(2) YA At first, this seems to be the story of Frankie, a girl in an orphanage in 1940s Chicago. But that's one thread in a more expansive tale, that of the ghostly narrator Pearl. Pearl's world-weary wisdom and moral outrage come through clearly as she interacts with other ghosts--victims of America's misogyny, racism, and economic inequities. Ruby's message: America is a precarious and threatening place, dealing as much in cruelty and injustice as it does in fulfilled dreams of security.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2019

(2) YA Codebreaking twins Theo and Tess Biedermann (York: The Shadow Cipher) and artistic puzzle-solver Jaime Cruz are still committed to solving the impossible-seeming Morningstarr Cipher. The tweens aren't the only ones pursuing the treasure that supposedly awaits at the end of the Cipher, and danger is rapidly closing in. This second installment in Ruby's steampunk mystery series should enthrall fans.

Reviewer: Anastasia M. Collins | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(2) 4-6 In an alternate-reality NYC, twins Tess and Theo and neighbor Jaime hope to solve the Old York Cipher--created by the nineteenth-century inventors of the city's "mechanical wizardry"--and save their apartment building from a scheming developer. Geography, history, and steampunk-esque machines are thoroughly integrated into the thrum of a strange but recognizable city. Both mystery and sci-fi fans will eagerly anticipate the next installment.

Reviewer: Anastasia M. Collins | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2017

(2) YA Roza has disappeared; Finn alleges that she was kidnapped, but he cannot offer up a useful description of the abductor. The kidnapped-young-women trope isn't new, but such books often read like mysteries or thrillers, while this one reads more like a fable, with the matter-of-fact inclusion of magical realism. Readers will be left pondering the strange events, quirky characters, and resonant themes.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2015

(2) YA Rumors of an affair between Tola and the art teacher make her the subject of lurid talk. Though she swears Mr. Mymer never touched her, she can't bring herself to explain exactly what happened. Tola's funny and sensitive narrative is interspersed with comments from secondary characters, providing additional perspectives on a community caught in a trumped-up scandal.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2010

(4) YA Eddy is smart enough to know that what goes around comes around. But for this teen playboy/amateur movie maker, life's too short to worry about the hearts he's broken. Then he falls in love with Lucinda, who gives him a dose of his own medicine. Hip characters work hard to push at the boundaries of the story's predictable arc.

Reviewer: Lauren Maggio

(3) 4-6 Newly un-orphaned Georgie (The Wall and the Wing) lives in a world where everyone can fly but only she can turn invisible. With champion flier Bug, Georgie again finds adventure, this time battling a chaos-obsessed Punk and a revivifying book. Georgie and Bug, though substantially evolved, remain their lovably awkward thirteen-year-old selves, trying to navigate a topsy-turvy world.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(3) YA Audrey is seen as the quintessential good girl until someone photographs her having oral sex with her now-ex-boyfriend, Luke, and circulates that photo to every cell phone in the school. Shunned and ashamed, Audrey befriends the "school slut" and questions the double standards and preconceptions they both face. Shifting friendship dynamics are well drawn, as are Audrey's supportive but shocked parents.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(3) 4-6 Uprooted by her single mother yet again, this time in the dead of winter to an ancestral summer house on the New Jersey shore, thirteen-year-old Lily soon discovers that both the house and her mother's family are haunted by the past. Told from oddball perspectives, usually Lily's but sometimes one of several ghosts, this mystery is more witty than chilling, with a satisfying romantic subplot and a quirky protagonist.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn