(2) YA Miuko is clumsy and loud, two qualities that are deemed unfeminine in the (fantastical, Japanese-coded) society she inhabits. While running an errand outside the protective village gates, she meets a demon spirit who kisses her, causing a blue spot to appear on her foot, a sign that she herself is turning into a demon. Shunned by her father, she sets out with Geiki, a magpie spirit who can shapeshift into a boy, to ask the House of ­December how to reverse the transformation. At the same time, a malevolent spirit, Tujiyazai, who has stolen the body of a prince, wants Miuko to embrace her demon nature and rule the world with him. As the action progresses, Miuko's demon strength and fury make her unapologetic about championing other girls (as well as trans and nonbinary people) caught in restrictive gender roles. Amid the story's abundance of spirits and gods inspired by Japanese folklore, cheerful, thieving Geiki supplies a leavening presence, providing Miuko with a solid friend to rely on. What starts out as a relatively standard quest fantasy undergoes a number of unexpected and inventive plot evolutions (time travel?!) that force Miuko to make some high-stakes choices before landing her, effortlessly, in the emotionally gratifying conclusion.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) YA Chee follows up her successful fantasy trilogy (The Reader and sequels) with this very different work of historical fiction, drawing on her personal family and cultural history for a story of World War II. Beginning in March 1942, three months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, fourteen young people--all but one from San Francisco's Japantown--chronicle, in interlinked stories, their lives over the course of the next three years. Their first-person, present-tense narratives depict a multiplicity of thoughts, feelings, and experiences, particularly regarding the unjust treatment of Japanese American citizens before, during, and after incarceration in internment camps. The result is slightly disorienting as characters come and go, but the overall effect is nuanced and kaleidoscopic. Gaman is a Japanese word for endurance, a dignified response to adversity; it's a characteristic most of these young adults exhibit in one form or another: "The ability to hold your pain and bitterness inside you and not let them destroy you. To make something beautiful through your anger, or with your anger, and neither erase it nor let it define you. To suffer. And to rage. And to persevere." Various graphic elements connect the story to its historical period (drawings, photographs, maps, postcards, telegrams, and newspaper articles), while the author's note grounds it in Chee's extensive research and family experience.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(3) YA The Reader series. In this trilogy-ender, Sefia, Archer, and their allies fight to avert a prophecy, thereby ending war and saving Archer's life--but the prophetic Book may itself be working against them. The many interwoven story lines all involve high-stakes action, impossible choices, love, loss, and magic; Chee brings them to a heartwrenching but satisfying close with characteristically vivid world-building, a diverse cast of characters, and intriguing metafictional elements.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA The Reader series. After Sefia and Archer (The Reader) rescue a group of enslaved boys, they vow to hunt down the remaining impressor gangs and free their captives, too. Excerpts from Sefia's prophetic book and several seemingly unconnected subplots are interspersed; the capable heroine, diverse cast of characters, and fully realized fantasy setting will keep readers engaged as elements slowly come together for a suspenseful, poignant climax.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA The Reader series. Sefia, in possession of a strange object called a "book," learns that writing and reading are the keys to powerful magic. Interspersed and eventually converging with Sefia's story are episodic tales of Captain Reed and his pirate crew. This complex series-opener introduces a richly built fantasy world and a courageous female protagonist. A coded message to readers and visual effects amplify the metafictional elements.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher