(2) 4-6 Ever since the plague three centuries ago, during which the Prince of Dantessa challenged Lady Death to a game of noctis for the lives of her people, inhabitants of the tiny magical island compete for wealth and standing by taking wagers in the Great Game, the magic system that oversees all games of chance. But when Pia's Gramps loses a final game and is banished, Pia will do whatever it takes to win the money it would take to recall him to play. Her opportunity comes when she is recruited by the Seafoxes into a tournament that carries a hefty prize. Their chief rival is the Krakens, captained by Renzo, once Pia's greatest childhood friend but now her enemy. Can the Seafoxes compete in an arena where the wealthy can afford magical boons that give them considerable advantages -- and can they find a way to break the Great Game so that wealth doesn't automatically equal winning? Befitting a society run by games, some of the magic is silly (one game involves dueling with swordfish; some boons involve being given zebra stripes or invulnerability while standing on one foot), but things become very serious when Lady Death herself appears in order to compete in the tournament. Inventive and unexpected, this creative fantasy will entertain readers while striking deeper notes of honor and teamwork in the face of peril.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) 4-6 Born outside the Mirrorwood, a place full of magic surrounded by an impenetrable thorn thicket (not the only fairy-tale allusion here), protagonist Fable tries to hide her "twist": cursed to have no face of her own, she must steal faces from others. Now pursued by blighthunters (including the determined young Vycorax), Fable flees with her talking cat, Moth, into the Mirrorwood, but Vycorax is able to get through the thorns as well. Fable convinces her that together they can end the blight (including Fable's own twist) by defeating the demon prince at the heart of the Mirrorwood and awakening the true prince. But they learn that they will have to kill the demon prince, using the sharpest tooth of a near-mythical beast called the Withering, and it's all a bit more than Fable has signed on for. The author excels in setting expectations and then subverting them: the Withering offers advice; the demon prince turns out to be nice; a blessing given to the true prince turns out to be a curse. Fable's twist ties in to themes of identity and self-confidence with gratifying neatness as the novel unfolds in unexpected directions through Fable's and Vycorax's ­competing motivations and pushes through multiple complications to a highly ­satisfactory conclusion.

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

(3) 4-6 Orphan Trix, daughter of astronauts, struggles to connect with others in her world. When the Circus Galacticus comes to town, Trix, discovering a place she fits in, blasts off on an intergalactic adventure. Fagan's science-fiction tale, complete with space artifacts, a mysterious masked man, and a bevy of whimsical aliens, also contains family secrets, developing friendships, and lessons in diversity and acceptance.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) 4-6 Prunella aspires to be a wicked bog-witch like the rest of the Bogthistles, but she can't even muster a proper curse. Her grandmother's exasperation with Prunella drives her (and reluctant ally Barnaby) into the magic-wary Uplands, where she discovers her talent lies in helping rather than hexing. Themes of looking beyond differences and making one's own destiny deepen this playful adventure.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA When her father loses his shoemaking business, young Fortunata becomes a charlatan fortuneteller. She tells a prince his future, then must ensure its outcome or lose her father. She uses her wits to help the divination play out, while others, too, work behind the scenes, protecting their own interests. Practical and determined, Fortunata is an immensely likable heroine.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor