Category: Fantasy

Eleanor, Alice, & The Roosevelt Ghosts by Dianne K. Salerni

I won a free copy of this book during BookCon thanks to Holiday House in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

This is a middle grade book set in 1898 New York City, a time when humans and ghosts co-exist. We’re following cousins Eleanor and Alice, who team up when they suspect sinister ghosts in their house who are not there for friendly reasons. Previously unable to get along, the girls set aside their differences in order to eradicate the ghost from the home of their Aunt Bye, each for different motives. Ghost hunting isn’t as easy as it may seem, and these girls are in for a frightening time. But with each other’s help, and their own unique skillsets, they may be able to fend off the ghost for good.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick read and super interesting. The way Salerni combined history and supernatural elements in this book was such a good way to get younger readers interested in history. I know even myself, having my BA in history, wanted to keep reading up on the characters mentioned in this story because the way they came to life in the story was so fascinating. I just wanted to keep learning. 

Some of the elements in this story seemed a bit heavy for middle school grade, although I’ve been out of middle school for quite some time, so I can’t remember what types of books I was into. But this book contains murder and attempted murder. I would just take that into consideration when deciding if this is right for you and/or your child.

Overall, however, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. It was a fun spin on history and a quick read. It would be a good read for fall. Publication is set for September 1.

Letters From The Light by Shel Calopa

Recently I was given the opportunity by Inspired Quill to read Letters From the Light by Shel Calopa in exchange for my honest review. The synopsis sounded intriguing so I was excited to read it. It is a sci-fi dystopian book set in futuristic Australia where the world is divided in light and dark. Only the privileged have access to the light. The dark is for those who are meant to serve the upper class. The lower class all have some type of limitation. Some are blinded, some are made deaf and mute.  

The book had a Hunger Games-type feel to it. We’re following a war between two “players:” The Master, a power-hungry corrupt man who is determined to keep the world as it is no matter the cost; and an artificial intelligent feminine-esque being known as The Light, or Illustria, who wants to help unite all. The Solarans typically follow the Master as he helps ensure things stay as they are and the Solarans benefit from that. The Light, or Illustria, is working to help the lower classes, or Damarans, to bring light to everyone. In order to achieve her goal, Illustria needs to unite five manifestations, or “chosen ones.” 

There were a few different main characters and they were all pretty well developed. In the beginning of the story it was confusing being introduced to them all but once you were able to get them sorted out, you got pretty invested in their journey through the story. Calopa did a great job eliciting anger or sympathy for certain characters when appropriate and when the characters felt betrayed or torn between sides in the war, I felt the character’s pain and confusion.

There were inclusions of important topics, such as racism, misogyny, politics, and classism, just to name a few. Calopa’s descriptions were vivid and I particularly liked how she discussed the communication system of the deaf community, calling it “foot noise.”

One thing that confused me was that this was considered a futuristic society but a few members of the elite classes hadn’t even heard of some of the technology that we have in today’s society. I also wanted more from the ending–what that would be, I don’t know. The ending was not bad and perfectly satisfactory, I just was expecting more.

Despite the slow start with all the characters, this was an interesting and fun read. If you enjoy Sci-Fi or Fantasy Dystopian novels, I recommend checking this book out. You won’t regret it!