Monsters in the Fog by Ali Bahrampour; illus. by the authorPrimary Abrams 32 pp. g6/22 978-1-4197-5245-2 $18.99e-book ed. 978-1-64700-204-6 $15.54“It’s hard to knit a sweater with your hooves.” The opening line of this animal fable sounds like a piece of gnomic wisdom, but in fact it simply refers to protagonist...
My Own Lightning by Lauren WolkIntermediate, Middle School Dutton 320 pp. g5/22 978-0-525-55559-9 $17.99e-book ed. 978-0-525-55560-5 $10.99This sequel to Newbery Honor Book Wolf Hollow (rev. 7/16) starts with a bang as protagonist Annabelle McBride is hit by lightning during a summer storm. That event leaves her in a state...
Seed by Caryl LewisIntermediate Godwin/Holt 224 pp. g5/22 978-1-250-83202-3 $16.99e-book ed. 978-1-250-83201-6 $9.99At school Marty keeps a low profile to conceal the difficulties of his home life: a single mother who hoards and who lives with agoraphobia. Gracie comes from the prosperous side of the tracks but has challenges...
Brand New Boy by David Almond; illus. by Marta AltésIntermediate Candlewick 320 pp. g5/22 978-1-5362-2270-8 $18.99e-book ed. 978-1-5362-2694-2 $18.99George, the new kid in Daniel’s class, is “weird.” Lacking in affect, stiff, and overly literal, he arrives with an aide who takes notes on his every action. When George’s ear falls...
Those Kids from Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada KellyMiddle School Greenwillow 336 pp. g3/22 978-0-06-297035-0 $17.99e-book ed. 978-0-06-297037-4 $10.99Fawn Creek, Louisiana, is such a small town that there are only twelve students in seventh grade. Even with such a limited pool, however, the kids manage to create discrete cohorts. The...
The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly BarnhillIntermediate, Middle School Algonquin 400 pp. g3/22 978-1-64375-074-3 $19.95e-book ed. 978-1-64375-287-7 $15.95Stone-in-the-Glen used to be a joyful, cooperative place, but a disastrous library fire ushers in an era of divisiveness and suspicion. In parallel story lines, we learn about the dire situation of...
Boris the Cat: The Little Cat with Big Ideas by Erwin Moser; illus. by the author; trans. from German by Alistair Beaton Primary, Intermediate NorthSouth 136 pp. g 11/21 978-0-7358-4454-4 $26.00 Over the course of the seasons, in more than sixty mini-narratives each consisting of six tidy panels, we hang...
Sato the Rabbit: The Moon by Yuki Ainoya; illus. by the author; trans. from Japanese by Michael Blaskowsky Preschool, Primary Enchanted Lion 72 pp. g 11/21 978-1-59270-306-7 $17.95 Sato, the boy in the rabbit costume from Sato the Rabbit (rev. 1/21), returns for seven cozy, dreamy, nature-based adventures. In “The...
Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest by Phoebe Wahl; illus. by the author Primary Tundra 96 pp. g 9/21 978-0-7352-6489-2 $19.99 e-book ed. 978-0-7352-6490-8 $10.99 In four stories, one for each season, we follow the adventures of Little Witch Hazel, a sturdy, rosy-cheeked forest dweller with a bevy...