October 14, 2025 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
We meet Otis Brody, the coach from Reynolds’ Ghost, when he is a teen growing up in Glass Manor in about 1988. His mother works in telemarketing, and his father is frequently traveling for business, and isn’t around as much to take Otis to the barbershop to keep his haircut fresh. When a boy at school, Quentin, gives him a hard time about this, Otis attempts to cut his own hair with a razor and accidentally cuts off one of his eyebrows. His mother steps in and decides that the only solution is to shave his entire head and claim it is to improve his aerodynamics for running. Otis is sure he can be as good as his idol, Carl Lewis, so when Dudley Anderson, who scouted Lewis, is due to visit his track team, he’s sure he can get a spot in the Junior Olympics. When his father returns from his most recent trip, he brings a pair of the new Air Jordans 3. Otis is very excited, since everyone is talking about the shoes, although his mother is apprehensive about them, since his father does not have the box. She is also concerned that kids have been robbed of their shoes, and insists on keeping them locked up much of the time in the family safe with other valuables like his video game console. Otis’ best friend, Goose, is involved in the Clippers gang, and Otis’ mother is wary of the street life around their apartment. Otis makes some progress in track, but is derailed when his father takes his shoes in the middle of the night. This leads to some revelations about what his father has really been up to, and gives us some backstory to an important character in the Track series.
Reynolds’ books are popular with students who want shorter, snappy, interesting stories about kids facing a variety of challenges while involved in sports programs. It’s a winning combination, so seeing a fifth book about the coach is an intriguing addition. We learn more about the area, the local culture, and the motivations that Otis has to grow up to become a Coach. His father also coaches, but has some significant personal problems that affect Otis negatively.
While it is clear that this book took place in the past, since we have met the adult Otis, it would have been nice to have a date specified. Because of the release of the Air Jordans 3, as well as some other cultural references, I’m pinning this down to sometime in late 1988.
Hand this to fans of Alexander’s Rebound, which tells the story of the father from The Crossover, or to readers who enjoy shorter sports stories from Fred Bowen, Matt Christopher, or Orca Currents.
We meet Otis Brody, the coach from Reynolds’ Ghost, when he is a teen growing up in Glass Manor in about 1988. His mother works in telemarketing, and his father is frequently traveling for business, and isn’t around as much to take Otis to the barbershop to keep his haircut fresh. When a boy at school, Quentin, gives him a hard time about this, Otis attempts to cut his own hair with a razor and accidentally cuts off one of his eyebrows. His mother steps in and decides that the only solution is to shave his entire head and claim it is to improve his aerodynamics for running. Otis is sure he can be as good as his idol, Carl Lewis, so when Dudley Anderson, who scouted Lewis, is due to visit his track team, he’s sure he can get a spot in the Junior Olympics. When his father returns from his most recent trip, he brings a pair of the new Air Jordans 3. Otis is very excited, since everyone is talking about the shoes, although his mother is apprehensive about them, since his father does not have the box. She is also concerned that kids have been robbed of their shoes, and insists on keeping them locked up much of the time in the family safe with other valuables like his video game console. Otis’ best friend, Goose, is involved in the Clippers gang, and Otis’ mother is wary of the street life around their apartment. Otis makes some progress in track, but is derailed when his father takes his shoes in the middle of the night. This leads to some revelations about what his father has really been up to, and gives us some backstory to an important character in the Track series.
Reynolds’ books are popular with students who want shorter, snappy, interesting stories about kids facing a variety of challenges while involved in sports programs. It’s a winning combination, so seeing a fifth book about the coach is an intriguing addition. We learn more about the area, the local culture, and the motivations that Otis has to grow up to become a Coach. His father also coaches, but has some significant personal problems that affect Otis negatively.
While it is clear that this book took place in the past, since we have met the adult Otis, it would have been nice to have a date specified. Because of the release of the Air Jordans 3, as well as some other cultural references, I’m pinning this down to sometime in late 1988.
Hand this to fans of Alexander’s Rebound, which tells the story of the father from The Crossover, or to readers who enjoy shorter sports stories from Fred Bowen, Matt Christopher, or Orca Currents.
May 13, 2025 by Nosy Crow
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Quinn and her brother Olly have always known that their two mothers, Jodi and Sam, conceived them with the help of a donor, and both kids are secure in their identity... most of the time. When the family takes a vacation to a beach hotel, Quinn has to deal with Monika, whom she has met in previous years. When they were younger, Monika asked why Quinn didn't have a father, and misinterpreted "donor" as "doughnut". Monika is mean and snarky, but the two keep getting thrown together in the acitivities at the hotel. Quinn has started to question why she's the only one in her family with red hair, and why she doesn't like the same activities that they do. When her mothers talk about finding the other children of her donor, Quinn is very interested, and doesn't want to wait until she is older. She logs into the account, and even upgrades it with the family debit card so she can message other members. She's already suspicious that one of the staff members might be related to her, but when she finds out that one of the donor siblings (or "diblings", as she puts it) lives nearby, she arranges to meet up with the family. All the while, she is afraid that Monika might be related to her, and spends so much time on her far flung family that she ignores Olly. When he runs off after Quinn doesn't watch him closely enough, she realizes that he means more to her than people she hasn't met. She has to come clean to her mothers about her investigations as well as her feelings of not belonging and not being understood.
I'm not sure where exactly this was set, but I would have loved to spend a week at this hotel! It's near a beach, but had the feel of an all inclusive Pocono Mountains family camp. Since the author lives in England, and this is based on her own family's experiences, there must be family centered hotels on the British coast somewhere. Finding them may be my new life goal!
It was good to see that while Quinn did have questions about her background, she was fairly happy with her family situation. She even gets along with Olly, even though she doesn't pay as much attention to him while she is dealing with Monika and trying to connect with her donor siblings. Monika's experience of being a donor child who was told later in life about her family history was a nice contrast to Quinn having known about her background for as long as she could remember.
This reminded me strongly of the summer vacation stories Levy's The Family Fletcher Takes Rock Island and Moon's Family Week that also showcase LGBTQIA+ families, or Robert's Nikki on the Line, which is one of the few middle grade books that specifically addresses children who are conceived through artificial insemination with donors. The Doughnut Club is the only book I've read that specifically addresses finding possible siblings.
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