Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina - ADVISABLE

Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina, 236 pages. Candlewick, 2025 $19.

Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (scary imagery, deaths, harpooning) 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

Graciela is a sea spirit, dead for over 100 years, but still young. Her job is making sea glass, her best friend Amina awakens sea ghosts. On shore 12yo Jorge is a blacksmith and an inventor. His family has been cursed for several generations as his ancestor forged an evil thing - a harpoon made to spear sea ghosts and steal their pearly teeth. It caused a calamity and sank the ship of the village's best fishermen. When Jorge discovers the harpoon, he knows he needs to destroy it by any means. 

An exciting fantasy, with scary ghosts as well as kind ones. I loved the story line and the life lessons aren't"in your face". Graciela would appeal to ghost story readers as well as those who love mermaids, AND there's enough fighting and danger and swordplay to keep our adventure readers happy, too. The characters default white 

Lisa Librarian 

When We Ride by Rex Ogle - OPTIONAL

When We Ride by Rex Ogle, 336 pages. NOVEL IN VERSE Norton Young Readers, 2025. $19. 

Language: R ( 71 swears 74 f's); Mature Content: PG13 (implied sex, teen alcohol and drug use); Violence: R (gun violence, fights, physical assault) 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

17yo Benny is a good student, his mother has high expectations for him, he doesn't drink or do drugs, he gets high grades and he has a job washing dishes at a diner. But Benny's best friend Lawson always needs a ride. They've been best friends for 10 years, call each other brother and have each other's backs, but Lawson, is a drug dealer. 

Edge of your seat action that will engage the reader from the very first page. Lawson's choices get him in deeper and deeper trouble, making When We Ride, a novel in verse, a cautionary tale not only about the dangers of using and dealing, but also about what happens to the people on the periphery. Benny is Hispanic, Lawson defaults white. 

Lisa Librarian