(2) K-3 Illustrated by Aimée Sicuro. Brown's debut picture-book biography of Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011) limns her creative childhood, dutiful art study, and early career in mid-twentieth-century NYC. Once Frankenthaler develops her trademark "soak-stain" technique, the rhythmic text mirrors that kinetic process: "Helen grabbed a bucket of crimson and...POURED...setting her colors FREE." Sicuro's watercolor, ink, and charcoal-pencil illustrations reinforce the ideas of movement and color saturation. An appended art project helps everything seep in. Timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) YA A change of summer plans finds seventeen-year-old narrator Emma--whose mother died of an overdose years back and whose father has just remarried--staying with her mom's large, boisterous extended family for a few weeks at the motel they run. Privileged, anxiety-prone Emma quickly acclimates to the working-class environs and bonds with her relatives, soon embracing a new, more laidback identity. Dessen's latest novel is largely about the ups and downs of family.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Hadley Hooper. After struggling for years, Swiss-born twentieth-century sculptor Alberto Giacometti found fame for his tall, spindly figures (e.g., Walking Man series), while Diego (who later become known for his furniture designs) worked tirelessly to support his brother's art. The book touches on life events in snapshot-like sections that nevertheless provide strong impressions. Hooper's art, in paint and ink and finished digitally, is strikingly dynamic. Timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) YA Gurley uses the star-crossed-lovers theme to good effect in his YA debut set in a (fictional) blue-collar California oil town. The romance between alternating narrators Vanessa (an aspiring astronomer) and Zach (an artist) is tentative and chaste but emotionally intimate as they unpack their respective family baggage. This love story is also a timely, moving statement about income inequity and a reminder that everyone struggles.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) YA Henstra uses the epistolary format with great success in this novel about the burgeoning romance between sophomore Jonathan Hopkirk ("Jo"), an openly gay poetry and music lover, and senior football star Adam Kurlansky ("Kurl"). Perhaps there's melodrama in this couple's beautiful love, and in how spectacularly it's challenged by devastating conflicts, but this is what makes the book such an epic, sweeping romance--and gay teens deserve more of those.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019

(2) YA In a relatable voice, cheerleader Jenna describes how things got "weird" with best friend Raejean junior year; her pain erupts in revenge during a team trip. Readers in it for mean girls and competitive cheerleading may be surprised when the plot incorporates queer romance (with transgender boy James) and Live-Action Role Playing. But MacCarthy pulls off this combination of topics with aplomb in an affirming story about having multiple conflicting selves.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Sarah Tanat-Jones. "We've worked really hard to turn things people hate about us into things we love about ourselves--even the word queer!" Sicardi proudly writes in an inspiring introduction. The LGBTQ heroes presented range from teen gun activist Emma González to trans moviemakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski to Oscar Wilde. Sans organization but with lively portraits and design embellishments, the scrapbook-like volume is best for browsing. Glos.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) 4-6 Published with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Looking at a work of art can produce a range of emotions and reactions," writes editor Hopkins in the introduction to this book of commissioned poems, each reacting to a work of art from the Met. A laudable diversity of poets and artists (bios appended)--as well as a range of poetic and artistic styles--are represented in this handsome volume for middle graders and up. Ind.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Sonia Sánchez. When his parents fight, Quinn escapes to the imaginary (blanket-fort) Quiet Ship. When their yelling ("sounds that hurt my ears") gets so loud "it breaks the Quiet Ship," Quinn confronts the situation, leading to a teary-eyed family meeting in his room. A heart-wrenching child's-eye portrayal of parental fighting, with naive, scribbly illustrations that also display the chaos the way a child's hand might.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) K-3 Fly Guy series. With help from his pet, Fly Guy, Buzz makes a movie about a space-alien attack unleashed on the "Secret Hero Fort." In easy-to-read text, the silly movie-within-the-story meanders in an authentically childlike way, and Arnold's cartoony illustrations cleverly zoom in on the action and back out to show a smartphone filming homemade paper dolls and other toys on Buzz's desk. Lots of fun (or, as Fly Guy says, "FUNZZIE") for new readers.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Karl Newsome Edwards. Berlin parodies the preschool-standard "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" for slightly older picture-book crowds. The Hugely-Wugely Spider struggles to jam himself into the waterspout, but his rotund figure proves useful when he rescues his itsy-bitsy brethren from a deluge. With lots of exclamations ("HUGELY-WUGELY to the rescue! Time to plug this spout!"), equally energetic art, and a final irreverent update to the source rhyme, this is storytime gold.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(2) YA Interspersed with Luke's letters--from death row--to best friend Toby, a third-person narrative flashes back to a significant week in their senior year, slowly revealing the severity of Toby's dad abusing him and the depth of Luke's loyalty (and stifled rage). In this tense and tragic story there is profundity at every turn; readers up for heartbreak will come away understanding more about loyalty, empathy, and redemption.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(3) K-3 Translated by Mara Lethem. Illustrated by Oriol Malet. Max and his pals love superheroes, but Max's favorite is female Megapower (who cares if Martin says, "there is no way a woman superhero can be that strong"?). This Spanish import celebrating superheroes transforms into a celebration of parents through a sweet twist: "the best thing about Megapower" is "when she puts on her Mommy costume." Light watercolors of domestic scenes contrast effectively with the classic-comics-inspired segments.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) 4-6 Captured Science History series. This installment in the Captured History spinoff series examines the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear spill in Ukraine and the photographic documentation of it. The chilling photos by Igor Kostin, Volodymyr Repik, and others shook the world when they were released. An engaging and thought-provoking discussion of the disaster's scientific and historical impact is profusely illustrated with these archival images. Reading list, timeline. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) YA Illustrated by Maria Llovet. YouTube vlogger "Chusita Fashion Fever" writes candidly, approachably, and specifically (she emphasizes "calling things by their name") in this teens' guide to sexuality. Sections cover discovering one's own body, sexual identity, dating, masturbation, and sexual intercourse. A flashy book design includes (semi-blinding) neon-orange backgrounds and accents as well as comics-style panel illustrations. An unabashedly sex-positive resource for teenagers "ready for it." Glos.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) K-3 Penguin Young Readers series. An overview of the Amazon rainforest is organized into chapters and short paragraphs. With clear and immersive language, a leveled text geared toward "fluent readers" smoothly introduces vocabulary as it touches on climate, geography, and the diversity of animals in each forest layer; a final chapter focuses on conservation. Quality photos appear throughout. Young readers will come away well informed. Glos.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(1) K-3 In Colón's wordless love letter to the experience of visiting an art museum, a brown-skinned boy skateboards to Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art. Figures from paintings cavort with him throughout NYC, after which the boy's new friends return to their canvases and he creates a mural of their likenesses in his Brooklyn neighborhood. Colón's mixed-media illustrations in his signature stippled and crosshatched textures hum with energy and jubilation.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gérard DuBois. Joseph Cornell (1903–72) became an artist renowned for shadow boxes of carefully curated and assembled objects. Fleming's picture book biography focuses on Cornell's childhood collecting, capturing his curiosity for life's small tokens and moments. DuBois's illustrations, rendered in whisper-soft acrylics and manipulated digitally, have an old-timey aesthetic that complements the story's nostalgia. This book offers much to pore over visually and ruminate over emotionally. Bib.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2018

(3) YA Illustrated by Libby VanderPloeg. "Your life is only ever happening right here, right now." Gates makes the case to tweens and teens that mindfulness is a way of life and the simplest path to health and happiness. Her chatty guide includes chapters on the practices of mindful breathing, yoga, and meditation, all with easy "try it" activities; "five-day mindfulness challenges" at the end should help readers translate these new skills into a lifestyle. Bib.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Marc-Etienne Peintre. This fascinating book examines the role of color throughout human history: natural and synthetic sources, dye trades, cultural meanings, etc. Organized by color and further by specific shade (e.g., purples are subdivided into puce, Tyrian purple, and archil), each spread is illustrated in that shade. That saffron started a medieval war, that copper patina is the color verdigris, and so on--young readers will learn a ton. Ind.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen