(2) YA From the opening chapter, Springstubb (Looking for True, rev. 11/22) creates a sense of unease by deftly foreshadowing an impending disaster. And so it happens: the Prices’ home burns to the ground. During the fire, seventh grader Amber is trapped in the attic; her older brother, Gage, heroically rescues her, and although the Prices lose their house and their possessions, they survive. Sort of. Amber, her mother, and younger sister move in with Amber’s maternal aunt while Gage and their father rent an apartment, making Amber realize that her parents’ fighting may well be leading to divorce. Amber, who considers herself as nondescript and amorphous as an amoeba, returns to school, suddenly the center of attention and the darling of the popular kids, putting her sometimes at odds with her previous besties but allowing her longtime crush to notice her. To complicate matters, her classmates instigate a fundraiser, the Price of Kindness, to help the family, a gesture her proud father wants to reject. And Gage becomes more and more withdrawn and noncommunicative. Short chapters allow readers to contemplate each action and reaction as information surfaces about the cause of the fire. Amber struggles with obligations to the family, relationships with friends and classmates, and her own sense of self. From middle-school angst to big moral questions, this fast-moving story covers much territory without crowding the narrative.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025

(2) 4-6 Readers willing to suspend an absolute ocean of disbelief will find an original, outlandish romp of a tale. Newborn Esmeralda is left in the stacks of the Huffington (IN) Public Library and kept secret by four librarians who all long to be mothers. The women take turns staying overnight in the library as they raise the girl together, somehow avoiding detection for her entire childhood. Fast-forward to when Essie, now eleven, is given a bit more freedom to explore the wider world, venturing outside the library's walls for the first time. One day, she meets a boy named G.E. who Essie becomes convinced is in fact her twin brother and also in a parallel situation to hers -- that he's being raised by four fathers, men who work in a nearby department store. As it turns out, Essie is mistaken -- but not entirely so. The novel's setup allows Horvath plenty of opportunities for commentary on reading and literature ("A good book or play was a good book or play whether it was Louis the Fish or Henry V"), libraries, family, and even the perils of revolving doors. Horvath takes as much care with the characterizations of the four librarians as she does with Essie's, and as always her storytelling abilities are top-notch.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) 4-6 Mann sets this amiable story in 1930s Vinegar Hill, "a thriving African American business and residential community" outside Charlottesville, Virginia. Allie Lewis wants the best for her mama and thinks she needs a husband to help with financial worries and repairs. With her best friend, Jewel, she launches her "Man-for-Mama Plan." Allie knows once her top choice, Mr. Johnson, tries her mama's chicken and dumplings, a proposal is sure to follow. Unfortunately, Jewel moves away, leaving Allie to start fifth grade without her friend and someone to calm her attitude (her "inside heat") around archrival and "NOT-friend" Gwen Turner. What's more, her mother is proving to be uncooperative with Allie's plans, and, worst of all, band teacher -- and Gwen's uncle! -- Mr. Coles has expressed interest in Mama. The protagonist's attempts to get the plan back on track have unexpected results, reminding her that maybe not having a plan can work out just as well. Allie is a likable character, and her humorous first-person narration, including detailed descriptions of her community, reflects her intense emotional highs and lows. Back matter includes an author's note about the history of Vinegar Hill, lists of related books and films, and a link to a recipe for chicken and dumplings.

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

(2) 4-6 Seventh graders Sonnet and Zeke are neighbors who hardly know each other; even the few well-intended interactions they have dissolve into misunderstanding. Both are lonely and struggle with complicated situations at home. Sonnet and her lively little sister, Villanelle, have just moved to town with their mom to live with their grandfather after their grandmother's death. Sonnet spends considerable energy trying to keep everyone from feeling the sadness permeating their home. Meanwhile, after years of homeschooling with his zealous, overbearing father, Zeke has started public school, where he feels self-conscious about his lack of a cellphone, television, or video game console. Told in third person with alternating perspectives, the story allows readers to see how Sonnet and Zeke feel inside compared with the effect their words and actions have. Sonnet's mother is a poet, and interspersed throughout are contextual poems from the perspective of the last apple tree on Sonnet's grandfather's property. Trees, and this tree in particular, play a pivotal role in the past, present, and future of the characters and their emotional well-being. Each complex and well-meaning character suffers personal challenges and tragedies on their own, which leads to confusion, dishonesty, and further isolation. As tensions build, the characters are cornered into finally being true to one another, and they discover understanding, compassion, and release.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) PS Blair offers viewers a fantastical nighttime adventure. Because "Watson wasn't sleepy," he worries about what might be hiding under the bed or in his closet. Suddenly, a beam of light appears from beneath his covers, and when he crawls underneath he finds himself in a tent filled with stars. The stars illuminate a path, which Watson follows into a forest. "And since Watson wasn't sleepy," he joins a band of strange creatures (after being reassured that they wouldn't harm "someone brought to them by the stars") traveling along the path. Small inset images of the boy slowly dozing off belie the refrain that compels each page-turn ("And since Watson wasn't sleepy") until the "very, very sleepy" conclusion. Digitally colored pen-and-ink illustrations in subdued nighttime hues follow all the narrative twists and turns; the crosshatched illustrations of imaginative creature-filled escapades recall classic Sendak. Equal parts magical and soothing, the story could serve as a wonder-filled read-aloud or a calming bedtime tale.

Reviewer: Grace McKinney | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) K-3 Violet spots a pack of eighty-four "brand-new, never-used, perfect crayons" in a store and is ecstatic when (after some wheeling and dealing) they become hers. She imagines all of the wonderful, colorful things she can draw, but soon realizes that she can't bring herself to use the crayons. Little sister Marigold questions why; Violet responds, "They are too pretty. I don't want to ruin them...I think I'll save them for another day." But that day doesn't come, and Violet's mood declines--especially once Marigold decides to help herself to their use. Thankfully, the sisters are able to come to an understanding, "and together, they wore down the perfectly pointed tips of eighty-four brand-new, never-used, perfect crayons." The illustrations are drawn digitally, with the palette sometimes reflecting Violet's emotions (e.g., when she first encounters the crayons, gray backgrounds give way to more varied colors). Textured, crayon-like strokes create a colorful, relatable world. The text uses accessible language and conveys its message about embracing the imperfect without being overly didactic. This story makes a useful social-emotional learning resource and will resonate with anyone hesitant to change or with tendencies toward perfectionism.

Reviewer: Sara Danver | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) 4-6 Now happily settled after the drama of 7Pine Island Home (rev. 9/20), orphaned sisters Fiona, Marlin, Natasha, and Charlie face new challenges when their former guardian, Mrs. Weatherspoon, announces that she is arriving from Australia for a prolonged visit--and unexpectedly shows up with a companion. Fiona, now fifteen, is furious that the nasty, intrusive, and demanding Jo seems to be ruining her family; she finds some solace in her journal, which becomes a friend, along with the teacher who responds to her entries. Meanwhile, Marlin is struggling with her outcast status at school and the lack of publisher interest in her cookbook, Thirty Meals a Twelve-Year-Old Could Make and [cf4]Did[cf3]!; Natasha turns out to be a prodigy on the violin but just wants to commune with the natural world; and youngest sibling Charlie desperately wants a dog. True to form, Horvath packs this sequel (which takes readers from the beginning of the school year through Christmas) with relatable incident, vivid dialogue, humor, and moments of profound reflection on the human condition.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(2) YA Based on family history, Leavitt's coming-of-age story is set in an 1890s Mormon settler community in Southern Alberta, Canada, at the eastern edges of the Rockies, and focuses on seventeen-year-old Rebecca. In an opening both startling and humorous, Leavitt begins: "Rebecca had heard her father and others call this land God's country often enough that she wasn't as surprised as she might have been to come upon him... He was dressed in his work clothes, but you knew God when you saw him." It's fitting that many of Rebecca's consequent ups-and-downs are driven by the desire to own the very piece of "God's country" that she finds so beautiful--an ­outlandish ambition for a woman. With her mother's support, she determines to earn the exorbitant $480 it will cost to buy the quarter section; in the meantime, her close-knit family and community offer rich, unpredictable ground for her efforts to learn and live with integrity--and without complaining. Ventures into midwifery and nursing with her mother; ­calamities of weather, domestic violence, and a devastating flu; ­competition for romance and talk of women's suffrage: all are fodder for Rebecca's articulate, funny ­self-examination and deepening growth. Always sensitive to the ­beauties of earth and sky, Rebecca longs for a return of the elk and buffalo, part of the author's tacit acknowledgment of local Indigenous peoples and the damage wrought by white ­expansion. Leavitt's writing is suffused with the beauty of the earth and sky.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(1) 4-6 Spectacular cartooning, meticulous world-building, and an arresting post-apocalyptic premise form the foundation of this exceptional graphic novel. Set in the summer of 2101, the story follows ten-year-old Elvie and her caretaker, Flora, as they track migrating monarch butterflies south along the western seaboard. Such a journey has become treacherous ever since the 2049 shift in the sun's radiation levels, leading to the worldwide extinction of nearly all mammals. A small number of humans survived underground, able to inhabit the surface only at night; however, Flora has developed a temporary medication for "sun sickness" using scales from monarch wings. The pair's quest to reunite Elvie with her parents in Mexico, despite earthquakes, crumbling infrastructure, and double-crossing strangers, leads to a hard-earned, hopeful ending. Case's ink and watercolor illustrations are lush, dynamic, and impressively consistent from panel to panel, allowing readers to immerse themselves in a believable near-future of solar-powered cars and automated roadside construction machinery. Hand-lettered sound effects are skillfully integrated into nearly every scene, whether a massive tsunami ("WHHHHHHHHH") or slurps of spaghetti ("SPTTTTTTTHHH"). Practical facts (such as how to properly hang a hammock or survive a snake bite) are generously peppered across the narrative, injecting a continual dose of realism.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(2) K-3 Hare's (Field Trip to the Moon, rev. 9/19; Field Trip to the Ocean Deep, rev. 9/20) third wordless excursion brings us to a volcanically active island. Once the lava suit–clad kids and their teacher land, they waste no time getting right to exploring the tumultuous topography; however, one student seems more interested in collecting flowers than examining the terrain. When a breeze scatters the student's floral collection down into the volcano's crater, an ill-advised attempt at retrieval leaves the child stranded at the bottom--reinforced visually by a series of tall, narrow panels. A thrilling sequence follows, featuring a monstrous hand reaching toward the unsuspecting child...thankfully revealed (upon the page-turn) to belong to a charming lava monster with its family. In an action movie–level rescue, the teacher rappels from a helicopter to scoop up the missing student. The adventure stays in constant motion, propelled by brisk pacing and varied panel layouts. Hare's acrylic illustrations are textural and dynamic yet maintain a cartoonlike quality, thanks to solid character outlines and expressive body language. Fans of this robust, whimsical world of student-adventurers can only wonder--where to next?

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(1) 4-6 This is a neatly constructed story of two parallel characters. Gladys is a small, bright, intense eleven-year-old with a sensitive nature and quirky clothing sense. Her mom runs an in-home daycare. Jude, also eleven, is big for his age, the son of a single mother and the frequent caregiver for his little brother. Their stories are told in alternating chapters (in different typefaces) and come together when each encounters True, a neglected dog in the neighborhood. True's rescue forms the core of the action. Springstubb (The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe, rev. 9/21) does a masterly job of creating two distinct voices and sustaining our interest in the two main characters equally. A supporting cast of flawed adults and hilarious preschoolers rounds out the picture. The setting--a town formerly prosperous but now on the skids, where folks are just scraping by, with subtle reference to the opioid crisis and the collapse of the manufacturing economy--is one that is underrepresented in contemporary middle-grade fiction, and it mitigates against the potential soppiness of a dog-rescue story. The writing is fresh, sharp, and authentic: "This could be trouble, said his brain. Open the door, said whatever the opposite of a brain was." It's Because of Winn-Dixie (rev. 7/00) for a new generation.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) 4-6 When his (widowed) mother, a professor of rhetoric, has a stroke and can no longer speak, social misfit ­twelve-year-old William Wyatt Orser, nicknamed Worser, feels "utterly alone. Cold. Helpless." Obsessed with words, the boy carries in his backpack a loose-leaf binder he refers to as his Masterwork, which contains 321 pages of lists of words and observations and questions about how they work. ("If ­terrific can mean the opposite of terrible, why isn’t horrific the opposite of horrible?") But all that doesn't mean he is good at actually using words. He is no Cyrano with the girl he has a crush on, and he is impatient, even caustic, with the aunt who is trying to take care of him and his mother. But Ziegler ably delineates how words help Worser to find a place in the world and evolve from Worser into "Worder," as he and his nerdy-wordy Lit Club friends carve out a refuge for themselves at a local bookstore. If Worser is not especially ­likable at first, he and his new friends--including the brusque bookshop owner--find ways to grow and be there for one another.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) PS "Girls and boys come out to play, / The moon doth shine as bright as day. / Leave your supper, / Leave your sleep, / And come with your playfellows into the street." Pearson's single-rhyme Mother Goose opens on a contemporary nighttime scene of a diverse neighborhood of children getting ready for bed. Then Mother Goose appears and issues the titular invitation. The children frolic briefly in the street, after which Mother Goose leads them "up the ladder and down the wall"--in this rendition, a demarcation, as the setting now changes to a more pastoral traditional fairy-tale world inhabited by such nursery-rhyme characters as Humpty Dumpty (and all the king's men), the dish and the spoon, and Little Boy Blue. (The players are helpfully identified on the CIP page and on endpapers containing eight additional rhymes.) A moment of humor arrives when Mother Goose realizes that just one halfpenny roll will not feed them all, as the rhyme claims, and everyone pitches in to make more "pudding." Sprightly watercolor illustrations in a mix of double-page spreads and vignettes pace the action perfectly; the many details will keep and hold youngsters' attentions--a small child who hangs back ("Come with a good will...or not at all"); Jack and Jill's pail being used to milk the cow to make the pudding. In the end, with full bellies and having been read a story (from a Mother Goose book, natch), the now-yawning children head home for bed, and Mother Goose flies off into the night. "Good night. Sweet dreams."

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(1) YA Illustrated by Rebecca Mock. In this third graphic novel collaboration between Larson and Mock (Compass South, rev. 7/16; Knife's Edge), what begins as a twentieth-century family drama quickly uncoils into a much more sinister--and spellbinding--modern fairy tale. Vonceil Taggert is the youngest of five siblings and the most adventuresome of the lot. So when her eldest brother, Elber, returns to Oklahoma after his service in WWI and immediately marries his longtime sweetheart, it's a disappointment to Vonceil, who'd had higher hopes for her favorite sibling. The nuptials also vex the stylish and enigmatic Greda, a Frenchwoman who claims to be Elber's ex-love and whose bruised pride causes her to curse the Taggert farm's spring to run with only salt water--a death sentence given the current drought. Vonceil pledges to restore their water and, with the help of an unlikely accomplice, discovers secrets about Greda that will affect the Taggert family forever. In Mock's skillful art, each panel glints with sharp, precise color work and expert shadow play, highlighting the cruel, dark side of Larson's world--a satisfying blend of the mythical and the historical that will enthrall graphic-novel lovers.

Reviewer: Niki Marion | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) 4-6 This is a creepy adventure tale, a family story, and a story of an outsider finding his way in "the freak show known as middle school." Igor Watson's father once saw a man do a terrible thing. He reported it to the police, and ever since, the man has been after them, vowing revenge. "Watch for a man with a lizard tattooed on his skin," Igor's father told him years ago, and since then they have been on the run across the country, chased by the Lizard Man and under the care of the "Protectors." They've lived in so many places, in so many new homes, and under so many aliases that narrator Igor doesn't even remember his real name. Now he is twelve, and he wonders about his father being the only one ever to have seen this Lizard Man. Is their predator real, or is his father "crazy," as some people say? This tension drives the gripping tale to a pulse-pounding conclusion. An author's note describes the "bird's nest of memories" that led to this story.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) 4-6 This verse novel is told in first person by one of a pair of sixth-grade best friends, both named Elizabeth. Narrator Betsy makes it clear from the beginning that her friend Lizard is more than a little bossy, as when she decides that Betsy was a "dumb name," eventually settling on Bumble as a better nickname. Betsy is also keenly aware that her brilliant linguist mother dislikes the nickname: "Every time my mom hears Lizard call me Bumble... / I can see her jaw tighten / with all the things she isn't saying." She realizes that her mom wants her to make her own decisions and not defer so often, but Betsy is comfortable in her role: "Lizard has to be the first at everything. / Most kids aren't as good as I am at being second." But friction arises between the two when Betsy wins a role in the school play and forms a new friendship; this eventually leads to a deep rift when Lizard reveals to their lunchmates that Betsy's mother is in the hospital following a suicide attempt. Mills uses poetry effectively to strip the layers away, conveying painful emotions in simple words that pack a punch: "Now Lizard doesn't have me / And I don't have her, / And we're never going / to have each other again." The format allows the titles of the poems to add their own little twists. The topic of a parent's suicide attempt is handled with sensitivity and compassion, and all the emotions ring true.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke

(2) 1-3 After-School Superstars series. Illustrated by Grace Zong. Good-hearted Boogie Bass is in a third-grade sign language camp with friends, including his bestie Nolan, whom Boogie reveres, along with Nixie and Vera from the previous series entries. With one hearing and one Deaf teacher, Boogie and the other campers learn the basics of American Sign Language; briefly study its history; and even get a demonstration of ASL ABC stories from Deaf students at another school. Boogie is a well-rounded character; he is kind and conscientious and learns to not be so tough on himself ("Maybe the point of learning a new language wasn't to be perfect"), not to compare himself to others (especially Nolan), and to accept his own strengths. A lot of time at camp is spent on iconic signs (ones that look like what they represent), which can be typical for children first learning. But the book also captures the non-manual markers necessary for ASL--including facial expressions, at which Boogie excels--and a back-matter note provides more details about the language's complex grammar.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Christine Davenier. Rhyming text in an upbeat, ­singsong-y rhythm winds through soft spot art, cheering on new readers and writers in this two-books-in-one picture book. The effective format celebrates becoming a reader on one side and becoming a writer on the flip side. The two stories meet in the middle with a circle of repeating text--"and readers are writers and writers are readers"--to underline the eternal connectedness of the two. Each side of the book mirrors the other in structure, providing strategies, acknowledging ­challenges, and championing the many ways of being a reader or writer. "Storybooks aren't quite your speed? / So many other things to read! / Labels, / programs, / comic books. / A recipe that you can cook." The gently illustrated vignettes give deeper context to the words and depict many different children in a wide variety of situations, ranging from funny to heartwarming. Each child appears twice in the book, once on each side, creating even more stories to imagine within the main story itself.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully. This thorough and visually evocative picture-book biography tells the story of Kate Walker (1848–1931), who became one of the first women to serve as an offshore lighthouse keeper. An archival Currier & Ives map of New York Harbor on the endpapers sets the historical scene in the late nineteenth century, when Kate emigrates from Germany. A widow with a small child, she begins work as a cook at Fort Hancock, where she meets and marries John Walker and, after his appointment as lighthouse keeper, settles with him on Robbins Reef. The octagonal iron structure stood on a granite foundation surrounded by water; Spires describes the lighthouse as looking, from far off, like a "tiny candle on a birthday cake." When John dies, Kate remains; four years later she becomes the permanent keeper. Giving equal measure to her devotion to John's last words ("Mind the light, Kate"); her isolation; and her bravery (she rescued fifty people during her near thirty-year career), Spires shows Walker as a quiet heroine meeting challenges calmly and efficiently. McCully's hallmark watercolors support this focus, whether depicting the cramped conditions on Robbins Reef, the pattern of life at the lighthouse, Kate braving dangerous weather, and two spectacular seascapes. Appended with an author's note, documentation, and a bibliography.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) 4-6 Loah's widowed mother, Dr. Anastasia Londonderry, a world-renowned ornithologist specializing in birds of the Arctic tundra, is fearless and adventurous, attributes that are the polar opposite of those possessed by her daughter, a shy homebody. Dr. Londonderry's passion takes her to the Arctic for extended periods, and she depends on an elderly pair of siblings, the Rinkers, to take care of Loah and the house--a system that works well until it doesn't. The breakdown comes at the beginning of summer when Dr. Londonderry elects to stay in the Arctic, on her own. Her situation turns precarious; both Rinkers fall ill and are hospitalized; and the house, in a state of neglectful disrepair, is cited for numerous code violations. It's up to Loah to somehow save her mother, support the Rinkers, and deal with threatening visits from an unfriendly housing inspector--a series of challenges not included in her usual skillset. Spurred into action by a new friend who is as bold as Loah is timid, Loah finds the internal strength to meet these external forces. The authentic and compelling narrative sings with avian metaphors as Springstubb plays with language, crafting her story around the concept of an egg--"the most perfect thing in the universe"--an object that initially houses life but in time allows that life to emerge independently.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021