When I first heard about Stewart Lewis’ You Have Seven Messages, the first thing that came to mind was the movie One Missed Call. Now, I have not seen One Missed Call, but I think I can safely say that You Have Seven Messages is, in fact, nothing like it. For those of you whose [...]

Tags: coming of age, dating, death, family problems, grief, music, mystery, photography
Filed under: Book Review

The small, sleepy southern town of Lily, Arkansas goes into a frenzy when a birdwatcher thinks he spots a Lazarus Woodpecker, a species thought to be extinct. (“Lily is the kind of place you’d like to move to some short time before you die. If at any other time in your life you think you [...]

Tags: coming of age, family life, grief, kidnapping, mystery, religion, small town
Filed under: Book Review

Lucy is a glassblower on a mission to find a graffiti artist whose work resonates with her. The artist, Shadow, might be one of the only guys who really gets her. But she doesn’t even know who he is outside of the paintings he has scattered around the city. Ed is a high school dropout [...]

Tags: art, literacy, mystery, romance, secrets
Filed under: Book Review

While her parents are on sabbatical in Bristol, Louisiana-native Rory attends a boarding school in London. Shortly after she arrives, a series of Jack the Ripper-esque murders occur, and Rippermania takes over London. As if settling into English life isn’t hard enough for Rory (who, in her first days at school, embarrassingly chokes on a [...]

Tags: boarding schools, ghosts, murder investigation, mystery, supernatural
Filed under: Book Review

David Levithan’s newest book, Every You, Every Me, is a collaborative work with photographer Jonathan Farmer. In the spirit of collaboration, I read and reviewed this book with Isaiah Vianese in a series of email exchanges. Melanie, I just finished Every You, Every Me. My feelings about the book are mixed, so I thought I [...]

Tags: grief, mental illness, mystery, photography, stalking
Filed under: Book Review