(2) K-3 Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. On her first day as a rental bicycle for Beep Beep Bicycles, Bike worries she might not be able to live up to riders' expectations. An older, more seasoned bike advises, "You'll be okay...Really, you will." A page-turn gives some basic information on how the rentals work: e.g., "When you're done, you leave it on another rack, somewhere else in the city." Bike takes a variety of people on six rides through Seattle (evident from the Space Needle and other landmarks). Some riders are chatty, one is in a hurry, a few are going to or coming from work, another is a tourist. Bike rides into neighborhoods, past parks, to the aquarium, and more. We feel the exhilaration as she zips along -- "Zoom! Bike loves going downhill" -- and also the hardships. Going up a steep hill, an older rider "gets off Bike and pushes her to the top...It's so embarrassing to be pushed." Karas, using pencil on paper warmly colored in Adobe Photoshop, creates cityscapes that are beautifully detailed and full of activity. Bike is drawn as a cartoon character, at once endearing and comical. Jenkins's lively, engaging text presents a heartfelt story, gives an informative tour of Seattle, and provides excellent reasons for city bike rentals. An afterword offers bike safety tips.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Ann Xu & Sunmi. Color by Sunmi. In this graphic novel set "somewhere near Seattle," Michelle and her older sister, Claire, are far from the best of friends. Self-assured Claire takes pride in and embraces her Taiwanese heritage; self-conscious Michelle is more interested in hanging out with her white friends at her middle school, eager to stay in classmate Jess's good graces to secure an invitation to her end-of-summer bash. The scene shifts when their parents send both sisters to a Taiwanese American summer camp. Immersed in Taiwanese culture, Michelle strives to forge her dual identity while struggling with the Taiwanese language, practicing calligraphy, competing in a dragon boat race, and memorizing folksong lyrics for a talent show. In this story of cultural heritage and identity reconciliation, LaMotte and Xu (Measuring Up, rev. 3/21) explore the often nebulous, isolating experience of not quite fitting in and being stereotyped based on appearance. Cultural activities, from making Taiwanese shaved ice to crafting glove puppets, occupy full-page panels packed with a lively collage of details. Moments of humor captured through playful manga-like facial expressions and gestures propel the plot forward in whimsical fashion.

Reviewer: Jerry Dear | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(2) 4-6 Ma offers a fresh take on the local fundraiser story by weaving in themes of community, identity, and gentrification. Nerdy, mythology-obsessed Lily Hong, twelve, leads a split life in the Seattle exurbs. At school, Lily competes academically with Max Zhang, the other Chinese American student in her seventh-grade class. After school, Lily reluctantly attends her parents' Mandarin academy at the local community center. She yearns to make a Buffy-style vampire film for the local talent competition, but problems arise when Max's rich parents want to buy the building and replace the community center with a new office building. The Hongs organize a last-minute Chinese dance fundraising show; suddenly Lily is taking fan- and lion-dance lessons alongside her archnemesis and discovers there is more behind his snobby facade. Ma empathetically portrays Lily's conflict between making the film with friends and her family obligations. A little-known phoenix myth is cleverly used as a symbol to show Lily's slow realization of how important the Chinese school and community center are to her and her small town. An enjoyable read, especially for arts-obsessed or community-focused tweens.

Reviewer: Michelle Lee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) YA Teenage magicians' assistants Wilhelm and Jack find themselves at odds during the 1909 World's Fair in Seattle when their bosses, Teddy and the Enchantress, become bitter rivals. Earnest bookworm Wilhelm is the victim of terrible abuse at the hands of ambitious and conniving Teddy, who exploits Wilhelm's ability to travel short distances by magic, first involving him in a life of bank-robbing and then using him to gain fame. Orphaned Jack's relationship with the Enchantress takes a different form of mistreatment: she'd rescued him when he was younger and manipulates his emotions to make him feel obligated to her forever, preventing him from living a life of his own. When Jack and Wilhelm fall in love, they must decide what they are willing to risk for a future together. Palpable chemistry between the two main characters drives the plot, and a diverse cast of secondary characters adds humor and zest. Most impressive are the contrasting layers of villainy depicted in Teddy and the Enchantress: one an obvious brute, and the other more nuanced in her cruelty. Fans of historical fiction, fantasy, and slow-burn romance will find Jack and Wilhelm's story truly...magical.

Reviewer: Sarah Berman | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Ann Xu & Sunmi. In this encouraging--and nourishing--graphic novel, twelve-year-old Cici's family moves to Seattle from Taiwan, taking her away from her beloved A-má, who has always nurtured Cici's interest in cooking. After starting at a new school and feeling lonely--despite some well-meaning but culturally clueless new friends--Cici enters a cooking competition for the prize money: she wants to buy A-má a plane ticket to Seattle for her seventieth birthday. Her competition partner dismisses Cici's Taiwanese culinary expertise in favor of her own knowledge of Italian cuisine, but she comes to appreciate Cici's kitchen prowess, and they bond outside of the competition. The narration occasionally sounds stilted ("That drummer sure can jam") but becomes more natural as our protagonist grows more self-assured. Chapter-heading decorations slowly bloom into fully formed cherry blossoms, gently symbolizing Cici's development and newfound confidence and also hinting at an imminent reunion with her A-má. Simple line art and minimal backgrounds are enlivened through expert coloring by Xu and Sunmi. The warmest images appear when Cici creates her dishes for the competition and deeply connects with friends and family.

Reviewer: Niki Marion | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(3) YA High-achieving senior Viola Li finds her life completely upended when she suddenly develops a serious photosensitivity disorder that disrupts her ability to participate in many of the activities she enjoys. Soon everything from college and career ambitions to romantic hopes need to be reevaluated and redefined. Viola's story offers an insightful consideration of learning to live with a chronic condition without succumbing to despair.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(3) 4-6 After a plant-growing product called Waste ravaged the world, Kobi and his scientist father survive alone in a school in contaminated Seattle. When Kobi's father fails to return from a supply run, the boy ventures out, meeting unexpected young survivors with unusual abilities similar to his own. A quick and engrossing post-apocalyptic adventure with a cliffhanger ending; readers will eagerly await the next installment.

Reviewer: Jenn Matters

(3) YA Fifteen-year-old Rain lives with her jewelry-peddling father in a tent community outside of Seattle. When the city clears the "Winterfolk" community, Rain finds herself isolated and shoe-less in the big city, trying to find her way home or to a new safe haven. Lyrical language draws readers into Rain's distinctive worldview as she navigates the risks of homelessness in this uniquely set, thought-provoking coming-of-age story.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(3) 4-6 Five socially awkward sixth graders in Seattle learn they have more in common than they thought while they gather ingredients for sleepover soup--a soup, blessed by the Hawaiian gods, that grants wishes. This delightful modern adaptation of "Stone Soup" steeped in Hawaiian folklore is narrated by Leilani, an oversharer who immediately draws readers into her story with her chatty impulsiveness.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(2) YA Estranged twins (and alternating narrators) Tovah and Adina Siegel, whose mother has Huntington's disease, are tested for the gene at eighteen: Tovah didn't inherit it; Adina tests positive. Solomon's debut novel examines how an awful inevitability splinters everyone's vision of the future. The family's Conservative Jewish faith provides refuge for Tovah, but Adina struggles against God. Sprinkled Hebrew dialogue adds intimacy to happy moments and sharpness to disagreements.

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

(3) 4-6 Building by Design series. These books focus on four formidable architectural marvels constructed in diverse regions of the world. Each book details a specific building, giving an account of its unique purpose, history, design, construction, and modern use. Budding architects will find the series engaging. Stock photographs, diagrams, direct quotes, and sidebars provide clarity. "Fast Facts" and critical thinking questions are appended. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Building by Design titles: Engineering the Space Needle, Engineering the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Engineering Burj Khalifa, and Engineering the Taj Mahal.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) YA Sisters Gem and Dixie take an impromptu trip into Seattle after their long-absent father returns with promises of improvement...then shadily stashes a backpack full of cash in their room. Their whirlwind trip becomes a relationship test, forcing Gem to consider her future separate from her little sister. Zarr draws complex, troubled relationships--and the flawed yet striving people in them--with care and nuance.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(2) YA Swimming in Seattle's Lake Union, high-school grad Madison Murray collides with the corpse of a woman, Anna, who had jumped off a bridge. A traumatized obsession leads Mads to Anna's teenage son Billy, who doesn't know Mads's connection to the tragedy. A powerful, sophisticated love story in which Caletti authoritatively probes the pain of loss, grief, and secrets as well as the idea of fate.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2016

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Skewes. Huey has lost his ticket to the Rainiers' last game in the series for the Pacific Coast League pennant. He races through Seattle, chatting with neighbors and catching snippets of the game on the radio during his search. The nostalgic story about the importance of baseball to a community gets bogged down in tedious game details; Skewes's vintage-style illustrations provide a glimpse into 1955 Seattle.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) K-3 Photographs by William Muñoz. Eclipse, a real Seattle-area dog, "narrates" this account of the time she got on a city bus before her human "buddy" Jeff (the book's coauthor) could, and then had the smarts to get off at the dog park. So began a routine that made Eclipse famous. What follows the bus-riding stuff seems like padding, albeit padding illustrated with child-pleasing color photos of doggie doings. Websites.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) YA Love and Death have played Games through the centuries--and Death has always won. In Depression-era Seattle, Love chooses as his player wealthy, white Henry Bishop; Death selects scrappy Flora Saudade, an African American aviatrix/jazz singer. Henry and Flora earn a happy ending in a tender denouement. The fully realized setting and characters make this more than just a modern fairy tale.

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

(4) K-3 Big Buddy Books: The NFL's Greatest Teams series. As each book states, these professional football teams "have had good seasons and bad. But time and again, they've proven themselves." The volumes focus on the good, highlighting the teams' Super Bowl victories, winning coaches, and star players. Color and archival photographs showcase players, stadiums, and fans; but readers may find the choppy texts unsatisfying. There are four other spring 2015 books in this series. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Big Buddy Books: The NFL's Greatest Teams titles: Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks, and Washington Redskins.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(2) 4-6 In this WWII-set verse novel, Mina Tagawa and her family are sent to the Minidoka Relocation Center. Mina's beloved grandfather dies, and her brother Nick enlists and is sent to the European front. Interspersed throughout the main text are letters Mina writes to her (imprisoned) father, her best friend, and to Nick. Nagai's writing is spare and rhythmic--it's real poetry.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2014

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Diane Goode. Third grader Cinderella wants to keep her school project on ocelots a secret so she can "shock and amaze" the class. But the library books she's waiting for go missing, so she and her best friend must solve the mystery of who took them. Barden has a "vexylent" ("very, extremely excellent") understanding of her audience, and Goode's line drawings embody the tale's lightness.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(2) YA Having escaped his father's underground bunker, Eli (The Compound) begins to investigate some shady medical research done by the company he has just inherited. Bodeen excels at using complex, uneasy family dynamics to escalate the corporate and psychological intrigue, driving tensions higher as the story unfolds. Crisp, atmospheric first-person narration never wavers from Eli's blunt, anxious voice.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2013