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Always in the Middle 

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Unleashing Readers

Hermon, Daka. Level Up

August 4, 2026 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Keenan, his Dane Shepherd Leo, and his mother Jackie move from California to Tennessee to get away from his father, who is controlling and unpleasant. They are staying with Jackie’s mother, with whom there is some tension. Keenan thinks his grandmother is cool, if a little quirky, and she runs the Southern Delights Bakery. Maxine, who is Keenan’s age and lives nearby, warns him that there have been kids kidnapped by a “fear monster”, which seems a bit ridiculous, but makes a bit of sense since Keenan feels that something is wrong. This is made worse at school, where all of the children are encouraged to play video games to help with their academic skills, but seem completely addicted to them. The teachers are all a bit odd, and Keenan notices that they wear stone bracelets. Keenan can’t play the video games because he is colorblind and they rely heavily on color, but he hides this from his teachers because he had been bullied before about his condition. Maxine warns him to stay away from kids in a nearby neighborhood who were involved with some of the monster issues, but after classmate James turns into a monster in a bathroom and menaces Keenan, he starts to wonder if he should ask them for help. When he finally contacts Justin, Nia, and Lyric, they tell him a little about their adventures, and figure out that he is the only one who can defeat the monster queen by heading into her world during the upcoming eclipse. It’s a good plan, but requires precise timing and a lot of bravery. Will Keenan be able to defeat the queen, and even if he does, will it be enough? 

Strengths: I have a good friend with red/green color vision deficit, so it was fun to see this condition not only represented, but to have it be almost a superpower that Keenan uses to fight the monsters. The inclusion of video games as a way to mind control students is absolutely on point; we have iReady and CommonLit that students have to spend time on, as well as other programs for intervention classes, and I’m not a fan of kids having to spend so much time looking at screens during the school day. The grandmother is an absolute delight, and knows her stuff, but of course Jackie discounts her opinion as well as Keenan’s. Even Leo plays a good role in the fight, and there is some solid real life drama with Keenan’s family situation that is worked out well. I don’t want to ruin any surprises, but there could well be another book, and I will be looking forward to another adventure for the “Monster Crew”. 

Weaknesses: I suppose the teachers have to be evil, but couldn’t there be just ONE who was on the grandmother’s side and could help Keenan and his friends? Maybe, I don’t know, the librarian? 

What I really think: This could almost be a stand alone, but is better if read after Hide and Seeker and The Nightmare King. It was just the right level of psychological terror and gore, and was quite a relief after a spate of cheesy horror books. Definitely purchasing, since it was my second favorite read of April. (Nelson’s RV There Yet? was the first, since I don’t personally care for horror books. My students LOVE horror!) Perfect for fans of Lawrence’s The Stitchers, Currie’s X Marks the Haunt, and the works of K.R. Alexander.  

Lieberman, Daniel E. Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals About Food, Diet, Health, and Eating Well

August 11, 2026 by Knopf

E ARC provided  by Netgalley

Netgalley is a dangerous platform, because I often find books there that look appealing but don't fall within the purview of my blog. Dr. Lieberman had posted a charming video describing his book on social media, and when I found out it was available on Netgalley, I read it right away. 

This had a fantastic balance of science and anecdote. The author and his wife gamely tried a lot of fad diets, and the book was arranged in historical order of some of these. Major trends (Weight Watchers, Atkins, High Carb, etc.) were discussed at length with humor and professionalism. I didn't know that evolutionary biology was a field of study, but this expertise shed some light on why some diets are adopted, and how they do or don't support human health. 

My favorite part of the book was the discussion of African chimpanzees' diets-- Lieberman followed them around and ate the plants that they ate, even ingesting some ants! This personal approach and willingness to be his own guinea pig was quite interesting and endearing. Reading about his mother's adherence to diets of her era was interesting; she was roughly the age of my own mother, but more "successful" in adhering to them. Sadly, this meant that she was very underweight in her old age and not as strong as she could have been. Since I have an aunt who is 88 and currently weighs 92 pounds, this hit close to home!

There aren't any earthshaking conclusions at the end of the book; he quotes Michael Pollan's "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." a couple of times. Eat a variety of whole foods, but don't put foods off limits; just eat some sparingly. I love reading food writing, though, so didn't really expect a prescriptive diet from this book. Knowing the history of diets, and knowing that I'm fairly on track with current research and science when deciding what to eat (yes, getting enough protein and fiber is a full time job as one ages!) made this book worth reading. I would think all public library would want to invest in this title.