Category: Middle Grade

A Cinefessions Video – Book Review – Branden on Animorphs #1: The Invasion by K.A. Applegate

Here are my thoughts on the first book in the Animorphs series, The Invasion by K.A. Applegate. If you enjoy the video, please consider subscribing to Cinefessions on YouTube!   Branden ChowenBranden has been a film fan since he was young, roaming the halls of Blockbuster Video, trying to find the grossest, scariest looking VHS…


Book Review – Branden Chowen on Carnevil by J.H. Reynolds (MonsterStreet #3)

Title: Carnevil (MonsterStreet #3) Author: J.H. Reynolds Published: 2019 Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books — I happened across the MonsterStreet books while browsing the children’s section at Barnes & Noble a couple months back. I was looking for another middle grade horror series (which I hope to review in 2020) from a different author when I…


Book Review – Branden Chowen on The Halloweeners by J.H. Reynolds (MonsterStreet #2)

Title: The Halloweeners (MonsterStreet #2) Author: J.H. Reynolds Published: 2019 Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books — Fisher is excited to finally join up with his new friends, and become a member of the Halloweeners, which is a group that is obsessed with all things Halloween. Unfortunately for him, he finds himself grounded on Halloween night because…


Book Review – Branden Chowen on The Boy Who Cried Werewolf by J.H. Reynolds (MonsterStreet #1)

Title: The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (MonsterStreet #1) Author: J.H. Reynolds Published: 2019 Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books — R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series is what got me into reading when I was young. My parents would read to me at night, and I almost always asked for something from R.L. Stine as he was a favorite….


Book Review – Branden Chowen on Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Title: Coraline Author: Neil Gaiman Published: 2002 Publisher: Harper Collins Audiobook Narrator: Neil Gaiman — I’ve tried watching the Coraline film a couple times now, and did not enjoy it. At all. That’s why I was surprised, and a little disappointed, when it popped into my top 25 scariest novels ever written list (tied at…


Book Review – Branden Chowen on The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs

Title: The House with a Clock in Its Walls Author: John Bellairs Published: 1973 Publisher: Puffin Books Audiobook Narrator: George Guidall — I don’t watch many film trailers, and whenever one pops up during a YouTube binge session, I almost always hit the “skip ad” button five seconds in to it. Something was different about…