YA – Divine Rivals

Ross, Rebecca. Divine Rivals. HarperCollins Publishers, 2023. 978-0-008-58815-1. 367 p. $18.99. Grades 9-12.

Divine Rivals introduces us to Iris whose brother has just left to fight in a war that is being waged between gods. Iris is trying her best at home, but with their mother addicted to alcohol and her job as a writer for a newspaper not going as well as she thought it would, things look bleak. In order to make things seem a little better, she writes letters to her brother that she slips under her wardrobe. However, the person who writes her back isn’t her brother… and she isn’t exactly sure who this mysterious person is. When Iris ends up at the front lines, with her rival from the newspaper Roman, she is forced to confront lots of things she has been ignoring.

THOUGHTS: This is a great young adult fantasy that has an extremely unique plot line, with wonderfully written characters. This will appeal to lots of readers, especially fans of Sarah J. Maas or Cassandra Clare.

Fantasy

Elem. – The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination

Montague, Brad. The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination. Illustrated by Brad and Kristi Montague. Dial Books for Young Readers, 2023. 978-0-593-32347-2. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades PreK-3.

The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination introduces us to special agents called figments who help to maintain the world’s creativity. There are many different types of figments, such as invisible figments, rock figments, even merfigments! They all have a special job at the Bureau, but none of them are as special as Sparky. He is in charge of the mail and every letter, card, or package gets sorted through his office. However, Sparky has a secret… he writes poetry. One day as he is going to his office to start his job, he notices that the Cave of Untold Stories is starting to collapse. Even though Sparky is terrified of Brenda with her scales and teeth, he zooms down to help her and save the Cave. Will Sparky be able to save the cave? Will he convince people not to keep their songs, poems, and stories to themselves?

THOUGHTS: This is a beautifully charming picture book about imagination, not being afraid, and embracing who you are. The illustrations are charming and add to the overall feel of the story. The reader will want to come back several times just to look at all the little details that they may have missed on their first read. This would be a great book for a creative writing prompt, or even an art class (as the front of the Bureau is top secret and no one knows what it looks like). Highly recommend this book for either a fun read aloud or the beginning of a fun lesson.

Picture Book

MG – The Kaya Girl

Wolo, Mamle. The Kaya Girl. Little, Brown, and Company, 2022. 978-0-316-70393-2.$16.99. 322 p. Grades 5-8.

Set in modern-day Ghana, The Kaya Girl reads like a memoir of a friendship of two fourteen-year old girls from different social and economic backgrounds. A child of privilege and wealth, Abena (Abby) spends the summer with her Auntie Lydia, one of her mother’s older sisters. The stern, hardworking relative owns a fabric shop in the busy Makola Market in Accra. As is the usual custom with Ghanaian families, she has taken in a distant relative, Gifty, to live in her home and work in the shop. Abby, on the other hand, is vacationing at her aunt’s while her mother is in England awaiting the birth of her baby and her father, a physician, is working. When women come to the shop to purchase goods, a kayayoo girl carries their parcels to their destination in her enormous, tin bowl perched on her head. Abby strikes up a friendship with Faiza, the kaya girl who hangs around her aunt’s shop. Through their conversations during down times that summer, the girls share what is most familiar to them. Faiza tells of leaving her birth family to live with her aunt, of her cousin’s arranged marriage at the tender age of twelve, of her desire to attend school, and her quest to find her missing cousin. Abby shows Faiza the wonders of the internet, a revelation of extinct dinosaurs, astronomy, and different lands. In addition to learning the customs of a culture present in her own homeland, Abby becomes aware of her privilege and the poverty that restricts not only Faiza but all the kaya girls. These impressions weigh heavily on her and she channels them into a story for a competition. Despite Auntie Lydia’s disapproval of their friendship and the language barrier, the two girls come to know and like each other. When her aunt seems to soften a bit toward Faiza and leaves for an errand, Abby feels comfortable breaking one of her aunt’s rules and invites Faiza inside the shop. When money goes missing from the till, however, Abby regrets this decision. She knows Faiza is not the thief, but their summer of fun and friendship comes to an abrupt end. The author continues with an extensive epilogue, telling of Abena’s life as an adult and her surprising reunion with her childhood friend. Told in first person from Abena’s point of view, this satisfying novel describes life in Ghana with its disparity of classes and also the sights and sounds of a bustling marketplace. The girls’ friendship is magical and that quality rings true even after years of separation. 

THOUGHTS: The Kaya Girl presents two equally interesting girls from opposite backgrounds and because of this difference, the reader learns so much about what life is like when you are poor in Ghana and what life is like when you are not. One learns cultural customs from both sides as well as a description of an open market in another country. Through this experience, readers fulfill one of the major reasons for reading: to live vicariously through others’ experiences and to learn about and appreciate what is unfamiliar. Though the story probably should have stopped with the girls’ parting, carrying the story into their adulthood brings a enjoyable closure. Pair this book with Auma’ Long Run  by Eucabeth Odhioma (the dust jacket says she teaches at Shippensburg University) or the les -serious graphic novel, Fibbed by Elizabeth Agyemange. Like these two books, The Kaya Girl is a solid selection for extended Social Studies class.

Realistic Fiction          Bernadette Cooke, School District of Philadelphia

MG – Star Child : A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler

Zoboi, Ibi. Star Child : A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler. Dutton Children’s Books, 2022. 978-0-399-18738-4. $16.99. Grades 6-8

Star Child is a biography that tells about the life of Octavia Estelle Butler, a famous African American science fiction writer told in various forms of storytelling. Ibi Zoboi uses poetry, short nonfiction essays, quotes from Octavia Butler herself, as well as some photographs from Octavia to demonstrate what her life was like growing up. At the end of the biography, Ibi has an essay about her personal connection to Octavia Butler and even includes a picture of when she met her! There is a list of Octavia Butler’s books listed in the back, as well as Ibi’s endnotes showing her research.

THOUGHTS: This was definitely a more unique format, especially as far as biographies go, and it was extremely well done! The author’s genuine love of Octavia Butler, both as a person and as a writer is evident throughout the pages of this book. This is a wonderful introduction to an author that readers might not know a lot about. 

Biography          Mary McEndree, Lehigh Valley Regional Charter Academy

YA – Great or Nothing

McCullough, Joy, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, Jessica Spotsword. Great or Nothing. Delacorte Press, 2022. 978-0-593-37259-3. $18.88. 393 p. Grades 7-10.

Louisa May Alcott’s four March sisters have entered the 20th century, circa 1943. Beth has died, and the family struggles to cope with the overwhelming sadness of this loss. Marmee distracts her grief with committees and charitable works; Father, next-door neighbor, Theodore Laurence, and teacher John Brooks go off to fight the war; and the three young women are split apart. Four talented authors take on the personas of the classic characters, and each chapter recounts that character’s experiences against the backdrop of World War II. Beth’s voice in verse reflects her omniscient view of each of her sisters. Meg decides to stay close to home, dedicated to teaching at her former high school, but is so lonely, she concedes to pal around with an insipid but wealthy former classmate which results in revelatory consequences. After rebuffing Laurie’s unexpected marriage proposal, Jo goes off to Hartford, Connecticut, to work in a munitions factory and live in a boarding house with other female workers and pursue her writing. When she meets Charlie–Charlotte–a war journalist, Jo starts to come to terms with her sexual identity. Under the pretense of studying art in Montreal, Amy instead takes on a false identity and ships off with the Red Cross to minister to the morale of soldiers with coffee and doughnuts in London, England. There, she encounters prejudice and discrimination foreign to her upbringing, as well as the promise of true love. This contemporary spin on the classic Little Women is an easy read with touches of romance, LBGTQ+, and slang from the forties. Grab yourself a cuppa, curl up in your favorite chair, and hunker down to meet these Little Women.

THOUGHTS: Though four authors take on each of the March sisters, the writing flows smoothly and the writing is fairly even. Beth’s perspective voiced by Joy McCullough was my least favorite.  Reading the prose, characters were more well developed and satisfying. Though the story begins with the March sisters going their separate ways, it ends with the promise of them reuniting. Suggest this novel to lovers of the classic, but those who have never read Little Women will still understand the closeknit March family and the dynamic among the sisters.

Historical Fiction          Bernadette Cooke, School District of Philadelphia

YA – Love Radio

LaDelle, Ebony. Love Radio. Simon & Schuster, 2022. 978-1-665-90815-3. $19.99. 310 p. Grades 9-12.

Danielle Ford’s romantic mother has a big wish for her only child, to experience a great love story. That wish struggles to come true in Ebony LaDelle’s, Love Radio, a debut novel that is as much a homage to the great city of Detroit as it is to first love. High-achieving senior, Dani has been shut off from her friends and dating after a traumatizing sexual encounter with a college boy the previous summer. Keeping this secret from her besties and devoted parents, she buries herself in writing the perfect college essay to get into her dream school, New York University (NYU). When she has an awkward meeting in the library with classmate, Prince Jones, a popular teen disc jockey and local radio personality (DJLove Jones) who mixes love advice with music, she makes an assumption she regrets and wants to rectify. Told in alternating voices, the romance between Prince and Dani is enchanting. Prince shows a maturity beyond his years, perhaps because he has accepted much of the responsibility of taking care of his seven-year-old brother Mookie and household duties since his single mother received her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Prince has fallen hard for the guarded Dani and is determined to make her fall in love with him in five dates. After inviting himself over to her comfortable home to take out her braids, he plans two movie-worthy dates to a roller rink and bookstore. Dani starts to open up, reconnect with her friends, and dissolve her writer’s block. When she reciprocates with one equally perfect date to the Motown Museum, though, their intimacy triggers bad memories and she breaks it off with Prince. As Dani faces her trauma, she has the support of loving parents and patient friends as well as the therapy of writing unsent letters to her literary idols, Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou. Prince, too, acknowledges his need to suppress his dreams because of his home obligations and, with help, makes a plan for his future. Both characters come to realize that they are surrounded by a network of loving people who will support and help them achieve their goals. Characters are African-American.

THOUGHTS: Students in the mood for a dreamy romance will eat up this book. The author has an ear for teen dialogue and is from Michigan. Any readers familiar with Detroit will recognize the branding of different places (if I am ever in Detroit, I’m heading for that Dutch Girl Donuts) and the description of the neighborhoods. Dani and Prince are so wise; the thoughtful dates are out of this world; the child to parent relationships are so close. Though the romance doesn’t play out physically much, Dani’s traumatic encounter occurs when she a friend takes her to a frat house where she barely escapes date rape. After several dates, Dani leads Prince to her bedroom and encourages a sexual encounter, but Prince is reluctant to proceed. The portrayal of family is warm and loving, especially the way Prince helps out his sick mother. Though the letters to literary idols seem to be a critical link to Dani’s recovery from trauma, the book names Dani’s idols as Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Roxane Gay, Jesmyn Ward in the beginning chapter, but she only focuses on Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou. One of Dani’s friends is sick of appropriation and plans a hair fashion show. Lots of references to music. Some bad language. For those who are sticklers, the timeline is a little wonky: would college kids be on campus in the summer? (maybe).

Realistic Fiction          Bernadette Cooke, School District of Philadelphia

MG – Inquire and Investigate (Series NF)

Inquire and Investigate. Nomad Press, 2021. $17.95 ea. $71.80 set of 4. 128 p. Grades 6-9.

Danneberg, Julie. The Science of Fashion. 978-1-64741-027-8.
Danneberg, Julie. The Science of Weather and Climate. 978-1-61930-850-3.
Taylor, Daian C. The Science of Natural Disasters. 978-1-61930-858-9.
Wood, Matthew Brendon. The Science of Science Fiction. 978-1-61930-470-3.

Science, especially STEM, is a hot topic in all educational institutions. This set of four books reveals the science behind topics such as fashion, science fiction, and natural disasters. This reviewer had the opportunity to read The Science of Fashion. Each chapter, six in total, is chock full of information, comics, experiments, photos, facts, and timelines. The author makes sure to include the science behind textiles, design, accessories, and even color. Another interesting feature in each chapter is the QR codes leading to primary sources on the topic discussed on the page. Throughout the book, the author prompts thinking and encourages the reader to work through the engineering design process. Perhaps the most interesting chapter explains how fast fashion causes damage to the environment but with science and engineering, sustainable, environment-friendly fashion is possible. Back matter includes a glossary, metric conversions, resources, and an index.

THOUGHTS: The titles in this collection would be a good purchase for a library serving upper middle grade students. These books also would serve as an instructional tool in a science, engineering, or even a consumer science classroom.

746.9 Engineering and Technology           Danielle Corrao, Manheim Central SD

Elem./MG – The Beatryce Prophecy

DiCamillo, Kate. The Beatryce Prophecy.Illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Candlewick Press, 2021. 978-1-536-21361-4. $19.99. 247 p. Grades 3-8.

“There will one day come a girl child who will unseat a king and bring about a great change,” reads the fearsome prophecy which the reader soon discovers is The Beatryce Prophecy. This magical story involves a bald, brave girl in monk’s robes; a gentle monk named Brother Edik who hands out maple candies; a slip of a boy, Jack Dory, orphaned by thieves and nurtured by an old woman—now deceased—Granny Bibspeak; a laughing, runaway king, Cannoc; and a wayward, stubborn but loyal goat, Answelica. Brother Edik comes upon a sickly Beatryce with her goat companion and nurses the girl back to health. He well knows the prophecy and when he discovers Beatryce can read and write, thanks to the foresight of her parents, he protects her by shaving her locks and disguising her as a monk. Twelve-year-old Jack Dory gets dispensed to the Brothers of the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing to fetch a monk who can record the last words of a dying soldier and returns with Beatryce and Answelica with the strong directive from the monastery’s abbot not to return. Beatryce, though, cannot stomach the soldier’s confession and abandons the task. She and Jack Dory find themselves in the dangerous dark forest where they meet the jovial Cannoc who eventually tells them he once walked away from the gruesome responsibility of being the king. They seek safety from the king who threatens Beatryce’s life in Cannoc’s cozy tree- trunk home and are soon joined by Brother Edik. When Beatryce is abducted, the remaining four (the goat is included) vow to rescue her. A proverb comes to mind, Pride goes before a fall. The foolish king and his sinister counselor choose murder and lies to soothe their fragile pride: They cannot accept that a girl can read and write at a time when, as Brother Edik tell her, “Only men of God can read, and the king. And tutors and counselors. The people do not know their letters” (140). At its root, The Beatryce Prophecy is a simple good vs. evil story. But simply written it is not. Can any other author repeat a phrase or line with more meaning than Kate DiCamillo? DiCamillo illuminates this unenlightened world with characters who radiate kindness, goodness, and joy. They also turn out to be the strong ones. Perhaps The Beatryce Prophecy is a feminist story, but it is also a story of courage and friendship. In the capable hands of this author, the reader is ever more convinced that what makes the difference in people’s lives is love. . .and stories.

THOUGHTS: As a vehicle for teaching language and imagery, an example of characterization and plot development, The Beatryce Prophecy is a key tool. The story sweeps you up and the words envelope you. A good read aloud.

Historical Fiction          Bernadette Cooke  SD Philadelphia

Elem. – Poem in My Pocket

Tougas, Chris. Poem in My Pocket. Kids Can Press. 978-1-525-30145-2. 32 p. $16.99. Grades K-3. 

A young writer stows a poem in her pocket but her pocket has a hole, and the words tumble out, bouncing down steps and swirling in the breeze. She tries desperately to gather the words and recreate her poem, but instead, the words mix with street signs and storefronts and advertisements. Her words combine with others to create new puns, funny sayings, and inspirational messages. Thunder clouds roll in, and the rain pushes her words into the muddy ground. She fears they are lost forever, but her words become seeds of thought that grow into a poetree. The girl realizes these new words might be even better than her original ones, proving that a little revision can sometimes be a good thing. Vibrant digital illustrations, sprinkled with runaway words from the girl’s poem, depict a bustling city filled with multicultural inhabitants. Backmatter includes information about National Poetry Month in April. Each April, one day is also designated as Poem in Your Pocket Day, and people participate by selecting a poem, carrying it with them, and sharing it with others. The book’s final page also includes a list of websites students can visit for more information about Poetry Month and Poem in Your Pocket Day. Tougas also challenges students to look back through the story and locate as many rhyming words as possible, and a list of all the pairs is included on the book’s final page as well.

THOUGHTS: Although this title is especially appropriate for sharing during April, students will enjoy the lighthearted wordplay and illustrations any time of year. This book might also serve as a stepping stone, encouraging students to try their hand at creating their own poems and to have fun with words.

Poetry          Anne Bozievich, Southern York County SD

Elem. – A Book for Escargot

Slater, Dashka. A Book for Escargot. Farrah Straus Giroux, 2020. 978-0-374-31286-2. 40 p. $16.99. Grades PreK-2.

Escargot wants to cook something new, so he’s at the library looking for a French cookbook. As he travels to the cookbook section, he chats with the reader about their favorite books and questions why no book has a snail hero (there are dog heroes and flamingo astronauts, but no snails :-(. Escargot decides that the reader should write a heroic snail tale, and he will help. He explains that writing a book is like following a recipe, “Add the ingredients, mix them together, and voila! A perfect story!” (12).  As Escargot leads the reader through the heroic snail tale, he gets to the cookbook section and finds The Art of French Cooking. He thinks about what he will learn to cook, green beans, a soufflé, or ratatouille, but first Escargot must get to the book. He “flies” down to enact the resolution of the story he is writing with the reader: find a recipe so that he is no longer bored with salad, but as he flips through the recipes Escargot comes across a recipe for escargot. He is worried that a French chef will see him and decide to make escargot, so Escargot eats the recipe so that no one can cook him!

THOUGHTS: This is an adorable story and fabulous read-aloud! I love the breakdown of the fourth wall and inclusion of the reader in the story. Each page allows for conversation between reader and listener and Escargot. The use of French terms provides a basic introduction and may encourage readers to learn more French. The illustrations are gorgeous and combine old (watercolors and pencil/crayon) with new (digital) to give the book a true feeling of being one with the story. I loved A Book for Escargot, and I can’t wait for more from Dashka Slater and Escargot.

Picture Book          Erin Bechdel, Beaver Area SD