Schools out and the heat is on! Time to curl up in an air-conditioned house or library, take part in your local library's Summer Reading Program (if there is one), and read.
All summer I read and review science-fiction / fantasy middle grade and young adult books. In other words, genres I LOVE! I don't do any Writing or Teaching posts over the summer but I will update my Back-to-School Teaching with Books series in August.
This summer also watch for my second installment of Indie Published Reviews and Author Interviews, all sci-fi and fantasy, to keep with the Readapalooza theme, of course.
MG Science Fiction
Mars Patel is a book two, and this time, after Mars was kidnapped, he discovers who his dad is and where he's been taken... Mars! There's a podcast that goes with this book, it actually came first, so if you prefer to listen, the link is in the book / my post. 8th Grade vs. the Machines is a second sci-fi book in that series, while Stowaway is one of the few first books I read / reviewed this month. There's a set-up for a sequel at the end and we're looking forward to it already! It's a bit grim, space opera, not strictly all hard-science, but a bit more realistic look at what being a pioneer in space might feel like. In both, the stakes feature saving all of humanity.
MG Fantasy
Epoca is the second Ecrof book and it is, sadly, the last in this series. After Kobe Bryant (who owned the imprint dedicated to publishing these sports fantasy books) died in a helicopter crash, the imprint stopped publishing. I was grateful they at least acknowledged where they intended to take the series, in regards to the main character, in a note at the end of the book.
Ghosts of Weirdwood is a book 2, as is Jane Doe and the Key of All Souls, and both are pure portal fantasies (but you should read the first books, first)! Magic Required is the third and last Wizard for Hire book, and it rounds out the series nicely. The Revenge of Magic series culminates in books 4 and 5, and both Zoone and Maya books are sequels. Lexi Magill is an excellent stand-alone romp about a middle school teleportation race around the globe and a lot of fun to read!
Young Adult
YA offerings include Star Wars: Free Fall, about Poe Dameron's days before joining the Resistance, and Spellbreaker and Spellmaker, which hit that sweet spot of magical romance mysteries (with an HEA). As always, read and enjoy!
For more Sci-fi/Fantasy reads to explore, here are my reads from last year (2021):
