(2) 4-6 Translated by B.J. Woodstein. Eleven-year-old Marcus lives in Stockholm, but his mom's job as a voice actor means he's spending the summer in Malmo, a city in southern Sweden. At first Marcus is nervous around his tough new neighbor, Mikkel (or is he saying "Me kill"? It's hard for Marcus to understand his dialect) -- a kid covered in tattoos. But after Marcus proves himself in a skateboarding contest (and a gnarly skateboarding accident), Mikkel declares them "blood brothers." They spend the summer together, getting "tattooed" (with pen) by Mikkel's teenage brother, sneaking out to an amusement park in Copenhagen, and eating lunch with Marcus's babysitter, whose very presence he resents. The only thing missing is his dad, who stayed behind in Stockholm. When Marcus came out as a trans boy, his dad didn't take it well -- and now he worries that telling Mikkel might mean losing him, too. Jagerfeld is a master of quirky character details, from Marcus's dad's bicycling "diaper" (really cushioned bike shorts) to his mom's nude mime routine. Narrator Marcus's observations are laugh-out-loud funny and sometimes wise, as he reflects on his experiences as a trans person with confidence that no one knows his identity better than him. The trans storyline covers familiar ground, but Marcus's thoughts about his identity and the pain he feels in the face of rejection are movingly and satisfyingly portrayed.

Reviewer: Bodie Shanis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Alison Jay. Perseverance and a willingness to try new things win the day in this lively picture-book biography. Latvian Jewish immigrant Annie Cohen Kopchovsky (1870–1947) is a hard worker with a determined spirit, and when she sees an advertisement that the first woman to bicycle around the world in fifteen months will win ten thousand dollars, she immediately signs up for cycling lessons. Despite never having ridden a bicycle before, Annie (now with a new last name given to her by an advertiser) soon starts a grueling journey from Boston with many setbacks, from injury to thievery to overzealous customs officials. She builds support wherever she goes by connecting with other cyclists, completes her journey in the allotted time, and begins her new life as a celebrity journalist championing women's independence. Kirkfield's text picks up on attention-grabbing details, such as the single pair of underwear that is the only thing in Annie's pocket as she begins her ride, and keeps the story focused with a repeated chorus of "Pedal. Balance. Steer!" That refrain is often worked into the illustrations, the words winding beside Annie's bicycle in Jay's characteristic flat oil paintings with a crackled varnish that adds to the sense of history. Direct quotes are often included in speech bubbles in a cursive text (which can be difficult to decode). Back matter includes an author's note with more information on Kopchovsky, the history of biking and of women riding bikes, a timeline, and an extensive bibliography.

Reviewer: Laura Koenig | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) YA Eighth grader Arnie Yashenko hits a lot of home runs playing for the high school's JV baseball team. Problem is, he's been missing middle-school gym classes to practice at the high school, and now the state has changed the rules: if he doesn't take summer school PE, he won't graduate and can't start high school in the fall. But if he does the class, he'll miss the workouts necessary for pitching for the JV Comets. Besides (and Yash knows he sounds like a "stuck-up jerk" here), he can't mingle with the uncoordinated unfortunates who attend summer school PE. "There's a name around here for the people who end up in that class -- slugs! That's why they call it Slugfest!" Chapters alternate between Yash and other reluctant summer school attendees, including Cleo Marchand, who's there because of incompletes for missed time due to a skiing accident. (The others' first-person narratives save readers from an overload of Yash's self-absorption.) Star athlete and local legend Yash starts the season playing tag; duck, duck, goose; and musical chairs and, by the end of the term, is part of a team he loves. The team's musical-chairs experience even serves them well in a city-wide seven-on-seven flag football tournament. Yash learns the value of friendship and teamwork in this big-hearted novel.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Jennifer K. Mann. Manley offers a child's point of view of a day-long hike up a mountain (identified in the back matter as the South Sister in Oregon's Cascade Mountain Range). Each stage of the hike is described in a rich, telegraphic three-line haiku poem, beginning with a blazing sunrise. Readers follow along as the child swats away mosquitoes, passes a rushing stream, trudges through the snow, munches trail mix, reaches the summit, and heads back down and to the campsite for bedtime: "trying to sleep -- / what mountain will I climb / next?" The economy of words in the haiku form fits the way a child might think and particularly seems to suit the exercise of describing a demanding hike while actually in the midst of one. Mann's mixed-media illustrations work perfectly in tandem with the haiku narration, alternating perspectives -- featuring the landscape and the views, or the child's close observations, or the family on the move. Her cartoonlike characters pop against the natural setting, especially the child protagonist in an orange hoodie and green pants. Back matter includes information about the history and geology of the region, hiking tips, a visual index, a list of resources, and a note about haiku form, which debunks the idea that English-language haiku must follow a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gael Abary. "31If you want to ride a horse," the narrator assures the reader, "all you have to do is close your eyes." There follows a tour (in the imagination) of horses and horse ownership -- what color will your horse be, with what markings? How will you care for your horse, grooming it and cleaning its stall? How will you tack up your horse, and what gaits will you experience after you mount it? Although the text covers many of the topics explored in introductory horse books, the dreamlike nature of this gentle, occasionally rhyming picture book allows expansion into related areas: "Is your heart a wild horse, too? A secret: the scent of a barn is a balm. It will calm that galloping muscle inside you, I promise." The speckled mixed-media illustrations in muted tones of rose, peach, and champagne extend the imaginative atmosphere, seeming to float in space and transporting the reader, by book's end, to a deserted beach where horse and rider can run in untrammeled freedom. Back matter goes into greater depth on the subjects of horse colorings and markings, styles of riding, behavior, and equipment, and concludes with personal notes from the horse-loving author and illustrator. "Heels down, eyes up, smile. Yes, beam. You are sitting atop a dream."

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Stef Murphy. Freya and her mum arrive at a countryside log cabin suffused in gloomy blue with snow falling in the darkness. Mum tells her that "Dad loved this old place...He used to say it was magical," but Freya feels that the cabin is cold and empty with "just the two of them." Freya ventures outside with her sled and encounters, and follows, a friendly white fox. As the fox prances, "coloured sparks flew up from the snow." The fox pulls Freya on the sled, "sending frosty fires spiralling into the starlit sky" before it vanishes. Murphy's mixed-media illustrations show the night sky exuberantly shot through with the yellows, pinks, and whites of the northern lights, thin lines delicately and realistically outlining such natural elements as pine trees. Freya returns to the cabin, and the blues now look dazzling as she and Mum watch the sky and then sit together in a cozy nook with colorful touches such as stars hung over the window seat. Over the inviting fire is a picture of the family, including Freya's dad, as mother and daughter cuddle together over a photo album. A brief author's note reveals the story's connection to the Saami myth from Finnish Lapland of fire foxes creating the northern lights. This tender story combines mythology with an empathetic and spare narrative of loss and remembrance.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Susan the duck orders a pair of roller skates that turn out to be two sizes too big and bemoans her bad luck. That's when a wolf shows up at the door: "You have won this fabulous pot! Perfect for making soup!" Susan feels lucky, but then a light bulb blows. Soon enough, the doorbell rings again, and there's the wolf with a surprise pile of onions. Susan keeps having small misfortunes and receiving more soup-based prizes, oblivious to the wolf's toothy smile and vaguely creepy jacket and bow tie. The illustrations are in Pizzoli's trademark thick line and limited palette -- here a pleasing mix of salmon, mint, brown, and gold. Strong composition guides readers through the story, while funny details in the background (like a box of "Cheezee Quackers" on the counter and a bug who serves as a behind-the-scenes helper throughout) will pop on inevitable repeat readings. Susan's petty annoyances prove fortuitous when the wolf ultimately tries to shove her into the soup pot but slips on one of her lost marbles, setting off a Rube Goldberg–like series of mishaps that ends with the wolf rolling away on one of the roller skates with his head stuck in a pickle jar and being chased by hornets. This amusing, clever take on familiar tropes will be a favorite in storytimes and homes.

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) YA Fourteen-year-old Harriet is convinced she's responsible for her older brother Tunde's tragic death and wishes more than anything that she could take back the cruel words she spoke to him that fateful morning. Others' efforts to surround Harriet with community (her mother transfers her to her cousin Nikka's school) and to look out for her (Tunde's friend Luke promised to) prove less than helpful. Harriet's solace is swimming, but that small joy is shattered when she begins to see her brother's face in the pool and is pulled underwater by an unknown force. New classmate Alisia seems to be an ally, but there's something strange about her. In an attempt to discover the truth, Nikka and Luke join Harriet in an underground journey into a fantasy world. As the line between what's real and what isn't begins to blur in Harriet's mind, she dreams of a new world for herself -- one where she is forgiven. In this moving work, Rhuday-Perkovich has created characters whose internal struggles are palpable and an intriguing narrative with both tension and introspection that delves into themes of guilt, redemption, and the possibility of second chances.

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Diana Sudyka. The day Angela is born, the glacier Snaefellsjokull (a real Icelandic landmark) appears from behind a cloudy cover. Later, her father helps her learn the glacier's name as they hike to the peak: "Snae (left foot) fells (right foot) jo (left foot) kull (right foot)." Angela looks at, listens to, and speaks to the glacier, and bares her hands to feel its icy surface as she shares her emotions (fears such as falling off her bike; missing her dad when he's at work). Sudyka's contrasting, often translucent watercolors balance the cool swaths of blues and greens across the face of the glacier with lines etched across its frozen surface. Over time, Angela's days fill up with "school, friends, violin, soccer, bike rides, homework." But something isn't quite right, and her father asks if she's been to Snaefellsjokull lately. Scott's narrative uncovers the healing, centering power of nature and reciprocity of care between humankind and the natural world. Though the story does not outwardly call for environmental conservation, a note from interdisciplinary artist-researcher Angela Rawlings (Scott's friend and the book's inspiration) discusses the detrimental impact of climate change on Snaefellsjokull.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) YA Illustrated by Karen De la Vega & Marcus Williams. Former NHL player Aliu made headlines in 2020 when he shared stories of the racism and hazing he faced as a person of color in professional hockey. The son of a Nigerian father and Ukrainian mother, Aliu was born in Nigeria and spent his early years in Russia before his family immigrated to Canada and he discovered his love for hockey. His adoration of the sport was tested by persistent and devastating racism throughout his adolescence and beyond. This graphic memoir follows him from childhood through his exit from the NHL and to the formation of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, which makes hockey accessible to "children from diverse communities ­underrepresented in the sport." The narrative is notable for its emotional clarity and the strength with which the concise text carries both Aliu's pain and his resolve. Dynamic comic-panel art serves the story with expressiveness of motion and feeling. Grabbing readers at the intersection of sports and social justice, this is a welcome addition to the graphic-memoir genre.

Reviewer: Anne St. John | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(1) YA Illustrated by Aaron Bagley. Fantasy-loving Lucy and her perfectionist older sister, Gigi, have been fighting ever since their dad's passing. When Gigi, a popular eighth grader, trips Lucy in the lunchroom on her first day of middle school, Lucy can't take it anymore: she publicly challenges Gigi, "the best fencer in school," to a duel. (Gigi: "A...duel?!...Fencers don't have duels--we have bouts.") The two are called to the principal's office for a meeting alongside their grief-stricken, overworked mom. Though a bout is forbidden, the sisters plan one anyway to be held during upcoming fencing team tryouts. As the two prepare to compete, they begin to process and address (with friends, their mother, and each other) some of the ways that their father's death has affected them. A satisfying, hopeful conclusion includes a heartfelt note from the creators explaining the graphic novel's real-life inspirations. Aaron Bagley's coarse line and hand-lettering-based font give the illustrations a natural, raw feel. The beginning of each chapter resembles a page from a fencing guide, connecting to the well-paced plot and scaffolding readers' understanding. Color-coded inset boxes showcasing the siblings' personal thoughts and vulnerabilities add further depth to their characters; tender blue-hued flashback scenes allow the girls' father and his memory to be ever-present. A down-to-earth and emotional family story.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023