Monthly Archives: May 2025

YA – Everything Is Poison

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McCullough, Joy. Everything Is Poison. Dutton Books for Young Readers, 2025. 978-0-593-85587-4. $19.99. 304 p. Grades 9-12.

McCullough (Blood Water Paint, 2018; Enter the Body, 2023) returns with another powerful young adult historical fiction that transports readers to 17th Century Rome. Carmela Tofana is desperate to follow in her mother’s footsteps in their family’s apothecary La Tofana. Finally on her 16th birthday, Carmela is permitted to accompany the women of the apothecary into the workroom where all the ingredients for the magical remedies are stored. Often feeling like she’s in the way but desperate to prove that she belongs there, Carmela struggles to find her place among the respected (and sometimes feared) healers. As she masters simple remedies and the art of watching her tongue while working with customers, Carmela begins to blossom. However, there are remedies and secrets Carmela never knew about as a naive child. Some clients come to the apothecary and are seeking a last resort cure. When Carmela is faced with helping a peer who has been nothing but unkind to her, she has to decide who she will be and if she is cut out for the work of an apothecary woman.  

THOUGHTS: Filled with beautiful descriptions of plants and historical architecture, McCullough’s newest novel will fill a gap in older historical fiction, shining a light on women at a time when they were not recognized as powerful. This is more than just a historical fiction, so readers will enjoy the strong female friendships and familial relationships. Highly recommended for high school collections. 

Historical Fiction

YA – Everything I Promised You

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Upperman, Katy. Everything I Promised You. Sourcebooks Fire, 2025. 978-1-464-21778-4. $13.99. 384 p. Grades 9-12.

Lia’s entire existence was foretold by a fortune teller when her mom was 17 years old. Every detail seems to have followed a predicted path including meeting Beckett’s family and the significant part they would play in Lia’s family’s life. According to the fortune, Lia and Beck are soul mates. The best of childhood friends, despite an “army-brat” lifestyle that sometimes keeps them apart, Lia and Beck grow up together and eventually grow into more than friends. Now at the end of high school and a year apart in school, Beck graduates and Lia plans to follow him to college next year. When Beck dies after a sudden heart attack, Lia and their families are utterly devastated. Intertwining narratives give the reader Lia and Beck’s love story and the aftermath of picking up the pieces after losing someone you love. Her identity so tied to Beck, Lia has to figure out who she is without him.

THOUGHTS: Fans of compelling, emotional romances like If I Stay, If He Had Been with Me, and many more will enjoy this hopeful but heartbreaking novel. Recommended for high school collections.

Romance
Realistic Fiction

YA – The Meadowbrook Murders

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Goodman, Jessica. The Meadowbrook Murders. G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2025. 336 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12. 

It’s senior week – the week before classes begin and all of the underclassmen arrive – at prestigious New England boarding school Meadowbrook Academy. Soccer players and roommates Amy and Sarah are ready for a year of lasts before they embark on new firsts. Then the best friends get into a massive fight at a boathouse party, to which everyone present has a front row seat. When Amy wakes up the next morning ready to forgive and forget, Sarah doesn’t respond to her texts. Then Amy notices something is off. When she enters Sarah’s bedroom, she finds Sarah and her boyfriend brutally murdered. Sarah and Ryan were perfect in every way, so who would want them dead? Meadowbrooke Gazette (school newspaper) editor Liz is determined to write a career defining article and earn a highly sought after college scholarship. Campus is in somewhat of a lockdown until a suspect can be apprehended, and everyone is paranoid. When the administration prevents Liz from writing about the case, she has to find a new angle; that’s when Amy is moved into Liz’s suite – the only other available senior room on campus. With limited access to their dorm suite on the night of the murders, suspicious glances – especially from her soccer teammates – turn towards Amy. Is the campus really safe once a suspect is taken into custody? Liz knows the whole truth isn’t being told, and she’s intent on uncovering what happened, no matter the consequences. Alternating between chapters between Amy and Liz, readers will race to discover who killed Sarah and Ryan and what secrets they may have been hiding.

THOUGHTS: Full of secret underground passages, mysteries, and lies, Goodman’s (They’ll Never Catch Us, 2021; They Wish They Were Us, 2020) newest title will find readers among fans of mysteries or boarding school books.

Mystery

Elem./MG – On Guard! A Marshall Middle School Graphic Novel

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Wasserman, Cassidy. On Guard! A Marshall Middle School Graphic Novel. Random House Books, 2025, 978-0-593-64999-2. $21.99. 256 p. Grades 4-8.

Grace is dreading the start of the new school year. Her ex-best friend, Ava is in almost all of her classes, her parents are freshly divorced, and she is still not really on great terms with her mom post-divorce. She feels like she just doesn’t fit in, and she knows she needs a hobby, but nothing seems that interesting to her. So, when she escapes the lunch room one day and sees a group of students practicing fencing, she reluctantly decides to give it a try, and it just may be what she needs.

THOUGHTS: I really enjoyed this graphic novel. I thought it was really well done and showed how divorce for a pre-teen can be in an authentic and genuine manner. I think many upper elementary and middle level readers would enjoy this novel. 

Graphic Novel
Realistic Fiction

Elem. – Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic

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Fleming, Candace. Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic. Illustrated by Deena So’Oteh. Anne Schwartz Books, 2024. 978-0-593-37778-9. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades PreK-2. 

“You are a narwal…” In the opening line of Narwal, the narrator invites readers to enter the world of these unique sea creatures, sometimes referred to as the unicorn of the Arctic. The text opens during the winter season, with narwhals in the cold Arctic. Two males engage in a joust with their tusks, and a narwhal pod travels through open water created by cracks in the ice. When it is time to feed, the pod dives deep in the ocean to locate fish. Upon the arrival of summer, the pod migrates, the females giving birth along the journey to coastal bays and fjords. There, the young will grow, and the narwhals will doge predators, which are more prevalent in shallower waters. When the temperature turns cold, it is time for the narwhals to journey north, and the cycle begins again. Fleming’s lyrical (yet informative) text is enhanced by the superb illustrations by Deena So’Oteh, a first time children’s book illustrator. Back matter includes additional facts and information about narwhals.

THOUGHTS: This title is a recommended purchase for all elementary libraries. It would make an ideal read aloud and could also be used as a nonfiction pairing for the Narwhal and Jelly series

599.543 Animals

Elem. – Where to Hide a Star

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Jeffers, Oliver. Where to Hide a Star. Philomel, 2024. 978-0-593-62224-7. Unpaged. $22.99. Grades PreK-1. 

Author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers is back with another volume in his The Boy series. Where to Hide a Star, opens with the unnamed boy playing a game of hide-and-seek with his two friends, penguin and star. When the star is accidentally forgotten in a rowboat during the game, the boy and penguin go looking for it, but it is nowhere to be found—the rowboat has drifted away! Thankfully for the star, the boat washes ashore at the North Pole, home to a girl who loves stars. Together the star and the girl go on many adventures and become fast friends. Meanwhile, the boy and the penguin have recruited their friend the Martian to help them locate the star. When they arrive at the North Pole, the boy is torn–he wants to take the star home, but he doesn’t want the girl to lose her new friend and be unhappy. The girl is similarly conflicted. The dilemma is solved when the Martin suggests a game of hide-and-seek. He hangs the star in the night sky so both the girl and the boy can always see their star friend. 

THOUGHTS: This delightful friendship story will find a home on many elementary shelves. While the title will be best appreciated by those who have read the prior titles in the The Boy series, readers with no background knowledge of the series will also be able to enjoy this story of friendship and sharing.

Picture Book

Elem. – I Worked Hard on That!

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Wall, Robyn. I Worked Hard on That! Illustrated by A.N. Kang. Simon & Schuster, 2024. 978-1-665-93872-3. Unpaged. $16.99. Grades PreK-2.

Kiara the spider always has created basic spiderwebs, just a means to catch prey. Then one day, she sees a web that is a work of art. Inspired, Kiara decides to spin her own artistic web. After some trial and error, she’s finally hit upon a great design, when a squirrel runs right through her web, destroying it. Upset and frustrated, Kiara shouts, “Hey! I worked hard on that!” Further attempts get destroyed by birds and humans, leaving Kiara angry and sad. Just when she’s ready to give up, Kiara meets Orb, the older spider who created the web that first inspired Kiara to start creating. Orb invites Kiara to join him in creating his next work of art. Together, they create a gigantic web incorporating various designs and colors. When it too, is destroyed, Kiara is ready to give up forever, until an encounter with Paws the squirrel causes her to reexamine her perspective. Maybe the creative process is just as important as the end product…

THOUGHTS: This delightful story shows the many facets of the creative process–inspiration, trial & error, persistence, and patience, for example. Readers will be able to relate to Kiara’s frustration when things don’t work out the way she wants. They will hopefully also realize, like Kiara, that happiness can be realized through the creative process and learning new things. 

Picture Book

Elem. – A Hat for House

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Perrott, Audrey. A Hat for House. Illustrated by Druscilla Santiago. Putnam, 2024. 978-0-593-61577-5. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades PreK-2. 

“One very windy day, House lost his hat.” The opening sentence of A Hat for House identifies the dilemma facing House in this picture book by Audrey Perrot. House’s hat (his roof) has blown off in a storm. Naturally, this causes quite a bit of trauma and sadness for House. How will he ever recover from this loss? Will he ever feel like himself again? Thankfully, House’s friends and neighbors (both animal and human) come together to lend a helping hand. Soon House’s yard is cleaned up and a temporary roof installed. When a storm breaks out just as work is finishing up, House is able to return the kindness of his neighbors by providing a dry place to wait out the storm. Days later, a new permanent roof is installed, giving House a snazzy new hat. Perrot’s text is complemented by Druscilla Santiago’s digital illustrations that transform a house into a character with personality–the windows are eyes, the blinds eyelids, the door a mouth, etc. 

THOUGHTS: This story of loss, helpers, community, hope, and rebuilding deserves a spot on elementary shelves. While House initially is uncertain about how he will recover from the storm, he soon displays a sense of optimism and the text incorporates humorous elements as his neighbors come together to help him in his time of need. House’s story is a reminder that although we may experience tough times at points in our lives, there are helpers out there willing to lend a helping hand. 

Picture Book

YA – Run Away With Me

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Selznick, Brian. Run Away With Me. Scholastic Press, 2025. 978-1-339-03552-9. 297 p. $24.99. Grades 8 and up. 

Sixteen-year-old Danny wanders Rome, thinking this is going to be just another lonely summer in a new city while his mother works as a contractor in a museum. But soon Danny meets the beautiful and enigmatic Angelo, and the summer becomes the most magical time he has ever experienced. They explore the city, and each other, in wide eyed amazement at how much more interesting the world can be when you wander it with the right person. 

THOUGHTS: Selznick uses his charming illustrations and story-telling skills to take us back to the 1980s and to the moment when young people first discover what it feels like to fall in love. He imbues the novel with nostalgia, making it a potentially fun read for adults. But teens will feel the sweetness of this love story, and they may even be moved to look up the bands and movies referenced throughout. While the relationship between the boys alludes to sex, there is no detail shared that would make this inappropriate for younger teens.

Romance

Sixteen-year-old Danny, an American spending the summer in Rome, is used to being rootless. His mother’s job as a book conservator keeps them constantly on the move, and Rome is just another stop. While she works, Danny roams the rainy, deserted streets, feeling lost and alone until he discovers a mysterious map hidden inside a statue. It leads him to Angelo, a poetic and mysterious local boy who intentionally left it behind. Angelo is charming, mysterious, and insists he’s nearly 3,000 years old. Danny doesn’t know what to believe, but Angelo’s stories and secrets spark something deep inside him. For the first time, Danny feels truly seen, and he senses that Angelo is longing to be seen, too. Angelo tells him stories of Giovanni Argento, a sailor, and Dante Ferrata, an assistant to sculptor and architect Bernini, stories that mirror their own relationship during their time together in Rome. What begins as a quiet, aimless summer turns into something unforgettable as Danny and Angelo explore the city and grow closer in a blossoming romance.

THOUGHTS: This book is Selznick’s young adult debut, and just like his other works, it showcases his gift for blending layered storytelling and striking art. The novel opens with Selznick’s signature crosshatched black-and-white illustrations, capturing the quiet beauty of Rome’s streets and landmarks. Selznick masterfully interweaves the magic of Rome’s ancient history with the emotional depth of new love, leaving readers with a moving tale about connection, memory, and the stories we leave behind.

Romance Fiction

MG – One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel

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Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel. Illustrated by Sharee Miller. Quill Tree Books, 2025. 978-0-062-93559-5. $24.99. 304 p. Grades 4-8.

This is a graphic novel adaptation of the middle grade novel by the same title. Delphine is eleven-years-old, and has taken to acting like a mother to her two younger sisters, Fern and Vonetta, since their biological mother, Cecile left them. So when the three girls are sent from Brooklyn to Oakland to spend time with their mother, they are taken aback by how different they thought their summer would be. They thought it would be full of trips to DisneyLand and sightseeing, but instead Cecile sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panther Party. What they think will be a summer of fun turns out to be a summer of learning and change.

THOUGHTS: This book was phenomenal. While I have not read the “traditional” version of this book, I found this to be really engaging and approachable for upper elementary and middle level readers. I highly recommend this for any grade 4-8 classroom and school library. This would also be an awesome way to add accommodations/modifications to the curriculum by offering both the traditionally formatted novel and the graphic novel adaptation.

Graphic Novel
Historical Fiction