which then makes this quite the unexpected page-turner, that lures you further and further into this fantastical world that is created that blends together with the real world, until it keeps you guessing what has truly happened to Allison’s vision, as events get turn darker, lives are in danger as the interesting concept of shape-shifters emerges and soon it’s a race to save all of humanity.

The layers of story builds, although at certain points there’s quite a bit about will anyone kill anyone or not, and takes a little while to get anywhere near to seeing the dragon, but once you do, then this is a book worth sticking with as it really gets into its stride and pulls you in, until you need to know what happens next.