A few notes before the actual post: I took the image above from Dyslexia.com. If you’d like to visit the site to learn more, click on the photo above. Earlier this year, all ninth graders at my school participated in a month-long writing workshop. The culminating project was to create a short essay with certain…
Author: caritagardiner
NetGalley Review of Don’t Tell Me How This Ends
Title: Don’t Tell Me How This Ends Author: Adrienne Thurman Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback publication date: April 14, 2026 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: birth, parental abandonment, heartache, alcohol, early onset dimentia summary: Kaia Harper knows that men always leave, so she’s perfectly happy getting what she needs from one-night stands on…
NetGalley Review of Stranger Things Have Happened
title: Stranger Things Have Happened author: Kasie West publisher: Saturday Books publication date: April 14, 2026 pages: 352 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: lying injury illness parental abandonment (past) and manipulation (present) hospital scenes summary: While Sutton is staying in her hometown to help her mother recover from a car accident, she’s also trying…
379. Why Prank
I say to you, whether you believe in today’s holiday or not, Happy April Fool’s Day! You might see the photo above and think, “Wowza, that’s a lot of balloons!” or you might think, “Oh no, that’s a horrible fire hazard!” Either way, you make a fair point. Of course, when the 2025s (Hi, 2025s,…
Not Only a NetGalley Review of Into the Blue
This post is not only a NetGalley review (though it’s that, too), so I hope everyone will read it, whether you follow my NetGalley reviews or not. I was lucky enough to teach Emma Brodie during her last two years at Hotchkiss. She was then and remains a total delight, both as a writer and…
378. Why Dragonflies
I was recently at an appointment and saw the above-pictured metal dragonfly, a decoration on the waiting-room table. I took a photo of it because dragonflies always remind me of my bonus mom. When I sent her the photo with a note saying that this made me think of her, she replied that dragonflies always…
NetGalley Review of The Book Witch
title: The Book Witch author: Meg Shaffer publisher: Ballantine Books publication date: April 7, 2026 pages: 320 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: dead parents and scary moments/potential kidnapping summary: Rainy March’s job as a book witch is to enter fictional books and fix problems when the characters go off-script. Though she tries to follow…
377. Why Octopus and Snail
You might not guess from the totes adorbs photo above that these two are “one of each,” but in so many ways, they are. I always thought it was funny when other people with two children said they had “one of each.” They always seemed to mean that they had one who came out with…
NetGalley Review of In Time with You
title: In Time with You author: Kristin Dwyer publisher: Wednesday Books publication date: March 24, 2026 pages: 384 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: death by drowning near death by drowning funerals alcohol use death of an animal summary: It’s hard for me to tell too much about this one without giving it away, but…
NetGalley Review of Cross My Heart
title: Cross My Heart author: Esha Patel publisher: Avon publication date: March 24, 2026 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: injury, alcohol use summary: Even though her Junior lacrosse season went sideways, May is not amused when Colt comes back to help coach her team for her Senior year. After he left her…