May 6, 2025 by Bloomsbury Children's Book
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Evie is enjoying her time at Camp Shir Shalom, especially since her family moves every year to support her mother's career as a television news reporter and it's the only chance that she gets to spend time with her best friend, Dara. Her father, an accountant, spends a lot of time study cryptozoology, and has been trying to get pictures of Sharlie, a reported sea serpent in Idaho. Evie caused a major set back in his research, so when the family has to move to California for her mother's new job, the father stays behind to finish. The move puts the family near a grandmother, but Evie shoulders a lot of the care for her younger sister, Talia. Evie starts her new school only to find that Dara is a student there... but Dara is not happy to be seen with someone wearing a cryptid shirt with unfashionable hair. Evie does manage to make some friends, but drags Charlie and Hannah into her research. She has come to the conclusion that the only possible reason Dara could have for being mean to her is that the Dara in her class is not the REAL Dara... she's a golem. Evie tells her father about her new project, and gives him frequent updates, hoping he will come to California. Evie's grandmother is determined to throw a bat mitzvah party for Evie, but since Evie feels she has no friends, she's not wild about the idea. There are a lot of other similar parties in the school community, but Evie is not invited to them. When Dara has one, Evie thinks it will be the perfect chance to unmask the golem, but this does not end well.
Strengths: This nicely explored the family dynamic of a parent not in residence for reasons that are not shared with the child. Evie's feeling that she needs to "fix everything" will resonate with tweens who might have concerns about the strength of their family. The friend drama is also on point, and this is similar to Walker's 2017 Let's Pretend We Never Met, but from the point of view of the character who is being abandoned. I enjoyed the rounds of parties, and the drama involved with the invitations, and it was quite brilliant to plan the big reveal at Dara's party. The inclusion of a discussion facilitated by the school between Evie and her mother and Dara and her family was helpful. I didn't find the ending to be surprising, but younger readers might feel the same way that Evie did about the father's choices.
Weaknesses: Evie really believing that Dara might be a golem makes this seem a little younger than middle school.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want a mix of family drama and cryptid study that appears in books like Savage's 2020 Nessie Quest or Martin's Hoax for Hire.
Weaknesses: Evie really believing that Dara might be a golem makes this seem a little younger than middle school.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want a mix of family drama and cryptid study that appears in books like Savage's 2020 Nessie Quest or Martin's Hoax for Hire.
May 6, 2025 by Rocky Pond Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Fifth grader Daisy Jackson and her mother used to live her mother's boyfriend, but now have their own apartment. Her mother cleans offices, and when she has to work at night, has neighbor Lulu sleep on the couch to care for Daisy. Daisy has found a cat in a nearby alley, whom she calls Rumble Paws and whom she is trying to tame with tuna fish and care. This is a welcome respite from her difficulties at school, where bullies Tad and Sophie constantly give her a hard time and call her "Weird, Sad, and Silent". Daisy is very quiet, knowing that drawing attention to herself can be dangerous, but she does have support from Captain, the school custodian, and Marimba, the school librarian, who allows Daisy to eat in the library with her when she closes the library. When new student Austin starts at her school, the two start to get along. Austin has moved in with his grandparents because his parents can't take care of him, but he is willing to stand up to Tad and Sophie. Together, the two make progress with Rumble Paws and share some of the information about their pasts that has made them understandably wary.
This is a lyrical, heart print book for readers who want to investigate characters who are dealing with trauma, like Lacey in Lowell's The Road to After, and is for slightly younger readers than Bradley's 2020 Fighting Words or Booth's 2022 Caprice.
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
It's 1985, and Ben Bellini lives in Southern California with his parents and younger siblings Erin and Mark. He is interested in studying more to participate in the spelling bee, and even buys the first volume of the Runk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia at the grocery store for 99 cents. He worries that his friends will make fun of his spelling obsession, so when his grandmother arranges for him to study with a former champion, Roger Nott, and live with her in San Francisco, he really wants to go. His mother is reluctant, but relents, and soon Ben is ensconced in his Nan's cool house that she designed and built in 1954. Nan was a pioneer in home design and architecture, but Ben notices that things are a little... off. The house is a mess, and Nan seems to be having trouble remembering things. He arrives late at Nott's bookshop, and thinks that the man won't work with him. He wanders into the nearby library and meets Asha, who is also studying for the bee. He meets Nan's neighbors, like Mrs. Sunabe, whose family were in internment camps during WWII. He does study with Nott, and hangs out with Asha, but when his grandmother has a crisis, he finally gets a hold of his mother (calls are expensive, and there are no cell phones!) and has her come. His mother decides to stay and help ready the house for sale. An epilogue tells us more about Ben and Asha's life.
I don't know that I've seen too many books that include spelling bees (other than Selzer's 2009 I Put a Spell on You, Blakemore's The Friendship Riddle , Howell's Second to None, Bowling's Dust, and Mills' Simon Ellis, Spelling Bee Champ), but the real draw here is San Francisco in the 1980s. Something about Ben's family life and siblings was so realistic that I was very surprised at the author's note that said this WASN'T based on her real life. The details about Nan's architectural work are fascinating. This goes well with Camiccia's The Memory Keeper or Li's Ruby, Lost and Found, which are both set in San Francisco and about grandmothers with memory loss.
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