(4) K-3 Illustrated by Boris Kulikov. A how-to manual for finding an elephant begins with a little boy's instructions to pack your binoculars, blanket, and flute, and moves on into an imaginary jungle populated with a variety of animals. Although the search seems fruitless, there's an elephant cleverly hidden in every picture. The story drags a bit toward the end, but Kulikov's illustrations are a visual feast for keen observers.

Reviewer: Janet Dawson

(3) 4-6 Eleven-year-old Shirley Burns has trouble asserting herself and her opinions. Her overprotective single mother keeps a tight rein on her in their 1961 Queens neighborhood, even withholding the information that her absent father has died. An accusation from a teacher leads Shirley to take small steps toward independence. Without fanfare, Best carefully develops a realistic character in whom to believe.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Christine Davenier. Emma is dying to go to the circus, but her farming family is too busy. Then a unicycling bear appears, followed the next day by two horn-playing seals, then three juggling monkeys, and on until the whole circus arrives and performs. Autumnal golds and reds create a cheerful setting for the buoyant but nostalgic story.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(2) 4-6 The summer Claire turns eleven, her widowed father has remarried, his wife is pregnant, and their lake house has been unceremoniously cleaned of her long-deceased mother's things. While thirteen-year-old sister Abi is preoccupied with first romance, Claire is rattled. Narratively connected poems from each girl's perspective--and, intermittently, from the lake itself--paint an intimate portrait of quiet family tumult.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2017

(3) 4-6 Four Points series. Illustrated by Rebecca Mock. Twelve-year-old twins Alex and Cleo (Compass South) continue to search for their fabled family treasure. Tensions grow between the siblings, but they must work together to survive pirates and a shipwreck. This second volume of the nineteenth-century-set graphic-novel series travels from San Francisco to the Marshall Islands, extending the diverse cast and again examining issues of gender, race, and class amid high-seas adventure.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Steven Salerno. A pirate family takes its dinghy out while the morning gruel cools. Meanwhile, a curious golden-haired sailor inspects the pirate ship, improving it as she goes. Prince's lively swashbuckling take on the classic tale includes an alternate ending and an appended glossary for the plentiful pirate lingo. In Salerno's sketchlike illustrations, characters' expressive faces convey every arrgh! and aye!

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) K-3 Elderly black-and-white cat Ethel unwittingly rolls in sidewalk chalk and turns her white fur blue. She's mortified until a shy and "usually white" kitten comes to visit--now entirely pink in solidarity. This funny, affectionate story of friendship and self-expression is told in understated text with effective use of repetition. Lively pen-and-ink illustrations with washes of vibrant color convey the friends' contentment.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(2) YA In this follow-up to Tasting the Sky, Barakat leads readers through her adolescent years in the West Bank. Although Israeli-Palestinian relations form an inescapable part of life in Ramallah, Barakat presents war from a young person's perspective, focusing on concrete details rather than the larger political conflict. The present-tense narration is jarring at first but allows for vivid, immediate prose. Reading list, websites.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Simone Shin. Using a decked-out cardboard-box car, a young boy takes his mom on a "ride" through their house and yard that includes stops at "the library" (a bookcase), "Charlie's Diner" (the kitchen), etc. It's a (very) long ride, and the narrator doesn't sound childlike, but young readers will go for the winning concept, play-focused art, and onomatopoeic bursts ("REV REV VROOM").

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) 4-6 Ailis and Quinn, orphaned and displaced by fire, endure harsh treatment in a Chicago boardinghouse. Six-year-old fellow orphan Nettie inspires them to find a way out so the three can be a family--but then Nettie is kidnapped, and the novel veers into over-the-top territory. A happy ending comes quickly after all the angst, and readers will cheer the children's good fortune. Bib.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2017

(4) 4-6 This "Cinderella" retelling is narrated in alternating chapters by teenage Cinderella and Char, a rat prince who falls in love with her. When the rodent is turned into a coachman, he must expose the true nature of the human prince at the ball. Machinations and secrets, as well as some humor, run through this love story, which slows at times but ends neatly.

Reviewer: Nancy Sheridan

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Rebecca Mock. In 1860, twelve-year-old twins Alexander and Cleopatra Dodge head to San Francisco, planning to con a wealthy man into believing they're his long-lost twin sons. On the way, they meet another set of redheaded twins with the same idea. A variety of panel sizes keeps the pace brisk in this rollicking graphic novel series-opener, and plenty of tantalizing questions remain.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2016

(2) 1-3 Franklin School Friends series. Illustrated by Rob Shepperson. This fifth entry in the series focuses on third grader Cody, who loves animals as passionately as he hates school. Cody's troubles--with homework, with best friend Tobit, and with a scheme to get all his animals into the school's first-ever pet show--are presented sympathetically by Mills, who portrays elementary-school friendship drama with a skillful hand. The lighthearted illustrations help readers envision the story.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2016

(2) 4-6 Seventh-grade budding writer Autumn's older brother Hunter reads her love poem to her crush's brother, and to top it off, The New Yorker rejects her best work. Mills creates a warm, convincing portrait of an apprentice author in this bubbly family-and-friends story, which deepens as Autumn encounters a moral dilemma that involves her hunger for publication conflicting with loyalty to Hunter.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Sophie Blackall. In 1785, Dr. John Jeffries and Jean-Pierre Blanchard were determined to complete the first international flight by crossing the English Channel in a hot-air balloon. The voyage (apart from the cantankerous pair's arguments) is going well...until the balloon overinflates. Blackall's witty illustrations--including occasional comic-panel strips--feel plucked from the time period. An author's note reveals the creative adaptations of factual events.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(2) 4-6 In 1942, ten-year-old Manami's family is forced into the Manzanar internment camp. Heartbroken by the loss of her dog, Yujiin, Manami becomes mute; her emotional trauma is sensitively portrayed. Manami recovers her voice when she needs it most, and the story closes on a hopeful note. Readers ready for a somber story should find this novel about Japanese American internment honest and engaging. Reading list, websites.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2016

(3) YA Two transgender high-school classmates meet and grow close in this layered novel that spotlights different stages of transition and celebrates the importance of friendship. Sympathetic, multifaceted characters and nuanced social and family drama make this both notable and successful. Leo's search for his absentee father is a major plot engine, and Leo and David are developed well beyond questions of gender.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(2) 4-6 On the run from police, twelve-year-old Ben's parents leave him and younger sister Olive on their own in a cabin in the Australian bush. Ben finds a copy of My Side of the Mountain, appropriate--and useful--reading since he and Olive are now in the midst of their own survival drama. The third-person narrative effectively laces the propulsive survival story with ethical questions.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton. Zulay, who's blind, is determined to race at Field Day. The straightforward depiction of spunky Zulay and her diverse group of girlfriends--"four best friends who help each other, four best friends who help themselves"--helps this story shine. Brantley-Newton's bright illustrations showcase expressive faces, welcoming readers into a world where the successes and frustrations of being disabled are noted and respected.

Reviewer: Breanna J. MCDaniel

(1) K-3 Bond relates a story from 1914 Ontario, when her grandfather, Antonio, lived at a lakeside hotel. A forest fire breaks out, driving everyone toward the only safe place--the lake. As animals, too, make their way into the lake, young Antonio gets a close-up look at every forest creature imaginable. Detailed sketches tinted with muted browns, greens, blues, and oranges create a dreamlike mood.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2015