(4) 4-6 In late-eighteenth-century rural Pennsylvania, Hannah, a Quaker, and Eugenie, a young French noblewoman, make an unlikely pair; they bond in risking their lives to help several escaped slaves. Alternating chapters depict both girls' points of view and reveal the characters' growth. Though the writing is inexpert, the book lends an interesting perspective. An author's note explains the real-life inspiration. Bib.

Reviewer: April Mazza

(4) YA Summering with her snooty relatives in 1926 Excelsior, Minnesota, sixteen-year-old aspiring ornithologist Garnet falls in love with dazzling flapper Isabella. The narrative voice is oddly prescriptive and analytical (her cousin's confession of debt leaves Garnet reflecting "now there was an interesting complexity to her character"), but the uniqueness of the story's setting and plot offset the clunkiness of its telling.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) YA Calli is having trouble getting along with Cherish, the foster child her moms have welcomed into the family home. When an argument between the girls escalates into a physical altercation, Cherish is taken to a juvenile center. Calli feels guilty and wonders if it's too late to clear the air. Though her introspection weighs down the plot, Calli's redemption is rewarding (if not suprising).

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(3) YA This companion to Discovering Pig Magic is narrated by budding chef Ariel; her crew of friends is rounded out by M and Nicki. When M moves in with Ariel to finish school, all doesn't go well. Readers will root for the friends to drop the silent treatment and make up. A recipe to match Ariel's mood finishes each chapter.

Reviewer: Sophie Williamson

(3) 4-6 Home life is difficult for Sebby. Escape is made easier after he discovers the "Hole in the Wall," a mysterious natural oasis practically in his backyard. When strange things start happening in his mining community, he and his sister, Barbie, look for answers. This imaginative and fast-paced story is bolstered by Sebby's unique narrative voice.

Reviewer: Pearl Higgins

(3) YA Lyza's family lives quietly in a Maine cove village. Pater carves sculptures of the dead and launches them out to sea while Mater sews dresses; Lyza has no artistic skills, no gift for creating. When Mater dies in the 1918 influenza pandemic, Lyza must keep Pater from an asylum. This dark, chilling supernatural tale leads readers beyond the boundaries of this world.

Reviewer: Nancy Hull

(4) YA Fifteen-year-old Manz starts the summer working on a ranch, dreaming of other places, and coping with his mother's drinking. But he quickly spirals into a confusing medley of hallucinations and paranoia, as schizophrenia takes over his mind. Manz's family history provides an intriguing backdrop, but his mounting delusions seem too neatly constructed and the resolution isn't entirely satisfying.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Charles Robinson. In this sentimental Caribbean-set fantasy, lonely cow Floramel and lazy bird Esteban become friends through a shared interest in music. Esteban helps his friend realize her dream, and Floramel's surprise success makes her a "national treasure." The volume is text-heavy, but expressive black-and-white art also gives the animals great character through minimal line strokes and careful crosshatching.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(4) 4-6 Kyna's terrified of water; her family drowned during a storm, and only she survived. It isn't easy for her to spend a summer near a lake, even with her adoptive parents' tales of silkies (seal/human creatures that protect swimmers) to comfort her. The story's lyricism, though smooth, slows the plot, and the secret is obvious, but the Irish folklore element adds interest.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) 4-6 Translated by Anna Brailovsky. After running away from an abusive stepfather, Niner teams up with con-man Cosmos. Together they hatch a scheme to get to the seaside; this includes selling Niner's guardian angel to a woman in a bar. The events of Niner's life are revealed through plain writing and understated details. Richter's spare story, set against a background of poverty and homelessness, is part fairy tale, part urban parable.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2009

(3) 4-6 From a nine-year-old's snippet of a poem ("You may think / I am a shadow, / But inside / I am a sun") to a Mexican teenager's bilingual verse about crossing the border into the United States, this collection of poetry is both beautiful and mature. Well-chosen and effectively varied children's art is an additional draw.

Reviewer: Chelsey Philpot

(3) 4-6 Matilda (a.k.a. Mattie or Miss M.), newly thirteen, navigates middle school with her best friends, Ariel and Nicki, by her side. After performing a "magic" ritual, though, things go wrong: Mattie's mom's agoraphobia worsens, Nicki's baby brother gets sick, and Ariel betrays Mattie (or does she?). The friends' troubles, some life-alteringly serious, others less so, are delicately and thoughtfully explored.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) YA Korean American Lauren has been saving money to have her eyes surgically altered to look more Caucasian. No one knows about her plan--especially not her father, who is still grieving the loss of Lauren's mother and keeping a few secrets of his own. While the topic and the story are compelling, the story's resolution, coming after Lauren's believably explored self-doubt, feels too easy.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(3) 4-6 Katy Sue Hanson and her family cope with the unexpected death of Katy Sue's mother by taking care of the farm and one another. The arrival of Aunt Katherine brings further change, as she and Katy Sue's father gradually fall in love. Each person searches for his or her own definition of family--and love--in this gentle story set in 1940s Iowa.

Reviewer: Juliet S. King

(4) 4-6 As Brown v. Board of Education is being argued in court, Silvy must confront bigotry closer to home: "Hughes Springs, Texas, does its level best to keep me and Mabelee apart," she thinks about her relationship with her African American best friend. The slice-of-life narrative can lose focus at times, but dialogue helps lend brutal authenticity to the tale.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) 4-6 Translated by Anna Brailovsky. Illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner. In this strange tale, young Christine befriends a talking cat. The cat gives her advice--sometimes sage, mostly mystifying--as they contemplate eternity. Imaginative strong-lined black, white, gray, and yellow illustrations that play with perspective and proportion act as breaks between the episodic chapters, adding to the sophisticated air of a story best suited to budding philosophers.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) 4-6 Translated by Anna Brailovsky. Illustrated by Quint Buchholz. In this quiet, affecting story, Daniel and Lucas's mother is dying of cancer, and their best friend, Anna (the story's narrator), comes to understand that all of their lives will be forever changed. The children's reactions to their first experience with death are heartbreakingly realistic, as their emotional struggles are reflected by their summertime quest to catch an elusive pike.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) 4-6 Donovan serves as the family emissary to his brusque uncle and deathly ill aunt for a summer. The twelve-year-old grows more self-reliant as he confronts the emotional challenges of his uncle's criminal past and his aunt's dying. Multiple subplots--involving racism, estrangement, loyalty, and bonding--weigh down the novel.

Reviewer: Hilary Breed Van Dusen

(3) YA Stunned by her father's death and her mother's inability to cope, thirteen-year-old Isabelle develops bulimia as a way to gain some control in her life. Isabelle's mother quickly finds out and forces Isabelle into group therapy to face her behavior. Realistic description and dialogue and sincerely portrayed emotions deliver a strong message about self-image and family.

Reviewer: Lauren Maggio

(3) 4-6 Abandoned by her parents during the Depression, MaryJake Wildsmith is mistaken for a boy and decides to adopt that persona. As "Jake Smith," she finds a home with a Civil War widow, earns money selling bottles to a moonshiner, and learns the truth about her parentage. The conclusion may be too good to be true, but the novel, like its heroine, is so sweet-natured that most readers won't mind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta