(2) YA When Mimi turns sixteen, her mother, Tiffany, delivers a family inheritance: notebooks filled with poetry penned by their female ancestors and a blank one in which to write her own. Mimi--a guarded loner whose DIY fashions made her internet famous--is skeptical of anything Tiffany has to offer. Their formerly tight relationship is now strained, with contention over Mimi's social media activity and Tiffany's sketchy boyfriend. After Tiffany publicly accuses a respected male celebrity of sexual misconduct, a ­bewildered and angry Mimi turns to her family's written history and uncovers a difficult legacy of women suffering under male expectations, harassment, and even assault. Mimi's raw, unstructured free-verse poems are intimately narrated, drawing readers close to her messy, competing emotions as she processes both Tiffany's revelation and her own unsettling experiences with men, online and in person. Poems from her ancestors' notebooks are told in a too-similar voice but are nonetheless riveting historical snapshots tracing a painful lineage of silence. When mother and daughter eventually stand up for each other, their moving reunification is encouraging. Among a growing selection of novels that approach #MeToo themes from a teen perspective (see also Charles's Muted, rev. 3/21, and Caletti's One Great Lie, rev. 9/21), this one stands out for its complex, thought-provoking depiction of intergenerational trauma.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) 4-6 Magic is a physical object in Haydu's (Hand-Me-Down Magic, rev. 7/20) latest middle-grade novel, and the residents of the town of Belling Bright turn out to capture it in jars every New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, Rose Alice Anders turns twelve, the age when residents are allowed to capture magic, and her famous father, known for capturing more magic than anyone else, is certain that she has a special connection to it, just as he does. But when Rose ends New Year's Day having filled just a single jar--and that only because of her older brother's help--she has to deal with her father's severe disappointment, which she's spent most of her life deflecting. As Rose watches her friends make themselves beautiful and popular with their new supplies of magic, she starts to reevaluate magic's importance as well as her relationship with her father. Readers who pick up on the emotional abuse from the book's early pages ("when Dad's the one in charge, you don't say no"; "he doesn't love when we do anything he doesn't do") may find Rose's gradual realization a tad slow, but the novel will appeal to those who enjoy a quiet, emotion-driven fantasy.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Luisa Uribe. Alma is excited to be taking up residence with her parents on the fourth floor of 86-and-a-half Twenty-third Avenue, home of her abuelita (and her Curious Cousins Secondhand Shoppe); Alma's best-friend-cousin Del; and other aunts, uncles, and cousins. As she is used to seeing family only on special occasions, though, the sudden shift in frequency leaves Alma feeling "left out of [her] own family." Weekends are spent going to stoop sales in search of items to resell at the shop. A pair of earrings causes tension between the cousins (Del thinks they're magically just for her and that they "found" her; Alma, annoyed, thinks magic "doesn't belong to any one person") before a realistic reconciliation. Short chapters each contain ­several lively sketchlike illustrations; a two-page cutaway of the apartment building at the outset will have readers continually returning to study its details. This ­thoughtful first book in a projected series probes questions of what it means to belong to a family and how sensitive children perceive the subtle pressures of ­conformity.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

(3) 4-6 Elodee's family moves to Eventown, hoping for a fresh start away from a tragedy they don't discuss. At first, everyone in Eventown seems happy. But when Elodee figures out that residents have "forgotten" their bad memories, she must confront her family's own repressed tragedy. Haydu writes about loss, depression, and the messiness of healing with sympathy and hope.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(2) YA Rumors of a curse on the Devonairre Street Girls circulate in Haydu's alternate-2008 Brooklyn. When a series of tragedies convinces the street's inhabitants that the Curse is real, narrator Lorna and her mother resist their neighbors' increasingly cultish mentality, building to a devastating conclusion. Magical realism and a parallel-world setting enhance this wrenching novel's lyricism--and make the pain somewhat more bearable.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2017

(2) 4-6 Florida fifth grader Clover finds that her presence is the only thing that eases the symptoms of her best friend's autoimmune disorder. As even that becomes less effective with time, Clover schemes to take Danny to a holistic clinic in Vermont. Haydu balances a ten-year-old's flights of fancy with the pathos of Danny's decline. Ambiguity surrounding Clover's effect on Danny leaves room for interpretation.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2017

(2) 4-6 When eleven-year-old Priscilla's family moves into Mom's childhood home, the secrecy between her older sisters becomes infuriating. Priscilla eventually learns that the house's closets perform varying types of magic. The escape afforded by the magic closets fulfills an increasing need as Mom's troubled mental state and unpredictable behavior worsen. Haydu's first fantasy novel for younger readers is full of nuanced relationships.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2015

(3) YA Montana's seventeenth summer is tumultuous: she feels distant from her once-close sister, and the twenty-three-year-old friend she idolizes is suddenly dating Montana's many-times-divorced plastic surgeon dad. To cope, Montana throws herself into a relationship with a guy she meets at the park. Montana's efforts to find a place for herself outside her family ring true thanks to Haydu's nuanced writing.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) YA Sixteen-year-old Tabitha finds her way to an online community called Life by Committee. On LBC users must share a secret, and then accept an "assignment" in order to "protect your secrets." The quirky cast of secondary characters includes Tab's sharp, opinionated best friend and her ultra-hip, café-owning parents. Tab's narrative voice is arresting, even as readers wonder at her poor decisions.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2014

(1) YA Bea and Beck both have debilitating obsessive-compulsive disorder. As they begin dating, they must navigate their feelings for each other and the complications of their individual compulsions. Thanks to some leaps of faith and a lot of therapy, the teens get a happy ending. Haydu explores a sweet, unconventional romance in this compulsively readable novel.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2013