These four entertaining, summertime-set novels (including one graphic novel) will have readers channeling their inner sleuths to find buried treasure, getting an insider’s look at an (un)orthodox summer camp, revisiting a beloved family one last time, and gaining a deeper appreciation for the little things that can make a family trip so memorable. Author Jeanne […]
Review of Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots
June 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots by Margarita Engle; illus. by Rudy Gutierrez Middle School, High School Atheneum 179 pp. g 5/18 978-1-5344-0943-9 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5344-0945-3 $10.99 In 1942 Los Angeles, after working all day at the canneries, teen sisters Lorena and Marisela can’t wait to put on their sharpest swing […]
Review of Champion: The Comeback of the American Chestnut Tree
May 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Champion: The Comeback of the American Chestnut Tree by Sally M. Walker Intermediate, Middle School Holt 136 pp. 3/18 978-1-250-12523-1 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-250-12524-8 $9.99 The American chestnut tree once dotted the landscape in the eastern United States, but a mysterious blight began to wipe the trees out in the early twentieth century due to […]
Review of The Belles
May 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton Middle School, High School Freeform/Disney 440 pp. 2/18 978-1-4847-2849-9 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-4847-3249-6 $10.99 In the fantastical courtly society of Orléans, everyone is born ugly — “skin pallid, gray, and shriveled, eyes cherry red, hair like straw — as if all the color was leeched out of them.” Everyone, that […]
Review of March Forward, Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine
May 16, 2018 by Leave a Comment
March Forward, Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine by Melba Pattillo Beals; illus. by Frank Morrison Intermediate, Middle School Houghton 214 pp. 1/18 978-1-328-88212-7 $16.99 Beals, author of the adult memoir Warriors Don’t Cry, received the Congressional Gold Medal for her bravery in helping to integrate Central High School in 1957 as one […]
2018 Summer Reading from The Horn Book: Middle School
May 15, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Need suggestions for beach reading or books to bring to summer camp? Here are our top ten books for different age ranges — including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry — all published 2017–2018 and ideal for the season. Grade levels are only suggestions; the individual child is the real criterion. For a handy take-along list of […]
Review of Jabberwalking
May 10, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Jabberwalking by Juan Felipe Herrera Middle School, High School Candlewick 138 pp. 3/18 978-1-5362-0140-6 $22.99 Paper ed. 978-0-7636-9264-3 $14.99 In a loose and jazzy style (and with a nod to Lewis Carroll), the former U.S. Poet Laureate offers instructions for “Jabberwalking,” or writing poetry while in motion: “You have to move fast! / Move, move, […]
Review of Hurricane Child
May 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender Middle School Scholastic 213 pp. g 3/18 978-1-338-12930-4 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-338-12932-8 $10.99 Twelve-year-old Caroline Murphy, who lives on tiny Water Island near St. Thomas, is certain that she is cursed, and she may be right. Born inauspiciously during a hurricane — a portent of bad luck — Caroline was […]
Review of This Is Our Constitution: Discover America with a Gold Star Father
April 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This Is Our Constitution: Discover America with a Gold Star Father by Khizr Khan with Anne Quirk Intermediate, Middle School Knopf 216 pp. 10/17 978-1-5247-7091-4 $16.99 Library ed. 978-1-5247-7092-1 $19.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5247-7093-8 $10.99 This clearly written, straightforward study of the U.S. Constitution, written by Pakistan-born Khan (who spoke passionately at the 2016 Democratic National […]
Review of The Prince and the Dressmaker
April 24, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang; illus. by the author Middle School, High School First Second/Roaring Brook 282 pp. 2/18 978-1-250-15985-4 $24.99 Paper ed. 978-1-62672-363-4 $16.99 With a setting and palette reminiscent of Disney’s Cinderella and a setup involving a royal ball, this graphic novel has all the trappings of a rags-to-riches romance. […]
