(2) PS Illustrated by Lauren Child. This visually and metaphorically resonant picture book follows a child living through a day when they are not "sunshine yellow" or "balloon bright." Instead, they describe themself as "gray today. I just am. I am gray. Gray is when I don't feel like me." Dockrill uses simple and evocative metaphors to reflect a feeling to which many young readers and listeners (and probably many older ones, too) can relate, and to demonstrate the bleakness of dour thoughts. A sympathetic caretaker provides gentle reassurance that the colors inside a person don't go away, even on gray days, and their love for the protagonist won't go away either. Child's distinct mixed-media illustrations, with engagingly varied compositions, shift between grayscale and sunny hues to create a contrast that embodies the sense of being "gray like the storm in the clouds" in a colorful world. The text lets readers and listeners accept feelings of darkness, and reminds them, "It's OK to feel gray." The art manages to convey both the protagonist's emotions and the wonders that can be present on an average gloomy day. Altogether a welcome reminder that even on the grayest days, hugs (and support from others) can help, and color can return.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) YA In this frank yet positive account of Clinton's life through the 2015 announcement of her presidential candidacy, Blumenthal chronicles Clinton's youth, marriage, and career (including various scandals). Acknowledging that Clinton's public story has been "carefully controlled and crafted," Blumenthal allows Clinton's accomplishments (and sometimes her foibles) to take center stage and suggest the woman behind the pantsuit. Timeline. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2016

(1) YA Seventeen-year-old Katie didn't know she had a grandmother until the hospital called, asking her mum to pick up Mary, who's suffering from dementia. As Katie helps care for Mary, she uncovers a web of family secrets and struggles with her own: Katie is pretty certain she's gay. A limited third-person perspective follows Katie's and Mary's stories, constructing and contrasting two fully rounded characters.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2016

(2) YA Huddled on a cold street corner after fighting with her foster mother, thirteen-year-old Dime meets an older girl who offers her a home with her and her boyfriend, "Daddy." But maintaining her place in Daddy's "family" exacts a price: soon Dime is earning her keep turning tricks. Dime's first-person narrative offers an eye-opening exploration of the all-too-real horrors of sex trafficking. Resources appended.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2015

(1) YA Gustav is building an invisible red helicopter that Stanzi can see only on Tuesdays; China swallowed herself and is now inside-out; Lansdale's hair grows when she lies. King blends the magical and the mundane in a deadpan delivery that makes it difficult to tell one from the other. This, of course, is the point of her ambitious, affecting work about the traumas we internalize.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2015

(2) YA Fiona ("Fig") is only six years old when her mother is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Following a period of hospitalization, Fig's mother returns changed to the family farm. Sensitive and intelligent, Fig internalizes her mother's struggle, developing self-abusive coping strategies inspired by magical thinking. Schantz's first novel is a measured, bittersweet account of Fig's life from ages six to nineteen.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2015

(3) YA Paralympian skier, motivational speaker, and video blogger Sundquist's funny and endearing memoir chronicles his attempt to examine his romantic encounters after he discovers, at age twenty-five, that he's never actually had a girlfriend. The resulting investigation--presented in reportlike format with footnotes, charts, and graphs--covers ten years of would-be relationships cut short by uncertainty, awkwardness, and misunderstanding.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee

(2) YA Sixteen-year-old Iranian American Leila finds herself in a secret relationship with new girl Saskia--who reveals herself to be a master manipulator. Leila turns to an old friend, Lisa; when their friendship turns romantic, Saskia threatens them as well as their friends, who rally in support of the couple. Leila's clever first-person narrative lightens what, in less capable hands, could be an angsty story.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014

(2) YA Fifteen-year-old Sky and her older friend Nancy spy a poster of a girl, Mia, whose image lingers in Sky's dreams. When Sky learns that Mia was found dead in nearby St. Kilda harbor--and that Mia's brother now works in her father's record store--Sky wants to learn more. Part mystery, part romance, and part unconventional family story with an intriguing cast of characters.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(3) YA Sixteen-year-old New Yorker and diarist Max delivers his pet cat's body to his aunt's Woodstock retreat. There Max meets Zini, an artist who inspires him. Hite's first-person narration is terse and pessimistic until book's end. The most poetic moments come in the final pages as Max waits for Zini and lets down his guard.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee