Happy birthday, Taylor Swift!

I don't understand the extreme love of Taylor Swift, nor the backlash against her. She seems like a decent person who is kind to her fans, does solid work, and deserves to have a happy life. My students, however, adore her, and since Ms. Swift has been performing for twenty years, there are also adult teachers, librarians, and authors!) who do as well. I'm glad to see an influential woman singer making this much of an impact, and know that the few biographies and the Eras encyclopedia that I bought have circulated VERY well. Are these books worth investing in? Definitely. They'll be worn out by the time Swift goes out of fashion.

Mooney, Carla. Taylor Swift: Queen of Reinvention 

August 1, 2025 by Twenty-First Century Books ™

Copy provided by the publisher

My collection development policy has long been to hold off buying biographies until the subject has passed away; my school library had a 1980s era biography of Michael Jackson that showed me how much biographies can change! There are some exceptions; Dan Wetzel's EPIC ATHLETES are very popular with my sports buffs. Another recent exception, due to the intense demand, has been Taylor Swift. So far, I've purchased Burk and Dorado's The Story of Taylor Swift, Feder and Tatreau's Taylor Swift By the Book, Stevens and Steinfeld's Kid Musicians: True Tales of Childhood from Entertainer, Songwriters, and Stars and Bolte's Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour encyclopedia. None of these are ever on the shelf.

This ICONS series from Lerner is formatted like the standard biographies I have on more standard historical figures like George Washington or Marie Curie. Coming in at just 80 pages, it covers the singer's life so far in eight chapters. There are many pictures, which will delight fans, as well as a glossary, source notes, selected bibliography, list of websites, and an index. I was especially glad to see the inclusion of a "Legacy and Impact" page, because this is almost always a requirement for any biography project, and I personally am little help with this information when students ask!

I'm not a fan of Swift's but realize that she has an impressive range of accomplishments. The book did include some information that was knew to me, such as her writing collaborators. There was plenty of discussion about the inspiration for some of her songs, and her difficult dealings with other individuals, but this was all done in a fair and balanced, non sensational way. There is even a page about Swift's interest in the NFL, which is especially pertinent since her engagement to Travis Kelce.

Would I have loved a biography of Karen Carpenter or Olivia Newton John when I was in middle school? Absolutely. While I would rather students be interested in books like Orgill's 2001 Shout, Sister, Shout! : Ten Girl Singers Who Shaped a Century, there is no denying that younger readers would vastly prefer this short but well done book on a modern singer's life. A student saw this sitting on my desk while I was processing it, and wanted it right away

Calonita, Jen. The Taylors

October 7, 2025 by Scholastic Inc.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this prequel to Eulberg's The Taylors: Love Stories, we find out how the group got together as they started middle school in fifth grade. Teffy is new to Harrison Middle School, and meets Taylor, Tay Tay, and TS in her homeroom. All four girls were named after the singer, and adopt nicknames to limit confusion. Taylor is the youngest of five, and so tired of hand-me-downs that she asks to be allowed to keep her full name! The group bonds over wanting to go to the Eras concert, although tickets are expensive. Mean girl Hannah boasts that her parents are taking her, and says that she is allowed to invite one friend, which gives her a lot of social power. The Taylors (as they call themselves) know they can't count on Hannah's invitation, and vow to stick together and work to raise funds so that they can all go. They also try out for cheerleading, and help each other with the routines, eventually making the 5th and 6th grade squad of 24 girls. This makes their schedules a little tight; they all have various other things going on in their lives, and commit to make 200 beaded friendship bracelets so they can earn $400, which leads to more requests for the hand made jewelry. It's not enough, however, and even after trying to gain some attention on social media in hopes of winning tickets, they content themselves with "Tay-gating" at the venue with one of the mothers. There, they are interviewed by local news media about the fact that they are all named after the singer, and also the fact that they took all the money they earned for tickets and donated it to the local library that had recently suffered a fire. The singer hears this interview and not only invites them to hear the concert in the VIP section, but hugs the girls and gives Teffy a hat that they are all supposed to share. They, in turn, give the singer a bracelet, which she puts on right there! (Insert appropriate squeals.)

Strengths: Middle school students have the time and the emotional capacity to embrace fandoms in a way that becomes difficult as one gets older. This is important, because these often stay with people their whole lives. Those 7th graders obsessed with Tolkien? They grow up to be my son-in-law and lead to a Tolkien themed bathroom! I personally still own a prairie dress in case I have to go in costume as Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I have friends who still have as core parts of their personalities interests in the Beatles and the original Star Trek. Calonita (who is also very interested in Disney) understands this, and paints the Taylors' interests in Swift with an understanding brush. I'm sure the drama over the expensive tickets was repeated again and again in middle schools everywhere, and villains like Hannah, who rubbed her tickets in everyone's faces, emerged. The girls all have different interests, but decide to try out for cheerleading so they can be together. My favorite part was that they actively tried to earn money, and put it toward a good cause when they realized they couldn't buy tickets. 
Weaknesses: While I was glad to see a middle school that included fifth grade (mine did), having 24 girls on the cheerleading squad seemed like a very large number. Also, if the Taylors are going to the Eras tour in 5th grade, having them be in high school in the next book didn't quite line up, not that Young readers will care. 
What I really think: Calonita is clearly a fan of Ms. Swift (check out her fantastic 12 to 22), so brings a lot of love and energy to this story. This is middle school wish fulfillment at its finest, so I will definitely purchase a copy. If you are having a Scholastic book fair, make sure to ask for an extra box of these books if you have a solid Swift fan base. 

Eulberg, Elizabeth. Love Stories (The Taylors #1)

October 7, 2025 by Scholastic Inc.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Younger readers will want to learn the backstory of the Taylors  by reading about when they met in fifth grade in The Taylors, but older readers can go ahead and start with this tale of their entry into high school. We see more of their individual personalities, and see what romances come their way. Blonde Teffy is shy and quiet, and would rather stay at home with her books and music, pining over family friend Liam, than perform songs she has written with Tay. Red haired TS is determined to make the high school varsity soccer team, and when she does, is thrown for a loop by a British important to the team, Gemma, on whom she has an overwhelming crush. Tay (who drops the second Tay because it seems babyish) is the only one who is still a cheerleader, because she has a background in gymnastics. Taylor Perez is bound and determined to run for student body president, but that's before she becomes enamored of Hunter, who is gorgeous and a senior. The girls are invited to a high school party, but make the wise choice not to drink alcohol, and run into their old nemesis Hannah and her henchwoman Greta. Teffy keeps hanging out with Liam, whose parents funded her own parents business, Harrison by Design, which is struggling to get enough orders to stay afloat. She doesn't understand why he is dating Cat, even though she waffles on whether or not she is romantically interested in Liam. Taylor spends so much time with Hunter that her grades falter, and she also decides not to run for elected office. Teffy is so distracted by Gemma that her game suffers, and she tries to distance herself from her crush, which doesn't help the team. Tay meet emo rocker Reece when they have to work on a science project together, and their romance runs a somewhat rocky course as Tay has to realize how wealthy Reece's family is, and he feels inferior when he realizes how good her singing is. It's great that all four have romances and are still able to stay together as a friend group and help each other through the difficult moments. 

Strengths: This is EXACTLY the type of older middle grade books that I've been looking for. Certainly,  in middle school in the 1970s, I was reading a  lot of titles about girls in high school, like Conford's 1976 The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations: A Novel, and sometimes even college (and even now desperately want to buy Colver's 1942 Joan Foster series for myself from Image Cascade!). Eulberg does a great job of fleshing out each character so they each have distinctiev interests and personalities. The wide range of love interests was impressive; Taylor's older, probably deeply creepy guy who is probably pressuring her for more physical interaction behind the scenes, Tay's "opposites attract" bad boy who's really quite sweet, Teffy's friendship with Liam that she would like to be something more, and TS's all consuming crush on Gemma. The relationships all work out in various ways that will make the readers happy. I enjoyed the fact that most of the parents were around and supportive; only Tay's mother is absent, although her father is very involved. The fact that all of the girls like Taylor Swift's music comes up quite a bit, and I think the chapter headings are all names of her songs. This will be HUGELY popular even without the inclusion of Swift fandom, especially since Eulberg has other good Young Adult titles that work for middle school readers, like Take a Chance on Me and Past Perfect Life as well as her middle grade The Best Worst Summer. 

Weaknesses: The Timeline with the origin story of the Taylors doesn't quite work, but Young readers won't notice. I thought I was going to have a hard time telling the characters apart, but I didn't, although looking at the cover of the second book, I had to really think through who was who! (I was thrown off by Taylor's shorts.)
What I really think: This is a fantastic choice for middle school readers who want to learn more about their future in high school, or for high school readers who (like me) can't stomach the horrific drama and trauma, as well as salty language, that seems to make up most of the Young Adult titles these days. I'm not sure what we're allowed to call books like this these days ("clean reads" is definitely out), but this is a gentler read along the lines of Kristy Boyce's Hot British Boyfriend, Jouhanneau's Kisses and Croissants, or the work of Kasie West. Definitely purchasing, and looking forward to Cruel Summer (1/6/26).