Book Reviews By & For Kids - Rapunzel Reads

Author Interview: Celine Kiernan

7/5/2021

Celine Kiernan is the author of numerous award-winning young adult and middle-grade novels. Her most recent books, the middle-grade fantasy Wild Magic Trilogy (Begone the Raggedy Witches, The Little Grey Girl, and The Promise Witch) tell the story of Mup Taylor's discovery of a world of strange and powerful magic--a world her mam is from. We love this series for its whimsical story, realistic characters, and fairy tale atmosphere, so we were thrilled to interview her for this month's feature!

Rapunzel Reads: What inspired Begone the Raggedy Witches?

Celine Kiernan: The Raggedy Witches books had a few different inspirations. The opening scene, as the witches leap from tree to tree hunting Mup’s family through the moonlit Irish countryside, is actually something that happened to me as a child. I have vivid memories of looking up through the window as my parents drove me home from somewhere, and seeing those very same witches leaping from branch to branch, exactly as I describe it. In the intervening years my grown up brain has concocted all sorts of logical explanations for it (Plastic bags caught in the branches? A particularly vivid waking dream?) Nevertheless, when I close my eyes and remember that

Author Interview: Celine Kiernan - Begone the Raggedy Witches - Rapunzel Reads

Author Interview: Celine Kiernan - The Little Grey Girl - Rapunzel Reads

Author Interview: Celine Kiernan - The Promise Witch - Rapunzel Reads

Author Interview: Christina Diaz Gonzalez

6/7/2021

Christina Diaz Gonzalez is the author of several middle-grade and young adult novels. Her Moving Target duology (Moving Target and Return Fire) is a fast-paced fantasy series which tells the story of Cassie Arroyo, who discovers she has the ability to wield the powerful--and dangerous--Spear of Destiny. We loved the duology for its detailed plotting, strong sense of place, and brilliant characters. We were thrilled to interview Christina Diaz Gonzalez for this month's feature!

Rapunzel Reads: In the Moving Target duology, you evoke a strong sense of the setting (Italy). What inspired you to set these books there?

Christina Diaz Gonzalez: Setting is an important part of every book and I knew that this story required a place that blended old world legends with modern attributes. Italy fit the bill perfectly as I had taken a family trip to Rome and absolutely fallen in love with the mix of old and new.

RR: Do you have any tips for an aspiring writer?

CDG: My best tip for aspiring writers is to observe the world around you and let your imagination roam free. Some of the

Author photo credit: Michelle Nicole Photography

Author Interview: Stuart Gibbs

5/3/2021

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

Stuart Gibbs is the New York Times-bestselling and award-winning author of the Spy School, FunJungle, and Moon Base Alpha series, among others. We recently read and loved one of his recent books, Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation, which tells the story of a girl genius who teams up with the CIA to find the hiding place of a Einstein's last equation. We were thrilled to interview him for this month's feature!

Rapunzel Reads: We love the way Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation blends real historical facts with a fictional storyline! What was the research process like (we read in your afterword that you traveled to many of the places the story is set in), and how much of the material you used was true?

Stuart Gibbs: The research was really done over a long period. I first had the idea for the book well over a decade ago, after seeing an exhibit on Albert Einstein at a science museum. To help build the story, I read a few books on Einstein and physics, and then was lucky enough to be invited to Jerusalem on an author tour, which allowed me to do research there. Mount Wilson is located close to where I live, so that was easy to visit. I would say that every fact I give in the book that does not concern Pandora is true: everything about Einstein's life, physics, and history.

RR: Who is your favorite character in Charlie Thorne,

Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation by Stuart Gibbs

Author photo credit: Dan Appel

Author Interview: Rosaria Munda

4/5/2021

Interview by Piranha T.

Rosaria Munda is the author of the young adult fantasy novels Fireborne and its sequel, Flamefall (which was released last month), the first two books in the Aurelian Cycle. We loved Fireborne for its intricate world-building, strong character arcs, and unexpec-ted twists--Flamefall is next on our to-read list! We were thrilled to interview Rosaria Munda about Fireborne for this month’s feature.

Rapunzel Reads: Fireborne is full of twists on clichés and classic plotlines. Did these come about as the story progressed, or were some of them in your mind initially as you wrote?

Rosaria Munda: Lee’s inversion of the deposed aristocrat was probably the main reason I wrote the book, so it was there from the start. Other things came later.

RR: I read on your website that you initially had another point of view in Fireborne. How did the process of editing out that character change the way you told the story?

RM: Originally Duck was a POV character, but it didn’t work because he didn’t have a story

Author photo credit:
Brooke Amber Photography 2019

Author Interview: Alexandra Ott

3/1/2021

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

Alexandra Ott is the author of the Rules for Thieves duology, Seekers of the Wild Realm, and its sequel, Legend of the Realm, which will be released this summer. We loved Seekers of the Wild Realm for its cool worldbuilding and strong characters. We were thrilled to be able to interview her for this month’s post!

RapunzelReads: Seekers of the Wild Realm has many interesting, well-developed characters. Do you have a favorite among them? If so, why?

Alexandra Ott: It’s so hard to choose! They’re all fun to write. But I think Bryn is probably my favorite; I just love how determined and ambitious she is and how she doesn’t let anything stand in the way of accomplishing her goals. I also have big soft spots for Ari and Runa. Ari is such a genuinely sweet, empathetic character, and Runa is so smart and resourceful. I actually wrote an even bigger role for Runa in the second book in the series, because I just wanted to keep writing about her!

RR: The Wild Realm, including its magic, is interesting and unique. What inspired it? What is your favorite part about it?

Author photo credit: D. Young

Author Interview: J. A. White

2/1/2021

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

J. A. White is the author of numerous middle-grade novels, including the Thickety quartet, beginning with A Path Begins (which we selected as one of our favorite books of 2020); Nightbooks, a modern twist on the tale of Scheherazade; and his latest novels, the Shadow School series. We like his books for their twisting plots and fully imagined worlds—we were thrilled to interview him for this month’s feature!

Rapunzel Reads: A Path Begins has many unique, well-developed characters. Of them, do you have a favorite? If so, why?

J. A. White: Thanks! My favorite character—indeed, my favorite of all my characters in all my books—is Grace. I know she’s an awful person, but that’s what made her so much fun! Also, I don’t outline my books,

Photo credit: Yeeshing White

Author Interview: Angie Sage

1/11/2021

Angie Sage is the author of the internationally bestselling, award-winning Septimus Heap series (beginning with Magyk), which follows the training and adventures of a young wizard in a quirky and ‘magykal’ world. Her other novels include TodHunter Moon, a companion trilogy to Septimus Heap; the Araminta Spookie series; and her latest novel, Twilight Hauntings, the first in a duology about a girl in a world where magic is forbidden (the sequel, Midnight Train, will be released next month). We’ve read and loved her books for years, so we were especially thrilled to interview her about Septimus Heap and Twilight Hauntings for this month’s feature!

RapunzelReads: The Septimus Heap series has a large (and hilarious!) cast and is narrated omnisciently—how do you create a variety of believable, distinct characters, and does having many narrating characters affect the way that you write stories?

Angie Sage: It is strange, but I am not aware of actually creating the characters – they seem to appear fully formed and then rapidly set about telling me who they are and what they intend to do. I guess they are believable because they do feel very real to me. The characters are the driver of the books; they pretty much dictate the plot and the action. I think this is what gives them reality, because they are not puppets subservient to the

Author Interview: Aimee Lucido

12/7/2020

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

Aimee Lucido is the author of the award-winning novel Emmy in the Key of Code (which received a 2020 Rapunzel Reads Book of the Year award) and the upcoming Recipe for Disaster, which will be released in Fall 2021. Emmy in the Key of Code follows the story of Emmy’s journey as she discovers coding as well as her old passion for music and navigates new friendships and a new school. We love it for its sympathetic characters and beautiful free verse, and we were thrilled to interview her for this month’s feature!

RapunzelReads: What inspired you to write Emmy in the Key of Code, particularly the combination of elements of music and coding?

Aimee Lucido: I had the idea to write Emmy in the Key of Code in a combination of poetry, music, and code, when I was reading a novel in verse by Andrea Davis Pinkney called The Red Pencil. The Red Pencil is a beautiful novel in verse that has absolutely nothing to do with computers, and yet somehow, while I was reading the book, I was struck by how similar Pinkney's verse was to the coding language Python. Both use colons, newlines, and tabs very intentionally in order to convey meaning, and that's when I realized that I could potentially tell

Author photo credit: Nina Pomeroy

Author Interview: Veera Hiranandani

11/2/2020

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

Veera Hiranandani is the author of several award-winning books for children and young adults. The Night Diary, her most recent novel, follows the story of twelve-year-old Nisha, forced to leave her home after the 1947 partition between India and Pakistan, and won the Newbery Honor. We loved this book for its unique style and strong characters. We were thrilled to interview her for this month’s feature!

RapunzelReads: The Night Diary has such a vivid, detailed setting—what's it like to bring a historical place to life?

Veera Hiranandani: Thank you! It was sort of a collage of things--research, conversations, feedback, reading, and of course, my own imagination. One thing I've always been able to do is imagine deeply. Sometimes my imagination feels more real than real life! I was always called a "daydreamer" growing up. I only need a few ingredients to send me on my way. So for The Night Diary, I came up with a main character, did my research for the setting and had a general idea of the journey she would

Author photo credit: David Beinstein

Author Interview: Janet Fox

10/5/2020

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

Janet Fox is the acclaimed author of several books for teens and kids. Her award-winning historical fantasy novel The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle centers twelve-year-old Kat, sent to a Scottish castle during World War II to escape the Blitz, who uncovers the dangerous secrets of her temporary home. Her most recent book, The Artifact Hunters, is a companion novel. We love Janet Fox’s ability to incorporate history and fantasy into intriguing and mysterious stories, so we were excited to interview her about The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle.

RapunzelReads: What inspired The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle?

Janet Fox: I was looking for something to write “next” after finishing my previous book, when a friend posted a picture of something called a “chatelaine” on Facebook. I took one look at that picture and it spoke to me, so I put it on my desktop. I looked it up and discovered that a chatelaine (see below) was a piece of

Janet Fox Author Photo - Interview with Janet Fox

The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox

The Artifact Hunters by Janet Fox

Author photo credit: Jodi Hausen
Chatelaine credit (below): Janet Fox

Author Interview: Sarah Beth Durst

9/7/2020

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

Sarah Beth Durst is the award-winning author of fantasy novels for kids, teens, and adults, including Into the Wild and The Girl Who Could Not Dream. Spark, set in a world of perfect weather where a girl and her lightning beast must learn to speak up against injustice, and The Stone Girl’s Story, centering around a girl carved from stone on a quest to save her friends, are two of our favorite fantasy books. Her novels are full of unique plots and well-developed worlds. We were thrilled to interview her for this month’s feature!

RapunzelReads: Your books, including Spark and The Stone Girl’s Story, have well-developed, unique worlds. How do you create them? Do you have particular details about those worlds you love?

Sarah Beth Durst: I absolutely love creating new worlds. When I was a kid, I used to round up all the scrap paper in the house, tape the pieces together, and draw massive fantasy worlds. I'd fill those

Photos credit: Sarah Beth Durst

Author Interview: Alan Gratz

8/3/2020

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

Alan Gratz is the author of many highly acclaimed middle-grade novels which discuss topics not often seen in books for this readership. Refugee, which tells the story of three refugees from different countries, in different times, spent more than a year on the New York Times bestseller list and received numerous awards. Ban this Book, which we interviewed him especially about, is about fourth grader Amy Anne Ollinger’s plan to fight back when her favorite book is banned from the school library. We were thrilled to get the chance to interview him about his books for this month’s feature.

RapunzelReads: What inspired Ban this Book?

Alan Gratz: A lot of people ask me if I've ever had one of my books challenged or banned, if perhaps that's why I wrote this book. My answer is no, I haven't had a book banned--that I know of! That's the thing--the American Library Association says that something like 350 books were challenged or banned last year, but that's only the challenges they know about. They estimate another 95% of book challenges and bannings go UNreported. That's thousands of books that disappear off library shelves every year! Is one of my books one of those? Perhaps! Regardless, that's why I wanted to write this book--to call attention to the book challenges and bannings that still happen every year.

Author Interview: Jasmine Warga

7/6/2020

Author Interview - Jasmine Warga, author of Other Words for Home

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

Jasmine Warga is the author of three acclaimed novels, as well as the upcoming novel The Shape of Thunder. Other Words for Home (one of our favorites from 2020), which centers around Jude’s journey to finding a new home in an unfamiliar country, is the recipient of many starred reviews and awards, including the John Newbery Honor. We were thrilled to interview her for this month’s post!

RapunzelReads: Other Words for Home is written in (gorgeous!) free verse—what made you choose that style of writing?

Jasmine Warga: Thank you! Initially, the book was written in prose, but I didn't feel like Jude's voice felt right. Verse helped me to capture the immediacy and rawness that I wanted her narration to have.

RR: Jude is both inspiring and deeply relatable—what inspired her character?

JW: She is loosely based upon my own cousin who is also named Jude! I borrowed my cousin's love of American movies, specifically, and her large heart. That said, Jude is an entirely fictional character, and I built her the way I build all my characters--through lots of brainstorming and daydreaming.

RR: Who is your favorite character in Other Words for Home, and why?

Author Interview: Jennifer Swender

6/8/2020

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

Jennifer Swender is the author of several picture books and early readers. Her debut novel, Solving for M, tells the story of Mika, a girl whose new math class helps her deal with her mother’s cancer diagnosis. We loved this book for its elements of realism and the unique, sympathetic characters. We were thrilled to interview Jennifer Swender about Solving for M for this month’s feature.

RapunzelReads: Who is your favorite character in Solving for M, and why?

Jennifer Swender: Hmmm. That's a tough one. My favorite character can change depending on how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking about, and I like them all for so many different reasons. I like Mika's honesty and willingness to grapple with tough ideas. I enjoy Mr. Vann's wackiness, but also his quiet understanding of how best to reach his students. I love Dee Dee's confidence and Chelsea's thoughtfulness. I like Mika's mom's quiet logic and her friend Jeannie's flair for the dramatic. I love the way illustrator Jennifer Naalchigar drew Mika's Math Journal #22 where we see how the various people in Mika's life would approach a “real life problem.” They are all different. They are all right. They are all necessary.

RR: What inspired you to write Solving for M?

Author Interview: Hayley Chewins

5/4/2020

Interview by Piranha T. and Super Kitty

Hayley Chewins writes books about magical girls with secrets. We read and loved her debut, The Turnaway Girls (one of our favorites from 2020), for its lyrical writing and vivid worldbuilding. Her second novel, The Sisters of Straygarden Place, will be released in September 2020. Her books are outstanding for their beautiful prose and interesting characters. We were thrilled to get the chance to interview her for this month’s post.

RapunzelReads: Who is your favorite character in The Turnaway Girls, and why?

Hayley Chewins: I adore Linna. She’s just so full of joy and light. And she’s kind. I like kind.

RR: The Turnaway Girls takes place in a vivid, detailed world—what inspired it?

HC: It was mostly inspired by language. What I mean by that is: I didn’t think up a place, and then find words to describe it. I wrote, and the world sprang up.

RR: What is your favorite part of the world of The Turnaway Girls?

HC: I love the cloister, even though it’s a dark, scary place. I just love the idea of a

Book Reviews By & For Teens

Everyone knows that Rapunzel spent her early years locked up in a tower. We like to think she read plenty of books to while away the time, and that she’d appreciate our favorites.

We’re two teen siblings who have been reviewing and recommending great middle-grade (MG) and young adult (YA) books since 2014 (9 years and counting!). We’re particularly passionate about fantasy, queer books, and any story beautifully told.

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Looking for more YA recommendations? Until 2022, we had a separate For Older Readers page, where we highlighted over two dozen awesome YA books. Check it out here!

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