(2) 4-6 On page one, eleven-year-old Julie steals a baby from the steps of the public library in a 1940s Long Island beach town. The questions that cluster around this action--why? whose baby is it? what will Julie do with it?--move offstage as we are introduced to the events of the immediately preceding months. Through three alternating voices--Julie, her little sister Martha, and Bruno, the boy next door--we encounter secrets and mysteries. Why has Bruno's older brother, away at war, stopped writing home? Why have Julie and Bruno fallen out? Who is the vaguely familiar rich woman who has turned up in town? Why is Bruno planning to sneak off to New York City? The mosaic pieces gradually come together to form a cohesive story of bereavement, war on the home front, friendship, kindness, and the energy of a new life. The multiple voices are distinctive, authentic, and equally inviting. Each child is a slightly unreliable reporter, a narrative technique that will keep readers on their toes as they try to sort everything out. There's a touch of gawky middle-grade romance, a poignant unanswered question, and even a cameo appearance by Eleanor Roosevelt in this sweet summer story.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(3) YA Miller returns to small-town Long Island (Little Wrecks) to explore the effects of drug dealing and violence on bystanders. Joan and best (male) friend Daisy alternate narration, as they share a deep desire to cling to their friendship in the face of secrets and lies. The 1980 setting is well developed, and Miller's graceful prose and unhurried pace complement the menacing atmosphere.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) YA Four Long Island prep-school students experience tragedy after they fall in with the beguiling author of their favorite teen novel. Interview transcripts and diary excerpts provide shifting accounts of what happened between the powerful (fictional) author and her fans; interspersed excerpts from the author's books reveal she was lifting story lines from her young friends' lives. This is a twisting, salacious drama that tantalizingly blends fiction and reality.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(4) YA Autumn's best friend dies in an accident; Shay's twin sister dies of leukemia; Logan's ex-boyfriend dies of an overdose. In alternating chapters, these Long Island teens battle grief alone until their unknown connections--through a vividly imagined local music scene--eventually bring them together. Three intense losses make this emotional novel overly arduous, but it may still appeal to fans of grief-driven tearjerkers.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(4) YA Friends Isabel, Ruth, and Magda are burning to leave their stagnant Long Island hometown. Stealing a local dealer's stash might help fund their escape, but complications in their troubled personal lives obstruct their plans. The three brooding protagonists raise serious questions about the repressed and oppressed lives of women, but their insights are muddied by melodramatic dialogue.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald