Caraval by Stephanie Garber - ESSENTIAL

Garber, Stephanie Caraval, 416 pgs. Flatiron Books, 2017. $18.99. 

Language: PG (1 swear; 0 ‘F’); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13

Caraval is a legendary, once-a-year, invitation only performance where the audience is the show. For years Scarlett has written letters to the mastermind behind the event to try and convince him to extend a much coveted invitation to her and her sister, Donatella. Scarlett and Tella live on a small island under the control of their domineering and abusive father and want to experience a small moment of excitement before Scarlett enters into the marriage her father has arranged and Tella is left to fend for herself. When the Caraval invitation arrives, Scarlett, Tella, and a mysterious sailor set out for the show and a chance to win the prize of one wish. Everyone knows that Caraval is a game and nothing that happens there is real. It’s all just a performance. However, when Tella is kidnapped at the beginning and it becomes clear that Scarlett and her sister are the focus of that year’s spectacle, it becomes frighteningly evident that the dangers are genuine and Scarlett could lose her sister forever.

In a sea of books belonging to the genre of fantasy, this book stands out as well written and original. The characters are fully developed, although they do come across as older than their proclaimed teenage years at times. The plot focuses on the darker aspects of the human psyche and delves into family loyalty and love in a way that is more realistic than most books for young adults. The world of Caraval that the author creates is vibrant, clever, and multilayered inviting multiple reads to fully discover all that that world includes. The ending makes a sequel seem likely, but the book could easily stand alone.

MS, HS—ESSENTIAL AEB

The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield - ESSENTIAL

Hadfield, Chris The Darkest Dark illustrated by The Fan Brothers, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016. $17.99 PICTURE BOOK Content: G

Chris loves everything about space. He pretends to be a brave astronaut as he dreams of exploring the universe. There’s only one problem—when night arrives, Chris is no longer so brave because he is afraid of the dark. However, when he watches the moon landing on T.V. he begins to see space as a big beautiful place full of wonder and not so scary after all.

This is a wonderfully illustrated book written by real life astronaut Chris Hadfield about his experience as a child being afraid of the dark. This book is fantastic for young readers struggling with their own fears, who have an interest in space exploration, or both. The story is inspirational as it encourages children to look past their fears and embrace the excitement of what is possible for them to achieve.

EL (K-3)—ESSENTIAL AEB

Blue Penguin by Petr Horacek - ESSENTIAL

Horacek, Petr Blue Penguin, Candlewick, 2016. $15.99 PICTURE BOOK Content: G

One day near the South Pole a blue penguin was born. He felt like a penguin, but all the other penguins told him he was different and not like them. The blue penguin tried to do all the things penguins do like jumping and diving, but could not do them well. Left behind by the other penguins, the blue penguin begins to sing in his loneliness and soon finds that while unlike other penguins, he has something beautiful to offer.

This beautifully illustrated book speaks to the differences we find among each other and what it means to accept those differences. Just because sometimes there are those who may appear to not fit in, everyone has their unique self that is worthwhile. This book teaches a valuable lesson that young readers will understand while they also enjoy the quirky story of a singing blue penguin.   

EL (K-3)—ESSENTIAL AEB

Crystal Storm by Morgan Rhodes - ESSENTIAL

Rhodes, Morgan  Crystal Storm (Falling Kingdoms, #5), 379 pgs.  Razorbill, 2016 (Penguin).  $18.99  Content: Language: PG-13 (39 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG-13.  

Amara has killed her whole family and currently reigns over all of Kraeisha.  Amara has married the wicked King Gaius so she can also reign over all of Mytica.  Unlikely alliances are formed between Princess Cleo and Prince Mangus as well as Jonas as they all try to save Mytica from the larger threat of Amara.  Together they work to find the kindreds so they can gain magical power and help to gain control.  Prince Mangus’s sister, Lucia, tries to right her past wrongs and one of Amara’s dead family members makes a comeback.  All of the rulers are brought together and have to put aside their pasts so they can save the land they have all given up so much for.  

This is a cliffhanger!  I love this series and how well the world is crafted.  I love the characters and their history with each other and this novel takes an interesting turn by having them work together.  At this point it’s impossible to read the books out of order or the reader would be completely lost, but it’s worth reading the whole series.  The violence can be disturbing as Amara is a ruthless killer involving torture, alluding to being skinned alive and being buried alive.  

MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.

Billions of Bricks by Kurt Cyrus - OPTIONAL

Cyrus, Kurt  Billions of Bricks  PICTURE BOOK Henry, Holt and Company, 2016.  $17.99  Content: G.  

This book shows all the different ways that bricks can be used: buildings, streets and walls.  It has a catchy rhyming rhythm throughout and refers to the large number of bricks that it takes to build things.  

On the front cover it claims to be a counting book, but it’s not your typical counting book with a few references to numbers.  The illustrations are cool with all of the geometrical patterns of the bricks, but the colors are bland in reds and ivory  

EL (K-3) – OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk - ADVISABLE

Wolk, Lauren  Wolf Hollow, 291 pgs.  Dutton Children’s Books, 2016 (Penguin Random House).  $16.99  Content: Language: G; Violence: PG-13; Mature Content: PG.  

Annabelle is an eleven year old girl from a farming family in the 1940's.  She is surrounded by good family and is friends with the town recluse Toby.  One day a new girl, Betty, shows up at school and starts to bully and threaten Annabelle.  When Annabelle won’t cow to Betty, Betty starts to get violent and manipulates those around her to pass the blame to Toby.  As events come to a head, Annabelle has to decide how to help herself and Toby.  

This book is very well written with great character development and a good coming of age story.  Betty is a malicious bully, casting an intense and unsettling feel throughout the book.  The violence includes a girl losing her eye, an impaling and Toby is a World War I vet and shares some descriptive deaths from war time.  The cover is beautiful and the story is well done.  

MS – ADVISABLE.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.

What This Story Needs is a Bang and a Clang by Emma J. Virjan - OPTIONAL

Virjan, Emma J. What This Story Needs is A Bang and a Clang  EARLY READER Harper, 2017.  $9.99  Content: G.  

Pig in a Wig builds a stage and starts up the Pig in a Wig Band.  Many animals come with their different instruments and start to make their different sounds.  When a mouse shows up he scares the elephant and the whole band falls down with a crash, but they quickly regroup and have a concert.  

The illustrations are bright and interesting.  The story has a lot of sound effect words and my beginning reader struggled with them, especially the nonsense type words.  It was also unclear to my child why the band falls off the stage because of the mouse (since all the band members are animals) until we used the pictures to figure it out.  

EL (K-3) – OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.

Avalanche by Melinda Braun - OPTIONAL

Braun, Melinda Avalanche, 260 pages.  Simon, 2016.  $19.  Language: R (60 swears, 3 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13 (teen drinking); Violence: PG (mountain lion attack).

After his spring break plans with his absentee father fall through, Matt is looking forward to some time in Denver with his best friend Tony and Tony’s older brother Sid.  Sid and his friends are older and they take the boys away for a day and a night of cross-country skiing in Denver’s beautiful back country.  Right at the end of their day, an avalanche sweeps through and wreaks havoc on everyone’s lives.  Not everyone will survive to reach safety.  The group is pitted against the elements, nature, and sometimes themselves.

For high school students who still love books like Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, this is a perfect fit. 

HS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Kelly - ADVISABLE

Kelly, Erin Entrada The Land of Forgotten Girls 299 pgs. Greenwillow Books, 2016.

Language: G (0 swears) Mature Content: PG (domestic abuse) Violence: PG 

After Sol's mom dies, she moves from the Philippines to the United States with her sister, Ming, her dad and new stepmom, Vea.  Not long after they move, her father goes back for a funeral and doesn't return.  Sol and Ming are stuck with Vea who is mean and can’t find steady work so Sol and Ming usually get the brunt of her anger.  Sol spends her time making up stories to comfort her sister who is shy and withdrawn or spending time with her friend, Manny, away from the apartment.  It seems there’s always something to do whether it’s eating popsicles to cool off, exploring the junkyard or making fun of the kids that are still in school.  

This was a really nice story about sisters, taking care of each other and finding friends and allies in unexpected places.  It was well written and engaging.  There are incidents of abuse which may be disturbing to some readers but I appreciate that Sol finds a voice when situations are sometimes out of her control.  

EL - OPTIONAL , MS - ADVISABLE Reviewer: RB

Tek: The Modern Cave Boy by Patrick McDonnell - ESSENTIAL

McDonnell, Patrick  Tek: The Modern Cave Boy  PICTURE BOOK Little, Brown and Company, 2016.  $15.99  Content: G.  

Tek is a cave boy who never wants to leave his cave.  He stays in there all day glued to his electronic devices and his friends and parents can’t convince him to come out.  Eventually a large volcano explodes and forces Tek out of his cave and he starts to appreciate the world around him. 

This book is adorable.  The book is shaped like an iPad and the illustrations are hilarious.  I love the message of disconnecting and enjoying the people and places around us.  Fantastic book for kids (and adults) today.  

EL (K-3) – ESSENTIAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.

The Row by J.R. Johansson - OPTIONAL

Johansson, J.R. The Row, 343 pgs.  Farrar Straus Giroux, 2016.  $17.99 

Content: Language: PG-13 (18 swears); Violence: PG-13; Mature Content: PG-13.  

Riley has grown up with her dad on death row.  She has stayed loyal to him and visits him every week.  When he loses his last appeal and his death date is in four weeks, Riley has a hard time accepting that her father will die for crimes she doesn’t think he has committed.  Teaming up with her new friend, Jordan, they investigate a new lead and happen upon the truth that has been hiding Riley’s whole life.  

This book gave me empathy for prisoner’s families and the negative attention they attract.  At times the story seemed slow and repetitive and the friendship with Jordan seemed too staged.  I enjoyed the last half of the book better than the first half, but that doesn’t make it easy to recommend.  The mature content is underage drinking.  The violence is references to the beating, strangling and murdering of the three victims Riley’s dad is on trial for.   

MS, HS – OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.

The Book of Beasts (Hollow Earth #3) by John Barrowman and Carole E Barrowman -OPTIONAL

Barrowman, John and Barrowman, Carole E The Book of Beasts (Hollow Earth #3) 322 pgs. Aladdin, 2014. $18.99 Content: Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G Violence: G

Emily and Matt are twins and both powerful Animare, giving them power to draw things that become real and even travel through art. Matt is stuck in the past, facing a powerful threat, the children’s own father, who is a force for evil with terrible plans. Emily is trying to help her brother and faces her own threat, from the children’s own grandmother. They have lots of allies but the dark beasts of the hollow earth are the stuff of nightmares.

This is the third book in the series and each one I have enjoyed less and less. This one is just complicated and incredibly dark (so was the last book of Harry Potter) but I found that I wasn’t invested in the characters or the outcome. The children never have any joy in their abilities, it always danger and rules and dark stormy weather.

Because the magical abilities of the characters seemed to have no boundaries it felt like the adventures had little consequences, after all they could always drum up something new and strange to get them out of a jam. Students who read the first two may want to read this conclusion.

MS – OPTIONAL Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.

Dragons vs. Drones by Wesley King - ESSENTIAL

King, Wesley, Dragons vs. Drones. pgs. 288. Penguin Random House, 2016. $16.99.

Language: G, Mature Content: PG, Violence: PG

8 years earlier, Marcus Brimley's CIA father disappeared under mysterious circumstances and was labeled a traitor. Determined to prove his father's innocence Marcus uses his genius math skills to crack the mystery. He soon becomes obsessed with the specific, unusual weather patterns that were occurring at the time of his father's disappearance. When Marcus goes into what he thinks is an identical storm to the one 8 years earlier, Marcus rides into the storm. He ends up in a parallel universe inhabited by dragons. Unfortunately, the CIA's drones follow him in. To save the dragons of Dracone, he'll have to enlist the help of Dree, a girl with unusual gifts, and dragons to fight the drones. Will he find out what happened to his father? Will he stop the CIA from destroying the dragons?

The plot is complex with lots of twists and turns. The main characters are well developed and engaging. The author does a great job of pulling the reader into Marcus' world. This fun, action-packed fantasy adventure is perfect for reluctant readers and/or dragon fans.

EL - ESSENTIAL. Reviewer: Kira M, Youth Services Librarian, WHI Public Library.