(2) 4-6 Monsters are real in this version of early-twentieth-century Boston, but most people have no idea that they exist. Cordelia Clay is one of the few acquainted with filches, alicanti, and growrks (a lengthy monster guide opens the novel), and she secretly helps her veterinarian father care for injured ones at their Beacon Hill home. When her father and most of the monsters disappear, Cordelia sets out to rescue them with the help of Gregory, a local boy who recently acquired a zombie puppy; a filch, which makes its way in the world via flatulence; and a baby dragon that had been living in Cordelia's oven. Their clues take them to New York and Canada before bringing them back to Boston, where an anti-monster activist threatens everything they hold dear. Though Oliver keeps the action-driven plot moving quickly, there is introspection as well, particularly regarding Cordelia's relationships with her late mother (a scientist who died while researching monster evolution) and her former best friend Elizabeth (who has monster-related secrets of her own). Oliver's wordplay is often clever ("the daylight...was starting to seep across the cluttered countertops like the drool of a Mattahorn salivus"), and her collection of monsters is creative and thorough. Cordelia and Gregory face instances of peril that are exciting without feeling too dangerous, and the book's secondary characters, both human and monster, add much to the story.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(3) YA Replica series. The companion to Replica finishes the stories of Gemma and "replica" Lyra. Both girls are struggling to recover from the Haven Institute's atrocities and lead normal lives when they learn that they aren't safe after all. Following its predecessor's same dual-story structure (starting at either end of the volume), plot twists keep the action humming amid heady moral and ethical questions.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(3) 4-6 Curiosity House series. Illustrated by Benjamin Lacombe. When a fellow member of Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders is arrested for murder, Sam, Philippa, Thomas, and Max search for the real killer--only to discover evil Rattigan has returned to wreak havoc on NYC. Like The Shrunken Head and The Screaming Statue, this third mystery is quick paced, with full-page black-and-white crosshatched illustrations highlighting the action.

Reviewer: Nancy Sheridan

(2) YA In this bioethics thriller told in two stories starting at either end of the volume, Gemma, an overprotected rich girl who's in and out of hospitals, and Lyra, a "replica" (or clone) in bioresearch facility Haven, are unexpectedly thrown together when Gemma discovers her father's connection to Haven. With Oliver's clever crafting, readers will be clamoring for the projected series' next book.

Reviewer: Sarah Hannah Gomez | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(3) 4-6 Curiosity House series. Illustrated by Benjamin Lacombe. In Head, the four exceptional children of Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders find themselves in very real danger when a cursed shrunken head is stolen. In Statue, friends start turning up dead and the children fear the return of evil Professor Rattigan (from their first adventure). Set in Depression-era NYC, these are quaint mysteries with a quirky Miss Peregrine's–like edge. Review covers these Curiosity House titles: The Screaming Statue and The Shrunken Head.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano

(4) YA After a horrible car accident, sisters Nick and Dara are no longer on speaking terms, and Dara, the younger, is left with physical scars. The sisters' tag-team narration sheds light on their turbulent relationship and reveals events both before and after their crash. While Oliver's thriller relies on a common soap-opera trope for its conclusion, readers sucked in by the suspense may not see it coming.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) 4-6 Curiosity House series. Illustrated by Benjamin Lacombe. In Head, the four exceptional children of Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders find themselves in very real danger when a cursed shrunken head is stolen. In Statue, friends start turning up dead and the children fear the return of evil Professor Rattigan (from their first adventure). Set in Depression-era NYC, these are quaint mysteries with a quirky Miss Peregrine's–like edge. Review covers these Curiosity House titles: The Screaming Statue and The Shrunken Head.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano

(2) YA In a small upstate New York town, graduating seniors take part in the officially unsanctioned game of Panic. Heather, the daughter of an addict, joins the competition on a whim; Dodge enters determined to win revenge. Heather and Dodge are well-rounded characters who are preparing for a less-than-perfect future. A work of realistic fiction with sharp corners, dark places, and considerable humanity.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(2) YA In the final book in the trilogy (Delirium; Pandemonium), Lena and her friends make the dangerous trek north to the Wilds. Back in Portland, Hana prepares for her wedding in the polished but empty society of the "cured." Tension builds as Oliver drives the two narratives inexorably toward both the climactic battle and a dramatic meeting of the two girls.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2013

(2) YA Delirium, the first book in the trilogy, introduced a dystopia in which love is a deadly disease to be eradicated. Chaos reigns as Lena begins working for the resistance and is swept into a battle for freedom. Plenty of action and rising stakes move the story briskly along; the cliffhanger ending offers some rewards while anticipating more dramatic turns to come.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2012

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Iacopo Bruno. Liza senses something is different about her brother. Sure enough, his soul has been taken by spiderlike spindlers; Liza embarks on a journey underground to save him. She befriends a giant rat named Mirabella and encounters a variety of fantastical creatures, both friend and foe. Oliver's quest story treads some familiar territory, but imaginative elements throughout make the tale her own.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Kei Acedera. Liesl, locked away by an evil stepmother, befriends Po, a ghost who helps her escape to put her father's ashes to rest. She crosses paths with an alchemist's apprentice, and the two flee pursued by adults hungry for magic and power. Appropriately shadowy black-and-white illustrations accompany the suspenseful tale.

Reviewer: Nina Lindsay

(2) YA In a near-future United States, the government has created a cure for the "deadly" disease amor deliria nervosa--a.k.a. love. High school senior Lena, counting the days until her "procedure," is clearly destined to fall in love; enter amber-eyed Alex as the worthy romantic hero. In a thick climate of fear, Oliver spins out a suspenseful story of awakening and resistance.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2011

(3) YA Sam relives the last day of her life seven times, hoping to make amends with the family she's neglected and the schoolmates she and her friends have tormented. With each additional final day, Sam makes new mistakes and discoveries that bring her closer to redemption. This promising debut imbues small memories--a word, a joke, a kiss--with transformative power.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher