MG – Huda F Wants to Know?

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Fahmy ,Huda. Huda F Wants to Know? Dial Books, 2025. 978-0-593-85562-1. $17.99. 224 p. Grades 7-9.

Huda is ready to rock junior year of high school. She has a very clear plan of how to get into the colleges she wants AND how to get a full scholarship! But, life as she knew it seems to change at the drop of a hat when her Baba (father) and Mama announce that they are getting a divorce. This changes Huda’s life drastically and at times in way she never could have expected, like ghosting her friends, not caring about schoolwork, and a variety of other behaviors that are just “not like Huda.” With a positive look on therapy, Huda gets the help she needs to process and grieve her parents’ relationship and her life before the divorce.

THOUGHTS: This graphic novel takes reader’s through the various emotions that teens can experience when parents choose to separate. While the graphic novel covers something that can at times be very heavy, divorce, it adds in humor and lightheartedness to the conversation and does a great job showing that there is not just one way to process things like divorce. 

Realistic Fiction

YA – Dear Manny

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Stone, Nic. Dear Manny. Crown Books for Young Readers, 2025, 978-0-593-30801-1. $19.99. 224 p. Grades 8 and Up

Jared Peter Christensen is attending an Ivy league university and chooses to run for a position in student government with his platform focusing on increasing equality and inclusion within campus life. Jared feels like he has a good shot at winning the election, especially after being forced to grapple with his own White Privilege and wealth after his best friend, Manny, was shot and killed by an off-duty cop. But when John Preston LePlante IV, a deeply conservative Florida boy decides to run against him, Jared is forced to grapple with his own complicity in an unjust and corrupt system and decide if continuing to run on his antiracism platform is what is best for him and those around him. 

THOUGHTS: This book is the final installment- although Nic Stone has said that before- in the Dear Martin Trilogy (Dear Martin 2017, Dear Justyce 2020, and Dear Manny 2025). This captures a different lens as it is written from the perspective of a young white man, whose entitlement and white privilege comes into question when we first see him in Dear Martin. While readers are left with some closure on Jared’s evolution as a person, not everything is wrapped up with a nice bow. If you’ve read the first two books, I highly recommend this book as well. 

Realistic Fiction

Jared Peter Christensen, a legacy student at Yale and roommate to Justyce (Dear Justyce), has come a long way since his initial introduction as a character in Dear Martin. Still learning to understand and accept his privilege, Jared writes letters to his deceased best friend Manny throughout the novel. Since Jared worries he’ll let down Justyce, the letters serve to help Jared process the advantages he’s had while also working through his feelings with a confidant to whom he can’t actually talk. After a jarring conversation in Constitutional Law with classmate John Preston LePlante IV, a legacy student who feels their university needs to return to its traditions and standards, Jared decides to run for Junior Class President on an antiracism platform (against John Preston LePlante IV). When Jared is paired with Dylan M. Coleman, a transfer student in a different section of Constitutional Law, for a project, they don’t get off on the right foot. Then Jared learns Dylan and John also are running for Junior Class Council president, and the waters are further muddied. Will Jared show growth as a person, or will his privilege save him once again?

THOUGHTS: Stone returns readers to characters from her earlier books, though, Justyce plays a minor role in Dear Manny. Readers who enjoy social justice themes will enjoy this companion to Dear Martin and Dear Justyce. Reading the first two books to better understand Jared’s growth is suggested but not required. Highly recommended for young adult collections.

Elem. – Be My Yummy ABC

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Wan, Joyce. Be My Yummy ABC. Hippo Park, 2025. 978-1-662-64076-6. Unpaged. $14.99. Grades PreK-2. 

Be My Yummy ABC is an alphabet ABC book that uses food to go over the letters of the alphabet. At the end of the book, there are facts about each food that is represented within the book, along with pronunciations. The beginning and end of the book, the sentences rhyme, and as the reader goes along through the book there are rhyming portions as well. The illustrations throughout the book are all very stylized and add to the general feel of the story.

THOUGHTS: This is a fun ABC book that will appeal to lots of readers. The illustrations as well as the rhyming words will also make this a fun read aloud.

Picture Book

Elem. – Holidayville’s Lucky Easter Surprise

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Bryant, Renita. Holidayville’s Lucky Easter Surprise. Mynd Matters, 2025. 978-1-963-87405-1. Unpaged. $15.99. Grades 3-5.

Holidayville is having its annual Easter Egg hunt and friends Imani, Chase, and Kayla are hoping to get the top prize from the Easter Egg hunt… the golden egg! As the friends are running around town finding eggs, they find what they think is the golden egg but turns out to be a leprechaun named Lucky. Lucky accidentally transports the friends to Leprechaun Land. As Lucky shows them around, they learn and experience all the wonderful things that Leprechaun Land has to offer. When Imani, Chase, and Kayla finally leave and make their way back to their home, they find something special that Lucky left for them.

THOUGHTS: This is a picture book about friendship and working together, with some holiday fun thrown in. This book is definitely a higher level read aloud, as the students will need a little longer attention span.

Picture Book 

Elem. – When You Find the Right Rock

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Ray, Mary Lyn. When You Find the Right Rock. Illustrated by Felicita Sala. Harry N. Abrams, 2024. 978-1-797-21458-0. $18.99. 44 p. Grades K-2.

Rocks are special, and they are all around us. Sometimes they are tiny, and we put them in our pockets. Sometimes they are big, and we like to climb them. They fit perfectly in our hands, come in all shapes and colors, and one is even big enough for the whole world to stand on. We can stack them, sit on them, but most importantly, they can remind us that we are special too.

THOUGHTS: As I was reading this book, I thought about the various rock collections that my own toddler has in our car, the garage, and her jacket pockets. When we walk outside, and she sees a rock, she has to climb it. This is a great book about the connection that kids have with nature that can differ from an adult, specifically when they see a rock that they just have to have. Parents, teachers, and librarians can use this book for lessons on rocks, nature, mindfulness, and relationships with the natural world.

Picture Book

Elem. – I Am We: A Book of Community

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Verde, Susan. I Am We: A Book of Community. Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Harry N. Abrams, 2024. 978-1-419-77194-1. $15.99. 32 p. Grades K-3.

“I am not just me. I am we.” I Am We demonstrates the way that we can be there for others. We are all a part of something bigger than ourselves, and by checking on others, standing up for each other, having conversations, listening, combining skills, and celebrating and encouraging each other, we can build connections and strengthen our communities. “All of us are important. None of us are alone.”

THOUGHTS: I just purchased a copy of this title for my elementary library and read through it when it was sent with my Scholastic Book Fair. In my district, we teach students how important it is to be a part of a community, and how our actions and decisions can impact the world around us, and the author’s note gives suggestions of ways to foster connections and community among school students like collaborative art projects and even walks through neighborhoods. This would be a great addition to any professional or teacher library that you may offer in your building.

Picture Book

Elem. – A Little Like Magic

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Kurpiel, Sarah. A Little Like Magic. Rocky Pond Books, 2024. 978-0-593-69765-8. $18.99. 40 p. Grades K-2.

A little girl, who uses a wheelchair, is not excited about the ice festival her mom is bringing her to. She doesn’t like the cold wind, itchy hats, and the heavy winter clothing she must wear. When they arrive, along with her small horse figurine, she doesn’t understand why the artists work so hard on ice sculptures that will someday melt away. When the girl and mom return home, she realizes she has dropped her tiny horse at the festival. She can think of nothing else, but when they return the next night, she suddenly sees the magic in the sculptures, including one in particular. “Sometimes you have to brave the cold to experience something special.”

THOUGHTS: A Little Like Magic looks at the world of art through a child’s eyes. At first, the little girl doesn’t understand why someone would spend so much time on something that will just melt away, but when she experiences the finished sculptures at night time, she finally sees how special and important artwork can be, even if it is temporary. This story will stay with you long after you finish reading it, just as the memories of the ice sculptures stay with the little girl long after they melted.

Picture BookWhee

YA – Sleep Like Death

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Bayron, Kalynn. Sleep Like Death. Bloomsbury YA, 2024. 978-1-547-60976-5. $19.99. 352 p. Grades 9-12.

Princess Eve has been trained to do one thing for her entire life: kill the Black Knight whose corrupt bargains harm everyone in the village of Queen’s Bridge. His beast-like-castle stalks the hills and mountains surrounding the town, waiting for the next person desperate enough to strike a bargain. Eve wants to make him pay, especially since her own life has been affected by the Knight. As her 17th birthday nears, Huntress of the castle continues to train her, but her mother, Queen Regina, grows distant and desperate as she pleads to a secret magic mirror in her room, and the Knight’s messenger, a young man named Nova, does his best to warn Eve away from pursuing the Knight herself. As Eve discovers family secrets and lies, her life begins to unravel, but new allies remind her that there is still hope and a chance to save the village once and for all.

THOUGHTS: Sleep Like Death is a retelling of the Snow White story, and with the live action Snow White coming to theaters soon, the fairy tale may again gain some popularity among readers. I enjoyed this fractured version, as well as the many plot twists! As she did with Cinderella is Dead, Bayron brings diversity, originality, and adventure to a beloved tale.

Fantasy  

YA – The Monstrous Kind

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Gregovic, Lydia. The Monstrous Kind. Delecorte Press, 2024. 978-0-063-11606-1. $19.99. 400 p. Grades 9-12.

Merrick Darling is returning home to Sussex. Her father has just passed away, and she hasn’t seen her sister Essie, who she left behind when she traveled to New London, in months. Immune to the fog that turns most people into vicious, phantom creatures, she finds that things at her home, Norland House, have changed: the borders have been breached and attacked far more than ever before; her sister seems like a different person, barely speaking to Merrick; and the household is being run by her cousin and his wife. As Merrick learns more about the mysterious circumstances surrounding her father’s death, Essie goes missing, and suddenly nothing seems to make any sense. Merrick is determined to find her sister, but who can she trust in a world where everyone and everything is ready to prey on weakness and the fog keeps moving closer?

THOUGHTS: Inspired by Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility and reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice & Zombies, The Monstrous Kind can be described as a mashup of Bridgerton and The Walking Dead. Readers will enjoy both the romance and thrills of this gothic tale set in an alternate, Regency era England.

Fantasy 

YA – The Lies We Conjure

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Henning, Sarah. The Lies We Conjure. Tor Teen, 2024. 978-1-250-84106-3. $19.99. 400 p. Grades 9-12.

Ruby and Wren are sisters, and since they need to save up money for college, they’ve spent their summer working at a renaissance fair. When they are approached by an elderly woman and are asked to impersonate her granddaughters at a dinner party, they first refuse, but then accept when she offers $2,000.00 to each of them at the end of the evening. It seems like an easy way to get some cash for their college fund until, on the night of the party, the host is murdered and their elderly “grandmother” mysteriously disappears. To make matters worse, the sisters discover they are trapped in the house, called Hegemony Manor, by a curse, and the dinner party guests are all magical witches. The sisters have three days to help the other inhabitants break the curse all while keeping their real identities a secret. 

THOUGHTS: This is a perfect blend of urban fantasy and mystery! Readers that are fans of books like The Inheritance Games and movies like Knives Out will enjoy solving the clues left behind from the book’s matriarch before their time runs out. Family drama, secrets, and romance intertwine in the mystery and will keep readers hooked until the very end.

Fantasy