(3) YA Impostor Queen series. Elli and Ansa's stories (from The Impostor Queen and The Cursed Queen, respectively) collide. Chieftain Thyra's army marches to reclaim lover Ansa's lost throne, which Elli currently controls; as the land reels from magical unbalance, the opposing factions fight for their lives and peace. Many characters with complex backstories, multiple plot lines, and changing allegiances will challenge attentive readers throughout this satisfying series conclusion.

Reviewer: Janet Daniels

(3) YA When Eddie was four, his mother's abusive partner locked them in a small, filthy apartment; tortured his mother; and intimidated young Eddie, who remained imprisoned. Once rescued, Eddie must adjust to life on the outside and also grapple with who he may become. Told from multiple points of view, including those of Eddie, his foster parents, and social workers, the novel is gripping and powerful.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(3) YA This companion novel to The Impostor Queen introduces Ansa, who fights to belong in her warrior clan, the Krigere, alongside her love Thyra, the chieftain's daughter. But Ansa is an outsider who becomes cursed with dangerous magical abilities. This non-heteronormative Viking fantasy contains immersive dialogue and evolving characters in an exciting world perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce and Megan Whalen Turner.

Reviewer: Janet Daniels

(3) YA Prophesied to become the most powerful queen in Kupari history, Elli is cast out after she fails to inherit the magic of the Valtia. When a handsome outlaw rescues her from an animal trap, she discovers that she has a different--yet still crucial--destiny to fulfill. This thrilling new high-fantasy series both embraces and subverts genre tropes in very satisfying ways.

Reviewer: Barratt Miller

(3) YA In this sequel (Of Metal and Wishes), Wen, a member of the Itanyai--mortal enemies of the Noor--attempts to work and thrive in her war-torn home. But concerns about the well-being of Melik, her Noor-soldier love interest, drive her away from relative safety and directly into the conflict. Fine uses strong imagery to examine race and class conflicts in this dystopian novel.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano

(3) YA In this sequel to Scan, the H2 aliens have the scanner and most of Tate's allies are dead. To protect the human race, Tate has to decode the obscure clues his father left him. Tate's romance with Christina serves as his support and adds a layer of emotion to the fast-paced, high-tech action fans of the first book will expect.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(4) PS Illustrated by Christopher Denise. As daylight fades and the moon rises, animals settle in for the evening, streetlights come on, cars head home, and nighttime rituals are set into motion. Cozy, muted digitally rendered illustrations in rich purples and blues but for the glow of fireflies, lanterns, and night-lights are visually lulling; the spare rhyming text, occasionally faltering in meter, is soothing but secondary.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) YA Sixteen-year-old Wen moves to the factories of Gochan and assists her father in the medical clinic he runs there. A combination of her entanglement with Melik, one of the imported Noor workers; her strange encounters with the Ghost of the slaughterhouse; and somewhat heavy-handed race and class conflicts all boil over in this mostly intriguing, quasi-futuristic take on The Phantom of the Opera.

Reviewer: Ariel Baker-Gibbs

(3) YA After stealing his father's invention, Tate finds himself and his girlfriend on the run from aliens who will stop at nothing to obtain the device. Characters' realistic reactions to the situations they get thrown into add an emotional depth to the action-packed page-turner driven by Tate's MacGyver-like abilities and his relationship with his girlfriend.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(4) YA Guards of the Shadowlands series. Having overrun the afterlife, the vampire-like Mazikin invade the human world, and Lela returns to her human life with a new role: Captain of the Guards, charged with eliminating the Mazikin. Despite Lela's unbelievability as Captain, the clash between human and supernatural worlds charges the plot of this second book, and questions about the Mazikin's true endgame opens new ground for future volumes.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) YA Guards of the Shadowlands series. After her best friend Nadia commits suicide, tough-as-nails abuse survivor Lela receives visions of her suffering in a limbo-like world that has been invaded by the evil Mazikin. Stoic, sexy afterlife guard Malachi aids Lela in her rescue mission. The fantasy setup is muddled, but the romantic chemistry sizzles and the religiously inflected landscape of sacrifice and acceptance adds grit.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Colleen Madden. Miss Marigold--a.k.a. the garden lady--leads the kids of Pepper Lane Elementary School in converting an unused patch of playground into a community garden. The authors know their gardening stuff, but what there is in terms of plotting is overly familiar (the kids get the neighborhood grouch to help them out). The exuberant mixed-media art is fresher than the story line.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) YA Yuri grows up listening to gloomy tales of despair under the czar's reign, yet he is utterly unprepared for the hardships the Glorious Revolution brings. Desperate and determined, Yuri survives exile, deportation, and labor camp, but only by suppressing his own humanity. Yuri's spare, bitter, first-person narrative raises difficult questions about the costs of endurance and survival.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Penny Dale. In the first story, preschooler Jamie tries to prepare his stuffed Highland bull Angus (The Jamie and Angus Stories) for the visit of a little girl who plays too roughly. Jamie comes up with a childlike but successful solution. Throughout the six stories Fine always maintains Jamie's complete believability, conveying his perceptiveness and empathy side by side with his limited perspective.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2007

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Kate Aldous. When Iola's friend Jennifer gets a diary, Iola is jealous. She should have it since she's bursting with ideas, and Jennifer can't think of a thing to say. The diary causes friction until Iola manipulates Jennifer into giving it to her. Aldous's realistic line-art illustrations contrast Iola's angelic looks with her quick, biting--occasionally verging on nasty--wit.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Steve Cox. Tuffy (Diary of a Killer Cat) is overjoyed that his family's going away ("a whole week of not being...stroked and petted by Ellie and her soppy friend Melanie"). But his spirits are dampened when the vicar--a.k.a. "Mr. Fussbudget"--comes to cat-sit. Tuffy's cranky, irreverent voice makes him a kitty with an attitude. Cox's clean line drawings help dial down the sarcasm.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Hernán Sosa. This book describes Armando's childhood in a poor Mexican colonia and the man who brings education and art to the community. Based on a true story, the text sprinkled with Spanish vocabulary is instructive but wordy. Distinctive illustrations outlined in white give the pictures dimension. Photographs of the children in a colonia are appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Georgina McBain. Life's been hard for Clarrie and Will since their father left the family; it's made harder still when their mother is arrested. Clarrie must hold the family together, with the dubious help of their layabout uncle. With an ending as uplifting as the beginning is grim, here's a piece of Edwardiana with just a touch of the macabre.

Reviewer: Vicky Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2006

(2) 4-6 The holiday described in this very funny farce is the antithesis of a Hallmark-card Christmas. The relatives about to descend on Ralph and his family include "soppy" cousin Titania; Great-aunt Ida, on loan from the nursing home; and misanthropic Great-granny. This book could only have been served up by Anne Fine, characterized as it is by her particular brand of dark humor, the specialty of the house.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2003

(1) 4-6 Struggling with the possibility that Stolly tried to take his own life, Ian relates trenchant memories of his best friend in vignettes that have the pacing and humor of comedy skits, even when the content is dark and disturbing. What initially seems to be a character study of a wildly imaginative mixed-up kid becomes a testament to the power of friendship--and to the power of story as well.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2002