Have you ever wanted to stumble across a world of magic and mystery and hatch your own dragon to be a beloved companion and eternal friend? One of this podcast duo did as a child. The other did not. Join Kelly and Emily as they revisit Bruce Coville's "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" and we find out which of the two still has the beautiful childli…

Kelly and Emily return from the depths to discuss another book of Emily's childhood - this time, it's Robin McKinley's "Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast". It's time to talk about baffling breezes, boring beasts, and names for horses. Fun fact: this time it's NOT a sad novel about a historical girl and lots of people who die,…

Look, Kelly and Emily may not have the Time Stone, but that doesn't mean they can't do a little time traveling of their own! Let's gently ramble back to 1908 for a re-reading of L.M. Montgomery's classic children's book, "Anne of Green Gables". Emily and Kelly wanted to talk about a beautiful love story for the ages, a story of two neighbors and th…

There's a time in every friendship where two people find themselves on opposite sides of an issue, an impassable chasm of roiling emotion between them - for Kelly and Emily, this moment is called Gary Paulsen's "The Island". Come join them to try and survive being stranded on an Island of Emotion as Kelly and Emily talk (argue?) about this story of…

Maybe it's been awhile since you've read Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach". If so... wow, better buckle in because that book is a WILD ride. This week, Kelly and Emily chat about whether giant insects make terrible friends, giant peach socialism, Emily's polar bear phobia, and how much they definitely did not remember how weird this book is.…

There's an unsung hero we need to talk about, friends. A person who just wants to break free from the monotony of 9-5 and the torture of climbing 30 flights of stairs every day. Kelly and Emily understand this person. Kelly and Emily love this person. This person... is Mrs. Gorf. Yes indeed, this week is a return to Louis Sachar with 1978's "Sidewa…

The end of the year is a time to look back... for Kelly and Emily, it's a time to reflect on the first episode of Throwback Bookstack by revisiting Patricia Wrede's series about dragons: this time, they read the fourth and final book of the series, Talking to Dragons. It's time to discuss how humor evolved throughout the series, Chekhov's Kitten, h…

Just because we're in the long and lonely offseason, with Spring Training so very far away, doesn't mean that Emily and Kelly don't have baseball in their hearts and on their minds! This week they go back to their old friend, historical fiction, to read Virginia Euwer Wolff's 1998 tale "Bat 6", about youth sports in a post-World War II town. It's t…

Someday, Kelly will get it together and we'll get back to a regular release schedule. Obviously, October was not that someday. However, here is another episode! For all of you lovely people out there! This time, Kelly and Emily are reading Sharon Creech's "Walk Two Moons". They laugh, they cry, they cry some more. And more. And more. If y'all have …

We all want adorable sentient animals to be our best friends, right? Well, apparently everyone doesn't want that. (Spoiler alert: Emily. It's Emily). This week, Kelly and Emily re-read Philip Pullman's "The Golden Compass" and discuss talking bears, talking animals, talking magical compasses... it's a world of communication, folks. Settle in for a …

What's that? Is that the sound of two mimosa-drunk 30-something women emerging from the silence? Kelly and Emily are back after a bit of a delay (it's been a weird summer, y'all) and this week, they're here to talk to you about CATS. Yes, cats. More specifically, a cat named Cat. Because Kelly loves cats, and wants everyone else to love cats, too. …

We're back! After a tragic, mimosa-related death for Kelly's laptop (RIP old friend), a brief period of mourning and gaining a new computer was needed. But now Kelly and Emily are not only back, they've got a guest! Their friend(?) Alex joins them this week to discuss the classic kid's tale of alien abduction, Bruce Coville's "My Teacher is an Alie…

Are you feeling a little too happy? You know the weekend is coming, so you've got a spring in your step? Don't worry, we're here to weigh you down with death, starvation, and the unbearable weight of family financial ruin in Lawrence Yep's "The Serpent's Children". But there's also fun, snarky humor? ...It's complicated. Emily and Kelly dive into a…

We must! We must! We must... read Judy Blume's classic tale, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret". Kelly and Emily read one of the absolute classics of puberty as they discuss Margaret's story about growing up and growing into who you are. It's time to chat about childhood, so curl up with some hot cocoa and a warm blanket and join the conversati…

Kelly and Emily have a rat problem on the podcast - and that problem is that they've spent so much of their lives not considering the implications and cultural evolution of a large-scale society of super-powered, semi-immortal science rats. This week, Emily and Kelly curl up with the furry folk from Robert C. O'Brien's "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of …

Get ready for a wild week, everyone. Action! Adventure! Detectives! Kidnapping! Blue genetically-engineered monkeys! A younger brother who acts his age! This week, Kelly and Emily read Nancy Farmer's Newbery Honor-winning "The Ear, the Eye and the Arm". Emily brings a blast from the past as they discuss this tale from the future. Thanks for listeni…

This week, Kelly and Emily discuss C. S. Lewis's "The Last Battle". Wait... I mean, "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". It's just really hard to talk about one of these books without talking about ALL of these books, okay? So this podcast contains spoilers for "The Last Battle", "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", "The Magician's Nephew"... Anywa…

We've learned something important this week, dear listeners: it's time to forget that 9-to-5 urban life and run away! This week, we're reading a tale of an escape to peaceful woodland living in Jean Craighead George's book, "My Side of the Mountain". Just how many people can you fit into a hollowed-out tree, anyway? What's the etiquette for chattin…

With the release of a theatrical adaptation on the horizon, Kelly and Emily hop on the bandwagon and tackle Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time". They have questions. So many questions. Infinite questions. And (spoiler alert) they don't find many answers. Why DO so many books have all-knowing, overly-precocious five-year-olds? Come join the wild…

Remember digging holes as a kid, just for the sake of seeing what you can find? Cherish those sweet memories of nostalgia, because this week, digging holes is gonna get TOO REAL. Emily and Kelly settle in to read Louis Sachar's 1998 book, "Holes" and discuss their feelings about onions and their respective lizard attack survival strategies. Twitter…

It's time to talk about favorite saints, 13th century hygeine, and weather definitions as Kelly and Emily sit down to talk about (...or wildly flail about) Karen Cushman's 1994 book, "Catherine, Called Birdy". Twitter: @ThrowbackBSPod Music: "Heartbreaker" by Jahzzar (betterwithmusic.com)Throwback Bookstack

Are your children sneaking into strangers' backyards and setting fires? Are they developing a cultlike secret society? Do they have a psychic taxidermy owl? If so, they definitely need to listen to Kelly and Emily talk about Zilpha Keatley Snyder's 1967 novel, "The Egpyt Game". Twitter: @ThrowbackBSPod Music: "Heartbreaker" by Jahzzar (betterwithmu…

It's time to bring some magic to the holiday season with Gail Carson Levine's 1997 book, 'Ella Enchanted'! Emily and Kelly discuss terrible faeries, sketchy consent, relationship considerations for cursed women, and how to measure pants. Twitter: @ThrowbackBSPod Music: "Heartbreaker" by Jahzzar (betterwithmusic.com)…

It's a dive into the world of high school hijinx this week - MURDER hijinx! Kelly and Emily read Lois Duncan's 1978 suspense novel, 'Killing Mr. Griffin', and try to figure out where these terrible teens went wrong in their plan (spoiler alert: everywhere). Twitter: @ThrowbackBSPod Music: "Heartbreaker" by Jahzzar (betterwithmusic.com)…

Are you looking for a book with adventures on the high seas, a plucky heroine surrounded by intrigue and murder, and a fascinating dive into historical fiction? Kelly and Emily were too, but unfortunately, they ended up with something else. Come join them as they examine the worst mutiny ever and discuss how knives work after reading 'The True Conf…

The pilot episode! Kelly and Emily start their journey of childhood literary nostalgia by discussing Patricia C. Wrede's "Dealing With Dragons". Music: "Heartbreaker" by Jahzzar (betterwithmusic.com) CC BY-SAThrowback Bookstack