Fall= Walks in the Woods, Apple Cider, and a Good Book...

Hello, again! It’s Oscar & Strawberry here in Portland, Oregon. You haven’t heard much from us lately because we’ve been very busy reading tons of terrific books. We wanted to share some of our reviews with you, in case you were looking for some new titles. Enjoy!

-Oscar and Strawberry (and Amelia)

Septimus Heap, the Seventh son of the Seventh son, disappears the night he is born & pronounced dead by the midwife. On the same night, the baby’s father, Silas Heap, comes across an abandoned child in the snow- a newborn girl with violet eyes. The Heaps take her into their home, name her Jenna, and raise her as their own. But who is this mysterious baby girl? And what really happened to their beloved son, Septimus?

For our older readers, I’d recommend this story set in a world inspired by ancient Arabia. The main character, Zafira the Hunter, must brave the Arz (a cursed dark forest) in order to feed her people. One day, after she comes back from hunting, she is approached by a mysterious silver witch with a quest for her. She must travel to Sharr, a deadly magical island to find a lost artifact that can return magic to Arawiya. Along the way she meets the Prince of Death and his General companion, a scholar Sufi, and a fierce Pelusian warrior. They all race to find the lost artifact, but when an ancient evil begins to stir, they must join forces to save the world.

In this graphic novel retelling of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, the March sisters live in NYC, their dad is overseas in the military, and their mom is working overtime to make ends meet. Even as each sister faces her own struggles, they’re always there for one another. They share many laughs, tears, and quarts of ice cream.

Pyrrhia has been at war for almost 20 years and the only hope many dragons have is in the Dragonet prophecy. It tells of a group of dragons from different tribes, all born on the brightest night. They are destined to end the war of SandWing succession. But Clay, the mudwing dragonet, doesn’t feel like he’s prophecy material at all. However, when one of the other dragonets is threatened, it is Clay and his friends who must go to the rescue. They escape the cave where they were raised and set the history of Pyrrhia on a course no one could imagine…