(2) K-3 Illustrated by April Chu. We open on a carnival barker ushering turn-of-the-twentieth-century crowds into a room whose walls are lined with metal and glass boxes. A farmer pulls a tiny baby out of a hatbox and asks for help saving his newborn child. In a remarkable true story, Moss introduces Dr. Martin Couney, a doctor with a flair for showmanship who used expositions and eventually the Coney Island Boardwalk to build public trust for a new idea that could save "doomed to die" premature babies: "warming boxes," or incubators. Moss's text depicts a deeply empathetic man who uses his flair for the dramatic to give babies from all kinds of backgrounds a fighting chance, and who eventually uses the skills he learned to care for his own premature infant. Chu's illustrations, sketched in muted browns and greens with an occasional carnival pop of color, have an old-timey charm full of detailed period dress and very appealing itty-bitty babies. (Unfortunately, the endpapers show sideshow performers without any context, treating them as something to gawk at in the same way these sideshow circuses did.) An author's note offers additional information about Dr. Couney and a list of suggested readings.

Reviewer: Laura Koenig | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(4) K-3 Dive into Reading series. Illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez. Follow finds map-loving Pablo leading his pals on a day trip to Coney Island via city bus and subway. In Buddy, Padma helps decorate a "buddy bench" for classmates in need of friends. The story lines are somewhat bland, but the always-helpful group of friends, illustrated with a variety of skin tones in Ng-Benitez's cheery digitally altered watercolor pictures, is warmly portrayed. Review covers these Dive into Reading titles: The Buddy Bench and Follow That Map!

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) K-3 Kheiriyeh bases her entertaining, heartfelt story on memories of family outings to the beach. Narrator Rashin compares the (sex-segregated) beach in her birthplace of Iran to her new beach in Brooklyn; she especially misses her best friend and saffron ice cream. A sensory text evokes the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes experienced along the journey from each home to the beach. The textured oil and acrylic illustrations are bright and colorful, with context-setting touches.

Reviewer: Aishah Abdul-Musawwir | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(4) YA The conflict between humans and intelligent sea creatures called Alphas reaches its climax in this trilogy-closer (Undertow; Raging Sea). Half-mermaid Lyric, now an accused terrorist, tries to exonerate herself in the human world while preparing to defend it from a new monster threat. Lyric is a determined, compelling heroine, but the book sometimes gets lost in its own mythology as its world expands.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(3) 4-6 Nora uses a secret to blackmail her cousin Riley into riding a roller coaster with her, and Riley suffers a stroke due to an undiagnosed heart condition. Nora's first-person narration explores her guilt and the complex family dynamics that unfold as Riley recovers. Well-drawn characters and authentic details make this a compelling read. Footnotes, mostly explaining medical terms, aren't totally necessary but do add clarity.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(4) YA After Coney Island was ravaged by sea creatures (Undertow), half-mermaid Lyric, fleeing human authorities, searches for the facility where her parents are imprisoned--and then must escape from it herself. Moral questions surrounding how enemies are defined and fought deepen the world-building, but this middle volume spends more time resolving past conflicts and setting up new ones than developing its own arc.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(3) PS In their third adventure (Little Elliot, Big City; Little Elliot, Big Family), petite, polka-dotted elephant Little Elliot and friend Mouse visit the Coney Island boardwalk. The nostalgic soft-hued illustrations--pencil on paper with digital color--manage also to convey timid Elliot's fears, which at last dissolve with a spectacular Ferris wheel ride and a sweet renewal of friendship.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ted Papoulas. A family savors a day at Coney Island: the thrill of the roller coaster, the ocean, fireworks. But only the boy can hear them--his parents are deaf. He struggles to describe sounds to his dad; afraid his words are inadequate, he goes to the library. Lush, realistic paintings evoke 1930s Brooklyn and this family's love. A personal author's note adds emotional resonance.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) YA Lyric Walker has a secret: she's half-mermaid. When her Coney Island community is inundated with thousands of sentient sea creatures and six young Alphas integrate her high school, the town turns into a war zone. Lyric desperately tries to hide her nature--but falls for Alpha prince Fathom. The premise strains credulity, but the suspense is well sustained and Lyric is appealingly tough.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) K-3 A mom takes her son to Coney Island for a birthday surprise. Die-cut holes in the pages offer another surprise: each flip of the page reveals oronyms and a clever picture switch: e.g., "An Ice Man" becomes "A Nice Man" while balloons become ice-cream scoops. Graphic illustrations in red-orange, teal, gold, brown, and ivory recreate a retro amusement park/boardwalk setting.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) 1-3 Magic Tree House series. Illustrated by Sal Murdocca. Siblings Jack and Annie are off on two more time-traveling adventures for Merlin the Magician. They journey to mid-nineteenth-century Egypt in search of Florence Nightingale in High Time and to Coney Island at the turn of the last century in Houdini. The series' formula, which blends magic, adventure, sibling dynamics, and history, is successful in these fiftieth and fifty-first installments. Review covers these Magic Tree House titles: High Time for Heroes and Hurry Up, Houdini!

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Valeria Docampo. In this third installment, fourth grader Penelope Crumb worries about "the Bad Luck." Desperately wanting to drive the Bad Luck away, she gets into trouble assisting a retired Coney Island fortuneteller. The first-person narrative magnifies the wacky humor of Penelope's unique observations and phrasings, and readers can compare her (not-always-reliable) perspective with that shown in the occasional spot art.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2013

(3) YA Illustrated by Andrea Offermann. Jin, a Chinese immigrant skilled with fireworks, unites with Coney Island gambler Sam; both find creative ways to fight the sinister magic woven into the corruption in and around 1870s New York City. Detailed line drawings reflect the mingling of fantasy and historical fiction in this riveting good-versus-evil, stand-alone prequel to The Boneshaker.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) YA Jane, her brother, and their father move back to the Coney Island home in which her mother, who died when Jane was young, grew up. She's befriended by a group of sideshow carny teens, including "goth dwarf" Babette and handsome, mysterious, heavily tattooed Leo, both fighting against encroaching gentrification. Altebrando's wistful narrative reads like a warts-and-all love letter to Coney Island.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Johanna van der Sterre. When Feivel the woodcarver immigrates to America, he finds a job fashioning wooden carousel horses. To assuage his anguish over leaving his family behind, he imbues each creature with characteristics of one of his loved ones. Watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations complement a text that presents more a picture of the past than the development of a character or story.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn