(1) 1-3 Henry series. Illustrated by Mika Song. In his second early-chapter-book outing (Henry, like Always, rev. 3/23), Henry -- a sensitive child who presents as being on the autism spectrum -- is ambivalent about a field trip to the natural history museum. "Henry was excited. Everyone in Classroom Ten would ride the bus to the museum. Henry was also worried. Everyone in Classroom Ten would ride the bus to the museum." Despite his concerns, Henry is looking forward to the dinosaur exhibit. When Samuel's dad (a field trip helper) asks Henry's group of three what they'd like to see, "'Dinosaurs!' said Henry. But he forgot to say it out loud." Each of his attempts to make his voice heard is inadvertently thwarted, and Henry patiently accompanies his group to the rock, bug, and mummy displays. Song's loosely rendered, limited-palette watercolor and ink illustrations telegraph emotion and deepen meaning for newly independent readers. When Henry eventually shouts "DINOSAURS!" the accompanying illustration makes clear his frustration, along with his classmates' bemused reactions. They finally find the dinosaur room (after getting a bit lost), and Henry's absolute joy is palpable. Bailey's relatable characters, familiar scenarios, and gentle humor make this a remarkably satisfying read...whether you embrace the new or not.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(1) 4-6 In his third graphic-novel outing (New Kid, rev. 1/19; Class Act, rev. 11/20), thirteen-year-old Jordan Banks no longer sees himself as the new kid at elite Riverdale Academy Day School; he's the "new and improved" kid ("Jordan 2.0"), and he has a big decision to make: continue at RAD or go to art school. He wants to pursue art, but he's afraid of having to start all over again. First, though, he and his friends are going on a class trip to Paris--along with nemesis Andy. This book by Coretta Scott King and Newbery Award–winning author Craft effectively uses brightly colored panels, speech bubbles, dialogue, and black-and-white sketchbook pages to portray the challenges of an overseas school trip for Black students as well as of this diverse group of students as a whole in navigating a new city and their own relationships. When one of the friends finally confronts Andy about years of verbal torture, the tone of the trip changes, and the students, including Andy, begin to take responsibility for how they want to be treated and how they treat one another, returning home with renewed commitment to making Riverdale a good school for everyone. Pair this with Santat's graphic-memoir treatment of a similar European trip, A First Time for Everything (rev. 1/23).

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023

(2) YA Santat, Caldecott winner for The Adventures of Beekle, shares his own adventures in this graphic memoir that focuses on a trip to Europe the summer before high school. He dispenses with his fraught middle-school years in two emotionally charged opening scenes: a humiliating speech and a disastrous party. The heart of the story is the life-changing three-week school trip, which his parents see as an opportunity: "We never got to do this when we were kids. You should feel lucky!" But for thirteen-year-old Dan, being invisible is his best coping strategy, and the trip forces him reluctantly out of his comfort zone. The visual narrative sticks to Dan's perspective, and his growth is treated with empathy and humor. This is Santat at his best: his signature palette emphasizing muted greens, browns, and nighttime shades; a variety of vertical and horizontal panels (many with no words or only sound effects and speech bubbles); and the spare text supporting the lively visuals. That summer may have been his first chance to see the cultural treasures of Europe, but for Dan it was other firsts that made indelible impressions--first Fanta (and first beer); first girlfriend; and, thus, first broken heart. Readers see Europe's landmarks, but they're background to the book's human dramas. Back matter includes an author's note and a "Recreating Old Memories" section.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(2) YA Shang finds the right blend of serious and comedic in this novel about friendship, grief, and tween romance. Musical theater fan Chloe Wong, still grieving the loss of her mother, an ER doctor who died from COVID-19, yearns to attend her middle school's Broadway trip, but she's afraid her widowed inventor father cannot afford the $375 ticket. Determined to pay her way to New York City, Chloe (with best friend Sabrina's help) brainstorms money-making ideas involving the Tea Palace, where her show tune–hating classmate/sometimes crush, Henry, happens to work. Several screwball events ensue when Chloe gets banned from the tea shop after confronting the local mean girl and eventually starts her own bubble tea business with help from friends and family. (Foodies will enjoy the detailed descriptions of the flavors and bubble tea–making process.) Some of the novel's strongest passages are also the most heartfelt: those focusing on Chloe missing her mother, the kindness Henry shows Chloe, and the epiphany our protagonist reaches at the end. "The house was never going to be like it was with Mom, but we could still have love, just a different kind, with different people and creatures. And happiness. And mistakes."

Reviewer: Michelle Lee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) K-3 Translated by Lawrence Schimel. Illustrated by Juan Palomino. A young teacher (unnamed in the text) sets off to her remote school assignment in the Amazon armed with determination and a precious box of books. Her students warn her of the coming "great serpent" and run out of class one day; she grudgingly follows them but thinks they need to learn that legends aren't real. When she watches the serpent of mud caused by heavy rains and a rising river sweep away the school and her books, she begins to understand why she should have taken the students seriously. Adults share with the teacher their practice of embroidering images of legends and creating cloth books, which allows them to replenish the school library and inspires the teacher to create new lessons and learn the community's indigenous language. Straightforward prose and intentionally vague characterization present the story as a fable with encouraging lessons about the importance of cultural exchange and the power of nature. Intricate, digitally rendered spreads in shades of teal, orange, and green are filled with images that blend the natural and the legendary.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) K-3 Hare's (Field Trip to the Moon, rev. 9/19; Field Trip to the Ocean Deep, rev. 9/20) third wordless excursion brings us to a volcanically active island. Once the lava suit–clad kids and their teacher land, they waste no time getting right to exploring the tumultuous topography; however, one student seems more interested in collecting flowers than examining the terrain. When a breeze scatters the student's floral collection down into the volcano's crater, an ill-advised attempt at retrieval leaves the child stranded at the bottom--reinforced visually by a series of tall, narrow panels. A thrilling sequence follows, featuring a monstrous hand reaching toward the unsuspecting child...thankfully revealed (upon the page-turn) to belong to a charming lava monster with its family. In an action movie–level rescue, the teacher rappels from a helicopter to scoop up the missing student. The adventure stays in constant motion, propelled by brisk pacing and varied panel layouts. Hare's acrylic illustrations are textural and dynamic yet maintain a cartoonlike quality, thanks to solid character outlines and expressive body language. Fans of this robust, whimsical world of student-adventurers can only wonder--where to next?

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(1) 4-6 The final installment of the trilogy (beginning with Merci Suárez Changes Gears, rev. 9/18) opens at the start of eighth grade, with Merci disappointed not to be assigned any classes with her close friends. She does have homeroom with some soccer teammates, but will these popular girls want to be friends with her off the field? Merci worries about her family, her grandfather Lolo's failing health, and her changing feelings for Wilson; but she also has plenty to look forward to, including soccer tryouts and the eighth-grade sleepaway field trip. When the soccer girls ask if she wants to be their fourth roommate on the trip, Merci, tempted by the invitation, fails to tell them she has already agreed to room with her friends, which puts everyone in an uncomfortable situation. This story's strength lies in the authenticity of Merci's character and her refreshingly sincere responses to the world around her, even and especially when self-conscious or misguided. Her home among her Cuban American family may not always be the refuge she wants, but it is full of love, support, Cuban traditions, and, occasionally, something delicious made by or with Abuela. There are subtle indications throughout that suggest what dreams Merci and other characters might pursue in the future, and the book closes on a note of promise as Merci leads her team out onto the field for their first game.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022

(2) 4-6 The incoming eighth-grade Spanish students from Ellen Katz's Georgia prep school take a summer field trip to Barcelona. Ellen, who is autistic, is sometimes overwhelmed by the surprises the trip presents, starting with an unexpected team scavenger hunt. Several parts of the experience lead Ellen to realize that identity isn't always clear-cut, from her father's choice to eat non-kosher food while he's chaperoning to a teammate's use of they/them pronouns. Ellen is a satisfyingly well-rounded character with complex relationships who makes mistakes and learns from them. She figures things out about herself, including trying out an adjustment to her--or maybe sometimes their--own pronouns. The presence of multiple queer characters allows for a variety of feelings toward what to share and how big a deal being queer is or isn't. The amazing-to-imagine (if unlikely for most readers) school trip provides an appealing backdrop, but it is the story's interpersonal aspects that are especially welcome.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) YA Unlike her younger sister, Lulu, Milagro has never cared about college. So she's not thrilled to learn that she'll be joining Lulu on their Catholic school's annual spring break field trip, visiting schools across the country. Lulu dreams of going to college far from their Baltimore home like the girls' oldest sister, Clara. She is scheduled to interview for an internship at Stanford, but their mother wants Lulu to stay closer by. On the trip, the sisters attend classes and club meetings, sneak out to parties--and fight with each other. When they discover that Clara has been lying to them, Lulu ditches the trip to look for her, which ultimately brings the three siblings together for an honest conversation. Alternating chapters fully develop Lulu's and Milagro's distinct personalities; they have different interests and priorities, but their admiration and love for each other is clear. The experience also inspires them to reimagine their futures: Milagro considers college as a possibility, while Lulu pursues the internship--and romance, too. (Her relationship with Leo, her assigned trip partner who shares and appreciates her intelligence, is a highlight.) Details from their lives as a family of Peruvian American women add depth to this story of sisterhood and self-discovery.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) K-3 Magic School Bus series. Illustrated by Bruce Degen. Ms. Frizzle's latest adventure (published posthumously for Cole, alas) takes her class, joined by newcomer Bo who's visiting from China, back 3.5 billion years in Earth's history, then forward through the path of human evolution. Before they board the bus, the students present their own family trees, bridging that familiar concept to "the family tree of the whole human race." Then the antics begin, with the characters taking on the shapes of life forms of increasing complexity across the timeline, from single- and multi-celled organisms through fish, amphibians, reptiles, and primates. Extra time is spent on early and modern human species, including the development of culture and language. A helpful graphic appears every few pages to mark progress through geologic time. As always, the cheerful illustrations pack in entire subtexts: humorous speech-bubble dialogue among the classmates and numerous facts contained in reports and other visual asides. Additional explanations of the evidence for evolution and how natural selection works are appended.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) PS Hare's follow-up to Field Trip to the Moon (rev. 9/19) again features a compelling setting, a not-too-scary adventure, and immersive illustrations. This wordless story begins on the book's wraparound cover, with a group of students heading to a bulbous deep-sea bus for a field trip to the ocean floor. Once anchored, the diving suit–clad students embark on a teacher-guided tour past bioluminescent squids, hydrothermal vents, and pillow lava; however, one student is more interested in taking photos than attending class. A dilapidated shipwreck and an ominously positioned treasure chest make for a great photo but result in the young photographer's tumble to the bottom of a trench. A confluence of events quickly unfolds through a series of dramatically arranged panels and spreads, including the child being stranded, discovering the ruins of an ancient city, and encountering a giant pliosaur. (Viewers will recognize the prehistoric creature from earlier in the story, as it was skillfully hidden on nearly every previous page.) A potentially frightening scenario is tempered by the pliosaur's endearing grin and desire for a photo shoot--leading to the inadvertent collapse of the ruins. The newfound friends quickly rebuild the ruins before the errant student and classmates reunite. The appealing acrylic illustrations are painterly and impressively atmospheric, and exhibit a strong command of spot lighting; fans of the previous field-trip story will be pleased to see allusions to it, including character cameos and a glimpse of the space bus.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(2) K-3 Henry and Bea are best friends until, seemingly for no reason, Henry withdraws. "What did I do?" Bea asks. "Just leave me alone," Henry answers. Finally, on a field trip Bea discovers the reason--Henry's beloved cat has died. Bagley (Boats for Papa) controls pacing and tempo through a mix of vignettes and full-bleed spreads. A welcome addition to books about grief; believable and affirming in its acknowledgment of friendship's ups and downs.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2019

(1) K-3 In this playful wordless book, spacesuit-clad students arrive on the moon for a field trip. One child hangs back, finds a hidden spot to draw...and falls asleep. Stranded but self-possessed, the student soon has company: one-eyed moon creatures with whom the child shares some crayons. This sly but easy-to-follow linear narrative is told through a well-paced mix of panels and full- and double-page illustrations, with highly effective pops of color.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(2) K-3 In Flight School, Penguin left the South Pole to chase his dream of flying. Here, Penguin misses his old pals and heads home, eager to introduce his colony to the joys of flying. Their reluctance grounds Penguin's enthusiasm until he realizes that he must be true to himself, even if it means being different from his friends. Judge's upbeat pencil and watercolor illustrations are as energetic as her main character.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) 4-6 Six months ago, evil interdimensional aliens called the Old Ones kidnapped Nikola's father (A Problematic Paradox). Now Nikola has settled into her new life at the Plaskington International Laboratory School of Scientific Research and Technological Advancement, alongside parahuman classmates and fellow uber-intelligent humans. Sappingfield balances the heavy stuff with plenty of humor, dishing up inventive sci-fi fare with a whopping side of silliness

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Steve Björkman. Twitch the squirrel returns in his third book, this time wreaking havoc at the science museum. On the advice of science-savvy classroom geckos, Twitch stows away on a field-trip bus. Once at the museum, he faces dangers such as animatronic dinosaurs, a revolving postcard display rack, a remote-control Mars Rover model, a Foucault pendulum, and more--with hilarious results. Plentiful black-and-white illustrations depict the mayhem.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) YA Seventeen-year-old introvert Tom's misgivings about his school trip to Costa Rica seem justified when the plane they're on crashes, killing everyone but Tom and a handful of classmates. Interpersonal dynamics combined with a richly drawn, dangerous landscape make for a suspenseful and emotionally intense survival narrative.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(3) K-3 The titular half-shark, half-dog pet (Shark Dog!) is back and making his child's ordinary school nature trip way more interesting. While his curiosity may get the better of him, Shark Dog's got a nose for helping: he rescues a distressed bear cub and shows lost class members their way home. Adamson's pencil and watercolor illustrations help ground this quirky animal hero.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(3) 1-3 Magic School Bus Rides Again series. Keesha is applying to astronaut camp, so a trip into space on the Magic School Bus to fix a satellite sounds perfect. Disaster strikes, though, when Keesha tries to take a selfie for her application and accidentally bumps the satellite out of orbit. The latest episode in the rebooted series offers early-chapter-book readers humorous adventure with a good dose of STEM education. Glos.

Reviewer: Janet Dawson

(2) 4-6 A series of eerie mishaps on a school field trip strands sixth grader Ollie and her classmates near a Vermont farm exactly like the one in Ollie's book about a sinister "smiling man" and his army of terrifying, once-human scarecrows. Only two other students believe her insistence that they're in danger. This supernatural thriller is a page-turner; Ollie's journey through grief over her mother's death and into friendship makes it memorable.

Reviewer: Sarah Berman | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018