The Secret Library

Magoon, Kekla. The Secret Library
May 7, 2024 by Candlewick Press

ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Dally (Delilah) Peteharrigan is grieving the death of her beloved grandfather, especially since she has already lost her father, who was Black, and her mother, who is white, is very busy managing the family's company. Her mother is determined that Dally learn a lot, so she is not only enrolled in a private school, but also has lessons in subjects like economics afterwards. Her free time is limited to one hour, so even after Dally makes an impressive plea to join the school Adventure Club, she is not allowed. After this, Dally is determined to get the envelope that her grandfather left her, and breaks into his office. There's a puzzle and a map involved, and Dally pins to location to a bakery too far from her home to walk. She enlists the aid of a car service the family often uses, and when she arrives at the location, a magical library appears. She is greeted by the librarian, Jennacake, who tells her that the library houses secrets, and that Dally is allowed to see one a day. There are a wide variety of secrets, and Dally sees some about how her parents met, and small lies that people tell. Nothing too earth shaking happens at first, and her time spent in the vesions of the past is short, but she eventually ends up in a rousing adventure on the high seas, along with well-meaning pirates Pete and Eli, as well as a boy about her age, Jack. She can't really figure out what the secret is, but the more she pops into various timelines, the more she finds out about the history of her family, and the reasons why her mother is so cautious with the family finanaces. She also learns that Jack is using the library to travel into secrets as well, but he is from 1960. Her mother's controlling behavior doesn't stop, and when Dally learns that her own future might be very circumscribed, she has to think about the path she should take. The library just holds the secrets, but how those secrets effect Dally and her family can be earth shattering. (Don't want to give away too much!)

The Secret Library is right up there with Shulman's The Grimm Legacy (2021) and MacHale's The Library (The Curse of the Boggin, 2016) or Wexler's The Forbidden Library (2014) in terms of good use of magical books. I know it was important for Dally to travel into secrets, but I would have been content to spend a lot more time with Jennacake touring the facilities. 

It's good that the book ended with a family tree, so that we were able to see how all of the different ancestors that Dally met figured into the story. There's a lot of different points in time shown in Dally's travels, and the chart really helped me tie together all of the different bits of information. There is also a bit of a surprise ending, so be prepared! 

This is definitely on trend with a lot of current sociopolitical topics. There are several instances of Dally's father experiencing racism in college, and the history of racism as it effects Dally's family goes back into the mid 1800s. There is a very important instance of "passing" that has lasting ramifications and is not a topic I have seen much addressed in middle grade fiction. Pete and Eli have LBGTQIA+ ties in unusual ways that also form the family's history. 
 

Readers who liked Shawl's Speculation (2022) or Coles' Black Was the Ink (2021), and prefer their history presented with some fantastic flourishes will enjoy Dally's exploration of her family's past in The Secret Library.            

Fortune Tellers

Greenwald, Lisa. Fortune Tellers
May 7, 2024 by Katherine Tegen Books

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

In fifth grade, Nora, Bea, and Millie were inseparable friends who attended the Shire School, a hippyish sort of school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. They spend a lot of time hanging out together, making fortune tellers with their Write Your Destiny marker set. After a falling out of a birthday party to which not all of them were invited, the school shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic. In the time since then, Nora's parents divorced, and she and her sister Penelope moved with they mother. She's now friends with Jade and Esme, who care more about clothes and boys than Nora does. Bea's Aunt Clare moved in with her family because of her uncontrolled epilepsy, and Bea's mother is stressed dealing with Clare's seizures. Her twin, Danny, seems to be the reason her new best friend, Sam, hangs around her. Millie has the biggest change of all; her father was an apartment building superintendent, but took a job in the suburbs running a cottage community by the lake that is transitioning from being for summer visitors to accomodating more year round ones. When Bea is trying to organize her room for the new school year, she finds one of the fortune tellers the girls made; the other girls find them as well, in odd places and at odd times. Nora and Bea even get a box of them from one of their teachers, Ms. Steinhaur. Not only that, but the fortune tellers seem to be giving them messages! When a letter comes from the Shire School announcing that there are changes in the works, the girls reconnect and talk about the fortune tellers and vow to get together. After Bea skips school and attends a meeting, she offers to put together a fund raiser to try to save the school. She only has a week, but her old friends band together to help. Will the three be able to save the school and get to the root cause of the problems with their friendship?

Strengths: At first, I thought this would revisit the three friends in Greenwald's 2010 Sweet Treats and Secret Crushes, which is my favorite Valentine's Day book! The covers seem to go together. Late elementary school can be filled with so much drama, and it is completely realistic that the three girls might have ended their friendship over a birthday party invitation. I'm still not sure why Jamie and Pam stopped being my friend in fourth grade, but those trios are hard to sustain. I did appreciate the information at the end about why the whole event occurred. Elementary school engender very strong feelings, so I can see why the girls were willing to go to such effort to try to save their school. The fortune tellers are a fun way to introduce magic to the plot; who hasn't made at least one of those at some point? There are a lot of good incidental characters, like Rodge at Nora's cottage community, who is struggling to start school when his family has to get their food from a local pantry, and he's worried about being made fun of. The use of social media to keep track of former friends is an interesting inclusion and will definitely resonate with young readers. Greenwald's books are super popular with my students, and they will be thrilled to see this new title with it's bright and happy cover! 

Weaknesses: Not only is this does this switch point of view between the three girls, but there are some flashbacks as well. Some of my emerging readers struggle with this, so I would have liked a simpler format. It would have been interesting to get more information about Aunt Clare's condition, but it didn't have that much bearing on the story. 
What I really think: This is a fun book filled with tween drama and a little bit of magic that will be great for readers of Messner's All the Answers, Vrettos' Best Friends for Never, or Harper's Dreamer, Wisher, Liar.

MMGM- With Twice the Love, Dessie Mae and Exclusion and the Chinese American Story

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at

Unleashing Readers

Chen, Justina. With Twice the Love, Dessie Mae

May 7, 2024 by HarperCollins
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

When Dessie Mae moves with her family to Seattle, she's not thrilled, but knows that it's important for them to be near her grandmother, who has descended into dementia after the grandfather's death. Dessie was adopted from Hunan, China when she was two, and has two older brothers who have not moved with the family. Her father composes music for video games, and her mother plays the music, so the family life is fairly unstructured and members talk to each other casually. When she starts school, many people call her "Donna", which confuses her until she meets Donna, who looks exactly like her. Dessie had dismissed this, since she was one of very few students of Asian descent at her old school and thought this might have been a slur. Donna has also been adopted from China, and has the same birthday, so the two become fast friends and scheme to get a DNA test. Donna's family, including her Amah who is from Taiwan, is very strict, and since she has a younger brother who is the biological child of her parents, she is very worried about being the perfect student so they continue to love her. Both girls are huge fans of the band A2Z, and are working on a school project where they have to design a family crest, as a warmup to a competition to design a logo for their school, the name of which was recently changed from Sheridan to Marian Anderson Middle School. After Amah sees Dessie fight with her parents, she won't allow Donna to be friends with her, which does make Dessie think about the way her family communicates. When Amah is brutally attacked at the Pike Place Market in a racially motivated attack, the school, as well as Dessie's family, rallies around. Dessie finds out that her grandmother was a very vocal advocate for social equality back in the day, and the scarf that she wove for Dessie incorporates part of a sweater that she frequently wore to rallies. Dessie's parents, who are afraid that she will want to be a part of Donna's family because of their shared ethnic heritage, think that going to a rally to her Donna speak is too dangerous. When the band A2Z has a racist lyric in their new song, Dessie is appalled, and comments on their social media. The band replies and apologizes, making Dessie momentarily famous. Will Dessie be able to make peace with Donna as well as heal the problems within her own family?
Strengths: Just about all middle school students secretly want to have a twin... except those who actually do! Any book that posits the idea of a twin you didn't know about will be instantly popular! I liked that the families were very different, and it was interesting to see that Dessie's parents hadn't made any effort at all to offer Chinese cultural opportunities to her. The fact that their style of communication was too flippant and snappish was something that should be explored more in middle grade books, because I see a LOT of that kind of interactions from students, which is why I always try to model very polite conversations! Amah's attitude was understandable, but it was good to see that she was able to change her mind. Dessie's grandmother was involved in marches to support the Asian Community after the death of Vincent Chin in 1982, which was an good historical inclusion.

Weaknesses: Ten years ago or more, I did see the occasional student who had been adopted from China or Russia, but there has been a marked decrease in that population. I did appreciate that Chen wrote this in part because she has stepdaughters who were adopted from China into a white family.
What I really think: This incorporates the long lost twin scenario of Siddiqui's Bhai for Now, the social activism of Bajaj's Count Me In, the adoption from China storyline of Peacock's Red Thread Sisters, and agrandmother with dementia similar to the ones in Campbell's Rule of Threes or Messner's The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.

Blackburn, Sarah-Soonling. Exclusion and the Chinese American Story 

March 26, 2024 by Crown Books for Young Readers

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Blackburn starts this book with a note acknowledging that Chinese American history, and the experience of Chinese Americans, isn't something that is monolithic. Even the identification of being "Chinese American" can pertain to a wide range of people. Still, because of the dire lack of information about this population (which numbers over five million people), it is important to have books like the Race to the Truth series to fill in gaps that racism and prejudice have left in standard history textbooks. 

This has an array of stories on a variety of different people and events, and aims to be intersectional and to encourage readers to think critically about history. Starting with the possible (although unlikely) visit of Hui Shen to the North American in 499 CE, and the arrival of Afong May, a woman who was used to advertise imported Chinese goods in the 1800s, we see interesting snippets of history that don't get the attention they deserve. Larger events, like the influx of Chinese immigrants during the Gold Rush, and during the building of the railroads, and life in the new Chinatowns in San Francisco and Los Angeles are all covered. There are many interesting historical anecdotes and discussions of what life was like during various periods of history. 

There was lots of information presented that I didn't know much about: the reasons why so many Chinese Americans had laundry and food related businesses, the various legislation controlling the number of immigrants, or the way that Chinese Americans were forced to live, and stories of people like Martha Lum and Wong Kim Ark, whose lives were deeply impacted by the mores and laws of the times in which they lived. 

This goes up to the present day and the ill treatment of Asian Americans from many different backgrounds in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It fills in needed gaps in a conversational and engaging way. Narrative nonfiction can sometimes be hard a hard sell for middle grade readers, but this definitely moved quickly and was interesting. It would have been nice to see a few more photographs, although there are a few, and a historical photograph on the cover would have been a big plus. 

We're starting to see more collective biographies of Asian Americans,  like Yang's Yes We Will: Asian Americans Who Shaped This Country, and other historical books covering previously hidden history, like Goldstone's Days of Infamy: How a Century of Bigotry Led to Japanese American Internment. It's good to see a variety of these Race to the Truth books penned by authors who share the background of their topics.  Exclusion would also be a good nonfiction pairing with fiction text that discuss similar topics surrounding immigration and the Chinese American experience like Shang's The Secret Battle of Evan Pao, Yee's Maizy Chen's Last Chance and Park's Prairie Lotus.

The Color of Sound

Isler, Emily Barth. The Color of Sound

March 5, 2024 by Carolrhoda
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Rosie is taking a break from playing the violin; it's been 67 days since she started her "strike". In retaliation, her mother has taken away all of her electronics and has decided that if Rosie isn't going to the elite music camp that has accepted her for the summer, she will spend six weeks with her grandparents in Connecticut. Grandma Florence is in the end stages of Alzheimers, and Grandpa Jack has a housekeeper, Tamar, and dog, Vienna, to keep him company. Rosie is allowed to wander around the property, which includes a small cabin. One day, she enters the cabin only to find a girl her age there who says her name is Shoshanna, or Shann, which is Rosie's mother's name. Sure enough, when asked, Shanna says it is 1994! Trying to make sense of how she could be speaking to her mother, Rosie goes to the public library to do research, and becomes entranced by an improv drama camp there run by Mia. We learn a bit more about Rosie's violin career; she was a true prodigy who had practices, classes on music theory, and public performances, but the pressure her mother put on her to play the violin cost her her best friend, Julianne. Rosie also has synesthia, so not only hears music but experiences it as color, and this is a lot to process. While Rosie learns more about Shanna's life, and tries to prevent things like the death of her dog Stimpy, she learns secrets about her family's life. She learns more from Grandpa Jack, with whom she swims every morning. Her grandmother's mother was a violin player named Dahlia who perished in the Holocaust, causing Florence to be both intrigued by music and worried about it, so that Shanna was never allowed to play an instrument. Rosie plays for Florence, but only when her mother is out of the house. When her surgeon father visits for the weekend and sees her swimming, he immediately wants her to pursue the sport, and is angry that she chooses to throw away her talents. There is also drama when some of the older improv theater participants come to the house to swim. In the end, Rosie grows to understand more about her mother's life and her heritage, and tries to give the younger version of Shanna information that will change the way she raises Rosie. Will it be enough to help form a more supportive relationship with her mother? 
Strengths: I'm sure that there were many Jewish families after the war who supressed information about what happened to family members during the Holocaust; it was a different time, and people didn't want everyone to know their private business. Rosie's mother's reaction to this is realistic, and the effect it has on how she is raising Rosie makes sense. It was good to see Rosie developing a good relationship with her grandfather, and I especially liked how the dog, Vienna, played into things. The time travel happens without explanation, but who doesn't secretly want to be able to meet a parent when they were a child? 
Weaknesses: I wish there had been more information about Rosie's synesthesia, especially since her mother also seems to experience the world this way. I don't know anything about the condition, and imagine that young readers might not, either.  Since this is a fantasy book, they might think that this is not a real condition, so some explanation would have helped. 
What I really think: This is s good choice for readers who like time travel books or characters who play violin and also face life challenges, like Day's We Still Belong, Langley's The Order of Things, Chow's Miracle,  Glaser's A Duet for Home or especially Ross' Something For Lottie, with its Jewish representation. 

Anzu and the Realm of Darkness, Maker's Club

Nguyen, Mai K. Anzu and the Realm of Darkness
May 7, 2024 by Viking Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this graphic novel, Anzu is struggling with several issues. Her family has moved, her grandmother has passed away, and she feels like she doesn't fit in anywhere, since girls in her last school made fun of her lunches and told her they were now calling her "Anne" since her real name was "weird". Even her little brother Yuuta is annoying. When a new neighbor girl, Fig, says hello to her and welcomes her to the  neighborhood, Anzu is too distraught to politely reply, and runs away. In a local park, she sees a decades old sign about a missing girl, Mari Ito, and a dog attacks her, stealing the necklace that her grandmother gave her. When she goes looking for the dog, she ends up in a different world. She meet Izanami no Mikito, the queen of Yomi, who welcomes Anzu and promises to help her get home. When Izanami gives her more information, and tries to force her to eat, Anzu is uncomfortable, and ends up trusting the dog, instead. He's the gatekeeper of Omi, but not doing a great job. He neede Anzu's necklace to help with this, and doesn't have a name. Anzu calls him "Limbo". Since Anzu touched Izanami's food, her hands are turning progressively black and she's losing her memories, so it's lucky when she and Limbo meet Rakko Huci, who turns out to be an Omi version of Anzu's grandmother. With her help, can Anzu overcome Izanami, get home, and make sure the gateways from Omi into other realms are closed?

Strengths: I appreciated that the author gave notes on the origins of the mythology, which she says is a mash up between Japanese folklore and Shinto and Buddhist stories. There is a definite anime feel to the illustrations, complete with the over-the-top emotions and crying eyes that show up in books like Misako Rock's Bounce. The use of color is helpful, since the flashback scenes looking at Anzu's life can be set apart by the palette. This reads like a classic hero's quest. 

Weaknesses: The transistion into Omi seemed a  bit abrupt. I almost wish that we had seen a little more of Anzu's life in her new town, and that she had problems there with fitting in. Perhaps she could have taken Fig with her into Omi; it's always good to have a sidekick, and Limbo wasn't as a reliable as a sidekick should be.
What I really think: This is a good choice for fantasy readers who want a story similar to Doshi's Rea and the Blood of Nectar or Perry's Cameron Battle series, but in graphic novel form. The closest graphic novel readalikes would be Chanani's Super Boba Cafe or Aldridge's Estranged. It's good to see a wider variety of genres in graphic novels. 

Yee, Reimena and Pantoja, Tintin (illus.) The Makers Club: Game On! #1
August 6, 2024 by Andrews McMeel Publishing
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Nadia is starting at Pangolin Secondary School, and is a little wary about being able to make new friends until she is able to work with Adin and Ruby on a project. She also works with Priya, who isn't particularly friendly. Nadia is a huge fan of the Banyan High series, and connects with Aqi and Yong Qiang, who also love the books. Nadia lives in a somewhat run down part of town, but has supportive parents who run a struggling business, as well as a brother, Alfonso, who has graduated from college and is moving to Australia for a new job. When Nadia finds out that a science fair project is 40% of her grade, she agrees to work with Priya, who has very decided ideas about what the project should be. Priya plays a lot of computer games to distract herself when her parents argue, and she loves coding, so wants to make a video game for the project. This is fine with Nadia, but she doesn't have a computer. Priya assures her that she can do the artwork, and she'll scan the drawings into the program. When Priya loses her laptop and all the work, they have to think of another plan. They manage, and do well at the science fair. Aqi and Yong Qiang are spending a lot of time with Miss Tilly, the librarian, who is using a lot of donated equipment to put together a Maker Space. Aqi designs clothes and accessories, so is thrilled that there is an embroidery machine. She makes some adaptive clothing for Yong Qiang, who is in a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy. Aqi does try to do many projects, but manages to "right size" her work after a while. 

This felt like two separate stories, so I'm curious to see what further volumes look like. The artwork is appealing, and I liked the idea of a Maker Space. It's a little unclear where this takes place; one of the authors is from Kuala Lumpur, and since the school has "pangolin" in the name, maybe this is set in Malaysia? I would buy this if we had a Maker Space, but the library has always been busy enough that I have not been able to also supervise a lot of projects and equipment. 

Simon, Coco and Lopez, Manuela (illus.)

Emily's Cupcake Magic (Cupcake Diaries: The New Batch)

May 7, 2024 by Simon Spotlight

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Emily, who is Katie Brown's stepsister from The Cupcake Diaries, has to go to a different school when hers is closed for renovations. All of her friends go to another school, which makes her worried. The new school tries to welcome the students by having a baking contest. Emily is interested, especially when she gets a group of new friends who want to bake, but is worried that she is copying Katie. Katie's friends come and help the younger girls, and Katie reassures Emily that it's okay to have the same interests, and that she's sure Emily will put her own spin on the baking. 

I'm a huge fan of the Cupcake Diaries series, even though I drew the line at twenty books, and the new graphic novel series has been very popular with my students. I would definitely buy this for an elementary school or public library, but will  pass for middle school. I would love to know the true identity of "Coco Simon" and feel that this writer needs more attention. The books are always heart warming and enjoyable. 

Poetry/Guy Friday: And Then Boom

Fipps, Lisa. And Then Boom
May 7, 2024 by Nancy Paulsen Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

**Spoiler alert. Don't read if you want to be surprised by the plot developments.*

Joe Oak and his grandmother as doing the best they can since his mother ran off. They lost their house when the mother jumped bail, and have spent time living in their GMC Pacer and washing up in store washrooms while the grandmother cleans houses to try to make ends meet. Joe is lucky that he has a supportive 6th grade teacher at school, Mrs. Swan, who keeps snacks available to students and even has the school change the lunch system so that kids on free and reduced lunch don't have to annouce it to everyone. Joe has been friends with Nick and Hakeem for a long time, but doesn't want them to know he has been living in a car. When Nick finds out (and he had noticed that Joe was falling asleep in class and seemed rumpled), he lets Joe know about a unit available to rent in the mobile home park where he lives. Nick's mother struggled with depression, and Nick has been in foster care a couple of times, so he understands that sometimes life is hard. Joe and his grandmother are very happy with their new accomodations, and revel in taking showers and getting their clothes clean. The owner of Castle Mobile Home Park, Frank King, offers the two free furniture, and asks them to call him Uncle Frankie and to let him know if there is anything they need. Joe's grandmother even put in a garden. When Joe's grandmother suddenly dies of a stomach aneurysm, his mother comes back to live with him, but it is not long before she takes off again. For a while, he has enough food, and gets some new clothes from Ms. Swan's Magic Closet, but taking care of himself becomes increasingly difficult since he finds three abandoned dogs and is trying to feed them as well. He eventually tells Nick and Hakeem, who help him raise some money by selling items at the community rummage sale, but this doesn't last long. When summer comes, Hakeem gives him some food leftover from a cooking class, but this is all lost when the electricity is cut. Joe eats the food from the garden, and dumpster dives at a local restaurant until the dumpster is locked. Nick has asked Joe to look after his mother, and when Joe notices she hasn't left the house is a long time, he seeks help from a neighbor. Uncle Frankie notices that Joe's mother is never around, but doesn't press him for details. When a tornado comes perilously close to Joe's home, he manages to ride out the storm with the dogs by tethering himself to a tree, but eventually is thrown through the air, luckily landing on a pile of soft things. He tells the people who rescue him that his mother has left and CPS needs to be notified. He's kept in the hospital for a while to get treatment for his infected tooth, storm injuries, and malnutrition, and is placed into foster care with a farming family who is willing to take the three dogs as well. While Joe misses his grandmother, and even his mother, he is glad to be in a stable home setting where his physical and psychological needs can be met. He even puts together a mini food pantry to help other children who are struggling. 

Strengths: Fipps' Starfish has a huge following, and this will be another title that will be popular. There is something about seeing children faced with overwhelming challenges and having to care for themselves that intrigues tweens. Joe's situation is realistically portrayed, and the details of how he and his grandmother make do are harrowing and yet hopeful. His friends stick with him, and it's good to see that he has people like Uncle Frankie and Mrs. Swan to help as much as they can. 
Weaknesses: Because I've gone back to my old E Ink E Reader, I wasn't quite sure at first that this was a novel in verse. The lines weren't positioned on the page the way they will be in the final copy. The language embraced more modern poetic conversations, and I would have enjoyed more details about Joe's friendship with Hakeem and Nick or the dogs that we might have gotten in a prose format. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who Rudd's How to Stay Invisible, Ogle's Free Lunch, Walter's The King of Jam Sandwiches, Braden's The Benefits of Being an Octopus, and Supplee's Sweetness All Around. I'll probably buy a copy because the cover is appealing, but might have to hand sell it to my students, who are often reluctant to pick up verse novels for reasons I don't understand. 

The Things We Miss

Stecher, Leah. The Things We Miss
May 7, 2024 by Bloomsbury Children's Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

J.P.'s father died when she was in fifth grade, and it was a difficult thing for both her and her mother to go through. Her grandfather, Pop Pop, moves in with them, and battles lung cancer for a while, but is eventually cleared after chemotherapy. As seventh grade starts, J.P. is very apprehensive. Her best friend, Kevin Takagi, is more hopeful, and ready to be his authentic self after having done an internship with his aunt, a costume designer, in Japan. J.P., however, feels that none of her clothes fit, her hair is too frizzy, and also that her mother, who does PR for an advertising firm, is always disappointed in her. The first day is disastrous, with a two small gym uniform and mean girls like Miranda who make "helpful" comments about losing weight and how the school should investigate more size inclusive uniforms. Another student, Jessi Moaziz, is nice, but is also a bigger girl, and J.P. is afraid to be friendly with her lest Miranda and her cronies make snide remarks about their "chub club". When the gym teacher, Mr. Waters, tells them that even though the Presidential Fitness Test has been discontinued, they will still be doing his own version of it, J.P. dreads school even more. Going in to the neighbor's tree house, which the college aged girls' mother painted with lifelike scenes, to take refuge, J.P. finds that when she puts her hand on the doorknob, a door opens! When she steps through it, she feels a great sense of calm, and when she reemerges, it is three days later! She tells Kevin about it, and he confirms that she was around for three days, but she has no memory of anything that happened. The two set off to investigate this, taking notes on how long she is gone, whether Kevin can travel, etc., but Kevin soon loses interest. When Pop Pop's cancers returns, and J.P.'s mother wants her to go to an Autumn Ball, J.P. reacts to these stresses by going to the treehouse and losing three days of her life. Kevin notices, and becomes distant; things are going on in his life that J.P. misses, and the two eventually fall out. Even though she knows she shouldn't, the treehouse beckons, and J.P. spends more and more time fast forwarding her life. She is looking forward to the movie premier of her and her father's favorite comic character, Admiral K, and she and Kevin (as well as Jessi) have tickets, but she is "skipping" and misses the movie. Pop Pop's cancer returns, and he goes downhill quickly. So do J.P.'s grades, and her mother is called in to school to talk about them. J.P. and her mother have a terrible fight. Will J.P. be able to learn to handle the stresses in her life without resorting to time travel?

Strengths: As Ms. Simmons (J.P.'s helpful math teacher) opines, middle school isn't really easy for anyone, but there is a lot to be learned by showing up and dealing with reality. J.P.'s discomfort with everything about herself is not unusual, and having to deal with Miranda pretending to be "helpful" is maddening; it was good to see Jessi call the girls on it, and to see that the principal took her concerns seriously and punished the girls. Kevin is a good friend, but when J.P. is not there for him during a difficult time in his life, his reaction is realistic. This serves as a good reminder to tweens that no matter how difficult our own lives are, we have to make sure we check on our friends and be aware of their needs! PopPop is a great character, and his fight with cancer is heart wrenching. The time travel is used to good effect, in a completely different way than any other middle grade book I've seen.
Weaknesses: There was a lot of discussion about Admiral K that could have been briefer. Also, I sort of hoped at the end of this that J.P. would magically go back to a time when her grandfather was well and would have learned to appreciate the moment. It would have made the book a bit more hopeful. Also, our school hasn't had gym uniforms in a good fifteen years; I'm surprised any schools do. Our students just wear whatever workout clothes they find comfortable; of course, it is often what they wear all day! 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want the mental health aspects of Baron's The Gray or Lerner's A Work in Progress, mixed with the fantasy elements of Reynold's Izzy at the End of the World or Allen's The Nightmare House. I love the idea of time travel, but never really think about going forward in time, only backwards, since I know that today is the best that life will ever get, and tomorrow will probably bring only sadness. 

Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm

McDermott, Siobhan. Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm 
March 5, 2024 by Delacorte Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

A baby is dropped off with Aapau in Fei Chui, a village of Glassmiths. Aapau names her Zhi Ging, and raises her until she is sent away for her Final Year on a roaming pagoda. Sadly, this happens on the same day that Zhi Ging is supposed to take her test for being chosen as a Silhouette. She would be able to train in Hok Woh, learning the skills to become an immortal Cyo B'Ahon. Instead, the lead Glassmith's daughter, Iridill, is chosen. Zhi Ging begs Reishi to take her instead, hoping that by finding his missing stone, he will agree. If she doesn't go to the school, she could end up scrubbing the post pipes that carry messages back and forth, a job which has a high mortality rate. When strange things happen to Zhi Ging, who previously didn't have magic, Reishi has to change his mind, especially when she seems to manifest air rails that he has been researching for a long time. The people of Fei Chui think that Zhi Ging has summoned the evil spirit, the Fui Gwai, and the Thralls who work for the spirit, and issue a warrant for her arrest. Luckily, she is safe at the school, where she learns about the twelve challenges that students have to pass in order to remain enrolled. She makes some good friends who help her ward off Iridill, and she has some good success in the challenges, but when the Fui Gwai kidnaps that Silhouettes, Zhi Ging is the only one left to find her classmates and release them. In doing so, she finds hidden powers and learns secrets about her past. This puts her in danger, and the ending of the book leaves room for a sequel.

Strengths: There's a lot of good world building, with underwater message systems, trained jelly fish, and a school for Chosen Ones filled with magical classes, good food, and dark secrets. Zhi Ging has a lot of motivation to get into the school and stay there, and a lot of family drama in her background that slowly comes to light. Iridill is a nasty nemesis who makes Zhi Ging's life miserable and gives her even more motivation to succeed. Reishi is a good mentor, and helps her out a lot. There are plenty of good magical details and objects to keep the reader amused. 
Weaknesses: The names did not seem to always go together, and I wasn't quite sure what cultural background Zhi Ging is supposed to have. The author was raised in Hong Kong, and there's a definite Pan Asian feel, but then there is a Jack and a Gertie, which was confusing. I also didn't care for the scrying tool named DandelEyeOn. Reminded me of the computer software to see what students were doing on their computers called SychronEyes.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who need more magical academy books like Clare and Black's The Iron Trial, Thomas' Nic Blake and the Remarkables, or Sanders's Keynan Masters and the Peerless Magic Crew .

Note to self: Don't try to read two fantasy books on the same day, and then fail to write reviews immediately. 

LaRocca, Rajani. Sona and the Golden Beasts
March 5, 2024 by Quill Tree Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

This is a good choice for readers who like their fantasy books to have some ties to modern sociopolitical concerns, like Lalo Lesperance Never Forgot or Reese's Every Bird a Prince, or who enjoy allegorical tales like Malinenko's This Appearing House, Reynold's Izzy at the End of the World, or Barnhill's The Ogress and the Orphans. Fans of LaRocca's fantasy books Midsummer's Mayhem and Much Ado About Baseball will also want to pick this up. 

From the Publisher:

Sona hears music everywhere, even though it has been outlawed in the land of Devia. Sona is a descendant of the Malechs—foreigners who took over the governing of Devia hundreds of years ago. Malechs put Devans to work mining gems and forbade music so Devans couldn’t cast their magic.

But Sona’s world shifts after discovering an orphaned wolf pup. She believes the pup, with its golden ears, might be related to one of the five sacred beasts of Devia which a Malechian Hunter has been killing, one by one. And when someone Sona loves falls ill, she is drawn into a quest with a Devan boy to retrieve the nectar of life.

On the perilous journey, Sona must try to avoid the deadly Hunter while keeping her companions safe. As she uncovers secrets about the Malechian empire and her own identity, Sona realizes that the fate of the sacred beasts and the future of Devia, just might come down to her.

 

Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed

Iriarte, José Pablo. Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed
April 30, 2024 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Netgalley

The Ramírez family moves from Los Angeles, where the father is a movie producer, to Miami, after Benny's abuelo, the famous Latin Grammy winning trumpet player Ignacio Ramírez, dies of a heart attack. Benny's siblings, dancer Cristina and actor Manny, are glad to be attending the South Miami Performing Arts School, where both parents will be working, but Benny is not artistically inclined, and worried about what he will do there. The family inherits the mansion where Ignacio lived, which is filled with memorabilia celebrating his career. Not only there, but the house also has... Ignacio himself, who was turned away from an intriguing party after his death and told that he had to spend more time on Earth. Ignacio encourages Benny to make questionable fashion choices, and even inhabits his body long enough to earn Benny a place in the band at school, playing trumpet, after he showed no talent on his own. Cristina and Manny are struggling a bit at the new school, but the parents seem to be doing okay even though they need to clean out the house. To help, Benny's abuela Gloria comes with her food truck. Ignacio isn't thrilled about this, since the two were divorced because Ignacio spent more time on his work than with his family. Benny discovers that he has quite a knack for cooking. He doesn't do too badly at school, even after wearing his grandfather's clothes, and makes friends with Andrea, a budding playwright, who is interested in ghosts and tries to help him figure out why his grandfather is a ghost. When the Ramírez family decides to hold a New Year's Eve party in the house, a tradition the grandfather ignored, everyone must work together to plan the celebration. Will Benny and his abuelo be able to figure out what is keeping Ignacio tethered to the house and his family?
Strengths: The family dynamics in this book, even without the grandfather, were interesting. Benny thinks his father was fired, and that's why they moved, when his father really quit because he was worried he wasn't spending enough time with his family. Manny wants Benny's attention, but Benny is so involved with trying to learn to play the trumpet that he ignores his younger sibling. Abuela Gloria isn't fond of Ignacio, but is glad to see the rest of her family. Everyone gets along, and the tension comes from other areas, which gave this a very nice feel. The Miami setting is interesting, and Ignacio's mansion is something else. I also enjoyed Benny's sequined wardrobe! This was a well constructed novel with some enticing cooking thrown in. 
Weaknesses: For some reason, the idea of dead grandparents coming back as ghosts creeps me out more than it should, maybe because I have a recurring nightmare that my grandparents are still alive and living in a small house in the country, and I have just... forgotten about them for the last fifty years. Never mind that they would both be over 130 years old. This is completely a me problem. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoy visiting with grandparents who are visiting from beyond the grave in books like Jones' Sauerkraut, Meriano's A Sprinkle of Spirits, or Badua's Freddie vs. The Family Curse. 

MMGM-- Tree. Table. Book. and Kid-Ventors

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at

Unleashing Readers

Lowry, Lois. Tree. Table. Book.

April 23, 2024 by Clarion Books 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Sophia Winslow lives on a street of older homes in New Hampshire, and her busy parents operate a real estate company out of their breezeway. Her good friend Ralphie Mariani lives across the street with his five brothers and sisters, his doctor father and mother who is a really good cook, and Oliver Vorhees, who is slightly younger, lives down the street with his hardworking single mother. Next door to Sophia is her best friend, 88-year-old Sophie Gershowitz, who came to the US from Poland after World War II and has lived in her house for 68 years. When Sophia overhears that Sophie's son Aaron is coming for a visit and plans to have his mother underrgo cognitive testing because she's slipping more and more, Sophia knows she must spring into action before her best friend is spirited away to live in an old folks' home in Akron, Ohio. She borrows a Merck manual from Ralphie and tries to give Sophia her own version of cognitive tests. It's clear from other occurrences that Sophie is having some problems; she leaves a tea kettle on the stove, and it burns, and when she and Sophia drive to WalMart to get a new one, they get lost coming back. While Sophie has great long term memories and can tell Sophia things that happened in 1961, she can't pass a three word retention test, no matter what Sophia does. Hoping that practice will help, Sophia tries again and again. During one of these sessions, she gives her friend three words; tree, table, and book. These three words spark deep memories of Sophie's life in Poland as a child, and she relates three stories that she hasn't told anyone, not even her son. Sophia feels that someone who has suffered so much shouldn't have to leave her best friend and go into "an old people institution", and she thinks vaguely about setting Sophie up in the abandoned house that's for sale across the street, but when she, Ralphie, and Oliver sneak in to check it out, Oliver, whose description seems to place him on the autism spectrum, opines that trying to do this would not constitute TLC (tender loving care). As sad as she is to lose her friend, Sophia knows that this is true, and prepares to say goodbye to Sophie as her son and parents work to clean out the house and put it on the market. At least Sophia's parents allow her to have a cell phone so that she can talk to her friend once a week for as long as it is possible. 

Strengths: There's no good way to adequately describe this book; it's a simple story, but in Lowry's hands turns into something profound and heartwrenching. Having seen my mother struggle with Parkinson's dementia and watched my father painfully try to "make her better" by quizzing her on the date and various other things, I could definitely understand Sophia's pain. I was also glad that Sophia's son was able to step in, get her tested, and take her to be near him in a setting that would keep her safe, and that while Sophie didn't like it, she, too, saw the necessity of the move. The stories, which I won't even synopsize because I can't do them justice, were poignant and telling, and I almost wish we had heard more about Sophia's time in Poland, or her life in the US as a young mother. Somehow the saddest part of the book, for me, was the description of Sophia's house and furnishings, including her worn out Formica table. Time runs roughshod over everything, doesn't it? 
Weaknesses: The young Sophia is quirky in the same way that Anastasia Krupnik was, with her obsessions with nutrition and grammar, and I'm not sure how much that will resonate with modern young readers. I also was not a huge fan of the cover. 
What I really think: I'll have to purchase this one, because it will resonate with the right reader. Middle school is definitely a time when many students have to deal with the decline of their grandparents, and this is an accessible look at how this might unfold. This hit painfully close to home, as I have many friends and relatives in their 80s. Lowry is herself 86, with an almost fifty year career of writing intriguing books for young readers. 

Pew, Kailie and Wright, Shannon (illus.). 

Kid-ventors: 35 Real Kids and their Amazing Inventions

April 23, 2024 by Feiwel & Friends 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Does your school participate in the Invention Convention? You might want to have this book on hand to motivate students by having them read about children who had good ideas. The chapters are divided into different categories of innovations, including Solving Daily Problems, Helping Others, Technology, The Environment, and Fun Inventions. There are some inventors that are well known, like Benjamin Franklin and Steve Wozniak, but most are ordinary kids who just had good ideas, like KK Gregory and her 1990s Wristies. The brief bios are listed in chronological order and discuss the product as well as the inventor, and I enjoyed hearing what happened the people went on to do later in life. At the end of the chapters, there are more topics discussed, like prototypes, production and marketing, and STEM communities. The book ends with information on how to be an inventor, a glossary, and source list. The book is illustrated with pictures in the style seen on the cover, and might be black and white; I've recently switched from a tablet e reader to a digital paper one, so will have to look at a finished copy. There's a wide range of products, from ones we all know, like Braille, to ones I have never heard of, like Le Glue and a prosthetic arm that shoots glitter!

Strengths: Invention Convention was always rather stressful for my children, and seeing examples of needs that young people felt need to be met would have been inspiring. There's a nice assortment of time periods, and places in the world where people lived, as well as a variety of different inventions. 
Weaknesses: I'm always a fan of seeing photographs when they exist, although there are no doubt copyright issues that are hard to work out. The illustrations were charming, however. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Temporelli, Gozzi, and Innocente's When Everything Went Wrong: 10 Real Stories of Inventors Who Didn't Give Up! , or Nelson, MacIssac, and Ritchie's See It, Dream It, Do It: How 25 People Just Like You Found Their Dream Jobs.

Where Was Goodbye?

Mather, Janice Lynn. Where Was Goodbye?
April 30, 2024 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Karmen's family is reeling in the wake of the death by suicide of her older brother, Julian six weeks ago. Julian was living at home, and enrolled in the local college in Nassau, The Bahamas, that their father is also attending. Her father is coping by working extra hard and being away from home, but her mother, who is a therapist, is rarely getting out of bed and isn't consulting with any of her patience. Karmen has to start her senior year of high school, and can't make sense of what has happened. Going back the first day, she is glad to see her friend Layla, but has a panic attack. It doesn't help that a teacher announces to her whole class what has happened, and calls on them to support her. The students seem to do just the opposite, asking intrusive questions, and in one instance, wanting her to be interviewed for a local news show. News crews still hang out by the school, further intruding into her grief. Karmen does see Dr. Rhonda to process her grief, but is not helped by the fact that Julian's room is kept as a shrine and his shoes are still left on the shoe rack in the hallway. Karmen becomes obsessed with finding out why her brother did what he did, and starts to interview people at the college, as well as people with whom he skateboarded. It's interesting that the police blamed his death on his involvement with the "counter culture" of skateboarding, but realistic that they don't really investigate much. At the college, the professors tell her that they can't divulge personal information, although she knows that her brother was on academic probation. The students are warned against talking to her. As her obsession deepens, Karmen starts wearing Julian's clothing, skateboarding, and twice in one day takes off and doesn't let her worried parents know where she will be. The only steadying influence in her life is Layla's brother, Isaiah, who helps here investigate but also watches out for her and tries to get her to go back to being involved in her previous activities, like attending the church youth group. When Karmen discovers that her mother had been keeping notes on Julian's mental state for five years, she starts to realize that there were a lot of clues to Julian's mental state that she missed. How will she find a way to go on without her beloved brother, or without the answers she so desperately craves?

Karmen's need for answers is understandable, and she is haunted by the phrase she hears after an unpleasant incident "At least no one died." Her family's reactions read like a textbook description of the various ways to cope with this kind of loss. The father throws himself into work, the mother descends into an immovable depression herself, and Karmen exhibits alarming behaviors that endanger herself as she acts out in reaction. It was good to see that Karmen had a therapist and is encouraged to attend a group; it would have been interesting to see if the parents did as well. 

Perhaps things are different in The Bahamas, but in the US it would have seemed unusual for such attention to be paid to Karmen in school. Even with the increased attention on suicide prevention (with organizations like The Hope Squad), students who suffer this kind of loss are usually largely ignored by school staff, and fellow classmates would think it rude to ask anything more than "Are you doing okay today"?

There are no shortages of Young Adult Books about suicide, and readers can find many popular titles including Green's 2005 Looking for Alaska, Vizzini's 2006 It's Kind of a Funny Story, Asher's 2007 Thirteen Reasons Why, Niven's 2015 All the Bright Places, Belanger's 2018 The History of Jane Doe, and Lawson's 2020 The Lucky Ones. Where Was Goodbye stands out because of the Bahamian setting. 

I'm not sure how much research Mather did before writing this, but most of the situations seem to be derived from the common perceptions of suicides. I still think it is insulting to portray parents as unable to get out of bed, and as failing to care for remaining children. Instead of the phrase "At least nobody died", I think more survivors of suicides in families say to themselves "People die every day". 

Saturday Morning Cartoon Marathon

So many graphic novels this month! I'll buy as many as I can. They are super expensive and fall apart easily. Here are some to consider some for your school library. 

Raymundo, Peter. Lucky Scramble
April 23, 2024 by Dial Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Tyler (shown here) does well in the regional speed cubing championships, but can't afford to go to the national ones with cubers like champion Dirk Speedman, twins Izzy and Lizzy, prodigy Eli Newton, and 60-something almost champ Miles Wizzinski. Wen he is sponsored by Vincent Chan of CubeMania, he and his mother head to Las Vegas. Tyler does well, but at a critical moment, his cube breaks, but he gets help from an unexpected source. Lots of good information about this pursuit in a hybrid notebook novel/graphic novel style. Can't think of any other books on this topic, so I will buy. 

Tsong, Jing Jing. Fake Chinese Sounds

April 30th 2024 by Kokila

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Mei Ying Lin lives in a small college town with her professor mother and is friends with Kirra, who is on her soccer team, and who calls her "SparK", a name bestowed by Kirra's grandmother, Coach Gran. When Mei Ying's grandmother visits from Taiwan, the two bond even though they don't speak the same language. The do tai chi, cook, and enjoy each other's company. After her grandmother returns home and the new school year starts, Mei Ying finds that one of her new classmates, Sid, is cruel and racist, but passes everything off as a joke, so her classmates, including Kirra, brush off Mei Ying's concerns. She eventually tells him off, and after a class International Day, he apologizes. I loved the relationship with the grandmother, and the dealings with the classmates are timely. 

Fantaskey, Beth and ONeillJones, Erin (Illustrator). 

Wires Crossed

April 30, 2024 by Clarion Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Mia has gotten her interest in science and engineering from her grandmother, who lives with the family, and loved being at a tech camp with Tariq. When his family moves to town and he has gotten more social and attractive, Mia worries that with her braces, glasses, and difficult hair, he won't want to hang out with her. When he spends time with the soccer team, and Mia's friend Addy who is hanging with a more popular crowd seems interested in him, Mia is not happy. She does make a new friend in Kinsey, who loves to draw. When the science class starts on a project, Tariq, Mia, Kinsey, and Evan all work on a robotic snake. There are some miscommunications as the children use their creativity and imagination on the project, but in the end, Mia is able to reconnect with Tariq and clear up misunderstandings. The science and the tween drama in this, along with Fantaskey's writing, make this one I will buy. 

Zayid, Maysoon and Amin, Shadia (Illustrator). 

Shiny Misfits.
April 16, 2024 by Graphix
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Bay Ann enjoys tap dancing, and splits her time between her father, who is a caterer, and her mother, who is a college professor. When her school has a talent show, she arranges a production of a zombie bride dance with good friend Michelle, but popular Alyee Maq takes a video that goes viral in a horrible way. Bay Ann has cerebral palsy, and Alyee paints her as "ill" and someone in need of pity. This rubs her the wrong way and increased their competition, especially over social media likes. This follows events through the school year. Bay Ann is an Arab American Muslim. 

LaMotte, Lily and Xu, Ann. Unhappy Camper. 

April 23, 2024 by HarperAlley

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Claire and Michelle are close as sisters, but when they enter middle school, Michelle cares more about popularity and wants the approval of Jess and her friends. When Claire takes a position as a junior counselor at a Taiwanese cultural summer camp, Michelle is bitter about having to go and spends much of the camp time trying to text Jess before seeing a little of the point of the camp. Sort of a mix of Sweet Valley Twins and Brosgol's Be Prepared and Wang's Summer at Squee. 

Cooke, Pan. Puzzled: A Memoir about Growing Up with OCD
April 16, 2024 by Rocky Pond Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Starting at age ten, we see Pan struggling with all sorts of troubling thoughts about mistakes he might have made and worries that keep him up at night. He has some rituals, like brushing his teeth, that reassure him when they go well, but force him into repetitive behavior when they don't. Some of his friends understand, but as he gets older, the thoughts become more and more intrusive. Interesting memoir showing one struggle with OCD. I was glad to see therapy portrayed, especially the struggles with finding something that helped. Pair this with Sattin and Hickman's Buzzing and Button Pusher for a good portrayal of students trying to find a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Guy Friday- Keeper

Gibbons, Alan. Keeper
April 2, 2024 by Union Square Kids

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this very short, dyslexic-friendly novel, we meet Shane Logan, a kid from Leeds who comes to a new school. Mrs Ali, his teacher, is very kind despite his angry attitude, and gives him supplies so he can participate in class. Peter, an avid soccer player, thinks that maybe Shane will calm down if they ask him to play soccer, but is as explosive on the field, kicking the subpar soccer ball angrily. There is a Sunday league, the North Park Juniors, and Peter and his friends ask Shane to be a part of that, because he has decent soccer skills. When Shane's father Mick brings him, it's easy to see where Shane gets his attitude, as Mick yells and abuses Coach Gary. At one point, the two have to be sent home because of their outbursts. It turns out that Mick isn't Shane's dad, but rather his mother's boyfriend, and after throwing a chair through a window, Mick has been taken away by the police. Shane continues to play soccer, and the team helps him. There are also short chapters of nonfictional information interspersed throughout, with information on Great Goalies, Over the Top Goalies, Bloopers, and the like.
Strengths: Like Fabbri's Back of the Net series, this book includes plenty of on field action combined with young adult social problems like anger management. This is fast paced, and short, so students who lose interest quickly will be done with the book by the time they are tired of it.
Weaknesses: This is a British title, so I wasn't quite sure why it was so notable that Shane was from Leeds. It's not that important to the story, and readers who are very interested in soccer will be familiar with the international players in the nonfiction section. The writing was on par with other high interest, low level readers.
What I really think: This is a great choice for readers who are successful with titles like Robinson's Carter High or Saddleback Publishing's District 13 books. There's an older feel to it, so readers who think the Jake Maddox books are too young, but who need easier text, will enjoy these. I have a lot of ELL students who enjoy soccer, and this will be perfect for them.

The Night War

Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. The Night War

April 9, 2024 by Dial Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Miriam's family has moved from Germany to Paris, and she misses their nice house in the countryside. It's 1942, and there is a lot to be anxious about. She feels responsible for the arrest of Monsieur Rosenbloom, a neighbor who has a wife and a young daughter, Nora, of whom she is very fond. Her father works at a newspaper, and Miriam's mother prefers that her daughter go to do the marketing because she speaks better French, not that there is much food. Jewish people are made to wear yellow stars on their clothes, and the gentile concierges of the apartment buildings keep the resident's identification cards. When there is a round up of Jewis citizens, Miriam manages to warn her father and some of her friends, but comes home to find the door to her apartment open. She hears what she thinks is a gun shot, and sees a pot of red geraniums broken on the ground, and thinks that the worst might have happened to her mother. Mrs. Rosenbloom pulls her aside and tells the Nazis she is her daughter when the two are rounded up. Mrs. Rosenbloom throws away Miriam's identification card and makes sure she is not wearing a yellow star, and tells her to take Nora and run away, head to the unoccupied Vichy district and then Switzerland. Miriam doesn't think she can do it, but Mrs. Rosenbloom tells her that this choice could save both girls. She takes Nora, but is luckily found by a nun, who tells a Nazi that the Miriam has run away from a Catholic school. Nora is dropped off with another family, and Miriam, who is told to go by Marie, is sent to a convent school just across the river from Vichy. Sister Dominique is working to transport people to safety along with Sister Annunciata, whom the girls call Sister Anchovy because of the unfortunate medical condition the sister has that gives her a constant odor of fish. When Sister Dominique breaks her leg, Sister Anchovy asks Marie to help with their work. This involves going to the Castle Chenonceau and working in the gardens with several of the other schoolgirls after the gardener dies. Bette, who lives at the castle, is also a passeur, helping Jews to escape, and she counts on Marie's help. Marie learns a lot of history about the location and about the treatment of Jews through history, and meets the ghost of Catherine deMedici, who says that Marie must work for her now. Marie finds Nora living with a nearby family, and eventually manages to take her and get across to Vichy with two other classmates who are also Jewish. End notes tell more about the real history of the castle and the plight of the Jewis people in France during the war. 

Strengths: This had very interesting discussions that Marie had with gentiles who very calmly told her what a problem Jewish people were in France, and how much better off the country would be without them. While this is in no way portrayed as a good or realistic way to think, it's important that it be explained, because how else would so much devastation have happened? This is a unique perspective that I haven't seen addressed in other books set during this era. Marie knows that these people aren't evil; they are just believing what they have been told. The epilogue gives the fates of the characters, and it was nice to see that Miriam was reunited with her parents. There is a lot of history in this that I hadn't read before. Bradley's The War That Saved My Life is very popular in my library. 
Weaknesses: This really lost me when Marie started talking to Catherine deMedici. She was a good choice for a slightly but not entirely evil ghost, but I had trouble wrapping my mind around her part of the story. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want a little bit of fantasy mixed in with their World War II story, like Cohen's The Lost Ryū , Presley and Polder's A Whale in Paris, or Zafon's The Prince of Mist. 

Capstone Graphic Biographies

Library collections are always changing. Twenty years ago, I needed 100+ page biographies for students who were assigned biography projects. Today, I need shorter biographies on a wider variety of people. It's still a challenge; for Black History Month, there are a million different biographies of Rosa Parks or Mae Jemison, and for Women's History Month, so many versions of the lives of Eleanor Roosevelt or Susan B. Anthony. One teacher now assigns three minute presentations on activists, politicians, journalists, and other very specific types of careers, and it's been hard to find. 

When I Tweeted about this, Capstone reached out with several of their new series, including their Barrier Breakers and First But Forgotten series. I definitely have lots of these on order for next year! 

Still hoping for my Flemmie Pansy Kittrell biography! 

Turner, Myra Faye and Jenai, Markia (illus.)
In Disguise on the Underground Railroad: A Graphic Novel Biography of Anna Maria Weems
January 1, 2024 by Picture Window Books
Copy provided by the publisher

Weems' family, including her parents and eight siblings, were enslaved in Maryland in th emid 1800s. Her father had an understanding with his enslaver, and paid him so that his family could stay together. He was saving up to purchase his family when the man died, and the family was sold away by the inheritors. Anna's new enslaver would not sell her, hoping for more money. The family had help from lawyer Jacob Bigelow, and there was even a Weems ransom fund to try to raise money to reunite the family. Eventually, an escape was planned, and Anna, disguised as a young man, took a harrowing journey to Ontario, Canada, where she was reunited with her family. Not much is known about her life after that, although it is likely that she was educated at the Buxton Mission School. 

The graphic novel format moves this story along very quickly, and the pictures will give young readers a better idea of what the world looked like in the 1800s. There is a nice glossary at the end of the book, as well as lists of resources. 

Lukidis, Lydia and Sotirovski, Aleksandar (Illustrator).
Hiding from the Nazis in Plain Sight: A Graphic Novel Biography of Zhanna and Frina Arshanskaya
January 1, 2024 by Picture Window Books
Copy provided by the publisher

Even at a young age, Zhanna and Frina Arshanskaya were reknowned pianists, playing for audiences as well as on the radio. When the Germans invaded Kharkiv in 1941, the family was captured and sent on a death march. Once at the camp, the father bribed a guard to look the other way while the girls ran away. Zhanna managed to stay with friends, always on the move. She was eventually reunited with Frina, and the two managed to stay safe by leaving Ukraine and eventually moving to the US. There, they continued their musical careers. 

It was interesting that Zhanna's son was involved in the writing of this book, and believes that his mother and aunt may have been the only two Jewish survivors from Kharkiv. The notes about the rest of the women's lives, the bibliography, and the glossary round out this excellent short book. 

This was a different Holocaust story, and would be a good nonfiction companion to Zail's Playing for the Commandant Ross, Susan L. Searching for Lottie or  Ross' Searching for Lottie.