Rebecca Angel was one of those kids that put the dragon book on top of her pile in the hopes that someone would say, "Hey, I'm into that stuff too!" Alas, she had to wait until she was an adult to find fellow geeks. Luckily, she married one and their kids are too. A music teacher by day, Rebecca is also a lover of tea, science literacy, funky tights, RPGs, anime, manga, comics, fantasy books and movies.
The week before my niece’s twelfth birthday party, I got a call from my sister asking if we (my son, husband, and I) would dress up as Ayla’s favorite stars for the event. I knew there must be a story behind this. There was. My sister wrote it in her own words, and I felt the message of dreams and family was meant to be shared with a wider audience. Enjoy. Read More
Rebecca enjoyed both the book and movie versions of ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,’ a teen romantic comedy, but for different reasons. The book is about stepping out of an older sister’s shadow, while the movie focuses on the fun “fake” romance. Read More
If you were an adult learning a new language, would you want to read about Dick and Jane? Larissa Phillips heard a resounding, “no,” from her students and wrote her own adult beginning reader. Read More
Here’s a great round-up of some board books and picture books you’ll want for your own shelf. You’ll notice I’ve added two extra notes at the end of each review beyond age recommendation: female character ratio and diversity. For the female ratio, I actually counted every character and did the math. Sometimes this was iffy… Read More
‘Thunderhead’ is both an exciting and thoughtful sequel to the award-winning ‘Scythe’ by Neal Shusterman. Rebecca Angel got to interview the author and tried to keep her questions to a minimum, but there are so many things to ask! Read More
Some characters stay with you. Rebecca started wondering about the characters in the Worldquake series by Scarlett Thomas, and was thrilled to review the second book, ‘The Chosen Ones.’ Read More
Reading Time: 12 minutes Ghosts! Robots! Sharks! Wizards! Monsters Beware! (That’s actually one of the titles.) Yup, lots of excitement out there for the elementary age set. Desmond Cole, Ghost Patrol; Monsters Beware!; and Amulet are fiction, while Sharks, and Robots and Drones are nonfiction. With strong literary and visual storytelling, these are all winners.… Read More
The Teen Parenting Olympics would be a series of questions with several factors to influence your decision with no right answer and whatever choice you make will result in a follow up challenge that you will ultimately fail because you didn’t see it coming. Ready to compete? Challenge accepted! Read More
Reading Time: 9 minutes There is romance in almost every story, and if werewolves, time travel, or genetically enhanced soldiers are involved, it may or may not be classified as paranormal romance. The key is how much romance. My personal definition is the number of pages the characters are actively romancing someone (or themselves), talking about,… Read More
‘Binti’ is a trilogy of novellas that introduce what the sci-fi/fantasy world can become if we embrace more diversity: full of amazing stories. Read More
The PyeongChang Olympics are exciting for Rebecca Angel and her family for many reasons, but the regional food will set the tone. Check out some yummy recipes! Read More
It takes both gaming styles of Rebecca and her more logical-minded son to get through the trials of a car wash. Read More
‘The Empress’ is just as exciting as the first book in its series. Rebecca Angel reviews it, and lists other sequels just as good or better. Read More
As a gift, Rebecca Angel uploaded videos of a read aloud for her husband. Things didn’t turn out as planned. Get some tips on how to do it better! Read More
Rebecca Angel and her son have always admired the artwork of ‘Magic: The Gathering’, but the cards are so tiny! With “The Art of Magic: The Gathering” series of over-sized, full-color books, they can see all the details! Read More
Love letters and stickers were lost during a move for Rebecca Angel. Luckily, the stickers can be replaced. Take a break and check out where to get the best stickers and even a silly sticker song! Read More
Rebecca Angel and her two nieces had a great time testing out Kathy Ceceri’s DIY instruments that are all together in a new book, ‘Make: Musical Inventions.’ Read More
Bring diversity into your reading world with these four books action-packed with magic, dystopian futures, mutant creatures, and time travel. Read More
This month’s Procrastination Destination will entertain you with strange, geeky, musical, and delicious PIE! Read More
The new Yamaha FG800 guitar is fine quality at a price beginners can afford and will enjoy for a long time. Read More
