Hattie Mae Begins Again by Sharon G. Flake - ADVISABLE

Hattie Mae Begins Again (Companion to Once in a Blue Moon) by Sharon G. Flake, 368 pages. NOVEL IN VERSE Knopf (Random House), 2026. $18. 

 Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (bullying) 

 BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

 APPEALS TO: SOME 

11yo Hattie Mae is allowed to attend Miss Abigail's School for Exceptional Young Ladies in Philadelphia. But in 1938, there are rich black families and poor black families, and Hattie Mae, being from North Carolina, just doesn't fit in with the other girls. And they let her know it. She makes a friend, but Lisa, probably the wealthiest of the girls, is cruel. Hattie wants to be a lawyer someday, or maybe a doctor. 

This is unfair, but Hattie Mae is strong and resilient and won't let mean girls keep her down. I didn't mind that it was a novel in verse - sometimes the poetry breaks up the story because the chapters are so short, but this wasn't the case. I enjoyed the historical look at depression era Philadelphia. I enjoyed Sharon Flake's poetry; I felt the story was gripping without it being just about Hattie Mae dealing with a mean girl. There was a lot more - being courageous, learning to fit in without losing yourself, recognizing change and adapting to it. It's historical fiction, so I'm going to have to hand-sell it, but I think I can easily find some readers in my library. The characters are black. 

 Lisa Librarian 

The Road From Nowhere by Avi - OPTIONAL

The Road From Nowhere by Avi, 288 pages. Scholastic, 2026. $20

Language: G (0 swears, 0  ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: G (threats)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

14yo Ollie lives with his mother in a tiny (population 45) silver mining town in COlorado. Since his father died because of the mine, Ollie has been trying to help his mother as best he can.  But the town is owned and controlled by a ruthless man and his minions, who are ready to destroy anyone who even thinks to escape his control. WHen a state geologist comes to town, Ollie starts to learn about his rights to his own claim.  Maybe with his friend Alys he can find a way and the money for both of their families to escape.

Avi dives back into history, showing us a time period of evil men who would stop at nothing to get their way. My only worry is that historical fiction is a hard sell. The action and danger is not exciting enough to sell the book on its own. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Magnitude by Jennifer A. Nielsen - ESSENTIAL

Magnitude by Jennifer A. Nielsen, 304 pages. Scholastic, MARCH 2026. $19

Content: PG (deaths, dead bodies mentioned)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

Oliver and Cora’s families had been friends for years, but a serious argument between the fathers ended that for good. On the morning of April 18, 1906, Cora is on her way to the docks again, hoping that today her father will return and save their family from destitution. When an earthquake hits, Cora and a Chinese girl are swallowed by the earth - and are rescued by Oliver. Now all three are trying to stay safe and search for their families, desperately hoping they are safe. Plus Cora has to stay off the radar of some local thugs who are trying to extort money from her.

Nielsen’s latest story is less about the earthquake and more about the girls trying to survive in circumstances that are aggravated by the quake. I liked that I learned things about the earthquake that I hadn’t read in other novels. Nielsen includes plenty of action and danger. Students who have read Nielsen’s other historical fiction won’t be disappointed.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Scattergood by H M Bouwman - ADVISABLE

Scattergood by H M Bouwman,  320 pages. Candlewick, 2025. $19. 

Language: G (4 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG (kissing); Violence: PG (farming accident) 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

Nearly 13yo Peggy is about to start high school in 1941, but is younger than the other 9th graders. Her friend Joe is a Quaker and volunteers working at a Quaker managed home for European refugees. Peggy may have her 1st crush, an older boy - a jewish refugee named Gunther, who doesn't see Peggy that way at all. Peggy's cousin Delia is very sick. Peggy is certain that the country doctors just don't know enough about Leukemia to treat Delia properly. 

There is a lot going on in this novel. Grief, family problems, religious differences, Jewish survivors, loss, and coming of age. The action and emotions really ramp up in the last several chapters, and I found I couldn't put it down. A tightly woven plot where every last thing connects for a very satisfying ending. Peggy is white 

Lisa Librarian 

When Sally O'Malley Discovered the Sea by Karen Cushman - ADVISABLE

When Sally O'Malley Discovered the Sea by Karen Cushman, 230 pages. Knopf (Random House), 2025 $18. 

Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (peril, attempted hold-up) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

13yo Sally was raised in an orphanage in the late 1800s, and things have never worked out for her. So, when she loses her latest job at a hotel in Oregon, she decides to leave on her own and head west. She's heard the sea is something to see. She has some tips from her job at the hotel, and buys a pair a dungarees so she can rip off the torn hem of her dress. When a delivery wagon comes by, and a woman named Major offers Sally a ride, she takes it, despite her promise to herself to trust nobody. But when Major gets an unusual shipment - a spoiled 7yo boy named Lafayette, Sally wonders if walking would have been a better plan. 

I was so excited to see another book by Karen Cushman! Sally is funny and smart and independent. Lafayette was perfectly irritating, and Major the kindest. Cushman's character development was spot on. Because they are traveling, there are a lot of side characters, but even they are fleshed out a bit - the Saloon girl who brings Sally and Lafayette sandwiches to the drunk robber on the road - tiny pieces of the stock characters of the west. Marvelous. It was hard to pinpoint the time period - Sally mentions once having to wait for something until 1899, so we know it takes place before then. I adored When Sally O'Malley Discovered the Sea and am so happy to add it to my Karen Cushman collection. Sally and her companions are white. 

Lisa Librarian 

Where Only Storms Grow by Alyssa Coleman - ADVISABLE

Where Only Storms Grow by Alyssa Coleman, 256 pages. Farrar, Straus, Giroux (Macmillan), AUGUST 2025. $18

Content: G (some deaths from the dust, one accident)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SOME

12yo Joanna has dealt with her scoliosis all her life - a life already made difficult by the degrading conditions on her family farm and Oklahoma in general, as the land around them seems to dry right up.  Her father has headed off to California, hoping to find work to send money back; and when her older brother breaks his leg in an accident, JOanna’s twin, Howe, has to leave school, which he loves, to help his mother keep the farm going. Joana finds purpose in helping the Red Cross nurses who have come to tend the victims of the dust, while Howe struggles to find his own way to happiness, but no one seems to be listening to him.

I love learning about history through novels - I don’t think our students are as eager for historical fiction as I am - especially when it is not war related. I would suggest you show this to a classroom teacher, especially in elementary, as it covers a wide variety of issues of the time, not just the Dust Bowl. I think it would be a great classroom read.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Rewind by Lisa Graff - OPTIONAL

Rewind by Lisa Graff, 248 pages. Philomel (Penguin), 2023. $18.

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Every June, 12yo McKinley’s hometown celebrates a different year in history - this year it is 1993 - back to when her parents were teens! McKinley even has the perfect 90’s outfit for the fashion show.  When she finds herself back in the real 1993, she is shocked by what she finds - the adults she knows are totally different people than they were as kids. And McKinley has to help someone make a change in order to get back to her own time - but what and who is it supposed to be?

As time travel books go, Graff has kept this one pretty simple - even though McKinley does dive into the mind-stretching part of the concept right at the end. Watching McKinley’s adults as teens is quite funny - especially the adult who wants to lock her in a room for the whole time she is there.  While I enjoyed the trip back, I’d rather have a historical fiction book about the time period, rather than a time travel book dipping into it.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra’s Needle by Dan Gutman - OPTIONAL

The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra’s Needle by Dan Gutman, 181 pages. Holiday House, 2024. $19

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: SOME

The journey of Cleopatra’s Needle from Egypt to Central Park, New York, is a journey of inches, but also of thousands of years and miles. The boy knows his mom wants to tell him the Needle’s history, but until she speaks with the stories of kids he can relate to, the history is just not that interesting. Once he sees how kids’ lives were affected and involved, the history feels more alive and he becomes invested in the story.

In his back story, Gutman reveals that every kid in his story is made up, which didn’t endear the book to me anymore - I was only mildly invested in the reading. Gutman tries really hard to bring this historical story to life. Only a few kids will become personally invested in it. 

Cindy, MS Library Teacher

Lady Flyer by Heather B. Moore - ADVISABLE

Lady Flyer by Heather B. Moore, 416 pages. Shadow Mountain Publishing, 2024. $28.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

Nancy Harkness fell in love with flying at a young age and got her pilot’s license when she was 16 years old. A few years later, she became the 54th woman in the United States of America to have a commercial pilot’s license, and Nancy continued to work hard for a career in aviation. When WWII started, Nancy passionately started lobbying for female pilots to help with flying jobs in America to free up the men to go to war, but opposition arose at every step.

With our modern-day freedoms, it’s easy to forget that we stand upon the shoulders of people like Harkness who fought for equality. It is also fascinating to see how these pilot pieces fit into the history of WWII and shaped our ability to win that war. I never knew that these pieces were part of the puzzle, but Harkness and those who worked with her were key players. The story is bittersweet with all the losses felt even amidst the celebration of the end of the war, and the happy ending comes when we recognize that the reality of women in the workforce today, especially in regard to aviation, owes credit to Harkness’s determination.

Nancy is depicted as white on the cover, and the majority of characters are implied white. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, innuendo, and mentions of sexual harassment. The violence rating is for death and for mentions of war and suicide.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

What Was the Children's Blizzard of 1888? by Steve Korté and Dede Putra - ADVISABLE

What Was the Children's Blizzard of 1888? by Steve Korté, illustrated by Dede Putra, 106 pages CHAPTER BOOK NON-FICTION Penguin Workshop, 2023. $8. 9780593520710  

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

On January 12, 1888, a surprise blizzard hit the Great Plains which lasted several hours. Many people were caught unaware and unprepared. Especially hard hit were the teachers and students stranded in their schools. They had to make the hard decision to wait out the storm in the school without heat or food or to brave the blinding snow and try to make it home. Many children and adults died. But there were also amazing stories of survival and bravery. 

I enjoyed this book. It was well-written and easy to understand, and I learned a lot. The book tells the story of the blizzard and what happened to the people caught in it. It also provides insight, context, and background information about other things happening during this time in history. There are small illustrations throughout the book to add interest. A timeline and bibliography are included at the end of the book. 

A. Snow

Facing the Enemy by Barbara Krasner - ADVISABLE

Facing the Enemy by Barbara Krasner, 335 pages. NOVEL IN VERSE. Calkins Creek (Astra), 2023. $20

Violence: PG (implied that a boy was drowned deliberately)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

In the 1930’s Benjy and Tommy were best friends, until Tommy’s German father insisted that Tommy join the local Nazi New Jersey youth camp and learn how to be a “good” German. Benjy, meanwhile, watches his father befriend the famous boxer Nat Arno, as they and other Jews form the Newark Minutemen to counteract the local Nazi propaganda. 

Spanning 1937 to 1941, on Tommy’s side we see the insidious work of Nazi brainwashing and on Benjy’s side we see countermeasures that were ongoing within the US. While the poetry is not poetic, Krasner has created a good way to for any reader to learn about America’s own Nazi past (any maybe compare it to the present?). The subtitle for the book is “How a Nazi Youth Camp in America Tested a Friendship”.  The main characters are not real people. 

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS

Sixties Girl by Mary Lou Driedger - ADVISABLE

Sixties Girl by Mary Lou Driedger, 188 pages. Wandering Fox, 2023. 9781772034363. $8 (ebook format only), $15 paperback

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

11yo Will was badly bullied by the kids at his old school when they found out his grandmother was a famous picture book artist - the bullying revolving around the plots and titles of her books - so when his new friends at his new school assume his grandparents are dead, he doesn’t try to correct them. Grandma has moved nearby, though, and Will’s parents insist that he spend each Wednesday with her so that he isn’t home alone. At first Will resents this forced close time, but each Grandma has a new, exciting story to tell him about what life was like for her growing up. But what will Will do when his friends discover he has been lying to them all this time?

I enjoyed the peeks back into Grandma’s 1960’s years - her stories are really good. Will’s story is not quite strong enough to hold it all together - but neither part feels right without the other. Will struggle to admit the terrible extent of the bullying to everyone who cares about is wrenching and eye-opening; bullies are very creative and have so much power over everyone around them. 

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS 

A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer - OPTIONAL

A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer, 261 pages. Union Square Kids, 2023. $17

Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG (Throwing of vegetables and kicking and punching of Jews)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

11yo Shoshana and her family moved to North Dakota in 1905 to run away from the persecution happening to Jews in Liubashevka. Shoshana struggles with being different and unique in her Jewish religion. She finds joy in these struggles through music and showing her love to her family. She learns English and new things about the Christian religions that makes her confused.

I really liked the amount of details the book gave even in simple motion and actions along with the big actions. I felt that the book had no forward momentum, however. I felt like even though the story was moving forward it was stuck in place which just made it hard for me to want to read it. I also didn't enjoy how much description of a girl’s menstrual cycle there was. There wasn't anything graphic, but I also think it didn't need as much detail and they added to explain what it is.

Student Reviewer: Sarah T, 9th grade student

Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus - ADVISABLE

Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus, 288 pages.  Margaret Ferguson (Holiday House), 2023. $18

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

12yo Dory lives with her older (17yo) and her younger brother in a small apartment in New York City.  Dory’s mother is dead and her father is away fighting during WWII. The families within their apartment and others extended through the neighborhood are very supportive of the children while their father is away.  However, when a new landlord arrives, the kids are in trouble - if he finds out they are alone, the family will be split up into the foster system. But Dory has an idea. Maybe they can find a way into the abandoned and sealed hotel above their favorite restaurant! 

I love Dory’s spunk and ingenuity.  And I love that the narrator has included some particular asides, breaking the fourth wall with the reader. Good look at life in NYC in the 1940’s and lots of tension and adventure to move the story along. While I would love to rate this ESSENTIAL, I know that historical fiction is not a huge draw usually. Dory and her family are white, and their neighborhood is diverse.

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS

Mexikid: a graphic memoir by Pedro Martin - ESSENTIAL

Mexikid: a graphic memoir by Pedro Martin, 309 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL Dial (Penguin), 2023. $23. 

Language: PG (1 swear 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG (naked doll illustration, pee and diarrhea references); Violence: PG (danger, depictions of fighting)

 BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

It's the 1970's and Pedro and his large family are leaving the strawberry picking fields of Watsonville, CA to drive 2000 miles to Mexico to help their abuelito wrap up his affairs and move back to California with them. Pedro, is not excited, until his father and older siblings tell him stories of Abuelito's exploits during Mexico's wars. Along the way he gives us a ring-side seat into what life was like crossing the border, driving the dangerous roads of Mexico, and coming to get to know yourself better. 

Cindy listened to the book courtesy of libra.fm, so she had no idea it is a graphic memoir. The audiobook is so spectacular, read by a full cast, and would make a fun read aloud in an upper elementary classroom. Hilarious and heartfelt. Lisa read the graphic novel and loved the illustrations - some of the depictions of Pedro's grandfather fighting off several men make him look (understandably) like a super hero. There's a section that takes place in a cemetery which could be troubling for a sensitive child, as well as an event where a deer is hit on the road.  Also, Martin uses a lot of Spanish, some is translated in footnotes. Highly recommended, especially to my Mexican population. Includes an author's note with photos of the family, including Abuelito. Pedro and his family are Mexican. 

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS and Lisa Librarian

Underground Fire by Sally M. Walker - ADVISABLE

Underground Fire: Hope, Sacrifice, and Courage in the Cherry Mine Disaster by Sally M. Walker, 220 pages. Candlewick. 2022. $25. 

Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (Mining injuries, mild descriptions of burned bodies, peril, death). 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

On November 13, 1909, inside the Cherry Mine in Illinois, kerosine lamps dripped on a mine cart full of bales of straw and caught fire. As the ventilation fans circulated air, they also supplied oxygen to the fire. By the time mine supervisors realized it was out of control, evacuating the miners was difficult and over 300 miners were trapped inside the mine. For the next several days, the miners who were safe from the fire were stranded in areas with bad air and little to no light, no food, and almost no hope of rescue. Above ground, the families desperately waited for news of their loved ones, while mine management tried to control the fire and make it safe for rescuers to retrieve the dead and find the living. 

Sally M. Walker (Written in Bone, Blizzard of Glass) is a master storyteller, tying all her well-researched information together into a heart-wrenching narrative non-fiction. I loved all the captioned photographs, the maps of the mine, and the insight into the miners and their families provided by family photos. Especially poignant were the quoted passages from notes written by the miners themselves as they awaited either death or rescue. In addition to the excellent photographs, Walker has included source notes and an index. Underground Fire would be a great addition to your non-fiction section. Most of the miners are immigrants from Europe. 

Lisa Librarian

Yonder By Ali Standish - ESSENTIAL

Yonder by Ali Standish. 368 pages. HarperCollins. 2022. $17. 

Language: G (0 swears 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (physical bullying, descriptions of injuries). 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

12yo Danny Timmons has a hero. An older boy named Jack Bailey. Jack saved twins from drowning during a flood, and he also stepped up and stopped a bully who was hurting Danny. They are friends of a sort, delivering newspapers together in their small Appalacian town, but Jack is a loner - his father is abusive, and when he doesn’t show up for his route one morning, Danny is frantic, certain Jack’s father has done something. 

Danny’s own father is overseas fighting in WWII.  Danny is collecting scrap metal, there are food rations, a draft board, service stars in peoples windows, prejudice against a German widow and a black family.  Although there is a lot going on, Yonder is an honest look at WWII and how it affected the people in the United States.  I was thoroughly engaged right from the start. Ali Standish tells some of the story in flashbacks - which are easily identified as the pages are grayish and the text is italics. I haven’t read many stories about American children during WWII, and I loved Yonder. Includes an authors note on some of the history of WWII that isn’t in the history books like how long our government knew about the extermination camps and our response to German refugees. Danny and Jake and most of the town is white. 

Lisa Librarian

The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson - ADVISABLE

The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson, 273 pages. Holiday House. 2022. $18. 

Content: G. 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

14yo Norvia grew up on Beaver Island hearing the stories of her mother's Ojibwe ancestors. Her Swedish father is often at sea or gambling and eventually, her parents divorce and the family moves to Michigan. With 5 children to support, Norvia's mother struggles, but soon meets Virgil Ward, a wealthy blacksmith with a lovely house and they marry, combining the families. Norvia is warned to keep her heritage a secret. She is thrilled that she will be able to attend high school - in 1914 that wasn't a sure thing for every girl - but soon discovers that being a daughter of a divorcee makes the most popular girls and even some of the boys not interested in being her friend. 

I loved the language and style of the text, authentic to the period. I loved the look at society and traditions at the time, and the struggles of merging two families. Norvia loves to read, and Uncle Virgil was a great resource for all the best books. I hope that someone reading "The Star That Always Stays" might also pick up one of the classics Norvia read, like "Anne of Green Gables" or "The Secret Garden". Based on the life of the author's great-grandmother, I appreciated the photographs at the end and the additional information included in the author's note. Norvia and her family are Swedish, Acadian and Ojibwe. 

Lisa Librarian

Once Upon a Camel by Kathi Appelt - ESSENTIAL

 Once Upon a Camel by Kathi Appelt, 322 pages. Atheneum, 2021. $18

Content: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

While Zada, a very old camel, makes it through a storm to a big mountain lion's cave, she thinks back over her life. She was born in Smyrna, Turkey, well cared for by her keeper, Teodor. While Zada was still young, she was given as a gift, along with all her friends, to the U.S. Army. She was transported in a boat across the Atlantic till they reached Texas. There they met many other camels. They helped the army transporting goods from Texas to California and back. Many years went by and Zada was happy. One day Zada and her best friend were set free. They stayed together and wandered by themselves. What will happen to the two camels? The story goes back and forth between West Texas and Smyrna. I learned a lot from this book. I had no idea that the army actually used camels in Texas. It was called the "Great Camel Experiment." There are still rumors that there are wild camels in Texas. This was a most amazing book. I loved it and I recommend it to everyone I talk to. The book is a great read aloud for a class. There are so many things to talk about and discuss. One of my favorite reads this year.

 Ellen-Anita, LMS 

Pony by R. J. Palacio - ADVISABLE

Pony by R. J. Palacio, 304 pages.  Knopf Books for Young Readers Little, Brown and Company, 2021 $18.

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G. Violence: PG13. (Gun violence, ghosts with death wounds) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

12yo Silas is left alone when his father is taken by armed horsemen in the night. But when the pony they brought for Silas comes back for him, Silas decides that he has to try to rescue his father. Silas can see ghosts - in fact, Mittenwool, who woke him in time to see the riders coming, is a ghost. So when Silas starts off on the Pony, Mittenwool comes along. It's a dangerous undertaking, not one for a 12-year-old on his own, not even one as courageous as Silas. 

Oh, I loved this book so much! A beautiful ghost story, written in 19th century dialogue - like reading Poe or True Grit. It caught me on the very first page and I could hardly put it down. However, I have such a hard time getting my patrons to read historical fiction (1860 Ohio). I hope the ghosts will help me sell it. 

Lisa Librarian