(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. Dress-loving engineer Ellie navigates prescriptive gender roles and interpersonal misunderstandings in this middle-grade STEAM-championing series. Ellie prepares a doghouse for best friend Kit's birthday in the opener; in Next, Ellie and friends help an elderly neighbor woman, who gives boy Toby all the credit for Ellie's projects. Sufficient action and tension, enjoyable inventions, and appealing characters balance the stories' messaging. Illustrations include engineering sketches. Review covers these titles: Ellie, Engineer and Ellie, Engineer: The Next Level.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. Dress-loving engineer Ellie navigates prescriptive gender roles and interpersonal misunderstandings in this middle-grade STEAM-championing series. Ellie prepares a doghouse for best friend Kit's birthday in the opener; in Next, Ellie and friends help an elderly neighbor woman, who gives boy Toby all the credit for Ellie's projects. Sufficient action and tension, enjoyable inventions, and appealing characters balance the stories' messaging. Illustrations include engineering sketches. Review covers these titles: Ellie, Engineer and Ellie, Engineer: The Next Level.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Maggie Stiefvater. Pip and friends visit Port Candor, where Pip's ability to talk to magical animals is put to use with sea-dwellers including Spinnerseals, Slimekrakens, and, helpfully, a misunderstood sea monster. As usual for this appealing middle-grade series (Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures and others), there's plenty of clever humor stemming from the creatures' quirks, particularly on the black-and-white-illustrated pages from Pip's favorite book, Jeffrey Higgleston's Guide to Magical Creatures.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Maggie Stiefvater. Pip, who can understand magical creatures, is stuck caring for Regent Maximus, an unimpressive unicorn, at the Triple Trident show. To make matters worse, unicorn tails start disappearing. Fans of Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures will find the same appealing characters (human and otherwise) and the same creative silliness, complete with black-and-white field-guide drawings from the imaginary animal kingdom.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Twelve-year-old heavyset hero Hale (The Doublecross) and his motley team of fellow spies are determined to destroy the criminal Sub Rosa Society and find Hale's still-missing parents. To do that, they decide to strike at SRS's finances, hidden in a moving Swiss bank account. This sequel is packed with goodhearted fun and zany action, its protagonist full of heart and spirit.

Reviewer: Grace Enriquez

(3) 4-6 "I am slow and fat, and graceful as a potato." Twelve-year-old Hale has the brains, talent, and credentials (super-spy parents) to become a junior agent...but not the physique. When his parents disappear during a mission, he musters his real skills--and help from his exuberant little sister and a friend--to save the day. A thriller full of plot twists, humor, and heart.

Reviewer: Grace Enriquez

(2) 4-6 After a unicorn mishap at school, aspiring researcher Pip Bartlett, nine, is sent to her aunt's to help run the family's veterinary clinic. When the town is infested with combustible Fuzzles, Pip discovers the source of the problem and a solution to boot. The fast-paced prose is lively, witty, and gripping. Black-and-white textured illustrations support world- and character-building alike.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2015

(4) YA Pearce sets Andersen's "The Snow Queen" in her contemporary world of werewolves (Sisters Red; Sweetly; Fathomless). When Ginny's love Kai disappears with the mysterious Mora, Ginny chases after him, encountering a werewolf hunter, a beauty queen, gypsies, and more. The intricate plot can be hard to follow, and Ginny is a rather weak heroine. Still, devotees of Pearce's fairy-tale retellings will be satisfied.

Reviewer: Janet Daniels

(4) YA Before her mother's death, Shelby promised her she'd "live without restraint" and listen to her father. Shelby's father later insists his non-religious daughter attend a church-sponsored chastity ball, and she must puzzle out how to keep the two promises. Shelby's struggle to please both parents is authentic, but her haphazard attempts to have sex seem out of character and ultimately undercut the novel's emotional impact.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(4) YA Twelve years after her twin sister disappeared, Gretchen and brother Ansel arrive in Live Oak, South Carolina, where they befriend Samuel, an outcast, and Sophia, a candymaker. A witch and werewolves are targeting teen girls, and it's up to Gretchen to uncover the truth before she becomes the next victim. Gratuitous insertion of werewolves aside, this "Hansel and Gretel" reimagining is intriguing.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(2) YA Attacked by a Fenris (werewolf) as children, Scarlett and Rosie, now teenagers, don red capes and hunt the creatures. For Scarlett, killing Fenris is her whole life; Rosie is torn between devotion to her sister and desire for a different existence. This modern, urban "Little Red Riding Hood" interpretation, told from the sisters' alternating perspectives, includes plenty of violence, action, and plot twists.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2010

(4) YA When Viola wishes to stop feeling invisible at school, she (unintentionally) summons Jinn, a genie. Uncomfortable with attaining friends through magic, Viola hesitates to make her three wishes, but she eventually, accidentally, wishes to belong. She also falls for Jinn, and the story alternates perspectives between the two. Though the voices aren't different enough, there's some witty dialogue in this unconventional love story.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor