(2) 4-6 Photographs by Roy Corral. Twenty years after Children of the Midnight Sun, Brown and Corral present ten additional portraits of contemporary Alaska Native children. Each Indigenous child receives two spreads telling about his or her daily life and culture. The book is strongest when centering the voices of the featured young people and their family members. Clear photographs of people, places, flora, and fauna enliven the workmanlike text. Glos.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019

(3) 1-3 Time Dogs series. Illustrated by Misa Saburi. On a typical day, the elderly dogs of Happy Paws Farm nap and enjoy one another's company. When tracking a lost ball leads the pack to a time-traveling/age-reducing magical van, the five friends experience adventures in history--as puppies. Frequent black-and-white illustrations support the large-font text. An author's note provides details about the real life events that inspired the stories. Review covers these Time Dogs titles: Balto and the Race Against Time and Seaman and the Great Northern Adventure.

Reviewer: Pam Yosca

(3) K-3 Ready-to-Read: Tails from History series. Illustrated by Rachel Sanson. The latest installments in this easy-reader series about famous animals in history present two new compelling protagonists: a Japanese Akita adopted by Helen Keller and a cat dubbed "mayor" of a small town in Alaska. Nakamura imposes mild drama on both "tails," while Sanson's straightforward and appealing cartoon illustrations give new readers lots of visual help with the narratives. Further facts are appended. Review covers these Ready-to-Read: Tails from History titles: The Cat Who Ruled the Town and A Puppy for Helen Keller.

Reviewer: Erica Wetter

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Mindy Dwyer. When Granddaughter rushes and spills blueberries, Grandmother explains how trickster raven Chulyen's nose became bent because he hurried. After Chulyen loses his beak, an old woman uses it as a tool; Chulyen steals his nose back, but without noticing it's now worn and crooked. Sprightly comic-style art and the inclusion of Dena'ina words make this an engaging retelling from southern Alaska. Reading list. Glos.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(3) 4-6 Almost-twelve-year-old Edgar, sensitive and insecure, and his troubled mother, Stephanie, who's just gone through a breakup, are house-sitting in the Yukon. There Edgar bonds with a dog named Benjamin, while friendship and family drama swirl around him--leading to a near tragedy. An engaging read, with well-developed characters, a strong sense of place, and a fast-flowing narrative.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(4) 4-6 Set on a remote Aleutian island during World War II, this survival story is slow to start but eventually picks up speed. The unusual setting and the two main characters, resourceful eleven-year-old Izzy and disaffected fourteen-year-old Matt, help make the narrative compelling. The two endure cold, hunger, fear, and injury, finding strength in their friendship.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) YA When Corey learns that her best friend, Kyra, has died tragically, she returns to her hometown of Lost Creek, Alaska, after a seventh-month absence. Staying with Kyra's parents, with whom Kyra had a tense relationship, Corey has five days to figure out what really happened. While Nijkamp's introspective sophomore effort has effective flourishes of horror, the writing is ultimately emotionally unconvincing.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt

(4) YA Kicked out of college in Anchorage after one semester, eighteen-year-old Eddie takes a year-long job with a newspaper in isolated rural Alaska to prove he's "ready to be a college student again"; instead, Eddie begins smuggling marijuana. Eddie can be an obnoxious horn-dog and is a pretty unlikable protagonist overall, but vivid setting details give readers a sense of the wide-open lonesomeness of the tundra.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(4) 4-6 You Choose: Surviving Extreme Sports series. Snow, bitter cold, wild animals, and other physical dangers are omnipresent in these pick-your-path wilderness-survival stories. Readers' choices determine whether the adventure ends successfully or in failure. The narratives highlight the exhilaration and danger of both extreme sports; color photographs sprinkled throughout illustrate the majestic yet harsh environments. An epilogue provides limited contextual background. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these You Choose: Surviving Extreme Sports titles: Surviving Mount Everest and Surviving the Iditarod.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(3) 4-6 School is tough for eleven-year-old Matthew: he is bullied and may fail math. To earn extra credit, he creates a business plan, relying on his passion for sled-dog racing to create a sled school for other kids. Matthew's growth is believably gradual, while Johnson skillfully incorporates math into the text; animal lovers will welcome the information about dogs and racing.

Reviewer: Grace Worcester Greene

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Wendell Minor. This is a well-researched account of Jack London's 1897–98 adventures during the Klondike Gold Rush, after which he returned to California with little gold but a wealth of writing material. In notes, Lourie admits he's "taken a few liberties" in crafting the compelling wildnerness narrative, which is enhanced by archival photographs and Minor's evocative illustrations. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) YA Escape: Werewolf Council series. In their small Alaskan town, best friends Nate and Riley find themselves on opposite sides of an age-old conflict between werewolves and those tasked with guarding humans from them. The teens believably grow into their respective roles--Nate as a werewolf and Riley as heir to the Order--which drives the six-part supernatural series' overall narrative. Intense action keeps the lively continuous plot moving forward. Review covers these Werewolf Council titles: By the Blood..., The Hidden Blade, Never Alone, Nobilitate Nobis, Pointed Hand, and Wolfland.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(3) YA Escape: Werewolf Council series. In their small Alaskan town, best friends Nate and Riley find themselves on opposite sides of an age-old conflict between werewolves and those tasked with guarding humans from them. The teens believably grow into their respective roles--Nate as a werewolf and Riley as heir to the Order--which drives the six-part supernatural series' overall narrative. Intense action keeps the lively continuous plot moving forward. Review covers these Werewolf Council titles: By the Blood..., The Hidden Blade, Never Alone, Nobilitate Nobis, Pointed Hand, and Wolfland.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(3) YA Escape: Werewolf Council series. In their small Alaskan town, best friends Nate and Riley find themselves on opposite sides of an age-old conflict between werewolves and those tasked with guarding humans from them. The teens believably grow into their respective roles--Nate as a werewolf and Riley as heir to the Order--which drives the six-part supernatural series' overall narrative. Intense action keeps the lively continuous plot moving forward. Review covers these Werewolf Council titles: By the Blood..., The Hidden Blade, Never Alone, Nobilitate Nobis, Pointed Hand, and Wolfland.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(3) YA Escape: Werewolf Council series. In their small Alaskan town, best friends Nate and Riley find themselves on opposite sides of an age-old conflict between werewolves and those tasked with guarding humans from them. The teens believably grow into their respective roles--Nate as a werewolf and Riley as heir to the Order--which drives the six-part supernatural series' overall narrative. Intense action keeps the lively continuous plot moving forward. Review covers these Werewolf Council titles: By the Blood..., The Hidden Blade, Never Alone, Nobilitate Nobis, Pointed Hand, and Wolfland.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(3) YA Escape: Werewolf Council series. In their small Alaskan town, best friends Nate and Riley find themselves on opposite sides of an age-old conflict between werewolves and those tasked with guarding humans from them. The teens believably grow into their respective roles--Nate as a werewolf and Riley as heir to the Order--which drives the six-part supernatural series' overall narrative. Intense action keeps the lively continuous plot moving forward. Review covers these Werewolf Council titles: By the Blood..., The Hidden Blade, Never Alone, Nobilitate Nobis, Pointed Hand, and Wolfland.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(3) YA Escape: Werewolf Council series. In their small Alaskan town, best friends Nate and Riley find themselves on opposite sides of an age-old conflict between werewolves and those tasked with guarding humans from them. The teens believably grow into their respective roles--Nate as a werewolf and Riley as heir to the Order--which drives the six-part supernatural series' overall narrative. Intense action keeps the lively continuous plot moving forward. Review covers these Werewolf Council titles: By the Blood..., The Hidden Blade, Never Alone, Nobilitate Nobis, Pointed Hand, and Wolfland.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(4) 4-6 Refusing to accept that her experienced-mountaineer dad has died climbing Denali, twelve-year-old Lily decides to search for him. In so doing, she endangers both her own life and that of her older sister. The journey is cathartic, suspenseful, and filled with information about the Alaskan wilderness and surviving therein. However, too many unlikely events and an odd thread focusing on candy weaken the story.

Reviewer: Grace Worcester Greene

(3) K-3 Translated by Sophie B. Watson. Illustrated by Marion Arbona. In this pensive climate-change story from the perspective of a young Iñupiat girl living on a small Alaskan island, the rising ocean is embodied as a sea monster bent on devouring the girl's traditional wintry homeland. With splatters, swirls, and other stormy patterns, Arbona's art adeptly visualizes the story's focus: the girl's worries about what will happen to her family and home. Glos.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(3) 4-6 After hearing about gold in the Klondike, eleven-year-old Jasper and his older brother, Melvin, run away from their drunken father in 1897 Washington State. They search for a mysterious stake of land worth millions, available to whoever can solve the riddles to find it. The rough and wild reality of the Alaskan wilderness is brought to vivid life in this entertaining and heartfelt tale.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello