(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Carmen Mok. Orris the rat lives a quiet, reclusive life nestled in the wall of an abandoned barn. He papers his hideaway with stories from discarded books, tends to his treasures (a slipper, a marble, a sardine can emblazoned with a jaunty, crown-wearing fish), and carefully avoids danger. When a young owl finds himself snagged in a mousetrap outside of Orris's door, the rat is faced with a moral dilemma: help the predator, risking that his favor may be repaid with violence, or ignore the owl's clear suffering from the safety of his own nest. This test of character sits at the center of an intimate, fully illustrated early chapter book. As the story is a clear variation on Aesop's "The Lion and the Mouse," the moral option may seem obvious, but DiCamillo's artful use of spare and telling detail along with Mok's attention to visual perspective in her atmospheric art give weight to the rat's decision. Orris's face-off with his admired sardine can's offbeat branding insisting that consumers "make the good and noble choice!!" adds levity. While Orris works to release the trap, a nimbly narrated conversation sets a tentative friendship in motion between Timble, an awkward, good-intentioned lover of stories, and Orris, a grumpy, lonely collector of tales. This is a tender, carefully drawn opening to a promising character-driven series.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(1) K-3 In three illustrated stories translated from Japanese, Miyakoshi introduces readers to the delightfully mundane life of the titular Little Shrew, a rodent with a daily schedule, a steady paycheck, and a Rubik's Cube. Illustrated front-matter depicts close-up views of twee interior decor (push-pinned memorabilia, a tiny notebook with a shrew-sized pencil), drawing readers into the cozy world of the protagonist. The first chapter begins with Little Shrew's daily alarm clock and ends with his reasonable bedtime; straightforward, matter-of-fact language and soft, hazy illustrations paint a day in the shrew's life, one ordinary moment at a time. The following chapters, wherein Little Shrew makes a big purchase, discovers a new dream, and hosts guests for soup and singing, feature more story, but only very slightly; the one true moment of tension arrives when a page-turn reveals that -- spoiler alert -- Little Shrew solved his Rubik's Cube. Miyakoshi's heavily textured pencil, charcoal, and gouache art is atmospheric and full of eye-catching detail that provides a rich counterpoint to the spare text. Skillfully composed images capture the oddness of the tiny rodent's existence in a human-sized world, while frequent soft-edged, rounded vignette scenes feel intimate and dreamy. Little Shrew himself is fuzzy, measured, and prone to staring (somewhat unnervingly) at readers as they look back. Equally uncanny and endearing, this is a strange slice of an extraordinary and fascinating tiny life.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) PS Sharing a cinnamon bun, watering a flower, gazing at the starry sky: these small happy moments and more make up the fabric of everyday love between children and caregivers in this appealing counting book. On each spread, a brightly painted numeral sits in the center of the verso, surrounded by delicately drawn, countable images (a single cinnamon bun, seven twinkling stars, etc.). On the opposite page, a rhyming couplet accompanies an engaging gouache and ink illustration; each vignette depicts a different child and grown-up pair absorbed in a gentle, playful interaction. The patterned text and warm, carefully composed imagery create a steady, cadenced movement from one to ten. In the final pages, before Schwartz reaches her finale -- "I love you...ten!" -- the nine children are reintroduced before they gather at the tenth child's home for a toddler party, where heart-shaped cookies are served. Adorable? Absolutely, but the late Schwartz's unfussy art style and keen eye for the tender, intimate scenes of a young child's life feel decidedly sweet rather than saccharine. This simple read is ideal for sharing in a lap with the youngest readers and pre-readers -- especially fans of Karen Katz or Meyers and Frazee's Everywhere Babies (rev. 5/01).

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(1) PS Big, bigger, or downright astronomical -- it's all relative in Willems's latest concept book. On the first page, a round-headed, stick-limbed child smiles at the reader; text opposite asks, "Are you big?" Sitting in the middle of the square, solid-colored page, the kid looks plenty large. Then, a bespectacled hot air balloon arrives, dwarfing the perplexed child; the hot air balloon is big until an oversized cloud rolls in. Each previously big figure is bumped down the line and shrinks down to barely visible specks when truly colossal celestial entities enter the scene: the moon is big and the sun bigger, but wait until you meet the star Pollux or the M100 galaxy! The same gag repeats with each and every page-turn; appealing collage-style illustrations, oversized typography, and a just-right touch of escalating absurdity keep the joke feeling fresh throughout. Careful, clever utilization of relative size and composition allows Willems to capture the magnitude of his subject matter within a petite trim size, and back matter offers numerical comparisons for readers curious to know almost exactly how many "average kids" could fit inside a galaxy cluster. This is a playful introduction to the importance of perspective that brings big laughs.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Wallace West. Three-legged Chance is at the top of the pack at Dogtown--an animal shelter where she has a glowing reputation among dogs and humans alike. She's known for quickly settling the new "boo-hoo" pups as they adjust to life without their beloved owners, and she charms the managers into letting her cozy up under the staff poker table: "She makes everyone feel like her favorite," says a shelter volunteer. Then, Chance finds herself on an unexpected adventure back in the outside world, alongside Metal Head (a quirky dog that is actually a robot) and her friend Mouse (an actual rodent). While the threesome searches for Metal Head's human family, Chance's protective poise begins to waver--just like every abandoned boo-hoo in Dogtown, Chance still harbors the painful hope that she might find a missing-dog sign with her own picture on it. Accompanied by friendly, cartoonlike halftone drawings, this canine slice-of-life adventure features a confident, affable narrator with a proclivity for doggy jargon (the cutest dogs at Dogtown get "First Cage" where they can flaunt their "Adopt-me Routine"). Short chapters and Chance's snappy narration keep the pace rolling, but Applegate and Choldenko adeptly make space for gently poignant moments along the way. An accessible, appealing romp that provides a dog's-eye view of the nature of hope, belonging, and found family.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. When a rosy-cheeked "small-footed human" visits the park, he spies a gaggle of friends showing off their playground skills--they are sports stars, reading machines, and even adept backwards-counters. Small-footed human, however, is more...0human. Running to keep up with the pack, he trips over his shoelaces, forgets how to re-tie them, and totally loses his cool. His verbal frustrations summon an unlikely support team to his side: a Yeti and his close relations Sasquatch, Bigfoot, and the Abominable Snow Monster, all ready to help the protagonist back onto his feet with some friendly growth-mindset wisdom. With loosely drawn limbs and toothy grins, the fuzzy quartet bounds around the park demonstrating the punnily identified "Power of Yeti"--as in, when asked to high-five a Sasquatch, remind yourself that you're "not tall enough...YETi!" The ambling cryptids assure their small-footed friend that their own skills--in everything from basketball to ballet—developed with time, practice, and persistence. Van Slyke's bubbly narrative and Karas's ever-smiling figures paint the acquisition of social-emotional skills in a perhaps-too-rosy glow, but the straightforward presentation makes for a practicable introduction that will make even the biggest and hairiest challenges seem more approachable.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(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) YA In this stark and searing sort-of love story, two Pakistani American teens living in a California desert town struggle to choose connection over isolation when family crises strike. Salahudin--artsy, aimless, and anxious--feels the weight of the pressures posed by his sick mother, his alcoholic father, and the crumbling motel they own, which barely pays the bills. His ambitious and science-minded estranged childhood friend, Noor, needs a hefty scholarship to escape the domineering uncle with whom she lives, but gets rejections instead. Through chapters that alternate between their first-person perspectives, Sal and Noor tell intertwining stories of their urgent attempts to steer their own lives without support from family or their majority-white community. Sal's mother--whose potent flashbacks of her immigration when she was young are interspersed throughout--is a reliable model of faith and optimism for both teens; her sudden death at first draws Sal and Noor closer, but grief and guilt soon lead Sal to a cascade of risky, tension-raising decisions that threaten their futures. While some descriptive language, especially dreamy Sal's, borders on melodramatic, the tight focus on each teen's emotional experience reveals a rich layering of determination, trauma, anger, and integrity underneath their raw reactions. This is a brutal depiction of the toll taken on some young marginalized and working-class people trying to conquer the odds; watching Sal's and Noor's devastating loneliness finally give way to glimmers of hope is both satisfying and affecting.

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

(3) 4-6 First Names series. Illustrated by Tom Knight. This illustrated chapter-book biography traces the life of young Greta Thunberg from outraged eight-year-old to powerhouse teen activist while also introducing the politics, history, and science surrounding her impassioned cause of slowing global climate change. Thunberg's life story captures the significant physical and emotional toll that global warming enacted on her childhood, as well as her success in harnessing her personal strengths to influence global decision-makers. Ample comic-style line drawings lighten the tone and clarify complex concepts. When cartoon Greta speaks directly--through speech bubbles and with Thunberg's signature intense gaze--readers will feel the urgency for both understanding and immediate action. A timeline of important dates in Thunberg's life (so far), glossary, bibliography, and index are appended.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(2) YA Charlotte--a dreamy, tenacious eighteen-year-old from Seattle--thinks she has what it takes to become an author: largely, "the will and intention of an artist." When she's awarded a scholarship to attend a workshop in Venice led by her novelist idol, literary darling Luca Bruni, Charlotte jumps at the opportunity to develop her craft, make powerful connections, and research her ancestor, sixteenth-century Venetian poet Isabella di Angelo. Sumptuous descriptions bring the cityscape to life as Charlotte basks in both Venice's haunting beauty and (at least at first) Bruni's intoxicating presence; on the side, a cute local-history scholar helps her uncover more about Isabella's fate. Close narration keeps Charlotte's shifting feelings of wonder, enlightenment, and vulnerability at the forefront; the third-person perspective allows readers to see clearly what Charlotte cannot admit about her teacher's predatorily flirtatious behavior toward students. The tension breaks when Bruni turns his attention to Charlotte, and she must finally face the truth about him. The fallout from his advances shatters her literary fantasies and she quits the program, but a discovery about Isabella's history draws Charlotte back to Venice--on her own terms--for a quietly triumphant conclusion. Caletti (A Heart in a Body in the World, rev. 11/18; Girl, Unframed, rev. 9/20) weaves the lives of these two striving artists together with an expert hand, with chapter headers profiling dozens of real-life, little-known, subjugated female writers from Isabella's era, highlighting parallels in women's--especially female creative artists'--stories throughout history.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ibon Adarne & Rachel Yew. An early-twentieth-century eco-advocate and an abundant natural wonderland come to life in this picture-book biography. Patterned, poetic language tells two intertwining stories: the first of Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890–1998), a journalist who used poetry, literature, and on-the-ground activism to prevent development of the Florida Everglades; the second of the Everglades themselves, a "trickle of water" that, over generations, became the sprawling home to nine different habitats. Striking jewel-toned illustrations capture the grandeur of the Everglades' ecological landscape, as well as show off the myriad critters that live there. A tribute to the remarkable persistence of an unconventional centenarian and the wetlands she advocated for and adored. Four concluding pages provide information about some of the Everglades' flora and fauna, more about Douglas, ideas for readers to help, and sources.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lian Cho. The simple act of welcoming friends and neighbors takes the spotlight in this heartening picture book. Donovan's feather-light rhyming couplets trail over and through each watercolor and colored-pencil illustration, her words ("Dear neighbor, come in. // No stranger dwells here; I greet you as kin") a gentle incantation. Cho's vibrant illustrations--most featuring delicious-looking family meals that span countries and cultures--alternate perspectives playfully; one image, for example, closes in on a crowded family table, and the next pans out to a double-page spread showing backlit windows in a sunset skyline. Inviting scenes are peppered with hand-lettered welcomes in different languages along with a pronunciation guide. Source notes and further reading suggestions make this an informative, inviting read.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(3) K-3 Raised in the mid-1800s by an outdoorsy father and astronomer mother ("It was quite unusual for a woman to study science in those days"), Florence Merriam Bailey grew up "surrounded by trees" and drawn to the birds that flew among them. As an adult, her compassion compelled her to launch protests against the killing of birds for fashion, sport, or study, all the while becoming a leading ornithologist herself. Appealingly textured mixed-media collage illustrations place a maturing Florence against vast double-page spreads of sky, forest, and city; the playful use of perspective depicts her as a small but steady presence among grander ecosystems. This is a bright and accessible introduction to a woman whose quiet advocacy left a lasting impact, complete with easy suggestions for budding birders and environmentalists to follow in Bailey's observant footsteps. An author's note and resource list are appended.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Raúl Colón. Lady Liberty's torch reassures immigrants from around the world and across time in this inclusive, celebratory picture book. Engle's spare, rhythmic text paints the immigrant experience in broad strokes, identifying emotional themes--courage, pride, and identity--that many travelers share. Colón's illustrations are more specific; his richly saturated, evocatively textured images capture expressive faces of families fleeing war and disaster, then practicing their skills and exercising new freedoms across the United States. A spread depicting a classroom acknowledges the United States' complicated socio-political history--specifically the seizure of Native American and Mexican land and chattel slavery; the page turn is abrupt, but the message essential. This lyrical and thought-provoking read-aloud is both welcoming and honest.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(2) YA Joel Teague--an affable, self-deprecating teen living in 1990s Michigan--is at a crossroads. After years spent in and out of inpatient psychiatric care following an unspecified "Bad Thing That Happened," Joel is now seventeen and long past his last flare-up. When his therapist prescribes a part-time job, Joel gets hired at ROYO Video. There, he takes the Star Wars–inspired nickname Solo and, with it, the chance to reinvent himself as "Normal"--as long as he keeps his history secret from his gaggle of quirky, cinematically pseudonymed young coworkers. In this pop culture–heavy period piece, Solo narrates his own halting, sometimes misguided emotional coming of age with an earnest, immediate voice. His friendship with Baby--a tough, straightforward, pregnant colleague standing at her own crossroads--becomes both a safe haven from his increasingly difficult parents and a proving ground for his complex relationships with others: for example, when she pushes him to examine his behavior around a gay coworker with a crush on him, and around his troubled but alluring boss. The ­lingering, ­often-alluded-to mystery of Solo's past casts an uneasy tension over his social wins and losses. The traumatic story he eventually reveals is neither tidy nor redeeming, but ­neither, Solo learns, is life--even for Normal people. Authentically flawed characters and imperfect connections add heft to this bittersweet workplace dramedy.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(1) YA Drawing on her experience growing up in 1990s Brooklyn, debut author Velasquez paints a complex portrait of a strong-voiced teen in this compelling verse novel. Sarai, thirteen when the story begins, is poised to be the first person in her family to "make it"--to reach her potential, finish school, and leave Bushwick someday. But Sarai is skeptical: "If we can't take no one with us? / Isn't that just running away from everything that / made us?" The candid, clear-eyed poetry contains powerful inquiries about her diasporic Nuyorican identity and canny observations about the endemic social and racial inequities that surround her. As Sarai moves on to high school, her single mami shuffles their family from address to address, and the refrigerator is rarely full. Sarai and others in her family have unintended pregnancies, which bring complications including postpartum depression. Frank, provocatively titled poems chronicle the family's struggles ("We're Sorry the Welfare Office Is Closed and Will Reopen When You Have No Bus Fare to Get Here"), while others capture everyday joys with a buoyant, electric energy ("If Being Boricua in Brooklyn Is a Feeling--It's the Best Kind"). Together, these vignettes capture Sarai's multilayered, heart-rending, and hopeful coming of age. An afterword identifies those poems written in conversation with works by Cisneros, Woodson, Mariposa, and other greats.

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

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg. Evie's newest neighbors have just arrived from another country, "in such a rush." At her parents' encouragement, Evie introduces herself to young Bimi while her family helps his family move in. Their neighbor, Mrs. Monroe, casts judgmental looks out her window--Mrs. Monroe immigrated, too, Evie's parents reveal, so why can't she be more sympathetic? Stylized, collage-like illustrations pair images of Evie and Bimi in everyday scenes--like dining with their families, waving from bedroom windows, and sharing treasured toys. When Evie's family brings over spare furniture, a diverse chain of welcoming neighbors follows suit; the resulting impromptu dinner party is enough to crack Mrs. Monroe's shell. This warm slice-of-life story is a gentle lesson in empathy.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(2) YA In this slow-burn romance novel told from alternating perspectives, McGovern (Say What You Will, rev. 7/14; A Step Toward Falling, rev. 9/15) introduces another pair of disparate teens who forge an unlikely connection, this time over a shared experience with chronic illness. Jamie, homeschooled for most of her life, feels isolated after her father's suicide and her own hospitalization for depression. Then she meets and befriends David, the senior-class president, while she is volunteering at the hospital. At school, David is a celebrity, but at the hospital, he is a cystic fibrosis patient grappling with a dire prognosis. The two divulge their nerdy interests (for Jamie, old movies; for David, ballroom dancing), exchange gently flirtatious emails, and share deep thoughts over origami. Their conversations are notably forthright; they approach difficult topics--such as the stigma of hidden illness, impossible expectations from friends and family, and the intersections of mental and physical health--from sensitive and age-appropriate perspectives. The thrill of intimacy inspires despondent David to seize control of his increasingly limited life, but when he enlists Jamie to sneak him out of the hospital, disaster ensues. The subsequent cascade of consequences veers toward melodrama (for example, David hovers over his body in a coma dream for a few chapters), but the resolution, like the teens' relationship, unfolds carefully, without sugarcoating, and feels genuinely earned.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(2) YA In a near-future America, Opal Hopper, a senior at a school for high-achieving hackers and coders, enters a contest on the virtual reality platform WAVE. Winning would launch her tech career and introduce her to WAVE's reclusive founder, who might help her find her missing father. The richly inventive digital landscape is a dizzying acceleration of today's internet environment. High-stakes ethical tech dilemmas, trolls, sexual harassers, and corporate manipulation keep the tension simmering.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Qin Leng. A clueless panda bear and a wandering kite interrupt a series of unfriendly animals in this mostly wordless book. Loose ink and watercolor illustrations capture panda's missteps in sequential images; as the protagonist topples a pangolin's drum and disrupts a raccoon's game, the offended animals only point out what is "mine" and what is "yours." This visually appealing animal story gently reinforces the importance of community.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald