The Grimlore Game and The Continuation of Summer Dillon

Josephson, Kalyn. The Grimlore Game
September 22, 2026 by Delacorte Press
Copy provided by the publisher

Kit Devlin has good reason to adopt an all black wardrobe, a snarky attitude, and a pet spider, Gregor. The entire Devlin family is cursed, and both of her parents have succumbed to it. Kit especially misses her father, who taught her how to solve puzzles, and isn't thrilled to be going to the funeral of her grandfather Amos, with whom she has had little contact. He has provided her a decent amount of funding, which has caused various relatives to take her in, including Aunt Sora (Something or Another-- she doesn't bother to learn her real name), who accompanies her to the funeral in Scotland. Kit is rude to all of her relatives, but there are some bright sides to the funeral; she finds an artifact puzzle in the coffin (after creating a diversion by setting Gregor loose), and is one of the few people invited to a reading of the will at Hearthstone House. Once at the family estate, Kit is surprised to find that it is magical, and tended by a talking cat, Carmine, who claims to be the butler. The adults don't seem to notice that luggage magically puts itself away. Mr. Bird, Amos' lawyer, announced that there will be a contest, and the entire estate will go to whomever solves their own puzzle. Kit, who has little patience, sneaks off and starts her own investigation, finding a puzzle box in the library. She also meets her cousin, Harlow, who is constantly criticizing himself. He's the son of her uncle Elias, who has been running the family business. Harlow's sister, Elodie, is not friendly. While Kit is leery of her cousin, she does find his help useful as the two work through a lot of clues and deal with the other fortune hunters. They do unearth a number of family mysteries, including the existence of a brother of Amos', Ambrose, of whom the family is unaware. After finding the bodies of family members "killed" by the curse, Kit discovers that she is a curse breaker, and may be able to save the family from losing a member every year. Readers will have to wait until May 2027 when The Hearthstone Hunt is published to find out more about these developments.
Strengths: The backstory of the Devlins is well developed, and aside from Kit's grief over her father's death, the family does move forward despite their multiple losses. There's a bit of a mystery over whether or not there is any money left in the family, and the magical elements are not appreciated by all family members, which gave this an interesting layer. Kit has to navigate difficult family dynamics and try to determine whom to trust. The house is very fantastical, and Carmine feels very much like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland; he seems to be helpful, but cannot be relied upon. I am curious to see where this series leads.
Weaknesses: Kit is a difficult character to like, but readers who have Goth aspirations will enjoy her more. I am not a fan of puzzles in books, and would have preferred more of a plot rather than the various artifacts and clues. I liked the characters and plot of Ravenfall a bit more, but I can see this being popular with readers who like puzzles.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Reese's Puzzleheart, Milford's Greenglass House, Guterson's Winterhouse, Currie's The Mystery of the Locked Rooms or other books that involve interesting houses and long kept secrets.

Everett, Sarah. The Continuation of Summer Dillon

September 15, 2026 by HarperCollins
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Summer 2.0 knows she is an android, and she knows she is joining Summer's family because Summer is away. The mother and father seem glad to have her, but Summer 1.0's sister Alice is very angry. There are some people, like Summer's grandmother and her friends at school, Paisley and Aisha, who don't think that androids have a place in society, which hurts and confuses Summer 2.0 and makes her think that she isn't doing her job well. Her job is to be as much like Summer 1.0 as possible. She needs to like the color tangerine, find oatmeal tasty, and be as perfect as she can be in order to make everyone happy. She's had all of Summer 1.0's memories uploaded every year, so she knows everything there is to know about Summer's family and friends, and since she is an android, remembers everything after seeing it once. When her friends won't talk to her, she starts hanging out with Mindy, who doesn't care that she is an android. When she is at the mall with her new friend, Summer 2.0 glitches, and is saved by a red haired woman. She doesn't tell her parents about the incident, since she doesn't want to go back to the lab. Instead, she makes a "forever plan" to make sure that she can stay with the Dillons. She helps Alice become confident to read her poetry for a competition, and meets with the woman who saved her, Cece, after her parents give her permission for Cece to fix the bugs in her operating system. She thinks things are going well, until Alice wakes her up in the middle of the night and puts her on a bus to see Dr. Peterson with a letter. Will Summer 2.0 ever be able to make the Dillons happy?

Strengths: Middle school is all about identity. Who are you? Who do you want to be? Who do your friends think you are? I enjoyed the author's note about this, and found Summer 2.0's attempts to replicate Summer 1.0 and ingratiate herself with the family interesting. This is a fascinating concept. How many parents WOULD want to replace their child if necessary? There is a good inclusion of medical discrimination against Black patients, and even a mention of Henrietta Lacks, which might encourage readers to do some research on their own. Alice was a fantastic character, and she has very realistic reactions to her sister's replacement. I also appreciated that there was no mention of Artificial Intelligence; that would have added a level of complication to the story that would have interfered with the exploration of identity. 
Weaknesses: The family seems to have fallen on hard times; I assumed this was due to the cost of Summer 1.0's medical bills, but this could have been clearer for young readers. I was a little conflicted about the ending. Not sure if there was any other way to finish the story, but I wasn't entirely sold. It made me think, though, so that's always good! 

What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Everett's The Shape of Lost Things or The Probability of Everything or long for a good android/cyborg book like Powell's 2014 Expiration Day, McKissack's 2010 The Clone Codes, or Pearson's 2008 Jenna Fox Chronicles. 

I'm debating whether or not to buy a copy. This was an intriguing book, but I'm not sure my students will pick it up. 

Also, I know for certain that I am certainly completely replaceable! People like to think they aren't, but that's not really the case.