Saturday Morning Cartoons- Flat Stanley and Agent Cupcake

Brown, Jeff, Wilson, SB, and Egbert, Corey (illus.) 

Flat Stanley: The Graphic Novel
September 2, 2025 by HarperAlley

E ARC provided by Netgalley

Stanley Lambchop lives with his parents and younger brother Arthur in New York City. Life is uneventful until he wakes up one morning and has been flattened by a bulletin board that has fallen off the wall onto his bed. Since he doesn't seem to be in any distress, everyone has breakfast before taking him to the doctor. Again, nothing is wrong, so his mother's major concern is that all of Stanley's clothes will need to be altered! He has several adventures, like getting his mother's ring back from the sewer, being flown around the park like a kite, being used to help the policemen catch a sneak thief from stealing paintings, and being mailed in a large envelope (with a cheese sandwich!) to visit a friend in California. Eventually, he gets tired of being flat, and his brother manages to restore him to his normal girth by inserting a bicycle pump in his mouth until he is fully inflated. 

Strengths: I was a little surprised to find that Flat Stanley was first published in 1964; the series had a resurgence of interest in the 1990s when my children were in elementary school, and I seem to remember at least one Flat Stanley project. Egbert's illustrations capture some of the feel of the original while updating some details; Stanley's friend in California is Black, the father seems to do all of the cooking, and the crowds in the city are more diverse. The text is a nice large size, and this will be a huge hit with elementary readers and even some struggling middle school ones. There are six books in the series written by Brown, and a later set of four I Can Read Books, so meeting Stanley will encourage readers to look for other books about this character. 
Weaknesses: Since I'm a fan of anything vintage, redoing the illustrations always takes some of the original charm away for me, but readers who are vastly younger than some of my clothing are not going to care about vintage charm. 
What I really think: If you can suspend disbelief long enough to believe that Stanley is flattened by a bulletin board and has no further problems, you'll enjoy this reimagining of Brown's classic tale. The goofiness will appeal to fans of Greenburg's The Zach Files, Trine's Melvin Beederman series, and the various permutations of Thaler's Black Lagoon books. 

Hilario, Mel and Davis, Lauren. Agent Cupcake

November 4, 2025 by Oni Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Miguel Mangayayam gets hired by the Magical Beast Bureau since he is very interested in learning all he can about supernatural creatures, and because his mother works there. He is paired with Agent Cupcake, a unicorn who has lost his magical powers. Right away, Miguel learns a lot about unicorns (their horns DON'T purify water, and dragons are allergic to unicorns), and gets started on missions right away. A fashion store, Paleontolgie, is selling outfits with pilfered phoenix feathers, and investigating this leads to deeper problems. The unicorns sell their crafts on the Betsy website, but those whose work sells the best are losing their magic! What does this have to do with HOARD, a massive online retailer? The unicorn Ganache is some help, and contact one of his online friends, Polly, who works at HOARD to find a way to get into their headquarters. Miguel and Cupcake manage to infiltrate the building, but will they be able to get the unicorns magic back? There is a glossary at the back of some of the technology terms used in the book. 

This was a rather goofy satire of online commerce; since Anthropologie jeans retail for over $200, I'm not sure that tweens are really their demographic. (I was glad to see that high rise jeans and sweaters with embroidered motifs seem to be back, however!) Miguel has a lot of anxiety, so goes back and forth between the manga star eyes and weeping, so that would be appealing to young graphic novel readers. If Graley's Donut the Destroyer or Simpson's Phoebe and Her Unicorn are popular in your library, I'd take a look at this title. Wow. The first Phoebe came out in 2014. Seems like just yesterday. 
 

Poetry Friday- Holes in My Underwear

Eicheldinger, Matthew. Holes in My Underwear: Over 100 Poems That Will Knock Your Socks Off

September 9, 2025 by Andrews McMeel Publishing
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

The author's note about why he wrote these poems is very informative. His students didn't like the poetry that they had to read for class, so in order to interest them, he tried his own hand at writing poems for them. This is an admirable idea. He teachers 6th grade, so thematically, these address a lot of concerns about farts, sports, and generally goofiness. Also a good call. 

While I have definitely seen the same reactions to poetry from my students, I'm SUPER, SUPER picky about how poems are written. I write poems myself. It can take me weeks to get a poem just right; I'm a huge fan of the work of Timothy Steele, and adored his book on how to write poetry, All the Fun's in How You Say a Thing. Getting just the right word, making sure the scansion is absolutely flawless, using assonance and consonance... sigh. Writing poetry is my retirement plan. 

While everyone can try to write poetry, and sometimes write decent verse, not all of it is good. Eicheldinger's work is serviceable. It's got decent enough themes, the rhyme is okay, the meter is sometimes better than others. I'm wondering how he teachers his 6th graders about poetry, and whether or not his poems meet all of the criteria; when poetry was included in our 7th grade curriculum (it now isn't anywhere), there were a lot of types of figurative language that students had to find in collections of poems, and I'm not sure this book would have been useful. 

It's entirely likely that 6th graders will read this and find it funny. I still have a small collection of poetry books in my library, but I'm not buying any more, since they are used very little. If I were to purchase more, I would get Schecter's The Red Ear Blows Its Nose, which was very clever, but had a horrible cover. Viorst's What Are You Mad About? What Are You Glad About?, Dean Koontz's The Paper Doorway, and anything by Naomi Shihab Nye, J. Patrick Lewis, and Jack Prelutsky are also good choices. 

This author also wrote the goofy Matt Sprouts series and a memoir about his experiences in education, but I was not aware of this bestselling author at all. 

War Games and Refugee: The Graphic Novel

Gratz, Alan. War Games
October 7, 2025 by Scholastic Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Thirteen year old Evie is excited to be in Berlin, competing on the first women's gymnastic team in the 1936 Olympics. She's having a tough time, since she beat out another East Coast gymnast and the other competitors aren't being very supportive, but Evie's used to hard times. Her family lived in Oklahoma, and lost their farm after the horrendous Dust Bowl storms, and have been living in their car in California after a family tragedy. She hopes to win a medal in order to help out her family. She has made a friend in Mary, her roommate and equestrian, who is also a movie star. When Evie gets a note to meet someone on a local bridge, she is shocked that Karl, a German weight lifter, and Solomon, a reporter, ask her to help rob the German Reichsbank of gold. They need her gymnastics skills to break into the vault of the new building that is under construction; since Karl is a builder there, he has inside information, and the hullabaloo around the Olympics will take scrutiny off the site. Karl wants to use the money to help the resistance, since his boyfriend was put into a concentration camp. This doesn't sound like a great idea until Evie doesn't do well in the competition after coming very close to making the cut off. She also finds out secrets about her German guide, a boy her age names Heinz who is literally the poster boy for the Hitler Youth, and this motivates her to help. Along with a French Senegalese athlete who is not happy about being categorized as a "mischling", the would be robbers scout out the site, and work on getting vital information and supplies. Evie manages to get the code to the vault by going to a party with Mary and talking to the banker's young son to get his birthday. Mary is hit on by a Nazi, and this, along with other information she finds out, puts her in the right frame of mind to eventually help Evie out. Just as the heist is about to happen, another US gymnast is hurt, and Evie must compete at the same time the heist is supposed to roll out. Solomon threatens her, and says she must throw the competition. When she doesn't, it's up to her to figure out a new plan, or Solomon will endanger Heinz, to whom Evie has become close. Evie comes up with a plan to carry out the theft while the Nazis are having their nightly rally in the Olympic stadium, and even brings in Mary to impersonate the filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl in order to help get the group where they need to be without attracting attention. When things go wrong with the heist, it looks like all of the work might be in vain. Evie has had some more clever thoughts, but also gives the money to Heinz. As she says, while people in her country don't seem to care whether she lives or dies, at least no one is actively trying to kill her. 

Strengths: It's a bit surprising that there haven't already been middle grade books about the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin, so it's good to have one on this topic. Including sports of any kind is always a great way to attract readers, and there are very few books involving gymnasts! Evie's background, having barely survived the Dust Bowl, was interesting, and Heinz, as her Hitler Youth overseer, has a lot of surprises. Gratz worked hard to include mentions of many people from backgrounds targeted by the Nazis; there are characters that are LGBTQIA+, Black, and Jewish, and there is good information about how the Nazis treated them. I was unaware that Germany specifically brought in Jewish athletes who didn't "look Jewish" to deflect attention from their discrimination, or that some Jewish shops were allowed to be open. The fact that Berlin put on a good face for the event, and his crumbling facades behind Nazi flags was also interesting. The book ends with several pages of notes about what portions of the book were real, and which were fiction. 
Weaknesses: This was a longer book, coming in at over 350 pages. The bank heist took up so much of the story, and seemed like an odd inclusion. I'll all for action and suspense, but it came across as a bit goofy. Having Mary impersonate Riefenstahl was the only good part of that plot arc. There would have been plenty going on in the book with Evie's Depression Era background, and Heinz' family situation, and there were some things about the Olympics and Germany in 1936 that could have been explored more.
What I really think: I do have a lot of Gratz fans, so I'll probably purchase this, but there's a lot I would have changed about the story, like including more information about the women's gymnastics team in the Olympics. Add this to the still steady stream of World War II books that are still being published, like Hopkinson's They Battled in Blizzards, Nayeri's The Teacher of Nomad Land, and the much more intriguing Rise of the Spider series by Michael Spradlin. 

Gratz, Alan and Fini, Syd (illus.) Refugee: The Graphic Novel
October 7, 2025 by Graphix
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

It's fascinating to see what publishers decide to reinterpret as graphic novels. Tarshis' I Survived books and Alexander's Crossover are roughly the same length in both versions, so it seemed a bit of an odd choice to just add pictures, but Gibbs' Spy School adaptations have such tiny print and so many words that it's hard to imagine students enjoying them. Then there are older novels (Pullman's 1995 The Golden Compass or Pearce's 1958 Tom's Midnight Garden) that get the treatment; my students tend to not pick those up. Publishing is about making money, so someone must have thought turning Gratz' popular 2017 Refugee into a graphic novel would earn some bucks. 

This is a fine treatment; the illustrations are attractive, and the story stays true to the original. Since the graphic version is shorter than the prose version, it seemed like the perspective changed every three pages, which gave me a bit of whiplash and made it hard to focus on the stories. I found myself wanting each of the three storylines to have a slightly different color palette to differentiate them, but this didn't happen. There are other original graphic novels about the plight of immigrants, like Colfer's 2018 Illegal, Brown's 2019 The Unwanteds, and Jamieson and Mohamed's 2020 When the Stars are Scattered that told their stories with a more effective use of pictures. Since I have five copies of the original Refugee (people kept donating copies, and they were popular for a while) I probably won't buy the graphic novel version.

From the review of the 2017 prose novel:
Gratz tackles the idea of countries in turmoil by focusing on three children from three different time periods. Josef is a German Jew whose family is able to evade the Nazis after his father is arrested, and eventually book passage on a fairly nice ship bound for Cuba. They eventually run into complications, and the captain attempts to land them in the US and then the UK. Isabel lives in Cuba in 1994, and her family is struggling with the lack of food and the unrest in the country until the father feels that he will be arrested unless they leave. With the help of another family who has built a boat, they start on a perilous voyage to the US which is complicated by Isabel's mother's pregnancy. In 2015, Mahmoud's family can no longer stay in Aleppo, Syria after their apartment building is destroyed. They take off in their car, with a fair amount of resources, but it's a long journey to Austria, and nothing about the trip is easy. In all three cases, loved ones are lost, but eventually parts of the family arrive in safer places. There are some nice tie-ins at the end of the book, as well as additional information about the history of the conflicts that propel these families away from their homelands.
Strengths: This was rather grim, but certainly a book that students today need in order to understand what is going on in the world. Gratz always does excellent research, and he doesn't over dramatize events. I found it particularly illuminating that Mahmoud's family was so well-to-do and had made fairly good plans to get out of the country; I guess I have a typical tendency to think of refugees of people who are forced to leave very quickly with no resources at all, which must sometimes be the case. Their use of smart phones to map their routes was especially interesting, and the father's sense of humor added a very human element to the story. The three narratives change back and forth but are easy to follow.
Weaknesses: Again, a bit grim. Younger readers need to know that there are some deaths, a baby who is given away in order to be saved from drowning, and a lot of violence.
What I really think: This would make a great class read, since some of the historical topics as well as the issue of forced migration might need some explanation for students to fully understand them.

Yoli's Favorite Things

Our local school levy passed, so I still have a job. Of course, it doesn't feel great to know that the superintendent and school board think that my job is worthless. For now, glad to have a job.

Santana, Patricia. Yoli's Favorite Things

September 30, 2025 by Margaret Ferguson Books

ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Yolanda Sahugún is growing up in a close knit family with eight siblings in Palm City, San Diego, in 1967. As summer approaches, her  Mamá needs to travel to Mexico to be with her ailing father, and since her Papá does maintenance at a trailer park and must live there during the week, the children, who range from 23 year old Armando to 5 year old Luz, need some supervision. Luckily, Papá's cousin Matilde needs a place to stay, since she has just left the convent. Yoli is intrigued. She loved the movie The Sound of Music, and she and her best friend Lydia made a pact when they were 8 that they would both become nuns and join Our Lady of Angels in Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania. Yoli expects Matilde to be glamorous, like Julie Andrews in the movie, but she is a very plain and sensible woman. She cooks, and takes the girls to school, and slowly shares the story of her vocation with Yoli. Yoli is a little concerned that she finds one of the altar boys at church, Benjamin, to be rather attractive, and when he helps her out at a party, she ends up meeting with him to talk several times. When her favorite older brother Chuy does not manage to secure a letter of recommendation from their priest to support his application to be a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, Yoli is so worried that he will have to go and fight that she makes a pact with God; if her brother stays at home, she will not only become a nun, but she will be a missionary nun in Vietnam. This means that she tells Benjamin that she can no longer talk to him, and puts a strain on her relationship with Lydia. Her mother comes back home, and Matilde thinks about moving out on her own, since Yoli and her four sisters all share one room, and Yoli has to sleep on the couch when Matilde is there. Eventually, Chuy has to go to basic training, but Yoli hopes that the conflict will be over before Chuy is sent away. This doesn't happen, but with the help of Matilde, neighbors, and family, Yoli learns to persevere and not give up hope when her brother goes away. 

There are many good details about everyday life in the late 60s; as I suspected, Santana was born in 1955, so would have been a contemporary of Yoli's. From orange juice can hair rollers, to the parents stricter rules for girls, to the clothing described, it's clear that Santana is drawing from here past. While middle grade readers today might not be aware of the movie The Sound of Music, it was a huge cultural influence, and I loved that Yoli had a record of the soundtrack! My father was so fond of this music!

The comparisons between Yoli's California neighborhood and The Sound of Music's alpine setting was quite fun, and it was good to see such strong Catholic representation. I imagine there were many girls during the Vietnam era who made similar pacts, and the details of how Yoli prepared herself for becoming a none were interesting. She was very serious about her plans, even if she ended up not following through. Tia Matilde's story made sense in the era. I almost wanted a little more information about the state of Catholic convents at this time, and how Vatican II in 1965 affected things like the wearing of habits and cloistered communities. 

Of course, every middle grade book, no matter what decade the setting, needs some friend drama and a little romance. Benjamin is absolutely delightful; not only does he tell Yoli that she looks nice when she wears a dress to the party instead of less formal clothes, but he helps clean dog poop off her shoe! Later, he saves Almond Joys from his trick or treat bag for her. It's a very sweet romance. 

There are not as many books about the Vietnam era as there should be. Many of my students now have grandparents who fought in the conflict. There are even fewer books about the homefront during this time. Considering the fact that there are still a ton of books published each year about World War II, it was nice to see something different. This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed a virtual trip to the 1960s with O'Connor's Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth, Tashjian's For What It's Worth, or Wallace's War and Watermelon. 

Fantasy Round Up!

Spending two days a week in Cincinnati with my grandson this summer was delightful, but also very distracting! I struggle with fantasy at the best of times. Since my daughter (former president of the University of Cincinnati Harry Potter Fan Club) has been reading him The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I'm sure that he will probably enjoy a good fantasy title when he's a little older. Here's some of the books I read and didn't process as fully as I should have! 

Brashares, Ann and Brashares, Ben. Into the Fire (West fallen #2)
September 16, 2025 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
 

The first book in the series, Westfallen, had a ham radio, communication across the decades, and a crucial malt shop, so I loved it. The sequel was also good, but I got a bit confused by what was going on. I'd recommend to young readers that they read the secondly as quickly after the first as possible! The third is forthcoming. 

From the publisher:

Former best friends Henry, Frances, and Lukas thought they’d managed to restore history to its original path after their antics with a time-bending radio went awry. But they’re still trapped in Westfallen, the version of present-day America where the Axis won WWII, living an alternate—and much darker—version of their lives.

Henry has to work at the Home for Incurables, Lukas is on hard labor all day, and only Frances, whose parents are members of the Nazi elite, gets to go to school and move freely. And since they and their friends in 1944 destroyed the radio, they have to find cruder and ever-more-desperate ways to communicate across time. Frances uses her privilege in Westfallen to gather as much information as she can, while Henry tries to turn Lukas into a local baseball hero to save him from being sent away to a work camp.

But the deeper the three friends and their 1944 counterparts dig into how Westfallen came to be, the more they begin to attract unwanted attention from people with a vested interest in making sure this version of history becomes permanent…at any cost.

Senf, Laura. Pennies (Prequel to The Clackity)

September 23, 2025 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

I didn't buy the first book in this series, and was half expecting someone to request it, but no one has. There's a lot of well done world building, but my horror readers seem to prefer stand alones, so it's probably just as well I didn't invest in these four books. Sadly, can't buy everything, especially since I get 20% less now than I did in 2003, and that was HALF of what I got in 2002. (It's $8 per student per year, for which I am still exceedingly grateful. Some schools have no budget.)

From the publisher:

One hundred years prior to the events of The Clackity, four best friends are drawn into a deadly scheme when they set out to investigate the strange disappearances taking place in the eerie town of Blight Harbor in this spine-chilling middle grade adventure.

It’s June of 1921 and best friends Mae, Lark, Brigid, and Claret have plans for the perfect summer. Between riding their bikes to the enchanted lake and decorating their fort for its resident ghost, the girls are a busy bunch. But when they discover a door in the forest floor that leads to an alternate world with purple skies and fearsome creatures, everything takes a turn for the worse.

Someone else has already been through that door, and it’s triggered something incredibly dangerous. Maybe deadly.

Back in Blight Harbor, strange disappearances are taking place. The most worrisome being that of Brigid’s cousin, who has been spending an awful lot of time with the unusual and untrustworthy John Jeffrey Pope. As the girls uncover the eerie world that lives right beneath their feet, will they find their missing friend, or will the most treacherous man in Blight Harbor get to them first?

Mbalia, Kwame. Jax Freeman and the Tournament of Spirits (#2)

October 7, 2025 by Freedom Fire

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

This sequel to Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek is the perfect dose of methadone to Harry Potter addicts who can't get enough fantasy academy stories. I've just read too many tournament stories to be able to get really invested. 

From the publisher: 

Seventh grader Jackson "Jax" Freeman recently learned two important facts: one, he's a summoner—someone who can call on the magical powers of his ancestors to help him do amazing things—and two, he isn’t the only person with this ability.

After much training, Jax and four of his summoner classmates from DuSable Middle school in Chicago are thrust into a competition called the Tournament of Spirits where they'll face the most skilled summoners from around the world.

But while everyone is focused on winning, Jax is given a special side quest by the elders of the four magical families: he has to spy on each of the competitors—including his own teammates—in order to uncover who is releasing endangered, and very dangerous, cryptids into the arena.

Can Jax take the top spot in the tournament and save himself and his friends from a mysterious foe?

Edge, Clare. Mixing Magics (Accidental Demons #2)

November 11, 2025 by HarperCollins

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ber is determined to find her grandmother, Orla, even though her mother doesn't seem to interested in helping. She's still with her boyfriend, Cai, and hangs out with her friend, Phoebe. When Ber is having trouble managing her diabetes, Cai's mother manages to magic up top tier health insurance for the Crowleys, and Ber gets an insulin pump, which is helpful but complicated to deal with. When she meets Patrick Walsh, her grandmother's nemesis, Ber hopes to get some answers that will help locate her grandmother. She does learn some family secrets about how the Bitterroot Coven memories that are sacrificed every year are being used. 

I forgot most of the first book, so it would have been helpful to have remembered some of the back story about the demon Fin. There were lots of good details about dealing with diabetes, but they were sometimes hard to follow while also keeping track of the complicated magic. I was a little concerned about Ber's approach to diabetes; at one point, she states that she prefers drinking sugar sodas and shooting the insulin for them. My father had a similar approach, and it did not work all that well. Most of the tween diabetics I've known have been very careful about their choice of foods. Readers who liked Hautman's 2003 Sweetblood or Van Otterloo's Cattywampus will enjoy this mix of fantasy and health problems. 

MMGM- The Free State of Jax and Real-Life Mysteries and Disasters

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at

Unleashing Readers

  

Nielsen, Jennifer A. The Free State of Jax

October 21, 2025 by Scholastic Press 

ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Jaxon Averett has lived with his grandmother after the death of both parents in a boating accident when he was three, but when she is diagnosed with Alzheimers when she is 75, Jax has to go live with his Uncle Clive and Aunt Helga Grimmitz in Walkonby, Kansas. They have a small farm and six children, most of whom are nasty to Jax. He has to sleep on the floor, is constantly bullied by Dutch and Danger, and the family can't even get his name right, calling him Jack. When he turns 12, he decides to run away and declare part of the neighbor's year "The Free State of Jax", a micronation. He knows the laws, and follows them. Of course, his family follows him and tries to get him to come home, but Jax finds a surprising ally in the owner of the property, Owen O'Keefe. O'Keefe has kept to himself after an incident nine years ago that ended with him being accused of murdering his brother and defrauding many townspeople, so he's understandably wary of letting others onto his property or into his life. Jax is glad for the support, especially since his aunt and uncle call the police, Officer Pressman (who is nice) and Officer Doyle (who is not). Jax also gets help from Alicia Baylor, who is in school with him and runs a "Brownies not Bullies" group hoping to help other kids. She brings in her mother, who is an attorney, and offers to see what she can do to get Jax away from the Grimmitz. Alicia also brings other kids from school, and they enjoy swimming in the lake, which is naturally warmed by hot springs. This is why Owen and his brother Waylon had wanted to turn the area into a resort. Jax is worried that the kids aren't really his friends, but just want access to the lake. To prove otherwise, the children help clear weeds, make a path, and install weeding. When the legal issues with the Grimmitzes heat up and Jax must contend with Finley T. Creel, Esquire, who is helping the Grimmitzes adopt Jax, some clues to Waylon's disappearance surface, and seem to implicate Uncle Clive. Will Jax be able to assert his independence in his new country as well as solve the mystery of Waylon?

It seems fair to say that a vast number of tweens have thought about running away from home at one point or another, and Jax has more reasons than most. This adds an immediate appeal to the book; what better place to live than on a raft in a lake, where there's a concerned adult to bring you food? It was good to see that Jax had some people on his side, since his family were just about as horrible as Harry Potter's  Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia! 

The information about micronations, and all of the politics involved made this a bit unusual, but also gave Jax a framework for staging his protest. I loved that Mr. O'Keefe demanded that Jax write a constitution before he let him stay on the property. While the legalities of the Grimmitz's adoption got a bit confusing, I appreciated that Nielsen drew from her own past, and from the powerlessness she felt when her parents were divorcing and no one seemed to care about her opinion. 

Even though Jax's parents are both dead, this book is rather lighthearted, with plenty of goofy things going on. It's fun to see all of the children working on Stay awhile Springs and stepping in to help Jax. The mystery with Waylon gives Jax something else to occupy his mind and also a way to pay back Mr. O'Keefe for his support. Scholastic does a particularly good job at publishing happier titles, and it was fun to see a different type of book from Ms. Nielsen, who has published many historical fiction books (Resistance,  One Wrong Step, Uprising,  Iceberg, Lines of Courage, Words on Fire) as well as the False Prince fantasy series. 

Hand this to fans of adventure stories that involve running away, like Kleckner's The Art of Running Away, Hashimoto's Bound for Home, Kothari's  Bringing Back Kay-Kay, but let young readers know that running away is generally a bad idea, just like Mr. O'Keefe tells Jax! 

This is a bit on the long side, at 352 pages, and there's plenty that could have been cut out, but still, bonus points for even TRYING to be cheerier! 

Martineau, Susan and Barker, Vicky (illus.).
Real-Life Mysteries & Disasters: Deadly Facts, Amazing Evidence, and the True Stories Behind 22 Incredible Events.

November 4, 2025 by Bright Matter Books (Penguin Random House)

Copy provided by the publisher

Have readers who can't get enough Titanic books? Some who love Hopkinson's Scholastic Focus Deadliest  titles or fiction like Tarshis' I Survived series, Marino's Escape from the U.S.S. Indianapolis, Philbrick's Wild Wave, or Johnson's Survivor Diaries? This is the book for them! 

There are twenty two different mysteries and disasters, and each once has an overview of one specific incident (like Bigfoot or the Bermuda Triangle) where the location, time period, and basics are covered thoroughly. This is followed by a case file in a fun scrapbook format that discusses what evidence is available, lists witness statements, has applicable maps, and has a box that encourages further investigations. I enjoyed that fact that there were definitions of words, assessments of witness reliability, and descriptions of similar cases, especially in cases of "unidentified weird lights" which are often thought to be UFOs. My favorite was probably the descriptions of spontaneous combustion; it never seemed all that possible to mek but looking at the scientific evidence, now I'm not so sure! 

It is also helpful that each of the sections starts with a helpful overview of how the pages are going to be set up. Many of my students struggle with processing nonfiction text, and this would be a great book for navigating a mix of pictures, text, and sidebars. Because of the interesting aspects of the mysteries and disasters, reading this book wouldn't feel like work. 

There is a helpful table of contents and a glossary of words at the back that readers will find useful. 

This reminded me of some National Geographic books or Lonley Planet nonfiction titles. The illustrations are great, but it wouldn't have hurt to include a photograph or two. I know that it's often more expensive to do this, and readers today are keen to look things up online. 

I'm always a fan of having books like this along on car trips. Real-Life Mysteries & Disasters is packed with information and would definitely take a couple of Midwestern states to finish. I get too car sick to read, but my brother was always a big fan of the Guiness Book of World Records and would quote passages while my parents are driving. This always led to some good family conversations, and I think that a topic like Bigfoot or the Halifax explosion could make the time on the road fly by. 

Tatulli, Mark. The eXpets 2: The Skunk Who Challenged the World!
November 4, 2025 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Professor Foozypinz is looking through his Enormo-Scope when he sees a giant kitten heading towards Earth. He tries to alert the White House and the military, but no one believes him. Needing back up, he sends out an alert to the eXpets, and soon the Incredible Mr. Turtle, Laser-Eye Kitty, Ginormous Gerbil, and Wonder Guppy have come to help. Stanky Dog has thrown his collar out into the yard so that his girl, Lily, doesn't hear it beeping, and Skunk and his sidekick Lizard have found it. He eventually comes to the aid of the professor, and the group realizes that the kitten must have been on the Moon when they discarded the powerful Collar of Power of Kitty KahKah and is wearing it. Appropriating a giant catnip filled toy, they manage to slow down the kitten. They need skunk's help, but know they van't trust him. When Stanky Dog is kidnapped by Skunk and held captive in his Mobile Underwater Secret Hideout, he is accompanied by Laser Kitty, who is now a shape shifter and has tagged along in the shape of a crab. Laser Kitty wisely tells Stanky Dog that he shouldn't rely on people, but when the two are rescued by Lily, Stanky feels good about his life choices. Skunk also is in control of UpDawg, and it looks like things will not end well for the eXpets until the giant kitten's identity is revealed, and an emotional connection saves the day. 

Strengths: Tatulli's illustration style is clear and less cluttered than that of many similar books, and his plots are a little more streamlined. Sure, there is a lot of goofiness, but it makes more sense, which is a huge relief for me. Readers who are drawn to graphic novels often have a hard time processing text and stories, so having larger print, fewer words, and fewer extraneous characters and events really helps. There are some good messages about the importance of love and family, right alongside Stanky Dog's potent reeking breath, so this will make young readers and teachers alike very happy. 
Weaknesses: I loved Tatulli's Short and Skinny so much, and wish that he would turn his talents to more realistic humorous graphic novels, but am glad to see anything he can publish. 
What I really think: This is a must purchase title for elementary libraries where Pilkey's Dog Man books or Barnett and Harris' The First Cat in Space series are popular. Make sure to get prebound editions so they hold up to the frequent check outs it is sure to see. 

Setting the Stage (Cast vs. Crew #1) and Chris Makes a Friend

Champion, Lindsay. Setting the Stage (Cast vs. Crew #1)
October 21, 2025 by Pixel+Ink
ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Ella Amani has been dreaming for years about becoming the stage manager for her middle school drama production, so when she is finally picked by Ms. Pickler, she is thrilled. Her best friend, Levi, also would rather be in the crew than on the stage, but he has bigger things on his mind than Curie the Musical. Ella is a bit stressed herself, since her Iranian parents have set up their own business and expect her to watch out for her three younger sisters. In addition to the awesome responsibility of listening to auditions, and having keys and the prompt book, Ella has to turn her hand to managing a diverse crew, not all of whom want to be there, as well as snotty actors. Sixth grader Sebastian joins the crew because his older sister Rose is one of the stars, and he has a bit of a crush on Levi. Willow's corporate lawyer parents are making her do an activity after she got in trouble for vaping. Kevin was homeschooled on a boat. The crew does a good job with their various tasks, even though stars like Jordan keep playing practical jokes and aren't at all grateful for all that the crew does. As her parents put more and m ore responsibility on her when she has the least amount of time to deal with it, Ella does not appreciate being taken for granted! She often vents to Levi, but he has limited patience; he's been in kinship care with Sam and Pearl, second cousins on his mother's, since she and his father have struggled with issues that complicate raising him. He's gotten a call from his mother, who wants to meet up, and while Levi would like to live with her again, in his heart of hearts, he knows he is better off with Sam. As with any play, there are always complications, like Ella having to take her sister to a dentist's appointment during Hell Week. Will Curie the Musical go off without a hitch? We'll have to wait until book two to find out. 

This book is told from multiple perspectives, so we get to see the inner workings of the worlds of several characters, and observe similar scenes in different ways. Ella's life seems stressful to her, but Levi thinks she has it particularly good, since he's worried about whether or not he will be able to finish the school year at the same school. Ella is trying to do a good job, but being sabotaged by her parents, who are rather oblivious as to what being the stage manager means. Side characters, like Rosa, Sebastian, and Willow also get to share their views of the production. 

The ending is definitely a cliff hanger, and sets the stage for the next part of the trilogy. There is a real play of Curie the Musical, but I'm not sure that the songs and scenes in this book are based on the real one. 

 

Readers who know all of the lyrics to Hamilton! and Wicked will devour this backstage look at the theater world. Put this on the playbill alongside Otheguy's Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene, Brown's Dream, Annie, Dream, Miller's Shannon in the Spotlight, Stroker and Davidowitz's The Chance to Fly, and Asher's Upstaged, and make sure to keep the ghost light burning! 

I did find it hard to believe there are schools anywhere where the stars of the play are "middle school royalty", but since the author has a lot of theater experience, maybe this is based on her life, or maybe on wishful thinking. We do have one play a year, but they are usually very different from the ones portrayed in books. Theater books are not very popular with my students. 

Gino, Alex. Chris Makes a Friend

November 4, 2025 by Scholastic Press

ARC provided by Scholastic

++Add to Goodreads++

Chris is going into 6th grade and is pretty sure she identifies as a cisgender girl, and lives in New York City with her mother and younger sister, Becca. As the school year ends, her mother, who suffers from chronic back and neck pain, and her girlfriend Frank, have big news: the mother is undergoing surgery to help her condition, and Chris and Becca will be spending the summer with their father's parents, Nana and Papa, in rural Massachusetts. Chris is angry that she won't be able to spend time with her best friend, Vicky, with whom she has planned the Great Summer 72 Book Challenge. Since there are 72 days in vacation, they plan to read that many books together when they are not playing video games. Vicky says not to worry, since she is going to a theater camp, and they can still read independently. It doesn't help that Chris will have to spend a lot of time with her sister, who is annoying in the extreme, and will only be allowed to have screen time in the mornings, before Nana takes away her tablet. There are upsides; Papa makes delicious waffles in the morning, and when Chris is forced outside in the afternoons, she does find a nice spot by a creek to read. Eventually, she even finds a friend, Mia Yaring, who is also staying with her grandmother, and who also enjoyes the Magical Mystical Vidalia fantasy series that Chris does. Chris' mother recuperates more slowly than expected from the surgery, and the visit is extended when she has to go back for another procedure, although Frank says that everything is going fairly well. At the end of the story, we do learn some secrets about Mia, but Chris has learned that her sister isn't all bad, and that her upcoming middle school experience won't be so terrible, especially since Vicky has remained her friend. 

Strengths: There are very few depictions of parents with chronic health conditions that impact the lives of their children, although there are probably more parents in this situation than there are deceased middle grade parents, so the mother's chronic pain was an informative inclusion. Summers with grandparents are always interesting, even if Chris is annoyed that Nana takes away her tablet and refers to her and Becca as "girls". There is lots of modern thought and language surrounding gender, which is not surprising given Gino's body of work. Mia ask Chris "So you're a girl?" to which Chris replies "As far as I know", and there are other inclusive moments. It is good to see that Chris and Becca get along better at the end of the book. I'd love to see more books that involve subplots that deal with sibling relationships. 
Weaknesses: This seemed a bit young because of the major twist in the plot (that I don't want to reveal). While this is probably an accurate depiction of summer for modern day tweens, it made me sad. Most of the time, the girls seem to be on screens. Nana lets them play the entire morning, and there are often family movie nights. While Becca practices soccer, neither of the girls seem to have any initiative to do much. This makes for a rather slow moving story. There are not grand adventures. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like gentle summer time tales like Kendall's The True Definition of Neva Beane or Guillory's Gus and Glory. There is a list of the 72 books that Chris reads over the summer at the end; only two are imaginary! 

A historical note: The grandparents get the newspaper delivered, and Chris enjoys reading the Parade Magazine, so this means the book is set before 2022. 

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Okorafor, Nnedi and Ford, Tana (illus.) Space Cat
August 12, 2025 by First Second

E ARC provided by Netgalley
 

This was an interesting graphic novel about the secret life of Periwinkle, who in addition to being the author's cat, also has space adventures. These are presented in what I consider "comic book" format; episodic stories that don't necessarily tie together. The cat getting into a bottle of "alien" hot sauce was fairly amusing. I liked the Nigerian setting. 

The art was phenomenal, and I loved the use of color. For the flashback of Periwinkle being adopted, there is a nice sepia toned background, but pops of color for people and the cat. The space adventures are largely blue and purple.

I enjoyed this author's Ikenga, but haven't read any of her other books. This would be a good choice for readers who enjoyed Barnett and Harris' The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza, Cody and Mercado's Cat Ninja Venable and Yu's Katie the Catsitter, Boothby and Matsumoto's Sparks! or Marciano et al.'s Klawde. Apparently, cats have more space adventures than I thought! (Especially if you include novels like Sorosiak's My Life as a Cat.)

Rosenberg, Zack, Fusté, Victor, and Turner, Sarah K. (illustrator)
T.S. Hullabaloo: A Graphic Novel Based on a (Mostly) True Story,
October 7, 2025 by Andrews McMeel Publishing
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Jack loves his hometown of Agoura Falls, and hopes to one day become mayor. He's always helping out others, but when he ends up with a "hullabaloo" right after his birthday, it causes chaos. Some people get these animal familiars, who might have a variety of talents, but T.S., Jack's hullabaloo, causes endless problems with his obnoxious antics. T.S. even manages to anger Jack's best friend. When school starts, Jack is assigned to a homeroom with other students who have hullabaloos, but none of them have the behavior problems that T.S. has. Ignoring T.S. just makes matters worse, and Jack finally has to deal with this factor in his life. An author's note at the end makes it clear that T.S. is allegorical, and stands for the Tourette's Syndrome.

This is a graphic novel that sheds light on some health concerns that middle grade readers might face, and is right at home with Page's Button Pusher, Steinke's Speechless, Fantaskey's Wires Crossed, Garcia and William's Mixed-Up, Briglio's Thunder Boom, or Larson's Very Bad at Math. 

Grady Jones and the Great Detective Game

Dye, Kerry Douglas. Grady Jones and the Great Detective Game
September 30, 2025 by Aladdin
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Grady wants to do something fantastic with his life, but he hasn’t found it yet. A foray into science ends with a slime disaster, and everything from soccer to being a sushi chef ends the same way. He also starts a career as a rock star only to have his older brother Andy tell him that he’s immature. This all changes when a mysterious woman shows up at his door and asks for Mr. Jones. Since his father died in a car accident five years ago, there seems to be some mistake… until she asks for Mr. GRADY Jones. She hands him a mysterious message from local reclusive millionaire Joseph Bancroft that says he has been murdered and only Grady can solve it. His mother contacts the police, who investigate and think everything is fine, but the next morning Bancroft is dead. In typical bumbling fashion, Grady starts to investigate, even circulating a flyer at school asking for information and promising a $50,000 reward that doesn’t exist. Luckily, he meets new neighbor Mikayla Morales who is much more organized and competent, and offers to help. He and his friend Anwar hatch a plan to deliver food from Anwar’s aunt’s restaurant, Nisha’s Noshes, and the two manage to be let inside by the housekeeper, Hedda. Grady sneaks into the reading of the will and finds out that he will be the beneficiary of the large estate if he can solve the murder. This distracts him from the investigation, but he gets some information. He meets a Detective Grady Jones, and it is fairly clear that the letter was meant for him, and the two work together a bit. When the local Winterfest is canceled because Bancroft funds it, Grady wants to be the one to be able to save this beloved local tradition. Bancroft was poisoned, but who would have done it? Secrets come out about Detective Jones, and Grady manages to finally develop skills and get some answers. Once he solves the mystery, will Ms. Bancroft have another mission for him?
Strengths: Murder mysteries are very popular in the middle school, and I imagine even younger readers are interested in the genre. This does not have any blood and gore, and has a sort of Scooby-Doo level of evil that will resonate with elementary readers. Grady reminds me a bit of Greg Hefley (Wimpy Kid), with his grand plans that he can’t quite bring to fruition. Mikayla is the best character in the book, and I was hoping that she would take Grady in hand and whip him into shape. If you’re looking for a title with the Anti Encyclopedia Brown, this is the book.
Weaknesses: This will probably be more successful with younger readers who look up to Grady even though he is incompetent and misguided. The tone was rather flippant for a story in which someone is actually murdered.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed quirky mysteries like Liebman’s Mr. Grieves and the Grievous Deeds or Millington’s Olivetti.

Happy Halloween!

I have to admit: I am a Scrooge about Halloween. It was great when I was a kid because it was the only time we were allowed to run around without adults at night (It was the 1970s!) and there was CANDY,  but even then, it was always cold and there seemed to be easier ways to get chocolate. My own children always had inventive costumes, and I went around with them, sometimes rocking my 1982 flannel leopard costume that I still have. But in general, bah, humbug! What do you MEAN that people are going to come and ring my doorbell for two hours on a school night? I hand out microwave popcorn to the 50 visitors I usually get, but every year brings me closer to turning off my porch lights. The giant skeletons and inflatable pumpkins? Don't get that. Waste of money and storage space. Spooky books, though, are always good, so we'll concentrate on those today. 

Alexander, Jed. The Black Market

September 9, 2025 by Union Square Kids
ARC provided by Media Masters Publicity

Martin loves horror films, and he and his best friend, Jess, are determined to have the best Halloween. Martin is also fond of his Great Aunt Gabby, who has shown up unexpectedly. She travels the world, often bringing Martin amazing gifts. This year, it is a pair of unusual foovaloos shoes, made from the skin of an extinct animal. She's cagey about where she has gotten them, but finally tells Martin about the magical Black Market. It shows up in unexpected places on Halloween night, and the things purchased there have a steep price that can't be calculated in monetary terms. Forgetting that he has promised to meet Jess at the library, Martin rushes off after getting Gabby settled, and ends up at the library wearing his shoes. The creepy Substitute Librarian, who is there in place of Martin's favorite staffer, seems overly interested in the friends as Martin tells Jess about his aunt's tale. Gabby continues on her travels, and Martin decides to try to find the market on Halloween. After telling their parents that they might be out longer than usual, the friends manage to find the market. Jess isn't allowed in, but Martin, in his Headless Horseman costume (shown on the cover) is assumed to be an adult and let in. He doesn't spend too much time browsing, but comes across a Bag of Dirty Tricks that he wants. The vendor offers to trade for the shoes, but when Martin finds out he needs a book of instructions to do with the tricks, he only gets half the bag. Back home with Jess, he is alarmed at how mean some of the tricks are, but still wants to try some of them. He settles on a soap that turns the users skin red for a week, and plans to trick his father into washing his hands with it before dinner. Unfortunately, a marinara explosion results in his father taking a shower... and he ends up red all over after grabbing the soap from the sink. Martin could easily have told his mother, who is very worried, what has happened, but stays silent, not wanting to admit to having been to the Black Market. It's hard to find tricks that aren't too nasty, but after a mean neighbor, Mr. Murphy, kidnaps Martin's dog Gorgo, Martin and Jess perform a complicated trick that ends with Mr. Murphy growing tree branches from his body. While recovering Gorgo, they find that Mr. Murphy isn't all that mean. They help him clip his branches and decide to bury the bag so that it won't cause any more harm. When events the sound suspiciously like Dirty Tricks hit the news, Martin and Jess, must track down the surprising person who has stolen the bag, and find a way to lessen the impact. 

Strengths: This creepy story is accompanied by the author's occasional line drawings, which is a nice touch. Martin and Jesse are great fans, and they manage to sneak out at night to get things done, and work around parents who are alive, present, and concerned about their well being, I enjoyed Great Aunt Gabby, and the ending (which I don't want to ruin), brings her influence back in an interesting way. The idea of a magical market that only appears occasionally is intriguing, and the Bag of Dirty Tricks has a magical appeal much like that of Whitesides' The Wishmakers. Martin and Jesse are fairly thoughtful and deliberate in their use of the bag, and don't want to cause any real harm. Their attempt to get rid of the back is realistic, and I liked the twist at the end. 
Weaknesses: The foovaloos shoes were a bit goofy, and make the book seem a bit younger. It also lacks the jump scares and killer ghosts that my students look for in scary books. 
What I really think: This is a good Halloween choice for fans of Allen's The Nightmare House, Uhrig's The Polter-ghost Problem, or Lloyd's The Witching Wind who aren't quite bold enough for scarier stories with killer spirits like Gillespie's Grin or Alexander's Dead Girl's Diary. 

   

Winans, Justine Pucella. A Little Too Haunted

September 30, 2025 by Bloomsbury Children's Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Luna Catalano, who struggles with irritable bowel syndrome, leads a peripatetic life with her two mothers, who are home improvement influencers who renovate and flip haunted houses. Revenues are down since Luna had a live streamed freak out when she discovered that they faked the paranormal aspects of their content. Mom and Mamma are looking to rebrand as they start their newest project on Shadyside Street in Cleveland, Ohio. At first, Luna doesn’t think the house is dark and dismal enough to be haunted, but when she spends more time there, she feels disturbing auras. This is great, because Luna WANTS the house to be haunted. She’s a huge fan of the show Queer Fearleaders. She has a crush on the male host and desperately wants to get their Starter Ghosthunters’ Kit, which her moms eventually break down and buy for her. Since she has had several disturbing visions of being covered in blood, and seeing a giant spider on the kitchen ceiling. There are rumors about the house, which had been abandoned for some time, and the neighbor children, Dani (who is trying out they/them pronouns) and Mateo Moreno help Luna investigate. She also gets some insight when she wakes up in the middle of the night and goes outside, running into 23-year-old neighbor Evie, a horror writer, who tells her stories about the Burning Man and Mourning Dove. There’s also neighbor Logan, a very pretty girl who captures Luna’s attention, and is even the object of a very confusing crush, since Luna doesn’t consider herself gay. The stove in the house keeps turning on unexpectedly, and Luna’s moms think she has done it because she is unhappy about the move, blaming her for ruining their new camera. The children talk to Mr. Winston at the library and get some more history of the house, and learn about the Rosewood family that perished in a fire in the early twentieth century. When Evie gives Luna instructions on how to perform an exorcism, things go badly wrong, and the evil spirits in the house need serious attention. Will Luna be able to save herself and the house, and convince her moms that she is tired of moving?
Strengths: This was a bit of a twist on the middle grade trope of moving into a haunted house; Luna’s family WANTS the house to be haunted. There must be people who make a living being social media influencer, and seeing the difficulty that Luna’s mothers have with getting sponsorship and losing viewers because of her meltdown is interesting. I liked the way that Luna’s IBS was worked into the story; it’s not part of a plot arc, but does effect some of her daily life. There is lot of LGBTQIA+ representation of various sorts.
Weaknesses: I was a little confused as to why Luna could see Evie and Logan; there's a little explanation, but there could have been more. Also, it seemed pretty apparent that Evie was evil, so I would NOT have followed her instructions to do an exorcism!
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like books that involve moving into haunted houses like Dawson’s Mine, Hung’s Hungry Bones, Bowman’s Where the Lost Ones Go, or Acevedeo’s The Curse of Spectacle Key. The home renovation portion of this reminded me vaguely of O’Reilly’s The Secret of Goldenrod or Davies’The International House of Dereliction.    

McGee, Joe and Long, Ethan (illustrator)

Pumpkin Party (Junior Monster Scouts)

July 15, 2025 by Simon Spotlight

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

This Level 2 Ready to Read early chapter book continues the adventures of Vampyra, Franky, and Wolfy. As their favorite holiday approaches, the trio is planning a Halloween party, complete with snacks and decorations. They want to carve jack o'lanterns, so head out to the pumpkin patch to pick the best one for their projects, which include a bat, the castle, and a wolf howling at the moon. When they try to pick the pumpkins however, they scoot away! They are sentient pumpkins, and do not like the idea of being careved up and filled with twinkly lights. The friends are sad, but come up with a great idea: instead of carving the pumpkins, they will invite all of the produce to their party and PAINT the decorations on instead. The pumpkins agree to this, and end up being the life of the party. 

Long's illustrations are just the right blend of realistic and goofy, with Wolfy and Franky in  boy scout uniforms, and Vampyra resplendent with her Bride of Frankenstein hairdo even when she is a bat. The grounds of Castle Dracula are nice and dark, but their party looks very cozy with its bowls of treats, skeleton band, and strings of decorations. There are enough details on the page to spark conversations about what else might be going on, and to compare and contrast the Monster Scout party with ones the reader has attended. 

These pictures also support the text, so readers who might be struggling with the word "pumpkin" will be able to draw clues from context. I appreciated that the vocabulary was generally simple, but introduced more difficult words like "pageant". 

For elementary school students, who are the audience for this books with simple chapters and longer vocabulary words, Halloween is the best holiday of the year. They will want to throw a party just like Vampyra and her friends, although I'm not sure that this book will persuade them NOT to carve pumpkins. Include monster scouts on your Halloween reading list along with Miedoso and Rivas' Desmond Cole, Ghost Patrol or Preller's Scary Tales books.

McGee, Joe and Long, Ethan (illustrator)

Pumpkin Party (Junior Monster Scouts)

August 26, 2025 by Simon Spotlight

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Monster Scouts Vampyra, Franky, and Wolfy want to fly kites on a beautiful spring day, but Vampyra's Aunt Moonflower cautions the group that Dracula is sleeping and doesn't want to be awoken. They gather sticks, string, and paper to construct their own kites, and then head out onto the grounds of Castle Dracula to fly them. Everything goes well until the kites go too close to the castle and wake up the grumpy gargoyles! They swoop down and voice their displease to the trio, who are afraid that the gargoyles will raise a ruckus! Instead, they challenge the gargoyles to a contest to see who can fly the highest. Even tying all three kite strings together doesn't let their kites go as high as the gargoyles, but that's okay; the stone guardians fly so high that Dracula can't hear them. Eventually, Dracula wakes up from his nap on his own, and the scouts are relieved that they got to fly their kites and didn't get in trouble. 

It is possible to make your own kite, something which young children might not know! I loved that the scouts took  it upon themselves to think up an activity, plan it, and then spent the day outside in the fresh air. I did have some questions about Vampyra and Dracula being near sunlight, but perhaps that was addressed in one of the ten earlier books in this series. 

The text moves along quickly, and most of the words are fine for independent reading, although kids may need some help when meeting the word "gargoyle" for the first time! Some words, like "quiet" and "relief" are also hard to pronounce the first time, but will become sight words when read enough. 

Long's illustrations capture the gloominess of the castle and the contrasting sunny day nicely, and I loved that Dracula is curled up with his teddy bear! 

Parents who read all the Dadey and Jones' Bailey School Kids books in the 1990s will be glad to introduce their new readers to a fun and spooky series that has a similar vibe. Junior Monster Scouts books are a great choice for readers who find Schwartz's In a Dark, Dark Room a little too spooky but want something a little scarier than Schaefer and Hartung's Happy Halloween, Mittens. 

How to Say Goodbye in Cuban

Miyares, Daniel. How to Say Goodbye in Cuban
September 30, 2025 by Anne Schwartz Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this graphic novel set in 1956, we meet Carlos, who has a great life in Ceiba Mocha, Cuba. He lives in a cozy house in the countryside with his Mama, Papi, younger brother Lazaro, and sisters Maggie and Isaura. His aunt lives nearby, as do his grandparents. His best friend, Alvaro, has a father who works on the grandparents’ farm. There are so many things to do outside, his grandmother’s good food, and a lot of time spent with his grandfather fishing and hanging out. Carlos’ father seems stressed and unhappy with his life, so when he wins the lottery, he moves the family to Matanzas, a town where he sets up a furniture manufacturing business. Carlos doesn’t care about the bigger house or better opportunities; he wants his old life back. This is unlikely to happen, especially since Batista’s government is overthrown by Castro, and the resulting conflict seeps into every facet of Carlos’ life. It takes a while, but eventually the government appropriates his father’s business, leading his father to become involved in underground activities, and to eventually become a “Gusano”, the term used by Castro’s supporters to describe people who leave for the US. Carlos’ mother does her best to keep the family together, but eventually the revolution comes a little too close, and the family moves back with the grandparents. The father returns, and Carlos’ family makes the dangerous journey to the United States. The grandparents, who have their farm taken over by the government, move to an apartment in Matanzas and remain in Cuba. The journey is difficult, but by 1962 the family has settled into a new life in Miami, Florida. This story is based on the life of the author’s father. 

Strengths: I absolutely loved that the biggest portion of this book was spent describing Carlos’ life before things become difficult. His close relationship with his grandfather, his idyllic childhood in the country, and his family’s increasing involvement in current events will help modern readers understand that war torn places in the world have not always been that way. While the basic circumstances of Carlos’ family are repeated again and again, the details of the family’s experiences give this a personal touch, especially since this is based on Miyares’ own father. The artwork is lovely, and very different for a graphic novel. The style and the colors felt very midcentury to me, which was very nice. This is one of the best graphic novels I have read recently, so I will definitely purchase it. 

Weaknesses: While there is a good deal of information about Castor’s process of taking over the government spread throughout the book, it wouldn’t have hurt to have a two page overview of events, or perhaps a timeline, at the end of the book. Young readers will have little idea about this era in history, and may need some support in understanding the events. 

What I really think: I will definitely purchase this graphic novel. Castro’s revolution, and especially Operation Pedro Pan, is probably my third favorite horrible historic event, after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the Partition of India. A few years ago, a student’s grandmother came to speak to our school about her own journey from Cuba to the US with Operation Pedro Pan, so it’s good to see this story being told in books like Castellanos' wordless graphic novel, Isla to Island,  Cartaya's A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation, Behar's Letters From Cuba  Cuevas' Cuba in My Pocket, Gonzales' The Bluest Sky and The Red Umbrella,  Diaz's Farewell Cuba, Manzano's Coming Up Cuban and  Flores-Galbis' 90 Miles to Havana.

Stout, Tim and Flood, Joe (illus.) 

History Comics: The Great Depression From Hard Times to the New Deal

October 21, 2025 by First Second

E ARC Provided by Netgalley

Alex and Kassie are modern day siblings who are tired of being stuck inside as wild fires rage outside their home. Their mother is working from home and needs both of them off the internet so she can attend a virtual meeting, so the two reluctantly play a board game about the Great Depression. They are magically sucked into the game, and cards appear in their pockets prompting them to do things. Alex tries to sell his stock, but ends up buying some instead and losing money. Kassie is unable to withdraw money from the bank. Soon, the siblings are separated, with Alex riding the rails out to California and Kassie trying to keep herself afloat by working in a factory. Along the way, they each learn more and more about why the Great Depression happened, and how it impacted Americans. At one point, Kassie even meets Eleanor Roosevelt, and helps smuggle President Roosevelt onto a train. She gets on a boat and ends up in Hawaii right as Pearl Harbor is being bombed, but manages to reconnect with Alex and eventually get back home. The two have a renewed appreciation for their life! 

I love the History Comics for engaging young readers, so while I wasn fond of the gamifying of The Great Depression, it might lure students into reading about it. There's not quite as much information as there was in the World War II Homefront or Prohibition, but since we are looking at nearly one hundred years ago (96 today, in fact!) I'd love for my students to read anything they can about the historic era. There are some notes at the end about some aspects that didn't get much coverage, like the CCC (Read Pearson's excellent Fighting for the Forest for information about this) and the WPA's Sewing Rooms Program, which I had not heard about. Now I need information about THAT!