Bang!: The Art, History, and Science of Fireworks and The Magic of Someday Soon

Miller, Ron. Bang!: The Art, History, and Science of Fireworks
March 3, 2026 by Twenty-First Century Books
Coopy provided by the publisher

My students frequently have projects assigned where they have to read a 100 page narrative nonfiction book and complete a scavenger hunt and report. It's hard to find books that are interesting and informative and meet the project criteria. Bang! is a book that I am definitely looking forward to recommending to my students!

Not surprisingly, the origins of fireworks are largely military, but I loved all of the science and chemistry behind the different fireworks. It's fascinating that we have descriptions as far back as the 1260s describing how to make some of the combinations. I don't think that Roger Bacon's prose (originally written in Latin!) will be useful to anyone wanting to manufacture fireworks now, but it is fun to read.

The art of fireworks will intrigue a wider array of readers, and knowing that the first public display in the Western world was for King Henry's marriage to Elizabeth of York in 1486 was fascinating. I especially liked the description of "green men" who set off fireworks. They were called this because they layered themselves in leaves to protect their skin and clothes from catching fire! The chapter on how fireworks are made today includes needed information on safety precautions, as well as a variety of records set by different displays.

My favorite chapter was probably the one on professional and consumer fireworks, because it highlighted Phantom Fireworks, the largest US distributor. They are based in Youngstown, Ohio, close to my hometown. There is also a discussion of various laws and etiquette surrounding setting off displays, and well as an intriguing description of indoor fireworks and substitutes for them.

The technology behind fireworks also comes into daily life in items such as matches, signal rockets, flares, flash bangs, movie explosions, and even car air bags! Of course, they are used around the world to celebrate a variety of holidays. The final chapters of the book include a discussion of fireworks as a hobby as well as the future of fireworks. The book ends with source notes, websites, a list of pyrotechnic clubs, and an index.

This is a beautifully formatted book that includes a lot of bright red and yellow. There are lots of photographs, as well as period illustrations. There are diagrams, charts, and sidebars, as well as bold print paragraph headings. Those projects and scavenger hunts I mentioned? They all call for students to identify these facets of nonfiction texts! The print is on the smaller side, but this would be a great inclusion for all middle school and high school libraries.

Lee, Michelle. The Magic of Someday Soon

March 3, 2026 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Zoe's father passed away when she was very young, and for the past eight years she has been constantly at her artist mother's side as she travels the country as the Upcycle Magician, completing projects before packing up their aged car Geraldine and moving on. When Zoe signs a contract on her  mother's behalf to complete a project in her father's hometown of Maravel, Florida, her mother isn't pleased, but can't be too angry. When the two arrive in the small town, they find that the mechanic who is towing and fixing their car is the father of the "city council person" who asked them to come! Teddy is being raised by her uncle Jeremy, and is invested in honoring the legacy of her great grandparents, who ran Fossil Gardens in the 1970s and 80s. It was a tourist attraction with dinosaurs made out of scrap, so a perfect project for Zoe's mother, but the gardens have had multiple sink holes underneath of the property, which is now owned by the Altamontes. Their son, Nick, is Teddy's age, but her archnemesis due to an incident when the two were in kindergarten. Smoothing everyone's ruffled feathers in her father's Grandma Dee, who runs a local tea shop and has an otherworldly, magical air about her. She's thrilled to put up Zoe and her mother while their car is fixed, and the mother does agree to fix the two remaining "fossils", Bobby and Rita, who are moved from the gardens to Dee's lawn. Zoe desperately wants to stay in one place, and loves hanging out with Dee, who plies her with almost magical tea and a quantity of baked goods. Teddy is relieved that Bobby and Rita will be restored and appreciated, but a heavy storm opens up another sinkhole, this time in Dee's yard, and both statues are sucked under. There's a lot of agitation as Zoe has to deal with going back on the road and Teddy has to process her loss and also make amends with Nick. Will things work out for everyone in Maravel?
Strengths: I am absolutely all about vintage tourist attractions, motels, or relics from grandparents, so I really enjoyed this story. It was also good to see both Zoe and Teddy make a friend with someone who understood their losses. Maravel was a very fun setting, and I could just envision Bobby and Rita sitting all alone in a field, with foliage growing up through them. Grandma Dee is delightful, and perhaps even a little magic. There's a satisfying conclusion to the story, and everyone is happier at the end than at the beginning, which is always a relief. 
Weaknesses: The cover makes this look very young, and also promises a little more magic than is actually involved in the story. 
What I really think: This felt a little like a cross between Lloyd's A Snicker of Magic and Lute's Dinner at the Brake Fast or Berry's Heart Finds. The closest comparison is Freeman's Trashed, which I absolutely loved but which isn't circulating as much as I would like.