(2) K-3 Illustrated by Amy June Bates. A young Henriette Wyeth and her father, N. C. Wyeth, set off across the fields of their rural Pennsylvania home to paint together. They leave behind the busyness of life with Henriette's four younger siblings for the experience of "sensing deeply." On their walk, her father models "looking. Seeing. Smelling the air, and the earth, and the turpentine, and also that flower." This biographical narrative slice of Henriette Wyeth's life is a portrait of the childhood of an important American artist, a connection between her and the Brandywine school of artists (including her father), and a glimpse at the perceptions of an artistic child. The prose is full of sensory description that captures Wyeth's observations of her world. In wide double-page spreads, Bates re-creates the lush hillsides of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, crisscrossed with split rail fences and dotted with wildflowers. Layers of blue and gray clouds bleed off the pages. Back matter provides more information about Wyeth and the ways she inspired both author and illustrator. The book will likely encourage young readers to look closely at the world around them for their own inspiration.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) YA "This is a victim impact statement." Readers immediately learn the victim is thirteen-year-old Lizzie but not the precise circumstances of her situation. What is known is that Lizzie spent the summer in the Adirondacks with Uncle Davy and her friend Matias, who has proportional dwarfism. Cliffhanging chapter endings hint there's always more to be told, as Lizzie's voice, alternating between stream-of-consciousness and emotional outbursts, invites readers to participate in structuring this powerful narrative.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(3) YA Seventeen-year-old Mira adores her quirky, close-knit New Jersey island community. Her mother and sick brother are on the mainland when a freak hurricane decimates their beloved home, leaving Mira to navigate the storm's wreckage on her own. Mira's narration is striking and stylized, if occasionally challenging to follow; persistent readers will be rewarded with a quiet survival story that speaks to the importance of community.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(2) YA Living in Florence while her historian father researches the city's devastating 1966 flood, seventeen-year-old Nadia develops a rare neurological disorder that inhibits language, drives compulsions, and increases creativity. Nadia's first-person narrative is fittingly hallucinatory; events become clearer when best friend Maggie narrates. While the flood backstory highlights appropriate themes of loss and chaos, the city's rebirth evokes miracles and salvation.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2015

(3) YA In a present-tense narration alternating between Ada's first-person and Stefan's second-person, the young lovers on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall in 1983 plan for Stefan's escape to the West. Kephart works romantic chemistry into a danger-packed plot with moving results. This captivating glimpse into an underrepresented era will appeal to older readers with a taste for literary historical fiction.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt

(4) YA Exiled to Spain for the course of her pregnancy, eighteen-year-old Kenzie haltingly ponders her complicated, loosely interrelated relationships. Seeking acceptance from her unsupportive boyfriend, her ashamed mother, the potential adoptive couple, and Estela, her stand-in mother figure in Spain, Kenzie seeks tenuous self-acceptance. Though enticing, the dreamlike writing fails to bind the many threads together, and Kenzie's eventual epiphany lacks impact.

Reviewer: Rebecca Kirshenbaum

(3) YA After her baby is kidnapped, young mother Emmy spends the next fourteen years in a mental institution. In a parallel thread, Sophie's reclusive mother keeps them on the run; after befriending neighbors, Sophie wants to put down roots. Alternating between Emmy and Sophie's perspectives, this well-crafted, ripped-from-the-headlines-type story is full of raw emotion and drama.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(3) YA In the wake of her twin sister's tragic death, Katherine navigates Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial fair, searching for a place to end her own life. Kephart skillfully portrays Katherine's grief and deftly weaves past and present together to construct her narrative. This portrait of hopelessness and redemption, enhanced by its historical setting, will leave a deep impression on readers.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(4) YA Georgia's concerns about her best friend Riley's eating disorder intensify when the girls travel to Juárez, Mexico, on a charitable mission. The juxtaposition of women's issues in Juárez and the United States is intriguing, and Kephart adeptly depicts the complicated relationship between Georgia and Riley. Ultimately, though, the pace of the novel drags and Riley's anorexia feels incidental to the plot.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(3) YA The summer after her mother's death, Katie works as a gardener at a recluse's mansion. Mysterious secrets are buried throughout the estate, and the effort of unearthing them stirs Katie's own heart as well. Kephart's sensuous writing enriches this story of grief and memory. The narrative is also enhanced by a sophisticated layering of the theme of restoration.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) YA Fifteen-year-old Rosie narrates this tender story about taking care of her grandfather during the last days of his life. Every afternoon, Rosie sorts through piles of stuff at Grandad's house while he shares the memories behind each fluffy red feather, scrap of fabric, travel book, and worn-out record. A sense of sadness and love pervades the mood of this beautifully told story.

Reviewer: Laura A. Woollett

(3) YA Self-conscious, hyper-observant high schooler Elisa ghostwrites her classmates' love notes and poems. Her developing feelings for one of her clients and an emerging figure-skating avocation prompt a more active participation in life. Strained family dynamics and an inspiring English teacher contribute further complications. Plot is secondary to character, sensation, and imagery in this book of sharply observed relationships and evocative prose.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross