Scarewaves

Henderson, Trevor. Scarewaves

October 3, 2023 by Scholastic Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Mary is not happy that her parents are moving away from her perfectly nice life in the city to the remote Beacon Point, although she has to concede that their huge older home, while decrepit, is pretty cool. There are scratching sounds in the attic that aren't appealing, however. At school, she meets Lucas, who lives on a farm with his father, and has to spend a lot of time doing chores. He's not happy with the fact that their scarecrow, Mr. Sackhead, seems to be moving around on his own. Byron, a quiet boy who attends their school, is concerned that his best friend Beverly has gone missing, as have many people in Beacon Point. There was even a radio program, hosted by an Alan Graves, that addressed all of these creepy things around town, which included monsters of all sorts, and some of the transcripts of these are included between chapters. There are some other kids in town, including Jennifer, who babysits young Kyle and has to deal with the creepiest deer ever attacking the house, and Rebecca, who has staked out space in an abandoned factory for herself, but who has to deal with an alarming bird creature coming up out of the floor! When the monsters attacks accelerate and more kids go missing, Mary, Lucas, and Byron decide that something must be done. Will they be able to figure out the centuries old mysteries of Beacon Point and make the area safe again?
Strengths: Well, this certainly has some of the best described creepy monsters I've ever read. Just look at that cover! Deer with human faces, doppelgangers, pale and waxy faces of reanimated corpses, Mr. Sackhead... shiver. This is gross without being overly violent; menacing is a better word, although there are well placed attacks. Not my favorite sort of thing, but students will LOVE this. I liked the town history, with the librarian who turned sort of evil. The radio program sounds a bit like a podcast, and I do have some students who enjoy the more grusome ones of these. This is available in hardcover, but since it is listed at $12.34, I'm imagining this is paper over boards, so I will purchase three copies. 

Weaknesses: Did I miss what happened to Beverly? Did she ever return? The pages on the E ARC turned suuuuuuper slowly, so I couldn't go back and easily check. There were a lot of pages with dark backgrounds or page decorations that made them slow to load. I wish there were a way to take these out of digital versions of the books. 
What I really think: This is not the sort of book that I like, and as an adult I found some of the characters annoying (Mary at the beginning of the book... ugh!), but this has an undeniable appeal to younger readers who like all sorts of scary, gross monsters. If you enjoy this thing, feel free to follow Mr. Henderson on Twitter under @slimyswampghost. I'm going to pass, thanks, but then, I haven't even watched the filmi adaptation of Delaney's fabulous The Revenge of the Witch because it looks too scary! 

I am Kavi

Ponweera, Thushanthi. I am Kavi
September 19, 2023 by Holiday House
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this novel in verse, Kavi lives in a small village in Sri Lanka in the late 1990s. There is a civil war that has been raging since 1983, and her father fought in it. He lost a leg, and later died, leaving Kavi and her mother alone. Against Kavi's wishes, her mother has remarried her father's best friend, Sirapala, who seems lazy to Kavi. She doesn't want to have to stay in the house, and wants better opportunities than farming. She does well in school, and her mother allows her to sit for exams. While she doesn't like the idea of being without her daughter, she finds a school to which Kavi can have a scholarship and also live with her sister, Mala Nanda. Mala Nanda has lived in the big city for a long time, and is a housekeeper for a wealthy family. Her apartment off of the family's garage is bigger than Kavi's entire house, and Kavi is thrilled with amenities such as air conditioning. Going to a new school is hard, especially when she sees the difference in treatment between scholarship students and those who can afford to pay. She decides to make friends with two popular girls, Nethmi and Sulo, and soon gets enticed into their way of life. She is aided in this by Sasha, the daughter of the family for whom Mala Nanda works. Sasha is lonely, and while Kavi tries hard to remember that she is of the servant class, she does enjoy getting hand me downs and discards from the wealthier girl. Sasha even loans her clothes when she is invited to a birthday party. Kavi has told tales about her life, claiming that she and her mother left the village to live with an uncle and aunt, and describes Sasha's life as if it were her own. This comes with some problems. While Nethmi and Sulo are expected to do well in school in order to make their parents happy, Kavi's entire existence at the school depends on her getting good grades. When she gets drawn into Nethmi's plans to do well by cheating, there are disastrous consequences. The civil war is felt all around them, and now Kavi may have ruined her chance to make a better life for herself. Will she be able to stay in school in the city?

Strengths: I love reading books set in other countries, and have to admit that I didn't know much about the Sri Lankan civil war and the unrest between the Tamil and Sinhala people. While Kavi has a good life in her village, the war and the poverty caused by her father's death make her motivated to do whatever she can to ease things for herself and her mother. Going to the big city without her mother is hard, but her experiences with a new way of life are fascinating to read. There's a surprising amount of Western 1990s culture mentioned that will appeal to readers of a certain age (I'm too old to care much about the Spice Girls!). Friend drama is always a popular topic with my readers, and to see the horrible consequences of friend drama when it occurs between people of very different social classes is heartbreaking. There is a lot of honesty about Kavi's experiences; she has to come clean to her aunt, her mother, Sasha, and even her school and her friends. It's all processed in a realistic and hopeful way, and the book offers a very unusual window into a different place and time. 
Weaknesses: Since Kavi's house is so small, there is a brief and delicate discussion of the fact that she is on the other side of a curtain when her mother is "really with" her new husband. This comes up again briefly in the city. Younger readers will probably not understand and not think too hard about it. 
What I really think: Definitely purchasing this title, and will hand it to readers who enjoy Saeed's Amal Unbound or Faruqi's A Thousand Questions or Kadarusman's  Girl of the Southern Sea, or other books set in countries other than the US that offer glimpses into what daily life is like there. 

Forever Twelve

McAnulty, Stacey. Forever Twelve (The Evers #1)

October 3, 2023 by Random House Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by Netgalley
 

Ivy has one goal: to get through high schools as quickly as possible so she can go to a good college and become a supreme court justice like Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Ginsberg was motivational to Ivy's mother, who has recently passed away. Feeling that her own school won't help her reach this goal, Ivy takes the entrance exam for West Archer Academy, an exclusive boarding school her great grandmother Gigi attended. The exam is a bit odd; the answers are circled, but Ivy ignores them and puts in her own answers. Not only that, but she's approached by a girl named Abigale who thinks that Ivy looks familiar. Ivy gets in, and is excited even though it means being away from home. Her roommate is none other than Abigail, who shares astonishing news with her. We also meet new student Ronan, from Ivy's hometown, who has a secret. Like his mother, who works as a pyschic adviser, Ronan can see people's futures just by touching them. He was hoping to avoid this fate, but a few days after his 13th birthday, his skills made themselves known. Abigail quickly confides in Ivy the fact that she and several other students, including Tim, Dom, and Este, are hundreds of years old. They regenerate every night, so never age, and are never injured for long, although they can be killed. Ivy looks like Abigail's best friend, Grace, who decided 70 years ago to stop being immortal, and disappeared. Abigail hopes that Ivy can help her locate her friend. Being an "Ever" has a lot of problems. but West Archer Academy, and especially the librarian, Ms. Strange (who dresses "the way someone dressing like a librarian for Halloween would dress", a similar comment which has been made by my own students about my clothing!), who has kept their secret and helps them out by making sure they are readmitted every few years. Ivy's research is successful in locating Grace, but there are a lot of problems that go along with this identification. Este, who is responsible for the eternal tweendom of several of the Evers, doesn't want this information known, especially since Grace managed to short circuit her immortality and has aged considerably. When Ronan accidentally touches Ivy, he is alarmed to see great harm come to her, and tries to circumvent it. He can't, and circumstances occur that give more pressing reasons for both Abigail and Ivy to learn more about the Evers. Is it still safe for them to remain at West Archer Academy for book two in this projected duology?

Strengths: This had some great twists and turns within the well developed framework of the Evers mythos that were quite intriguing. Middle school students would completely believe that one of their classmates was immortal, or had psychic powers. While I wondered about the wisdom of having both the Evers and Ronan's psychic abilities in one book, the story eventually made it clear that they were intertwined. There's a good balance of friend drama, history, boarding school details, and deeper feelings of Something Evil that worked really well. There's definitely room for another story, but it's a relief to know that it's just one more book and not eight! The thing that I liked best was that the Evers had a solid feel for the pluses and minuses of immortality, but didn't all agree on one position. This sets it apart from books like Twilight or other vampire tales where the nuances of living for hundreds of years isn't really addressed. One detail that was somehow especially bittersweet was the fact that Abigail has two broken fingernails that never grow back, since the tweens always return overnight to exactly the way they were when they died. Luckily, none of them had a particularly noteworthy zit!
Weaknesses: I've been at my school for 25 years, and if the same students reappeared every ten years, there are several of us who would notice! It seemed like the Evers would have managed to retain some sort of adult manager over the years who could help, sort of like The Mennyms did in Sylvia Waugh's wonderful tales. Granted, this is more of an adult concern. 
What I really think: Did you love Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting? Did you think long and hard about what your choice would be? Then you need this book! I can't think of another book that handles immortality in quite the same way, althought Saunders' The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop skirts around it. Definitely purchasing. 

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Unleashing Readers

Vitalis, Jessica. Coyote Queen

October 10, 2023 by Greenwillow Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Twelve-year-old Fud (Felicity Ulysses Dahlers lives with her mother and her mother's boyfriend Larry in a trailer in a remote part of Wyoming, and hopes to one day become a wildlife biologist. She and her mother have been homeless; her father was from Spain and is not in the picture. Larry is a former boxer whose career has been sidelined by a back injury, and he drinks a bit too much. When he does, he is often volatile and often hits Fud's mother. He is also very controlling of what both of them do, micromanaging the way the home is run, how the money is spent, and what Fud is allowed to do. There is very little money, and Fud's clothes all come from second hand shops or garage sales. Her classmates, like Ava, make fun of her for this. When a new girl moves in to a neighboring trailer, Fud doesn't have much hope that Leigh will be different from Ava, but she is. Leigh's mother is an artist and photographer, and the two have more resources than the Dahlers. Fud is amazed at the number of clothes that Leigh has, and the kind of food that they have in their cabinets. Leigh decides to enter the Miss Tween Black Gold Pageant, which Rud thinks is ridiculous until she finds out that there is big prize money. If she could win, maybe she and her mother could escape Larry. She agrees to enter with Leigh, and the two make the cut for the pageant. Fud didn't plan for needing an expensive dress or having a talent, but as things worsen at home, she tries to come of with a pageant plan. Larry has been hitting her mother, who is now pregnant, more and more, and he has also brought home a boat that he is hoping to renovate so that the family can live on it. Fud puts up with girls like Ava at the pageant practices who make fun of her, but she is also dealing with some weird physical symptoms; sometimes her vision goes black and white, and she feels a strong connection with a local coyote, having vivid dreams about being with the pups. As Larry's boat makes progress, Fud keeps the fact that she may move away a secret from Leigh. Things come to a head on the day of the pageant. Larry is ready to head out and has become even more controlling of Fud and her mother, Fud and Leigh having a falling out, and Fud experiences some alarming further connections with the coyotes. In the end, it's all too much, and she finally asks Leigh's mother Click for help. The author includes notes as to how the book was inspired by her own childhood, and lists resources where students can get help. 

Strengths: There are not enough books about children who are struggling in their daily lives, and there are certainly many children who do struggle. Before I started teaching, I babysat two neighbor girls in the summer, and they used to open my cabinets and stare because we had food in them. Their family was fairly stable, but often struggled financially. Looking at the statistics about domestic violence, there should be many more books with children in these circumstances. I liked that Fud was realistic about her circumstances and had some strategies in place for dealing with Larry, but also that she knew this was not a way she should have to live. Leigh was especially great because she was very accepting even when Fud was reluctant to befriend anyone, and Click is a good example of a "trusted adult" we are always telling students to locate. The pageant details are not too overwhelming, and Fud's participation is very realistic. This definitely presented a picture of hope that will be valuable to many students. 

Weaknesses: I could have done without the connection to the coyotes, because that does put this book firmly in the fantasy realm, like this author's Wolf's Curse or Rabbit's Gift. It's still a good story, but the introduction of fantasy elements makes it a little harder to get readers interested. I've found that Messner's 2016 The Seventh Wish, which has some similarities, takes some handselling for this reason. Other libraries may not have this problem. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who liked the mix of problems and fantasy in Smy's The Hideaway or Rauf's The Star Outside My Window or even more realistic books like Lowell's The Road to After.

Supplee, Suzanne. Sweetness All Around
October 24, 2023 by Holiday House
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In 1974, Josephine and her mother are struggling in Glendale, Tennessee. The mother is a seamstress who does custom home furnishings, and is divorced from Josephine's father, who has never been very helpful. After a warehouse fire that took the mother's workspace and inventory, the two have had to give up their comfortable apartment and move into the Happy World Trailer Park, where they are renting a trailer. Josephine is NOT happy about this, and after storming out, she investigates her new environment. She sees a pair of tennis shoes on a porch that look like they belong to someone her age, but the woman who answers the door says there are no children are there, but points her to the home of Lisa Marie. The two become friends, and Lisa Marie (who is being raised by her grandfather and great uncle, who is ill with cancer) tells her that the owner of the shoes was Molly, a girl their age who was kidnapped by her father and grandmother. Her mother, Helen-Dove, has been understandably standoffish and quiet, going to her manufacturing job and consulting with a local policeman for updates. Josephine thinks that she should investigate and try to see if she can find the missing girl, and occasional glimpses at Helen-Dove's misdelivered mail encourage her that the girl is not far away. There are other things going on in the summer; she goes with her mother to install projects, and to get fabric at Miss Augustine's store, deals with the park manager, a very unpleasant woman named Miss Connie, and is concerned about Lisa Marie. Since there is no mother in the picture, Lisa Marie is often unkempt, uses the word "ain't" (which has been schooled right out of Josephine's vocabulary), and at one point gets lice and has her head shaved by her grandfather. Josephine's mother and Helen-Dove bond over their love of needlework and their shared circumstances of living in the trailer park. This bond helps convince Helen-Dove to believe Josephine and Lisa Marie that Molly is the one sending postcards, in code, and that they should travel to Pickersgill, Alabama, to rescue her. Will this investigation help all three girls to be more secure in their family life? 

Strengths: Triple bonus points to Supplee for including Baby Tender Love, Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoo, Dip-a-Flower and other crafts, and eating out at DQ! Clearly, she is almost exactly my age, and the cultural references were completely on point! So was the trailer park, and the general air of economic uncertainty at this period of time. The 1970s is a bit of a lost period in #MGLit, and I'm glad that we are seeing a few more depictions of it, although there are still some actual 1970s titles around. Josephine's unhappiness at her family's transition gives way to a more "can do" attitude, and she quickly makes friends with the only available child. Probably the best part of the whole book for me was how Josephine's mother acted; very prim and proper, despite her reduced circumstances, and she takes an interest in heling Lisa Marie, whose upbringing is troubling but also very common. I seem to remember there being a lot of concern about parental abductions in years past (Norma Fox Mazer's 1981 Taking Terri Mueller and Pfeffer's 1994 Twice Taken comes to mind), and it's certainly a topic that appeals to readers who like mysteries. 
Weaknesses: I wish there had been a little more portrayal of Josephine investigating Molly's disappearance or life; the beginning of the book sets this up but then is more concerned with Lisa Marie's sad family plight before returning to Molly. It picks up again once the road trip is planned. The only historical detail I would have any quibble about was the former landlady being depicted as buying nail polish for Josephine at "the Dollar Store". Wouldn't it have been referred to as "the five and dime" at this point? Or a brand name, like Woolworth's of Ben Franklin? Since this is set in the south, it might be a regional difference. I was going to question that "stewed potatoes" should be "stewed tomatoes" until I Googled the former. Ew.
What I really think: I had to think a bit about why Supplee's name was familiar; she wrote the 2008 When Irish Guys are Smiling in the Students Across the Seven Seas series! I enjoyed this book a lot, and it will be a big hit in February when my students want books that make them feel better about their own lives. In my library, the books that fill this need are NOT the books where the main character loses parents, siblings, or friends to death, but when the main character is in less than ideal circumstances and has to survive. The 1970s references will appeal to those readers whose (gulp) grandmothers are my age!

Spy School Goes North (Spy School #11)

Gibbs, Stuart. Spy School Goes North (Spy School #11)
October 3, 2023 by Simon Schuster Books 
ARC provided by the publisher

After the devastating events in Spy School: Project X, Ben finds himself in Alaska, in a remote and antiquated training base with Cyrus, Mike, Erica, and Zoe. While Ben still needs a lot of training, he is getting better at spying, and even identifies that there is a bear in the area when the group are working on their rappelling skills. When Cyrus is kidnapped by the Russians, the group looks through his things and decides he must have been taken to Fort King. Erica, determined to get her grandfather back, has everyone stock the training helicopter with supplies, and they set off. Erica's flying technique needs work, but she is still good at taking down attackers once they arrive, and Mike's out-of-the-box thinking has the group smearing chocolate frosting (who doesn't travel with tubs of that?) via slingshots on the security cameras so that the bears destroy them in search of a sweet treat. Even Ben manages to take down a guard! They find Cyrus having tea with Ivan Shumovsky and his granddaughter Svetlana, who looks like the evil twin of Erica. Cyrus and Ivan have butted heads before, and Ivan is still convinced that the US took advantage of Russi when they bought Alaska from them back in the 1800s. He's determined to take his revenge, and has a Doomsday project he means to implement unless Cyrus can prove the US wasn't culpable. Ben and his crew realize that the "Operation Hornswoggle" that Ivan thinks is behind this was really an operation that Croatoan was behind. With the notes incinerated and none of the members on speaking terms, the group heads out to find th eone person who might know something-- Murray Hill. Murray is alone on an island (ala Mary Malone) inhabited mainly by flatulant walruses, with little to do but study native plants and try to figure out the WiFi password. Of course, he doesn't want to cooperate and poisons the group in a very clever way and escapes. Luckily, Tina Cuevas, who has worked with Ben in the past, realizes that something is up and comes to the island to check on the group. She's working to prevent animal smuggling, but is able to help the group out. They meet with Ivan and discuss their findings, but they don't have enough and Ivan is determined to go through with his destructive plan. Luckily, Svetlana works against her grandfather because she doesn't agree with his, and also because she and Zoe shared a riveting glance and turn out to have a mutal crush. Can the group locate Ivan's notebook and stop his evil plan before he manages to blow up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? And what will Murray be up to in the next book? 
Strengths: To underline how popular these books are with my students, I had to jump the queue and read this October title in early May because the publisher sent me a physical ARC, and I knew a handful of students who would gobble it up! I don't know how Gibbs continues to churn out quality books (like Gordon Korman, he has at least two a year!), but this was filled with his trademark humor, adventure, and clever ways of saving the day. I do like that he includes some romance for his teen characters, because that is completely realistic, and Zoe's feelings of lonliness are understandable, and the way she explains them to Ben make a slightly unlikely situation ring true. There are so many good details about flying helicopters, tromping through the Alaskan wilderness, and investigating decades old spy doings that I always feel like I could totally be a spy when I finish reading one of these books, even though I don't think that's true. Ben is an engaging character who knows his weaknesses and isn't afraid to leave the beating up of the enemy to his girlfriend. I'm interested to see where Murray leads the group next, and to see if the group manages to get back into society. Maybe, like Ben's parents, they'll be given a new life in San Diego. 
Weaknesses: While I adore these books, series that are this long pose a problem for a school library. Sometimes it feels like half of my book orders are sequels, and it breaks my heart when I deaccession a series that is no longer circulating (Sic transit, Duane's So You Want to Be a Wizard) and find that the ninth book has only been read thrice in a dozen years. 
What I really think: Of course I'll buy this. It's a great book. It sort of reminds me of my weird obsession with Lillian Jackson Braun's 1960s Cat Who books that got a second wind in the 1980s and went on to about 30 books. I even bought the paperbacks when I couldn't find them anywhere else, which was highly unusual for me, especially at that time. But it wouldn't hurt my feelings if Gibbs' gave us some shorter series like Moonbase Alpha with the same great characters and funny writing. 

Reynolds, Jason and Peña, Zeke. Miles Morales: Suspended
May 2, 2023 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Marvel's Miles Morales first appeared in 2011, after the fictional death of Peter Parker. His story has been told in Reynolds' previous Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2017) as well as Justin A. Reynold's graphic novels Shock Waves and Stranger Tides, as well as comic books and movies. In Suspended, we find Miles struggling with multiple issues at the Brooklyn Visions Academy, the elite boarding school he is attending. He's not a fan of living away from parents Rio and Jeff, who are not only supportive of him, but also of Black culture and social justice issues. The school struggles to understand and properly discipline students of color, and employs problematic teachers like Mr. Chamberlain, who doesn't teach history properly. Miles' parents are called to school when he is wrongly accused of stealing sausages from the cafeteria and of breaking a desk, and he eventually lands in In School Suspension for his accumulated actions. Is part of this due to the evil force of the Warden, who has a long history of mind controlling teachers and influencing their actions to be racist? ISS is horribly boring, and Miles and the others assigned to this punishment have packets of work to be turned in, administered by Coach Holt. She largely ignores them and reads the newspaper. Miles is preoccupied with the fate of his cousin Austin, who is in jail, and during a fire drill he talks to Mrs. Tripley, the helpful school librarian, and asks is she would consider helping him run a book drive to get books to send to his cousin. The fire drill ends in some scuffles, and there is an increasing amount of strange stuff going on. Miles sees termites, not only around the building, but coming out of the mouth of Tobin. Tobin has been accused of damaging library books, many of which are commonly challenged in school libraries. As Miles works on the packet, he thinks about how the school is failing Black and Brown students by not providing the books they need for projects, sometimes because the books have been challenged. Why is Tobin, a self professed book nerd, damaging books? Clearly, some evil forces are at work. Will Miles, or his alter ego, Spider-Man, be able to defeat them?

In Reynolds' hands, even a super hero story can be elevated to a lyrical commentary on social justice. Unlike Miles Morales: Spider-Man, this is more than just a super hero tale. It's a thoughtful rumination on many social justice topics, it includes a lot of poetry, and there are even illustrations by Peña. Much of the book is almost stream of consciousness, as we delve into the deeper questions behind why Miles was really put in ISS. 

Don't worry; there is an epic battle scene, but it does come late in the book. Miles also goes out on the street as Spider-Man and catches a pickpocket, but there are not as many standard super hero scenes. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of Peña's illustrations, either. 

Superhero tales are always in demand, so add Suspended to the growing number of novels set in the Marvel universe, along with Smith's The Black Prince and Spellbound, Stone's Shuri series, Gratz's Captain America graphic novel, and Hale's The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. 

I'm not entirely sure that my super hero fans are going to finish this; it is a bit on the longer side, and poetry is not a big hit with my students. This will probably be more successful with Young Adult readers due to its tone, size of print, and philosophical orientation. 

One in a Million

Lordon, Claire. One in a Million

October 10, 2023 by Candlewick Press

ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

In this graphic novel style memoir, we see the health problems that Lordon had to deal with in high school. Once an active lacrosse player, she was plagued by a wide range of troublesome symptoms that doctors struggled to diagnose. Among these were extreme fatigue, weight gain, headaches, hair loss, brain fog, and the attendant anxiety and depression. Going to doctor's appointments and for testing made her feel that she was taking too much of her parents' time, and caused her to miss a lot of school. She takes a lot of comfort from her art, although she is irritated when the art teacher doesn't think that she can succeed in an honors class. She didn't let her friends know what was going on, and blamed her absence from the lacrosse team on a fractured ankle that was slow to heal and required surgery. Eventually, she is referred to the Mayo clinic, where they find a tumor on her pituitary gland and recommend surgery. Cushings disease, while rare in people in their teens, is also an issue. The surgery for her tumor is painful and the recuperation drawn out, and the surgery didn't even get all of the tumor, causing her to go back for more. While not actively suicidal, the thoughts were there, and being dead sometimes sounded better than dealing with so many issues and feeling so horrible. Despite all of this, Claire manages to get through high school with academic honors, play lacrosse again, and get into the Rhode Island School of Design. Eventually, the doctors were able to make some progress on treating her disease, and an end note tells us that while she still has health issues, she has managed to run a marathon and is pursuing art as a career. 

The advanced copy was in black and white, but the finished copy is going to be in two colors. Judging from the cover, I'm guessing that purple will be involved, but I will definitely have to take a look at a finished copy. 

Lordon's artwork is simple but expressive, and there is a solid feeling of the 2010s in the style of dress and the interests the characters have. The pages depicting her mental state are dark and chaotic, which really gives the reader a feel for her emotions. I was very glad that her parents had her in therapy to help her process her feelings, and there is an especially good scene where Claire talks to her mother with her therapist, and is reassured that it's not "too much trouble" for her parents to make sure she is okay. 

It was good to see some love for lacrosse; I can't say that I've read many books that included that sport, but perhaps there is more interest in it in the author's native Canada than in Ohio! 

There are not many books about teens with chronic health conditions, although there are a growing number that deal with mental health. This is a good choice for readers who were interested in Fung's Living with Viola, Wang's Stargazing,  and of course, Telgemeier's Guts. 
 

Treasure Island: Runaway Gold

Rhodes, Jewel Parker. Treasure Island: Runaway Gold
October 3, 2023 by Quill Tree Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
 

Zane and his  mother live in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, where his mother has been running a boarding house after the death of his father, hoping to earn enough to be able to keep their house and not sell it to developers. One of their boarders, Captain Maddie, is rather eccentric and behind on her rent, but gets along well with Zane and amuses him. In his spare time Zane likes to hang out with his friends Kiko and Jack at the local skatepark, but after he has a bad encounter with a white haired, evil skater named Rattler, things go badly wrong. Someone has broken into Captain Maddie's room, and she has a fatal health incident. She's usually a bit vague and not necessarily dealing in reality, but she continues to tell Zane that he is her first mate and needs to find the treasure right up to her last moments. Zane is devastated that she is gone, but knows that his family needs the money, so why not look for the treasure. After thwarting Rattler and his gang of skateboarding "pirates" at night, and with a map they foudn hidden in a hollow cane, Zane, Jack, and Kiko take off to Manhattan, where the fragile, old map seems to be pointing. There are clues, but it is all very mysterious. Jack, whose long distance trucker father frequently beats him, and Zane have never been to Manhattan before, so they are interested in the history that the map is pointing them toward. They seem Rattler's minions around, and try to escape them. They do some research at the New Amsterdam branch library, and also come across a shadowy figure, John, who seems to know too much about them but claims he wants to help. He takes them out of his oyster skiff, but there is an accident and Zane, as well as his beloved dog Hip-Hop that the group has brought along, are injured. With the help of the internet, Kiko finds some clues to some of the history in the area, including the site of New York's Municipal Slave Market, and they all learn some things they didn't know. John shows them the site of Thomas Downing's oyster restaurant, and the group unearths a treasure chest in the basement before being chased out. Zane and the others occasionally have visions of the past, and there are other elements of this book that places it in the realm of fantasy. Kiko doesn't trust John, although Zane and Jack are missing father figures so much that they are willing to put their faith in him. The map seems to lead them into the subway system, and they learn that many buildings in the early 1900s were built on top of the Negro Burial Ground. The treasure might be there, but will they need to blow up areas from the subway? It seems dangerous, and when Rattler and his henchchildren show up, things get desperate. Zane realizes that people he had counted on aren't on his side. Will he be able to escape and get home, or will he have to walk the plank to his doom?
Strengths: I loved Rhodes' note about how excited she was to add the different elements to this book. Adventure, skateboarding, black history, and a reimagining of a title that is NOT Jane Austen or Shakespeare! Nicely done. Zane is an interesting character, and while I kept screaming internally (along with Kiko!) that he shouldn't trust John, I knew why he and Jack were relying on him. The connections to Black history, especially the information about the slave markets, the statistics about slave ownership, and the details about the Underground Railroad in the area was all fascinating stuff. Hip-Hop was a good boy, although I also thought it was a bad idea to bring him to the city. Did Jim Hawkins have a dog? And why is Zane not named Jim? I do think that this book might well encourage young readers to pick up Stevenson's book. While Treasure Island impressed me as one of the few Classics that hold up for modern readers, my library copy smelled so bad that I got rid of it! There's a lot going on in this book, but Rhodes foray into writing adventure stories is definitely a successful one. 
Weaknesses: I doubt that any of my students are familiar with Treasure Island. I felt like I should read the book again to understand the parallels in the plot of this one. Some of the elements, like Captain Maddie, didn't quite make as much sense as I wanted them to, and I felt that if I was more familiar with the Stevenson version, things would be clearer. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want to learn more about Black history in New York City and enjoyed Watson's Some Places More Than Others or Cummings' Trace. I'd love to list other skateboarding books, but... there aren't any that use the skateboarding so well. Rhodes did a fantastic job on that; there are even illustrations at the end of the book that show some skateboarding tips!

Also, Rockaway Beach sounds like a horrible, horrible place to live. I don't want to live near ANYWHERE that is so close to the water. One big storm, and Zane's mother is going to lose the house anyway! I'd sell to the developer and move somewhere far, far inland. I used to think that the Florida Keys were the worst place to live, but looking at New York City, I'm amazed that there hasn't been a lot more storm devastation there! 

Untraceable and Running Past Dark

de León, Aya. Untraceable
October 10, 2023 by Candlewick Press
ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

In this prequel to Undercover Latina, we meet Amani, who lives with her mother, who is a doctor, and her father who is a research scientist who frequently is gone on longer projects. Amani goes to a private school where she often feels belittled by her white classmates, who often give her a hard time because she is full figured, but her mother wants her to have the best education she can get. When a creepy man appears near her house several times in a menacing fashion, Amani reluctantly calls the police. Both she and her mother are wary of the police for several good reasons, including the fact that the mother believes the stalker might be a former boyfriend who is in law enforcement. When their house is set on fire, Amani's mother pulls her from school and they go to a different part of town to stay with Niema, a family friend who was her Harambee class teacher. Niema helps Amani get settled at Roosevelt High School (going by the name Imani), which is a culture shock for her. For the first time, she is with people who share her ethnic background but have a different socioeconomic one. Her curves get a different type of unwanted attention, this time from boys, who make rude and unwelcome comments. She does meet Ella and her brother Dexter, who are very instrumental in getting her to adjust to her new environment, but there are lots of things going on in Amani's life. Her father has gone dark, and her mother reveals some family secrets that tie into the spy organization The Factory from Undercover Latina. Her father has run afoul of a drug cartel, and when there is an incident at a school dance, Amani and her mother find themselves on the run to Cancun. Will they be able to remain safe? And will Amani be recruited to work for The Factory?

Amani is a strong character who occasionally struggles with the sheer number of micro and macroaggressions aimed at facets of her body that she can't change. Her mother has tried to make sure she has coping mechanisms, and is very body positive, but it's hard to keep up the fight when the attacks are so constant. Ella, who shares many of Amani's traits but is also gay, is much more vocal, and she encourages Amani to speak up for herself. It's good to see that Dexter gives Amani appropriate attentions, and there is a sweet romance between the two. 

It took me a while to remember that Amani appears in Undercover Latina as an agent who helps Andréa learn to play cards for a Triángulo tournaments, but it was interesting to see another perspective of how a teen becomes an agent for the spy group. 

While Amani is fifteen, this reads very much like a middle grade book, although it does have enough action and adventure, as well as social commentary, to be enjoyed by older readers as well. Spy stories are always popular with teens and tweens, but many of the older spy books like Carter's Gallagher Girls or Benway's Also Known As, have characters that read mainly as white. It's great to see a wider variety of cultural backgrounds represented in the spy world, and to see timely cultural touchpoints addressed in this genre. 

Nolan, Han. Running Past Dark

September 19, 2023 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Scottie is starting back to high school after truly horrific events; her sister was driving a car with the popular football coach, Jory Wilson, in the passenger seat when she drove straight into a wall, killing them both. There were some odd things about the accident scene, but Scottie is getting the most grief about information she revealed afterwards; her sister Cait had been raped by the coach. Reeling from the deaths, many people in the school have chosen to give Scottie a hard time, including her former friends Amber and Jasper, who got a lot of help from the coach, and Lissa, whose father was the coach's best friend. Even Dr. Mead, the principal, holds Scottie responsible for "drama" going on in school, such as dog poop being put in Scottie's locker. After several humiliating experiences, Scottie finds herself saying that she is going to run an ultramarathon. She even attends the Exercise Physiology class, run by Dr. Senda, and runs a 5K race on the track wearing jeans an old tennis shoes that she wore on hours long walks in the woods all summer. She finishes, but falls near the end and bashes herself up. The other students make fun of her, but Senda admires her tenacity. Her mother, an art professor, is on unpaid leave, and spends most of her time drinking or going out with her boyfriend, Mac, instead of paying attention to Scottie. Scottie has been self-harming, pouring boiling water on her hands and making the blisters worse, and running gives her the same kind of release that causing herself pain does. She buys equipment, commits to running a longer race, and even gets a job at the local running store, working for Senda's son, Ichiro. This also causes some problems, as Amber works at the store, and Coach Wilson's widow shows up there. Scottie does have some support from her friend Nico, a gymnast who suffered an injury in Cait's presence on the very day of her accident. Scottie joins a running group, and continues to put up with problems at school, but things get worse when Mac tells her that he has taken her mother to a drug rehab facility after an accidental alcohol poisoning overdose. Not knowing what to do, and feeling unsafe in her home, Scottie sleeps at the running store. She is found by the owner, Claude, whose son Jacques was devastated by his coach's death. He and his wife take Scottie in, and she is relieved by to have some stability in her life. She is in therapy, which helps a little, and continues to run, which helps a lot. Eventually, she and Nico uncover information about the day of the accident. Was Cait really guilty? The truth is even darker than anyone imagined. 

This Young Adult title includes mentions of suicide, self-harm, and rape, but does not go into details. It is also circumspect in its language and situations. Nolan, whose 1997 Dancing on the Edge and 2011 Pregnant Pause also tackle tough issues, does a fantastic job of scaffolding Scottie's extensive personal and social problems on the horrific situation of her sister, and the unfolding mystery of what really happened. On top of that, this is an ode to the curative powers of running that had a lot in common with The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances by Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal). 

Scottie is an incredibly resilient character who is dealing with more than any teen ever should have to. Her mother is completely devastated by the events, and takes no care of Scottie at all. It was good to see that she at least had Claude and his wife, that she was in therapy with a doctor she liked, and that she had Nico in her corner. 

The mystery was also intriguing, and had a similar feel to the pell-mell investigations in Otis' At the Speed of Lies. I don't want to ruin the twists and turns, but did enjoy that fact that Scottie and her sister were vindicated in the end because the truth was even more devastating that what Scottie thought had happened. 

Running is often used in Young Adult Fiction to showcase how to deal with grief, and this is another great book to add to a list that contains Toor's On the Road to Find Out, Van Draanen's The Running Dream, and Currinder's Running on Empty. The ultra marathon race has only been covered in Carroll's 2013 Ultra, which is one of my favorites.

Lalo Lespérance Never Forgot

Diederich, Phillippe. Lalo Lespérance Never Forgot
September 12, 2023 by Dutton Books for Young Reader
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

It's the beginning of the pandemic, and Lalo's family has worked out a way to deal with the lockdown and the closing of in person school. Lalo and his brother Claudio go to the apartment of their friends Lupe and Vivi so that their grandmother, Alita, can supervise everyone. Claudio attends virtual classes on his phone, Lalo and Vivi share a school issued computer, and Lupe stays in her room, since she doesn't like the bossy attitude of her grandmother. Both families' mothers work in health care, so are tired, worried, and busy. Lalo struggles with memory issues, and while he normally gets accomodations at school, his teachers haven't quite figured out how to help him online. Since he has plenty of time, he has a side project-- he's determined that he will fix Claudio's PlayStation and find a way to attach wires to his head, so that he can record his memories and play them back. His mother even orders a soldering kit for him, but the project doesn't go as planned.  Lalo's mother has Mexican ancestry, and his father was Haitian, and Alita (short for abuelita) often pines for the Mexico of her youth. Claudio disregards the Haitian part of his background for a variety of reasons that are discussed. Vivi, and other children in the neighborhood, are concerned about a van that has been parked outside their apartment building, and figure that the shadowy figure they see there occasionally is someone who steals children. They spend a lot of time spying on him, and try to lure him out by leaving mangos outside his door. Lalo finds a storage space in the building, and when he tries to use an old radio, thinks that it allows him to remember things from his past. His father died when he was small, and he has trouble remembering him; Claudio doesn't want to talk about him. As the lockdown continues, a neighbor becomes ill and is hospitalized, Lalo befriends Lupe and talks to her about the past, and secrets surrounding his father's death become more memorable. When Alita also contracts COVID, Lalo's "bubble" has to come together to support each other, and even the shadowy figure in the van is drawn into the community.

Strengths: Because I had my elderly parents, I didn't really see anyone in person during the early days of the pandemic, so it was very interesting to read about a "bubble" in a Florida apartment building. It made perfect sense for the grandmother to watch her grandkids and Lalo and Claudio; I talked to a LOT of grandparents who were struggling with online learning during this time! The depictions of online schooling, difficulties in getting to stores, the parents working in medical fields, and even neighbors getting sick were all quite good. Lalo's memory issues were a little vague, but we find out why later in the book. Even the children's obsession with the man in the van seemed accurate; when you can't go anywhere or do anything, it's easy to focus on something in your environment that seems off. I don't want to give away the family secret, but it is on trend with sociopolitical commentray. 
Weaknesses: While it made sense for the children to be obsessed with the man in the van, I was a little surprised that Alita didn't just go bang on his door and ask what was up. Maybe the adults knew but just didn't tell the children? Another resident is asked to move his disabled vehicle that he is fixing up, so the landlord clearly is paying attention, adding to my confusion about why this wasn't addressed. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want a neighborhood story set in Florida, like Cartaya's The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora  or pandemic tales like Yang's New From Here or Torres' The Do-Over. 

Gone Wolf, Circle of Shamans, and Mari and the Curse of El Cocodrillo

McBride, Amber. Gone Wolf.
publication October 3, 2023 by Feiwel & Friends
Copy provided by the publisher

Inmate Eleven is a "Blue" who exists in a tiny room with her hybrid wolf/dog Ira in the year 2111. She often works with Dr. Abby, who makes her take the doll test repeatedly, and when she "fails" (picks the Blue doll instead of the white one) is told that she won't be able to leave her cell until she passes. Because of events that occurred long ago, Blues are kept "safe" in small rooms by Clones because they would perish out in the larger world of the Bible Boot. There was a Xeno virus that made people hate and distrust their neighbors, and while there are vaccines, Blues often don't get them. This area of the US is ruled by President Tuba, and when his son, Larkin, comes to talk to Inmate Eleven, she finds out that she is somehow connected to him. She meets Inmate Three (whose secret name is Kin) and Inmate Thirteen, who has no tongue but helps get Inmate Eleven "presentable" to go before Congress with Larkin. Larkin is kind, and suggests that she take a different name. She decides on Imogen, and uses this secretly. Going out in public with Larkin is hard, because Blues and Clones don't converse, and Blues are not even supposed to be heard. When Imogen starts to learn more of the truth about what is going on in the Bible Boot, she tries to escape, but Larkin becomes ill. We then go back to 2020, where we meet the real Imogen and find that this version of the world is likely maladaptive daydreams caused by trauma. Imogen and her mother have moved from Virginia to Charlottesville, NC, where Imogen is in therapy with Dr. Lovingood. The characters from 2111 are reflected in the people in Imogen's life; she had a dog  named Ira, and foster brothers named Kin and Lark. In a narrative interspersed with pages of factual information about Black history, we are able to piece together how Imogen's family trauma during the pandemic has caused her to have this vision of the future. 

Strengths: This was an interesting use of a dystopian setting to try to make sense of Black history and trauma. Imogen's experiences in 2111 mirror some of the experiences of Black Americans through history, from the treatment of enslaved peoples, to lunch counter sit ins, to the "doll test" with its horrifying ramifications. The tie-in with the events during the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted how far Civil Rights have NOT come, made this especially harrowing. The pages of "Bible Boot Learning Flashcards" in 2011 eerily reflect the "Black History for Kids" pages in the modern day. This was a book that has a lot of important information for readers to use for reflection. 
Weaknesses: This had more of a Young Adult feel to it, and may be somewhat confusing to middle grade readers who are used to more straightforward stories. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who are fond of narrators that are unreliable because of past traumas, such as the ones in Haydu's Eventown, Emezi's Pet, or Everett's The Probability of Everything.

Hendrix, Isi. Adia Kelbara and the Circle of Shamans
September 19, 2023 by Balzer + Bray

E ARC provided by Netgalley

Adia (who is orphaned) lives  in the Zarain Empire with her evil aunt and uncle, who have convinced her that she is an ogbanje. She was in ill health when she was young, and some bad things have happened to her family, like a cousin going missing, that her family pins on the fact that she might be possessed by a demon. When it comes time for her practicality (an apprenticeship), she manages to get assigned to one at the Academy of Shamans, where she will work in the kitchens and get away from her provincial village. Sadly, things are not much better at the academy. While she has a supportive mentor in Maka Esiniri, and the former "kitchen runt" Lebechi helps her out, she learns the awful truth that the wealthy students who attend the academy really don't have any shamanic power. Some, like Mallorie, are completely awful to the staff, including Adia. Not only that, but she overhears Alusi (gods) in the school library. They are talking about the fact that the young emperor of Zaria, Darian, has been possessed by the spirit of Olark, an ancient demon. There is a curse in place that makes anyone who is told about Olark not believe that Darian is in danger; Adia believes it only because she has overheard the information. When Malorie gets her kicked out of school, she ends up at the harbor, where she follows one of the Alusi, Gini, to a ferry taking her to Horrorbeyond. Adia makes a pact with her that Adia will get paid if she can save the kingdom from Olark by finding a blood soaked stone that holds his power. The Horrorbeyond is full of spirits that will suck ones energy out, and Adia manages to escape, although when one of the Gold Hats from the Academy, Nami, shows up, he almost succumbs. A fierce warrior girl from the Queendom of Nri, Thyme, saves the two. Thyme has been captive in Horrorbeyond for five hundred years, and Nri has long ago fallen to dust. Thyme had the stone, and with Gini's help the group are able to get past Hidoma, the Headless Girl and back to the academy. Darian is visiting, and Adia has to find out why. Will she be able to save the boy he is possessing, and perhaps uncover the secret behind the injustice of the shamanic academy filled with false shamans?  

Strengths: There is a lot of good world building in this, and it echoes some of the colonialistic treatment of African countries. I found the Drops that the missionaries gave people to render them more peaceful particularly unnerving. The ties with Nigerian folk lore and mentions of ogbanje and Ikenga are interesting, and I definitely need to find a book covering more of this information. Adia's quest starts out a little differently, and she has a different motivation than a lot of fantasy characters. It's not that she is a reluctant chosen one; she just happens to overhear something and investigates it, even though she doesn't believe that she has any powers. She just doesn't have anything to lose. Her relationship with Gini and Thyme is interesting, and even Nami has surprising depth. 
Weaknesses: This is the first book in a trilogy. While I could convince a reluctant reader to get through this 352 page book, it's only the seasoned fantasy readers who are going to want to pick up two more, no matter how good it is. I'd love to see SOME fantasy books that aren't in series. I also wish that Mallorie had been more nuanced. Characters that are just completely evil don't pack the dramatic punch that a character like nami has. They're like the villains in Scooby-Doo; harder to take seriously. 
What I really think: I've read hundreds of fantasy books this year, but buy only a handful because I just don't have the readers for them. I do with this were a stand alone, but will actually purchase this one for readers who liked Dumas' Wildseed Witch and Okogwu's Oneyka and the Academy of the Sun. 

Cuevas, Adrianna. Mari and the Curse of El Cocodrilo
October 3, 2023 by HarperCollins
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Mari loves her extended Cuban family, but they can be embarassing at times, like on New Year's Eve. It's bad enough that her microaggressive nemesis "Mocosa" (snot-nosed) Mykenzye sees her grandparents putting a pig into a hole in the ground to roast and posts a picture of them on Instagram, suggesting they are burying a body. Sometimes the family shifts into "peak Cubanity", like burning effigy dolls to get rid of all of the bad luck of the year. Mari doesn't burn hers, and finds that some strange things start happening to her. It is also tradition in her family to give children a journal when they turn twelve, and Mari has taken hers and written down some information about relatives from the past who were mentioned byt grandparents but NOT talked about. The first of these, Andaluz, was her grandmother's sister who drowned trying to get to the US from Cuba. She appears at school right after both Mari and her best friend Kiesha have odd marks on their arms in the shape of crocodiles. It turns out that Mari's writing can summon family ghosts, which is not great, considering that she has mariachi tryouts coming up and Keisha is involved in some fencing matches. The family ghosts, who also included her grandfather's brother who found against Castro, Pipo, and her grandmother's mother, Fautina. These are all fairly benign spirits, but El Cocodrilo is NOT. He is the one responsible for the mark on Mari's arm, and is angry because he didn't get to feed on the misfortunes put into the effigy, since Mari didn't burn it. Instead, he decides to get his power from Mari's fear and misery. Will Mari be able to come to terms with her heritage and send El Cocodrilo on his way?

Strengths: This was a little different from the standard fantasy novel, and didn't really involve a quest, and didn't slip into an entire fantasy world. Mari has the odd things happen in her world, and has to figure out family history in order to deal with El Cocodrilo. I enjoyed meeting most of the relatives, and thought it was valuable for Mari to learn her family history, even though her grandparents are sad about most of it, which is why it is not discussed much. There's enough grounding in the school and home setting, making it much easier for students who aren't huge fantasy fans to enjoy this. Most middle school students are embarassed by their families in some way, so this will resonate. 

Weaknesses: While I completely understand why there is a good deal of the grandparents' dialogue in Spanish, since the author has a note about the fact that her grandparents spoke to her in Spanish but she spoke to them in English, it still slowed me down when I had to look up sentences to understand what was happening. My students who don't speak Spanish would benefit from translations in footnotes, because they may not go to the trouble of figuring out what the sentences day. Also, the cover is not appealing. 

What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed the inherited family magic of Meriano's A Dash of Trouble or Badua's Freddie and the Family Curse, or who enjoyed this author's The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez. 

MMGM-- Dogtown and Susie King Taylor

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at 

Unleashing Readers

I love it when books surprise me, as it doesn't happen often. The format of Dogtown threw me. The cover, as well as the large print and amount of white space, led me to believe that this would be more along the lines of Selfors' Wedgie and Gizmo. You know, a cute dog story for early elementary school readers. There are definitely cute moments, but there's also a LOT more depth than I was expecting! It's definitely more of a middle grade book, and I'd give it to fourth grade readers and up. With the prevalence of ChatGPT, Metal Head's story will resonate with readers who question what it means to have feelings and emotions. 

Applegate, K.A. and Choldenko, Gennifer. Dogtown
September 19, 2023 by Feiwel & Friends
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Chance is a three legged dog who has the run of the Dogtown Shelter after the Management thinks that he is a lucky charm in her weekly shelter poker game, and tells our story. The Dogtown shelter is unusual because it also has electronic pet dogs. Chance is conflicted about this, since the electronic dogs increase foot traffic and have boosted adoption rates for real dogs as well, and there are great social media opportunities in showing the two types of canines together. Chance feels that his job is to help out all of the dogs, and he is concerned about two in particular. Geraldine is an older Saint Bernard with creaky joints who has been at the shelter for a long time, and Metal Head is a robotic dog who seems to be suffering from the Boo Hoos. This is a phenomenon where dogs tell themselves that their owners will soon come for them. Chance has experience with this; his own backstory is a harrowing one. He had a loving home with Jessie and her mother, Professor Besser, but was left with a dog sitter who allowed him to be in an accident which resulted in the loss of a leg. Instead of caring for the dog, the dog sitter and her boyfriend set him out on his own, claiming that he ran away! Chance has made peace with not being reunited with his family, although he still has their love in the back of his mind. Metal Head, however, is insistent that he escape and get home to his boy. He has a surprising amount of success in Reading Buddies when Mr. Molinari brings in Quentin. Chance tries to get the boy interested in books to no avail (Quentin exhibits qualities that may put him on the autism spectrum), but Metal Head lets him read Green Eggs and Ham over and over. Metal Head seems to be enjoying himself as well, but when the book goes missing, Quentin is so unsettled that he gets suspended from the program. Metal Head makes a deal with Chance; if he comes up with an idea to save Geraldine, who goes onto The List (Dogtown is not a no-kill shelter), Chance and a friendly mouse will help him escape. Geraldine gets adopted at the last minute, and soon the trio are on their way across town to Metal Head's home. When they get there, Chance sees what has happened. Jimmy, Metal Head's boy, is a teenager, and viewed Metal Head as an embarrassing toy, while Metal Head seems to have evolved with real emotions (as well as the ability to speak human AND dog). There's some tossing into trunks, narrow escapes, an overnight in a furniture store, a return to the shelter, and a surprising result. Chance takes the opportunity to go to Jessie and Professor Besser's house. Will he be able to go home again? 

Strengths: I have thought too much about robotic dogs, especially after my dog Sylvie died. Since I had my last cell phone for eight years... well, let's just say that this book had a LOT of topics to think about! The depiction of the shelter, and of what the dogs did in order to get adopted, was realistic and heartbreaking, and I loved that there were tips at the back of the book about helping dogs get adopted! Chance's story is utterly heartbreaking, and while I don't want to spoil anything, the ending is happy! Metal Head's plot arc is absolutely fascinating, and was so suprising! This would actually be a really excellent choice for a lit circle title or class read aloud, especially if used in conjunction with a service learning project. 
Weaknesses: The beginning of the book seemed so completely different from the second half that it confused me just a little. I want to see a finished copy of this to compare, as the format might have been affected by the e book dynamics. 
What I really think: Already have a copy on my list to order, although I won't be able to hand it to one reader who adored dog books, because he's at the high school now. It is DEFINITELY an inferior design to have a heart! 

Buford, Candace and Dunbar, Erica Armstrong.
Susan King Taylor: Nurse, Teacher, and Freedom Fighter.
September 26, 2023 by Aladdin
E ARC provided by Netgalley

Born in 1848, Susan King was fortunate to be able to stay with her grandmother and not on the Grest Farm near Savannah where her mother worked as an enslaved person. Her  grandmother made sure that Susan and her younger brother got an education and were able to read and write, although this was against the law at the time. When the Civil War broke out and came close to the farm, Susan's uncle and aunt decided to flee. The group made their way to find Union troops, and eventually ended up on St. Simons Island where Susan got to work doing laundry, but also teaching. She met Edward Taylor there, and the two eventually married. In 1862, they evacuated the island. Susan continued to work all manner of jobs, and even served as a battlefield nurse. After the war, she lived in Boston, continued to teach, and wrote a memoir of her Civil War experience in 1902. This short memoir is included at the end of Buford and Dunbar's biography, which is told in the first person. 

Strengths: One of my favorite series in fourth grade was the Childhood of Famous Americans books, and the beginning of this was strongly reminscent of those. There's a lot of information about the Civil War that will appeal to readers who are interested in that conflict, and a good account of what it was likfe for Blacks who were working to help the Union side. They were not treated fairly, and this is definitely brought up in very effective ways. The information about what King Taylor did after the war is interesting, and having her memoir at the end of the book will save readers from having to locate it elsewhere. I'm always looking for biographies of interesting people who aren't as well known, and this was a perfect example of the sort of book I am seeking! 
Weaknesses: The biography aligns very closely to the memoir, so I almost wish this had been a completely fictional tale that included more details about life at the time. There's value in having either format, but Buford's Kneel was so good that it would have been interesting to see how she would have written this as fiction. 
What I really think: I'd love to see more biographies like this, and keep hoping for books about Pansy Flemmie Kittrell, the home economist, or Margaret Murray Washington, wife of Booker T. and principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. 

September Reading Statistics

Found it a bit hard to get motivated this month, so slowed down a bit. On the bright side, not as many picture books as last month! 

The Nightmare King

Hermon, Daka. The Nightmare King
September 5, 2023 by Scholastic Press
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In the companion to Hide and Seeker, we meet Shane, who is recuperating from a terrible accident that has left him weakened and scarred. He loves to play basketball, so returning to practice with his best friend, Doc, is a big deal, even if jerky team member Travis gives him a hard time. He's still struggling with his health; he was in a coma for a month. His twin sister Sadie watches him closely, and it's clear that he is struggling with nightmares that plagued him before his accident. In his nightmares, he finds a coin that comes with him into our world, and has a "my precious" feel to it. It tells Shane that he is valuable and treasured, something that he has trouble feeling even though his baker/caterer father and his physical therapist/trainer mother are completely supportive and involved in his life. Shane struggles in class and on the basketball court, frequently zoming out as the nightmare world encroaches on his thoughts. The coin comforts him, but he realizes that it has too much power over him, and he tells himself he should return it. He struggles with mood swings, and frequently blows up at everyone around him. His parents finally decide that he needs to go back for more tests, and he is pressured by Doc and Sadie to tell them what is wrong. When he does, they are fairly helpful in determining what is going on. Two children, Justin and Nia, make the news when they claim to have been sucked into a similar nightmare world, and when Sadie hears an ice cream truck in November, we know that bad things are going to happen. Will the children be able to thwart the Nightmare King, who has been stealing children? Perhaps, but there are other forces of evil in the other dimension who still want to prey on children, so I expect there to be at least one more book in this series!
Strengths: Nightmares are certainly frightening, and Shane's are certainly the creepiest I've read in middle grade horror. This had a bit of a Something Wicked This Way Comes vibe to it, with Shane not feeling valued, but it's done in a more clever way than other books. Bringing Travis into the equation was a brilliant touch. Sadie and Doc are very concerned about Shane's health, and this is on trend with the current thought that you should tell your friends and family when you are not doing well. The characters from the first book are woven in nicely, and there are great scary scenes in the hide and seek world that I don't want to spoil. I'm curious to see what the next book will bring, and how Trista is involved in it. 
Weaknesses: The reasons behind Shane's health problems aren't given right away, and there is a lot of back and forth about his health before the creepy parts of the book start. There's some information that seems repetitive and since this book is 320 pages long, some could have been tightened up. 
What I really think: I do like the combination of basketball and horror, and the cover on this is fantastic. I've long said that the idea of an ice cream truck driving around playing music on a chilly November day is absolutely terrifying! Hand this to readers of the first book or fans of Lindsay Currie, Lorien Lawrence, K.R. Alexander, or Joel Sutherland. 

Hohn, Natalie L. (editor). The Antiracist Kitchen: 21 Stories

September 12, 2023 by Orca Book Publishers 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

I love cookbooks but struggle to review short stories collections, so just want to mention that this is a book of particular interest to Canadian readers. The stories are from a wide variety of cultures, and address a lot of issues of prejudice and racism, which is a great collection right there, but what suprised me was how well done the recipes were. There are even color pictures! Cookbooks from the 1960s that have a lot of anecdotes about the food (think Peg Bracken, Craig Claibourne, or M.F.K. Fisher) are so much fun to read, and this offers a wider variety of cooks and recipes. The authors included do tend to skew towards the Young Adult end of the kid lit spectrum, and many are Canadian, but Ruth Behar and Linda Sue Park are included. 

From the Publisher:

An anthology featuring stories and recipes from racialized authors about food, culture and resistance What if talking about racism was as easy as baking a cake, frying plantains or cooking rice? The Antiracist 21 Stories (and Recipes) is a celebration of food, family, activism and resistance in the face of racism. In this anthology featuring stories and recipes from 21 diverse and award-winning North American children's authors, the authors share the role of food in their lives and how it has helped fight discrimination, reclaim culture and celebrate people with different backgrounds. They bring personal and sometimes difficult experiences growing up as racialized people. Chopped, seared, marinated and stewed, The Antiracist Kitchen highlights the power of sitting down to share a meal and how that simple act can help bring us all together. Featuring recipes and stories from S.K. Ali, Bryan Patrick Avery, Ruth Behar, Marty Chan, Ann Yu-Kyung Choi, Hasani Claxton, Natasha Deen, Reyna Grande, Deidre Havrelock, Jennifer de Leon, Andrea J. Loney, Janice Lynn Mather, Linda Sue Park, Danny Ramadan, Sarah Raughley, Waubgeshig Rice, Rahma Rodaah, Andrea Rogers, Simran Jeet Singh, Ayelet Tsabari and Susan Yoon.