Blog Tour [Review]: Kelsey Murphy and the Academy of the Unbreakable Arts

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TITLE: Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts
AUTHOR: Erika Lewis
PUBLISHER: StarScape
RELEASE DATE: March 1st, 2022
GENRES: Fantasy, Middle Grade

Thank you JeanBookNerd and Starscape for a review copy and the opportunity to be on this tour!

Star Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis

Brimming with Celtic mythology, action, and danger, Erika Lewis’s Kelcie Murphy and The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts introduces readers to a new kind of magical school and a warrior who must choose with which side of an epic battle her destiny will lie.

The Otherworld is at war. The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts trains warriors. And Kelcie Murphy—a foster child raised in the human world—is dying to attend.

A place at AUA means meeting Scáthach, the legendary trainer of Celtic heroes. It means learning to fight with a sword. It means harnessing her hidden powers and—most importantly—finding out who her parents are, and why they abandoned her in Boston Harbor eight years ago.

When Kelcie tests into the school, she learns that she’s a Saiga, one of the most ancient beings in the Otherworld. Secretive, shunned, and possessed of imposing elemental powers, the Saiga are also kin to the Otherworld’s most infamous traitor.

But Kelcie is a survivor, and she’ll do whatever it takes to find her parents and her place in their world. Even if that means making a few enemies.

Review

Wow, this book was pretty good. I always love to see newer books that involved magic and school and epic battles. Kelcie, the main character, goes to girl in foster care with little memories of her past, to finding out family secrets and unleashing her hidden powers. Add in a case agent who is actually a fairy and a found found in her new school and you get a great magical adventure. Kelcie Murphy is in for an adventure of a lifetime and a battle her team has worked hard towards. The book has a great pace: it wasn’t too fast or too slow. It is definitely a good pace for the targeted demographic. I enjoyed Kelcie’s character evolution. She went from having no agency to not only gaining that through her journey but becoming more confident in her own skin and power. It was great to see Kelcie open up more from the girl we were first introduced with. She no longer stays the outcast in the academy. She instead finds amazing friends and a great leader who become her found family.

Speaking of friends, I really enjoyed how the author took different approach with certain character. Niall is the first friend of Kelcie and is loyal through and through. They connect instantly. While Brona and her relationship with Kelcie takes time to form that strong bond. It shows how real and different each friendship can be and how patience can be a key in developing those friendships. When thinking about the storyline, I particularly enjoyed the many twists and turns the story took. It allowed means a reader to keep the pages turning. The story draws on Celtic mythology and adds such a mystifying magical element to it. Kelcie has magic but the author adds on other magical elements such as Kelcie’s necklace. I am a sucker for seeing magic in different forms so it was a pleasure reading the significance that each magical element had to the overall story.

This is a great read for all ages and a story that will have older readers feel the nostalgia of the magical reads they once read.

About the Author

Erika Lewis grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, spent summers with her grandparents in Worcester, Massachusetts, and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. With a passion for storytelling set in magical places, she spends as much time as she can traveling. When she’s not writing, she can generally be found scribbling notes in a blank book while wandering through abandoned buildings, all kinds of museums, and graveyards.

A graduate of Vanderbilt University, her list of credits straddles the comics and novel space, including Game of Shadows from Macmillan’s Tor Books, Firebrand and Acursian from Legendary Comics, #Guardian from Awesome Media & Entertainment, and The 49th Key from Heavy Metal Publishing. The Color of Dragons is her debut YA, coming from HarperTeen October 19th, 2021, and Kelcie Murphy and The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts is her middle grade debut coming from Starscape/Macmillan March 1st, 2022.

Blog tour [Review] T-rexes Can’t Tie their Shoes

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TITLE: T-Rexes Can’t Tie Their Shoes
AUTHOR: By ANNA LAZOWSKI Illustrated by STEPH LABERIS
PUBLISHER: Double Day Books For Young Readers
RELEASE DATE: June 2021
GENRES: Children’s, Picture book

Thank you Turn the Page Tours and RandomHouseKids for the early review copy and opportunity to be on this tour!

Where to Buy: Penguin Random House Website

Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis

A funny and encouraging alphabetic book about all the things animals CAN’T do but kids CAN! Every parent teaching their children new skills will be happy to have this super-positive picture book on hand.

Bees can’t ride bicycles, penguins can’t play ping-pong, and zebras can’t go zip-lining. No one is good at everything, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying! Here is a funny and encouraging picture book for any child learning how to tie their shoes, ride a bike, spell their name, or do a variety of new things.

Follow a hilarious alphabet of animals, and see all the things they can’t do but kids can—from doing gymnastics to flipping pancakes to playing a xylophone. Along the way, young readers will learn that it’s okay if they can’t do everything; they can still have a LOT of fun trying.

Review

When reading this book, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was an alphabet book. Suffice to say, my nephew and I had a couple of giggles throughout the story. It is both entertaining and encouraging. I appreciate the main message to kids that it’s okay to not be good at everything while still enjoying the thing you are doing. Each page introduces the reader to a new animal and the thing they cannot do. At the end, we are shown all the wonderful things they could do instead. Along with the beautiful illustrations, bright colors and occasional giggles I provided my nephew while reading T-Rexes Can’t Tie Their Shoes to him, I enjoyed the positive cadence the book had and the motivation is will provide to young readers.

Overall, I would recommend this book to any parent or person who ha a young child in their lives and is learning their ABCs.

About the Author

Anna Lazowski wrote her first picture book for a class assignment in the sixth grade and has been creating stories ever since. Now an award-winning radio producer, Anna has an MA (Journalism) from the University of Western Ontario and a BFA (Hons.) from the University of Manitoba.

Giveaway!

Up for grabs is one (1) copy of T-REXES CAN’T TIE THEIR SHOES! This giveaway is limited to US readers only.

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1e4a114d46/?

Blog Tour [Review]: Dino-Gro by Matt Myers

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Book Title: Dino-Gro
Author: Matt Myers
Publisher: Random House Studio
Release Date: June 15, 2021
Genres: Fiction, Children’s Picture Book

Where to buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound

Happy Release Day to Dino-Gro!

Special thank you to Turn the Page Tours and Penguin Random House for providing a review copy and for the opportunity to be a part on this blog tour!

Rating: 5 Stars

Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Battle Bunny comes a laugh-out-loud story of a little sponge dinosaur that keeps growing…and growing…and growing….

Cole is very excited about his new Dino-Gro toy. He can’t wait for it to reach its full size! But when Dino-Gro becomes much larger than intended, Cole goes so far as to put Dino-Gro on a liquid-free diet and an exercise regimen, which don’t seem to make a difference! As Dino-Gro becomes so big that he can’t fit in the house, Cole learns that growing up and getting bigger can have advantages too, even if you’re not a dinosaur.

For fans of Tiny T. Rex and We Don’t Eat Our Classmates, this sweet and hilarious read-aloud is fun for kids to learn the importance of growing up big and strong.

Review

Dino-Gro is such a cute story about friendship. My nephew loved it and will likely in the future dump his dinosaur toys in water.

Cole is super excited to see his dino grow but did not expect to grow as much as it did. Soon his dino becomes to large to stay in the home. Dino-Gro delivers a message that is amazing; friends will be there no matter the circumstance. It is shown during a rain storm where Cole searches and worries frantically that he has lost Dino forever. Along with the message of friendship, Dino-Gro portrays the ups and downs of size and does so in a way where no size is considered unfortunate. In fact, it shows how one can be loved in any size. The story ends in a light-hearted feel good moment.

Along with the sweet story, I was mesmerized by the simple yet vivid illustrations. I would recommend this book!

About the Author

Matt Myers is the author and illustrator of Hum and Swish, and the illustrator of many other books for young readers, including the Infamous Ratsos series by Kara LaReau, Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett, A Dog Named Doug by Karma Wilson, and BB-8 On the Run by Drew Daywalt. Matt Myers lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Author Links: Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Youtube [Credit: Matt Myers]