Saturday, July 5, 2025
Beth is Dead by Katie Bernet - MANY
Friday, July 4, 2025
When Sally O'Malley Discovered the Sea by Karen Cushman - ADVISABLE
Survive This Safari by Natalie D. Richards - ESSENTIAL
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Penny Draws a Team Sport by Sara Shepard - ADVISABLE
Murder Between Friends by Liz Lawson - SEVERAL
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
The House Next Door by Ellen Oh - ADVISABLE
Spirit Service by Sarena and Sasha Nanua - OPTIONAL
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Speak Up, Santiago by Julio Ata, illustrated by Gabi Mendez - ESSENTIAL
Meet Me at Sunset by Lee Heart - ADVISABLE
Monday, June 30, 2025
The Unlikely Heroes Club by Kate Foster - ADVISABLE
Dating and Dragons by Kristy Boyce - ADVISABLE
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Eyes on the Sky by J. Kasper Kramer - OPTIONAL
Framed! Crime Fighting Collection (#1-3) by James Ponti - ADVISABLE
Framed! Crime Fighting Collection (#1-3) by James Ponti. Aladdin (Simon). $30
Content: G
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: MANY
Ponti’s original mystery series has been reprinted in paperback with great new covers which help them pair better side by side with the Sherlock Society set. I like all of Ponti’s books - perfect for middle grade readers.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
Saturday, June 28, 2025
A Study in Secrets (Last Chance Academy #1)by Debbi Michiko Florence - OPTIONAL
A Study in Secrets (Last Chance Academy #1)by Debbi Michiko Florence, 304 pages. Aladdin (Simon), 2025. $18
Content: G
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
Since her mom died, 12yo Meg tried to get her father’s attention by doing worse and worse in school, but this has only landed her in a boarding school that the kids call Last Chance Academy, for troubled but wealthy and smart students. Meg’s not really interested in making friends, but there are only 3 other kids in her age group. When a mysterious invitation for a treasure hunt arrives, with a prize that Meg really wants, she is determined to be the first to the prize.
I was expecting more intrigue and excitement - the blurb compares it to Only Murders in the Building. Instead it is a puzzle-solving book, no blood or death involved. Fans of The Westing Game or Gollywhopper Games could enjoy this.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
This Could Be Forever by Ebony LaDelle - OPTIONAL
Language: R (129 swears, 7 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: G
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Needing to see her future college campus before she can accept, Deja (17yo) goes to the University of Maryland over spring break. After she falls in love with the city and the campus, she celebrates her college decision with a tattoo—and feels the first sparks of love with her tattoo artist, Raja (18yo). They come from wildly different family cultures and expectations, but, if their love could be forever, then it’s worth every battle.
LaDelle’s characters are not only dealing with the pressures of staying home versus moving out and decisions about college majors that will impact their future dream careers, they also have to choose whether their relationship is worth clashing with their loved ones over traditions and biases. As readers watch these characters navigate all these difficult decisions, they will see examples of self care and reprioritizing activities, including letting some go until a later time, and the importance of support systems and honesty. Maybe the decisions readers are facing aren’t exactly the same, but we have all felt the chaos of having to make difficult choices now all at once, and Deja’s and Raja’s stories illustrate hope for a happy ending for each of us.
Deja and her family are Black, Raja and his family are Nepali, and there are characters whose families are from Sri Lanka and the Dominican Republic. A couple side characters are mentioned as being part of the LGBT community. The mature content rating is for alcohol use (including underage drinking), kissing, mild innuendo, and mentions of drugs, menstruation, and sex.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
Friday, June 27, 2025
The House No One Sees by Adina King - OPTIONAL
The House No One Sees by Adina King, 295 pages. Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan), 2025. $20
Language: R (24 swears, 21 ‘f'); Mature Content: R (mentions of sex for drugs, mention of rape, attempted rape, grooming, drug use); Violence: R (animal killing, abuse, neglect, bullying, death by overdose)
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
A trauma narrative in verse and prose. Penny is celebrating her 16th birthday at the carnival with friends. When she gets a desperate text from her estranged mother, it pulls her into the difficult memories of her past. Penny grew up with an opioid addicted mother who could be kind and sweet, emotionally abusive, and neglectful, depending on her state of mind. She often had men of questionable character staying at the house. The story is interwoven with a fairy tale theme as Penny tries to make sense of her past to move forward with her future.
Beautifully written, but it was hard to read about the difficulties Penny had as a result of her mother's addiction. Luckily, at some point, she was sent to live with her grandparents, who loved and cared for her. I liked the continued theme of fairy tales throughout the narrative. There was also a somewhat creepy metaphor of the house throughout. Some readers will relate to Penny's experiences. Penny is assumed to be white.
Reviewer: A. Snow, Librarian
A Home For Unusual Monsters by Shaun David Hutchinson - ADVISABLE
A Home For Unusual Monsters (Kairos Files #2) by Shaun David Hutchinson, 288 pages. Random House, 2025. $18
Content: G (mild danger)
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SOME
With her ability to make others see her as she wants them too, Sam could be an excellent agent for Kairos - a secret agency that investigates mysterious happenings. Sam has been sent to the Griffin family, where the grandfather, Archie, a former Kairos agent, has recently passed away. Archie supposedly kept of monsters hidden all over the world and Kairos wants that list before someone else finds it. But as Sam looks for the list, she also learns what being part of a family could be, and she wants to investigate the strange family next door, even though she;’s been told not to.
You don’t need to read the first book in the series to follow number two - I had no idea there was a book #1. The cover is more appealing to upper elementary than true middle school readers, but the action will be satisfying for those that pick it up. I never caught a definitive age for Sam, but this being middle grade, she’s probably 12.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Give Me Something Good to Eat by D. W. Gillespie - ADVISABLE
Give Me Something Good to Eat by D. W. Gillespie, 259 pages. Delacorte (Random House), 2024. $18
Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (kidnappings) ; Violence: PG (many dastardly creatures and some fighting)
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Mason knows there is something wrong with his town, Pearl - ever since his best friend, Marco, went missing on Halloween. Mason remembers Marco, but no one else, not even Marco’s parents does. This Halloween Mason is determined to figure out what is going on, but his parents have saddled him with taking his younger sister Meg out with him. Mason is mad that Meg is cramping his style until the moment he realizes that Meg is this year’s victim - how could he be so careless! Mason is determined to rescue Meg and find out the truth about the yearly Halloween-related disappearances, even if he has to find his way into the flip side of Pearl - an underworld ruled by an evil witch who uses the disappeared in a dastardly scheme.
Gillespie’s story is the right amount of dark and disturbing, with hope and sibling determination combined. What the witch does with the souls of the disappeared is downright creepy, but is nicely set off with Mason and his friends' heroics. I prefer my horror with a positive ending.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
The Incorruptibles by Lauren Magaziner - OPTIONAL
Language: G (4 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: G (some fighting)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
After fighting against the children of the local evil sorcerers who rule their lives in Fiora’s small village, and then tangling with even more powerful sorcerers known as the Radiance, fiora and her uncle are running for their lives with the aid of a group of Incorruptibles - a technology-focused group whose goal is force the sorcerers from power. Fiora is given a chance to become an Incorruptible, or Inc, but because she started late, even her own squad are slow to welcome her. Then it seems that someone is feeding information to the Radiance - and Firoa will go to great lengths to prove her own innocence and catch the culprit.
I only rated Magaziner’s book as OPTIONAL, because it is awfully long, especially as it reads more for upper elementary, rather than middle school. Your voracious fantasy will love it.
The characters cue white. A trans character mentioned.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
The Lost Queen by Aimee Phan - ADVISABLE
The Lost Queen by Aimee Phan, 356 pages. Putnam (Penguin), 2025. $20
Language: R (10 swears, 1 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (some fighting)
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Jolie has always known that her grandfather was special among the Vietnamese seers in her close knit community. Ever since the bizarre incident at a swim meet a year ago, however, Jolie has been ostracized by her best friends and the larger school community. When she saves the life of Huong, the school It girl, however, things start to look up. Huong reveals to Jolie that her grandfather’s powers are directly related to Jolie’s incident - that the two girls are actually reincarnated Vietnamese dragon goddesses and that this is their chance to reclaim their powers and save the world from their scheming brothers, who have continued to kill them through the ages.
Bear with me - I know the summary sounds a bit bizarre, but Phan has done a terrific job of unfolding the story bit by bit and never letting us know more than Jolie does. Phan weaves the story in a way that keeps you reading - especially as deeper forces are at play in several different ways. It is refreshing to have a book about a cultural history and mythology that doesn’t rely on love triangles to further the story. I found this article that shows the history of the sisters.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS