Personal Touch. In the land of Liberty, citizens add their seal to official documents. A design’s seal is unique … and usually of personal significance to the person who carries it. Do you recognize this seal?

Personal Touch. In the land of Liberty, citizens add their seal to official documents. A design’s seal is unique … and usually of personal significance to the person who carries it. Do you recognize this seal?

Did you know that the first thirteen Byways Books cover America’s first thirteen colonies? Each is represented (in ratification order) with facts woven through the storyline—cities, landmarks, icons, and claims to fame.



The Case of the Missing Marquess kicks off a (new to me) favorite series starring the much younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes. (I blitzed through all six volumes of the Enola Holmes series in record time.) Beastly Bones is the second of the Jackaby novels, with another fantastical case. And Rowan Hood is the first in the 5-book series about the daughter of Robin Hood.

I’m offering readers a peek behind the Byways header. On a related note, do you recognize the four creatures it features? From top left, circling clockwise, they are a unicorn, a griffin, a dragon, and a phoenix. The topmost animal changes out from book to book. In this case, we have an eagle, representative of Ian Johns, who can Change into a golden eagle.

Greenglass House is a modern mystery with a historical twist set in a hilltop inn. (The stained glass windows made me very happy.) OCDaniel introduces us to a boy who struggles with compulsions he doesn’t understand. And Warbow continues the Saga of Roland Innes. (Robin Hood & Friar Tuck, anyone?)
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For your Bookshelf. Nothing encourages kids to read and reread a series like having copies on your home bookshelves. The award-winning Byways Books are available as both paperbacks and hardcover library editions. (Contact CJ via email if you’re interested in ordering author-signed copies.)




If spooky is your style, the Lockwood & Co. mysteries are going to keep you on the edge of your seat. Ghosts who can kill with a touch? (Eep.) The Graveyard Book was another of my online book club’s selections, about a boy raised by ghosts. And I’m still very much enjoying the Ranger’s Apprentice series. (This one especially, since my hometown is Scandia.)