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Elizabeth Van Tassel

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The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre book with tree and author Elizabeth Van Tassel

Book Review of The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre

Apr 26, 2020

My review for MMGM, Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, under the Magical Gazebo this week taught me bravery, endurance, cleverness, and was deeply entertaining and fun with The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine (yes, that one – who wrote Ella Enchanted!). My review I’ve been saving this read from one of my favorite authors, and it seems like someone knew I’d need it right now, going into week eight of being on quarantine in Northern California. We’ve all had to be more brave in weird ways recently, haven’t we? Well, I found such inspiration from Levine’s main character,… 

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Book Review of The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell

Sep 15, 2019

My review for MMGM, Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, under the Magical Gazebo this week brought me on such a great adventure with The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell. My review My favorite things about The Good Thieves was the deep friendships formed by four very unlikely and uniquely talented children in the face of uncertainty and a very daunting task that the main character, Vita, undertakes when she tries to help her grandfather after he’s been cheated out of his castle by a thug. A polio survivor during the 1930s and freshly-arrived in New York, young Vita finds an inner… 

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Magical Doorway Reads

Mar 3, 2019

My reviews for MMGM, Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, under the Magical Gazebo this week include three books that all involve going through a portal or transition to a land beyond. They couldn’t be more different than one another but each has a distinctive experience in another land, powerful lessons they learn there, and key decision points that will change their lives forever. Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley A dying grandfather shares amazing stories of a circus with an invisible tiger, a flying birdwoman, and the magician called The Man Who Bends Light, stories that may in fact be real. Young… 

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Favorite Reads of 2018

Nov 29, 2018

The Not-To-Miss Books, Great Gift Ideas, and Favorite Reads for Middle Graders I’m so excited to share some of my favorite reads to add to your Christmas list for boys and girls ages eight to thirteen years. One of my pet peeves is hearing parents at school say their kids don’t like to read. I think, really, they may just not have found their niche. My favorite ones are fantasy, comedy, mysteries, and historical fiction. I’ll highlight some series with new releases and favorites in this blog post so you can shop for your kids this holiday season. Ahoy, Pirates!… 

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Flashback Book Launch Event with Author Shannon Messenger

Nov 18, 2018

Recently, author Shannon Messenger, who writes the wonderful Keeper of the Lost Cities series began her book launch tour for her book Flashback. I was excited to meet up with a friend in our MG Lunch Bunch readers group and enjoy Messenger’s talk sponsored by Kepler’s Literary Foundation. I had met and interviewed her a couple of years ago (you can see the interview HERE) and was so very delighted to watch the mounting excitement as kids and parents entered the room. I sat next to a group of middle-school aged girls who were carrying sparkly backpacks and had home-made… 

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Happy Birthday Narnia and Everything C.S. Lewis

Oct 17, 2018

In honor of it being the birthday of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Narnia, which is sixty-eight years old this week, under the magical gazebo for MMGM I wanted to share some memories of my summer C.S. Lewis study abroad program. I also have some great Narnia-themed products and books to share. When I was a young girl, I discovered the world of Narnia and wonderful books by C.S. Lewis, never suspecting that those wondrous moments stepping through the wardrobe would shape my writing and love for portal fantasy stories. I didn’t know about the spiritual allegory… 

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Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief among gems and jewelry books with gemologist Elizabeth Van Tassel

Happy Birthday Percy Jackson And The Jewelry Of The Gods

Aug 19, 2018

How meeting Percy Jackson shaped a generation of tween adventure books AND What the jewelry of the Greek and Roman gods might have looked like   I’ll never forget the first time I read Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief. Oh, I loved that scene in the museum where everything goes wrong and the hero side of an awkward kid emerges with lots of magic and mythological characters coming to life. And the fact that the story continued with other novels and took us through all kinds of adventures meeting making real and mythic history come to life was so… 

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Great Reads: Tesla’s Attic by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman

Feb 25, 2018

This week under The Magical Gazebo, where I like to sit for the reviews, is a super middle grade adventure by best selling authors Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman called Tesla’s Attic. Rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars. Is it a clean read? It depends. A couple of things to consider: What could make this slightly more young-adult aged is some kissing and one character’s assumptions about life. Also, Nick and his family are dealing with losing their mom and one of the characters perishes in the novel, too. I feel it’s not completely clean, but the great writing,… 

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Elizabeth Van Tassel, middle grade author, with a review of Tumble and Blue by Cassie Beasley, purple vines.

Great Reads: Tumble & Blue by Cassie Beasley

Jan 28, 2018

This week under The Magic Gazebo, where I like to sit for the reviews, is a super middle grade adventure by best selling author Cassie Beasley. Rating 5 out of 5 stars. Clean story? Yes it’s great for middle readers into early teens. My review: Tumble & Blue by Cassie Beasley is wonderfully inventive and transported me to the swamps in Okefenokee. Having spent much time in the South, under those trees draped in wonderful mosses and quiet walks in the woods, I loved every part of the setting for this book. Beasley has such a wonderful voice, especially with… 

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Max Tilt: Fire The Depths by author Peter Lerangis, shark floating by, on Thorn & Vine blog by author Elizabeth Van Tassel

Great Reads: Max Tilt: Fire The Depths by Peter Lerangis

Jan 7, 2018

New from Thorn & Vine: MMGM Book reviews! Due to the terrific response to our December, 2017 post HERE about great reads for kids, we are going to regularly be featuring new (or favorite) books for middle grade and young adult readers. I’ve listed the link to MMGM below as well. This week under The Magic Gazebo, where I like to sit for the reviews, is a super middle grade adventure by author Peter Lerangis. You may already know him from his fantastic series based on Greek myths, The Seven Wonders. He’s started a new series recently based on the… 

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