(4) YA The conflict between humans and intelligent sea creatures called Alphas reaches its climax in this trilogy-closer (Undertow; Raging Sea). Half-mermaid Lyric, now an accused terrorist, tries to exonerate herself in the human world while preparing to defend it from a new monster threat. Lyric is a determined, compelling heroine, but the book sometimes gets lost in its own mythology as its world expands.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) YA After Coney Island was ravaged by sea creatures (Undertow), half-mermaid Lyric, fleeing human authorities, searches for the facility where her parents are imprisoned--and then must escape from it herself. Moral questions surrounding how enemies are defined and fought deepen the world-building, but this middle volume spends more time resolving past conflicts and setting up new ones than developing its own arc.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) YA Lyric Walker has a secret: she's half-mermaid. When her Coney Island community is inundated with thousands of sentient sea creatures and six young Alphas integrate her high school, the town turns into a war zone. Lyric desperately tries to hide her nature--but falls for Alpha prince Fathom. The premise strains credulity, but the suspense is well sustained and Lyric is appealingly tough.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Ethen Beavers. When the president's daughter is kidnapped by the villainous Miss Information, the NERDS--tweenage secret agents whose nerdy weaknesses have been transformed into superpowers--take the case, leading to time-travel one-upmanship. The winkingly cheesy jokes, escalating action, and comics-style illustrations make for a rollicking read, but this installment's humor sometimes crosses the line from self-deprecating to mean-spirited, a tonal misstep.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(3) 4-6 Buckley's recap of all things Sisters Grimm resembles a scrapbook--with cheeky comments scribbled throughout by prankster Puck. "Historical info," including a family tree and timeline, is followed by profiles of modern-day Grimms, their friends, and their foes. Buckley includes snippets about real-life fairy-tale writers, but the real fun is in his Everafter-related "documents," such as a flyer for Snow White's self-defense class.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Ethen Beavers. Hyperactive Julio must take over leadership of the titular band of losers-turned-superheroes when he alone proves immune to a rapidly spreading supervillain virus. The book's madcap energy and slapstick humor are a perfect fit for this entry's comic antagonist, and series fans will be equally taken with Julio's development as a hero and the wealth of nerdtastic details.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Santat. Kel Gilligan, intrepid stunt kid, shows off some daring feats: eating broccoli, using the potty, and getting dressed (solo!). Astonished asides ("Without a net? / He's crazy!") from onlookers (his family) help make this hero's depiction, laced with action-packed graphic illustrations, utterly clever. The clear joke--that there's greatness in a child successfully completing everyday tasks--will resonate with independence-loving children.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Peter Ferguson. The final installment in the Grimm sisters' adventures finds Daphne forming a coven of witches and Sabrina marshaling a ragtag band of Everafters to defeat Mirror and his Scarlet Hand gang. Though the plot is unwieldy, this book (like the others) shines when it's manipulating familiar fairy tales, with Snow White and her mother getting the treatment here.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Ethen Beavers. Criminal mastermind Simon has recruited a new villain to join his team. Her name is Gerdie (code name: Mathlete), and she's invented a machine she can use to steal her way through alternate realities. It's up to Matilda (a.k.a. Wheezer) and company to save the day in this over-the-top spy story that's sure to appeal to series fans.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Ethen Beavers. The second adventure of the National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society focuses on superspy Duncan "Gluestick" Dewey. When rogue NERD Simon, armed with a technology-controlling ray gun, neutralizes Gluestick's powers, he must dig deep to find the hero he can be without superpowers. This outlandishly humorous undertaking is enhanced by black-and-white illustrations and secret codes for readers to break.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Peter Ferguson. Hot on the heels of Mirror (the criminal mastermind who kidnapped their brother), Sabrina and Daphne soon discover that they're trapped in the Book of Everafter, cast as characters in The Wizard of Oz and other "histories." The story's pacing isn't always even, but the Grimm sisters' adventures--and revisions of one tale after another--will entertain fractured-fairy-tale fans.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Peter Ferguson. Sabrina and Daphne Grimm face family problems (the sleeping spell over the girls' parents has been broken, but now they're quarreling nonstop), a war with the Scarlet Hand (whose members include Pinocchio and the Queen of Hearts), and a friend's betrayal (the Master is revealed!). Though the pace is somewhat draggy, fans will eat up the latest goings-on at Ferryport Landing.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Ethen Beavers. When football player Jackson's popularity is torpedoed by his new braces, he goes into Harriet-the-Spy mode and first uncovers, then joins, a team of super-nerdy fifth-grade secret agents. The action is high-wire, gleeful, and full of gadgetry and nerd-power moments, but the main character's bullying past and dismissive attitude toward his teammates make him difficult to root for.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Peter Ferguson. While investigating a series of thefts, detectives-in-training Sabrina and Daphne Grimm run into dragons, their great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Wilhelm, and their future selves. These strange encounters, the girls discover, are the result of time holes that will soon devour Ferryport Landing. Buckley's less-than-fresh sci-fi twist detracts from his more compelling fractured fairy-tale approach.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Peter Ferguson. "Everafters" (fairy-tale characters) are flesh and blood--a fact Sabrina and Daphne Grimm know all too well, as they rush to Manhattan to seek help for the ailing trickster Puck. But when Puck's father, Oberon, is murdered, eleven-year-old Sabrina isn't so sure she wants her destiny linked to the Everafters anymore. Questions about identity and responsibility add nuance to this fast-paced mystery.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger