By the Book Review


By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
Publisher: Hyperion Avenue
Special thanks to Hachette Books for sending a copy for review.

Summary:
Isabelle is completely lost. When she first began her career in publishing right out of college, she did not expect to be twenty-five, living at home, still an editorial assistant, and the only Black employee at her publishing house. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to finally get the promotion she deserves.

All she has to do is go to the author’s Santa Barbara mansion and give him a quick pep talk or three. How hard could it be?

But Izzy quickly finds out she is in over her head. Beau Towers is not some celebrity lightweight writing a tell-all memoir. He is jaded and withdrawn and—it turns out—just as lost as Izzy. But despite his standoffishness, Izzy needs Beau to deliver, and with her encouragement, his story begins to spill onto the page. They soon discover they have more in common than either of them expected, and as their deadline nears, Izzy and Beau begin to realize there may be something there that wasn’t there before (Goodreads).
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The Nightmare Thief Review


The Nightmare Thief by Nicole Lesperance, illustrated by Federica Fenna
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Special thanks to Raincoast Books for sending a copy for review.

Summary:
Maren Partridge loves working in her family’s dream shop where she can hand-craft any dream imaginable. The shop has only one rule. Dreams cannot be given to a person without their consent. Maren has no problem with this—until her sister, Hallie, has an accident that leaves her in a coma. Maren’s certain she can cure Hallie with a few well-chosen dreams. And when no one is watching, she slips her a flying dream.

But a strange new customer from the shop has been following Maren and knows what she did. Now she’s laid the perfect trap to blackmail Maren into creating custom nightmares for a dark and terrible purpose. As Maren gets drawn further into the sinister scheme, she must make a choice: to protect her family or to protect the town from her family’s magic (Goodreads).
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The Storyteller Shapeshifters Review


Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Shapeshifters by Andre Frattino
Publisher: Archaia
Special thanks to BOOM!Studios for sending a copy for review.

Summary:
With themes ranging from the importance of heritage and familial love, to cautionary tales best heeded, these stories are sure to delight all fans of Jim Henson’s beloved and timeless Storyteller (Goodreads).
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The Blossom and the Firefly Review


The Blossom and the Firefly by Sherri L. Smith
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Special thanks to Penguin Books for sending a copy for review.

Summary:
Japan 1945. Taro is a talented violinist and a kamikaze pilot in the days before his first and only mission. He believes he is ready to die for his country . . . until he meets Hana. Hana hasn’t been the same since the day she was buried alive in a collapsed trench during a bomb raid. She wonders if it would have been better to have died that day . . . until she meets Taro.

A song will bring them together. The war will tear them apart. Is it possible to live an entire lifetime in eight short days? (Goodreads).
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