Valerie Zhang
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Valerie is sixteen. She attends a boarding school near Boston, where she writes, reads, and attempts to be a studious student. She's too lazy to write the rest of this bio, so follow her on Twitter @torquoiseworld because shameless self-promotion is alive and thriving!

Book Review: ‘Undertow’ by Michael Buckley

I’ve been a fan of Michael Buckley since I read his “The Sisters Grimm” series in fifth grade. His wit, sly humor, and ability to infuse even the saddest moments with hope have had me eagerly anticipating every book he’s…

Book Review: ‘Performing Under Pressure’ by Hendrie Weisinger and J.P. Pawliw-Fry

I’ve recently been on a self-help kick, which has essentially consisted of my adding all the self-help books under the sun to my to-read list. Unfortunately, I’ve only gotten to reading three of the fifty books I added. However, Performing…

Book Review: ‘Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys)’ by Amy Spalding

When two actresses wear the same dress, all those gossip magazines do a “who-wore-it-better” poll. When two book reviewers request the same book, they just collaborate and produce a brilliant (okay, I’m super biased) interview. I interviewed Stephanie Estrada on…

Book Review: ‘5 to 1’ by Holly Bodger

It’s 2054, and after decades of gender selection, India’s boy to girl ratio is now five to one. In other words, women are now even more valuable commodities than before. Tired of marry their daughters off, some women form the…

Book Review: ‘Neverland’ by Shari Arnold

To seventeen year old Livy Cloud, four months simply isn’t enough time to move on from her younger sister’s death, not even close. She’d rather keep spending her time at the Seattle Children’s hospital, keep reading to the patients and…

Book Review: ‘The Truth About Jack’ by Jody Gehrman

Dakota McCloud has a plan. She’ll leave behind the artists’ colony of her childhood ― hippie dad, tofu since birth, yurt ― for the prestigious art school she has been accepted into. There she’ll join her boyfriend and best friend on the…

Book Review: ‘Avalon Rising’ by Kathryn Rose

I recently unearthed some of the book reviews I wrote back in middle school to show to my sister, and long story short, I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life. (Not that I’ve lived for a particularly long time…