Tag Archives: Relationships

MG/YA – The Love Report

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BéKa. The Love Report. Illustrated by Maya. Hippo Park, 2023. 978-1-545-81127-6. 192 p. $12.99. Grades 7-10.

Besties Grace and Lola have a lot of questions about dating, love, and romance. Why do all the boys at school like this one particular popular girl? What is going on with love and the goth girl? And the boys… well, there are a lot of questions about romance and the boys at school. The girls decide to write a love report filled with questions and answers following their love study. The girls will discover more about love, their friendship, and themselves as they ask questions and find answers.

THOUGHTS: A love report of self-discovery and worth. Middle School readers will relate to this book as they begin their own discoveries of love and relationships.

Graphic Novel

Elem. – The Brand-New, Never-Used, Perfect Crayons

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Hatch, Leanne. The Brand-New, Never-Used, Perfect Crayons. Illustrated by Leanne Hatch. Margaret Ferguson Books, 2023. 978-0-823-45230-9. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades PreK-2.

Violet is in a store and sees a big box of 84 perfect crayons with every color she will ever need. She dreams of all the things that she can create and draw using all those colors. However, when she gets the crayons home she can’t bring herself to use them. She puts off using them day after day, even when her little sister Marigold asks her if she can use them. Instead, Violet gives Marigold her box of old, broken crayons and Marigold makes drawings with no care. One day, Marigold gets into Violet’s brand new crayons and uses them which makes Violet extremely mad. However this causes Violet to reevaluate her brand-new crayons, and the book ends with the sisters drawing together.

THOUGHTS: This is a sweet story that shows a more realistic sister relationship with a lovely lesson woven throughout the book. This would be a great read aloud for an art class or just as a read aloud to share with a class.

Picture Book

Elem./MG – Green

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Gino, Alex. Green. Scholastic, 2023. 978-1-33877-614-0. $17.99. 224 p. Grades 3-6.

Green Gibson, a non binary student at Jung Middle School, is excited about the upcoming musical The Wizard of Oz.  The students in Spectrum, the LGBTQIA+ club, have even convinced the director to cast the roles without regard to gender to give more students a chance. Green is thrilled to be part of the stage crew, especially when they find out their crush Ronnie is also on the crew. Green and Ronnie have a blast when they hang out together in Spectrum and at play rehearsals, but Green thinks Ronnie identifies as straight, and Green is not exactly sure how to broach that subject. While Green is trying to figure out Ronnie, their body is going through its own changes, and Green isn’t sure how they feel about them. These are changes that typically happen to females, but Green doesn’t identify as either gender, so it sometimes feels like their body is betraying them. Green has to figure out where they stand with Ronnie while also embracing the complexity of puberty and the challenges that brings to a nonbinary tween.

THOUGHTS: Fans of Gino’s Melissa and Rick will enjoy revisiting the same characters found in those two books. Green’s internal dialogue can sometimes feel a little forced, but it is still a feel-good story. Gino handles the topic of gender identity with gentle care and without any graphic details.

Realistic Fiction

MG – Ultraviolet

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Salazar, Aida. Ultraviolet. Scholastic Press, 2024. 978-1-338-77565-5. 304 p. $18.99. Grades 6-8.

Eighth grader Elio Solis falls in love with fellow classmate Camelia, but Elio doesn’t know quite what to do with his burgeoning feelings…and his hormones. Coming from several generations of ‘machismo’ Latino men, Elio struggles to reconcile his new unregulated emotions with the need to be traditionally ‘masculine’: stoic and strong. Elio is kind and caring toward Camelia. He is the best new boyfriend he can possibly be. When Elio discovers Camelia has also started to text with a rival classmate, Chava, he seethes with anger and sorrow. Then, to make matters worse, Chava sends Elio bikini pictures of Camelia to further taunt him. Elio has a decision to make: will he fight Chava, make Camelia also feel the hurt he feels, or will Elio learn to forgive and move forward?

THOUGHTS: Ultraviolet is a fresh novel-in-verse examining the dangers of toxic masculinity, navigating romantic relationships, consent, and friendship. I truly empathize with Elio—first, with his feelings of bursting love, and later, with his angst. Salazar includes a number of timely and relevant teen topics without ever feeling didactic: lots of Elio’s thoughts are about physical changes associated with puberty, consent, social media, and gender. Yes: the words ‘cap’ and ‘rizz’ are also in there. The story is written from Elio’s sole perspective, which means we miss out on knowing exactly what Camelia is feeling except through her direct dialogue. However, standing (in discomfort) in Elio’s shoes with his conflicting feelings is quite effective. I can’t recall having read many other stories that cover these topics from a middle school cisgender boy’s perspective, and certainly not in this accessible verse format. Recommended for addition to middle school collections.

Realistic Fiction

Elem. – The Light She Feels Inside

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Wallace, Gwendolyn. The Light She Feels Inside. Illustrated by Olivia Duchess. Source Books, 2023. 978-1-728-23979-8. 32 p. $18.99. Grades PreK-2. 

Maya goes through her day and talks about her glow that she feels inside especially when positive things are happening to her and around her. She also talks about the glow she feels when something bad happens to her, or when she hears her parents worrying. Maya begins to feel like that glow she has is heavy, and she isn’t sure what to do with it. When Maya goes to her public library, she ends up talking with her librarian who recommends several biographies to help Maya understand what she’s feeling and how other women in history have dealt with that. Maya ends up learning about several famous women in history and she decides to do something about her world and use her glow to help others. 

THOUGHTS: This was a wonderful picture book that has some great biographical information about famous women in the back matter of the book. Highly recommended for an elementary school library.

Picture Book

MG – Mascot

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Waters, Charles, and Traci Sorell. Mascot. Charlesbridge, 2023. 978-1-623-54380-8. 248 p. $17.99. Grades 5-8.

In the greater D.C metro area, eighth grade students grapple over an English assignment where they must debate the pros and cons of indigenous mascots. Callie, one of the students involved, catalyzes the debate project after sharing her original poem. The poem disparages the school’s indigenous mascot and the offensive “tomahawk chants” students perform (and, in turn, must endure) at school sporting events. All perspectives and feelings about this issue are represented. During the course of the multiple-perspective verse novel, each stakeholder develops their argument, and some change their minds in the process. The students are also empowered to take action by addressing the school board.

THOUGHTS: After reading this verse novel in its entirety, I am moved by how Charles Waters and Traci Sorell use diverse character perspectives to artfully build an argument against the use of indigenous mascots. The plot itself takes its time building through exposition because Waters and Sorell use the diverse character perspectives to weave in necessary historical context for middle grade readers. It’s worth the wait. Mascot contains a diverse cast of characters with different opinions about the issue. I was concerned that the teacher in this novel would assign a debate project about such a triggering issue, but my fears were put to rest almost immediately through the novel’s carefully planned development. Recommended as a relevant addition to all middle school realistic fiction collections. 

Realistic Fiction

Elem. – Chi-Chi and Pey-Pey

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Fosberry, Jennifer. Chi-Chi and Pey-Pey. Simon Spotlight, 2023. $17.99 ea. 64 p. Grades PreK-1.

School Day Drama. 978-1-665-93189-2.
Cupcake Catastrophe. 978-1-665-93201-1. 

Chi-Chi the chicken and Pey-Pey the penguin are getting ready to start school in the graphic novel School Day Drama. Chi-chi (who loves cheese puffs, cheerleading and the cha-cha) is nervous to start school. Pey-pey (who enjoys pirates, popsicles and pogo sticks) is chill and relaxed about starting the school year. When their teacher, Mrs. Possum, pairs them up as class buddies on the first day of school, and asks them to discover something they both like, the task seems impossible. The pair discuss their favorite desserts, hobbies, snacks and shapes, but they can’t agree on anything! The teacher suggests they mix some of their favorite things and make something new. But combining cheese puffs and popsicles or pom-poms and pirate ships are not winning combinations. When they stalk away from one another in frustration, they discover they can combine Chi-Chi’s love of the cha-cha and Pey-Pey’s love of jumping into a jumpy dance and a new friendship is born. As Cupcake Catastrophe opens, Chi-Chi and Pey-Pey are now fast friends who love hanging out and playing games with one another. In fact, they get along so well, they never fight. But one day at school, cupcakes are on the menu at snacktime. And not just any cupcakes, but cupcakes with brightly colored frosting. Chi-Chi wants a purple cupcake. Pey-Pey wants a purple cupcake. No problem, right? Wrong! There’s only one purple cupcake! They chirp and peep and fight over the cupcake. They finally decide to split the cupcake…but it’s gone (perhaps their teacher was responsible?). Dejected, Pey-Pey takes a blue cupcake and Chi-Chi selects a red cupcake, only to realize if they combine their frosting, they will each have a purple cupcake. Crisis averted!

THOUGHTS: The Chi-Chi and Pey-Pey series is part of Simon & Schuster’s Ready to Read Graphics series and is intended to introduce emerging readers to the graphic novel format. The larger panels feature large, simple text and brightly colored illustrations that will engage readers. Readers will also be able to relate to the storyline in each volume, as many student have encountered new peers on the first day of school or had an argument with a friend. A worthwhile purchase for graphic novel collections serving early readers.

Graphic Novel

Elem. – Pizza and Taco

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Shaskan, Stephen. Pizza and Taco. Random House, 2023. $10.99 ea. 58 p. Grades K-2.

Pizza and Taco: Rock Out! 978-0-593-48124-0.
 Pizza and Taco: Dare to be Scared! 978-0-593-48128-8.

Best friends Pizza and Taco (last seen in Pizza and Taco: Too Cool for School) are back in two new additions to the graphic novel series. In Pizza and Taco: Rock Out!, the pair decide to start a rock band. Although they enjoy music, they have no experience playing instruments, but they don’t let that stand in their way. After deciding on their instruments (Pizza will play the guitar and Taco the drums…or perhaps the tambourine), their genre of music (rock, of course) and their band name (Awesome Yaas!), they are ready to recruit some band members. An advertisement results in several folks showing up to tryout, including the folk playing Veggieburger and Tofu Dog, and the hard rock Cookie and Muffin, they ultimately decide to invite Hamburger and Hot Dog to join the band. But the band breaks up when Hamburger and Hot Dog discover Pizza and Taco can’t read or play (or as it turns out, write) music. This leads Pizza and Taco to reassess their plans. Maybe starting a band takes a lot more work than they initially thought… In Pizza and Taco: Dare to be Scared!, the pair decide to challenge each other to a “Dare-to-be-Scared Challenge”! The scary challenges include staying in a dark closet, entering the dark basement, and watching a scary movie (though Pizza’s mom nixes their initial choice of watching Night of the Living Bread). They decide to watch an episode of Ghost Pepper Hunters, with hosts Turkey Sub and Chicken Sandwich, but the show turns out not to be that scary, so they decide to go ghost pepper hunting on their own. Flashlights in hand, hats on hand, Pizza and Taco set out for a nearby graveyard when it gets dark. Upon entering the graveyard, they hear a noise…could they be about to encounter a ghost pepper?!?

THOUGHTS: These welcome additions to the Pizza and Taco series continue the laugh out loud antics the pair have shown in earlier volumes. Kids will love the humorous storyline and adults will get a kick out of play on names Shaskan incorporates throughout the text (Pizza loves the rock singer Jam Jett and her song “I Love Lobster Roll”, Taco enjoys The Beetles and their song “Love Me, Stew”). This series deserves a spot in the graphic novel collection of any library that serves younger readers. 

Graphic Novel

YA – Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

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Zhao, Amelie Wen. Song of Silver, Flame Like Night. Delacorte Press, 2023. 978-0593487501. $19.99. 480p. Grades 9-12.

Lan is a performing song girl in Haak’gong, and although her life appears to be the same as the other girls she lives and performs with, she has a secret. Lan spends her days trying to understand the message behind the strange mark left on her arm by her mother before she died. In her quest for answers, she meets Zen. Zen is a practitioner and only uses his magic in secret. When their worlds collide one fateful night, Zen agrees to take Lan to his practitioner masters after she uses her powers in a moment of panic. As Lan begins to understand her powers and the fate of her mother and her people, Lan realizes that everyone has secrets. She’s swept up in a war to overthrow the Elantian regime who want to outlaw her magic. Drawing upon ancient Chinese myths and legends, Zhao has crafted a story of love, loss, betrayal, and power. Will Lan and Zen use the powers they possess to save their world, or will they destroy it?

THOUGHTS: This book really kept me on my toes! I felt that a lot of the characters made surprising decisions that somewhat “broke the mold” of what I would expect of a YA character. There is a ton of gray area when it comes to the magic the characters possess and the decisions they make when it comes to obtaining power to protect the ones they love. Readers will enjoy the action, mystery, and adventure this fantasy novel provides as well as the inclusion of ancient Chinese mythology.

Fantasy

YA – Thieves’ Gambit

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Lewis, Kayvion. Thieves’ Gambit. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2023. 978-0-593-62536-1. 384 p. $19.99. Grades 8-12.

Ross Quest is about to pull off the biggest heist of her life in order to save her kidnapped mother in this action-packed YA thriller. Ross and her mother have planned many robberies together—as one of the most notorious thief-families in North America, they have a reputation to uphold. When a robbery goes awry, Ross reluctantly must enter into the mysterious and dangerous Thieves’ Gambit, a high-stakes game made up of the best young criminal minds from around the world. If Ross wins, she’ll have one wish granted: in her case, it’s the wish to rescue her mother by paying her mother’s billion dollar ransom. All goes according to plan until feelings for one of the contestants, the handsome British Devroe, threatens to throw Ross off of her game. Filled with twists and turns right until the end, this one will keep your students reading the whole way to the last page.

THOUGHTS: A high-stakes heist must-read title. For teens who love lots of action, twists, turns, and a fast-paced plot, this is the ideal story. Thieves’ Gambit reads like a heist movie on paper as it takes readers on a wild adventure around the world. Ross is a likable and realistic character trying to fulfill quests before time runs out. There is enough romantic tension between Ross and Devroe that will keep romance readers loving this book, too. Ideal for fans of series like The Inheritance Games. Strong diversity and character development.

Mystery