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Articles by Sarah Rettger
Review of The Shrew Detective: The Case of the Pilfered Pearls
The Shrew Detective: The Case of the Pilfered Pearls by Margi Preus; illus. by Junyi Wu Primary, Intermediate Amulet/Abrams 128 pp.
Review of Strays
Strays by Gia Gordon Intermediate, Middle School Farrar 272 pp. 6/26 9780374393588 $18.99 Most days, sixth grader Campbell comes home after school to a take-out dinner and a silent, withdrawn father. A former firefighter (he quit after failing to save someone’s life), he works as the county animal control director and is responsible for euthanizing animals not adopted after three days. So when Campbell sees a dog dumped from a van, she fears for its life.
Review of Evamar
Evamar by Margarita Engle Middle School, High School Atheneum 272 pp. 7/26 9781665988070 $19.99 Before she died, Evamar’s abuelita requested that the New Jersey seventeen-year-old take sunflower seeds infused with her ashes to spread in her homeland, Cuba. Evamar and her brother make the trip in the summer of 2024. Río, one of their guides in Cuba, also narrates some sections; a Dreamer recently deported from Florida, Río, now eighteen, is eager to find a way back to the States.
Review of Wolf’s Belly
Wolf’s Belly by John August; illus. by Simón Estrada Intermediate, Middle School Roaring Brook 320 pp. 7/26 9781250875228 $23.99 This clever, multilayered graphic novel reimagines “Little Red Riding Hood” through a fractured-fairy-tale lens. Lu, the overlooked youngest daughter of a family of prodigies—including a daring balloonist father, a legendary swordswoman mother, and siblings distinguished as inventors, artisans, and performers—yearns to step out of their shadow.
Review of Together We See
Together We See by Ari Tison High School Farrar 320 pp. 6/26 9780374389512 $20.99 Seventeen-year-old Ulá and her father, Andres, have had a strained relationship since her parents divorced and he moved from Wisconsin back to the Bribri reservation in Costa Rica. Her father is a Native land activist, and Ulá believes his work is all that he cares about. When Andres dies unexpectedly, Ulá returns to Costa Rica with her brother, Kabék, to honor him according to Bribri tradition.
Review of How to Lose Yourself Completely
How to Lose Yourself Completely by Peter Bognanni High School Balzer + Bray/Macmillan 352 pp. 6/26 9781250409348 $20.99 High school student Case grapples with significant anxiety that has been exacerbated by the sudden death of his beloved older brother, Sean. Case’s parents send him on an “Adventure Therapy” trip, designed to help kids like him find strategies to cope with their anxious thoughts.
Review of We Became Wild
We Became Wild by H. D. Carver High School Norton 400 pp. 6/26 9781324124979 $18.99 As this engrossing novel opens, seventeen-year-old Val is on a mountain, drinking, distraught, and trying to take some comfort from nature. Then, in a fatal accident, she loses her footing and falls off the mountain. Her death stirs up the already complicated relationships among those who knew her, along with unsettling realizations of how much some of them didn’t know.
Review of Song of the Saltings
Song of the Saltings by Rachael King Middle School, High School McElderry 336 pp. 5/26 9781665984331 $19.99 Every third year on the island of Brack, a child, selected by lottery, is sacrificed to an enormous sea serpent to ensure abundant crops and livestock for the village. Then, one year, Lotta is chosen but survives when her horse is taken instead. Now Lotta can hear the song that rises up through the earth, and she calls on it to free a mare caught in a peat bog.
Review of The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue
The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh High School Little, Brown 368 pp. 6/26 9780316351942 $19.99 In this moving contemporary novel with touches of magical realism, high school senior Jihad transfers from a public school in Queens to Braxton Academy on the Upper East Side, where most students are wealthy and white and where she stands out as the only Muslim.
Review of Holloway
Holloway by Elana K. Arnold High School Clarion/HarperCollins 352 pp. 5/26 9780062990884 $19.99 After her anti-vax mother dies of COVID-19, Nora travels from the U.S. to France to scatter her ashes at the setting of Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of la Grande Jatte, a painting that meant much to both of them. Nora’s pilgrimage takes her far beyond Paris and ultimately through a holloway—a sunken lane—and into 1946.
Review of The Book of Jupiter
The Book of Jupiter by Robin Stevenson Middle School Kids Can 220 pp. 6/26 9781525313028 $19.99 Stevenson’s storytelling shines in this coming-of-age novel about a girl whose cloistered existence comes undone. Thirteen-year-old Ara and her older brother, Leo, live in the isolated community of Jupiter Station.
Review of Listen to the Girls
Listen to the Girls by Chrystal D. Giles Middle School Random 256 pp. 5/26 9780593651711 $17.99 Smart, responsible rising eighth grader Calla Howard is looking forward to a summer of fun and relaxation. But that plan is cut short when she discovers that her favorite teacher, Mr. Chavis, has been accused of inappropriate conduct toward students at his previous school.
Review of An Expanse of Blue
An Expanse of Blue by Kauakanilehua Māhoe Adams High School Heartdrum/HarperCollins 464 pp. 5/26 9780063417953 $19.99 Seventeen-year-old Aouli Elizabeth Smith, a Native Hawaiian girl living in Washington State, doesn’t fit in. Unlike her perfect-seeming sister, Aouli is constantly getting into trouble and being reprimanded by their strict, demanding father. Her already unstable foundation shatters when she discovers that Dad is having an affair.
Review of Ghost in the Night
Ghost in the Night by Tiffany D. Jackson Intermediate, Middle School Scholastic 288 pp. 8/26 9798225017477 $18.99 After the death of her grandmother and primary caregiver six months ago, twelve-year-old Harmony goes on the road with her father, a traveling blues musician. Their latest stop in Savannah, Georgia, sets the stage for a haunting mystery.
Review of The Edge of Forever
The Edge of Forever by Meghan P. Browne Intermediate, Middle School Feiwel 288 pp. 5/26 9781250410962 $18.99 After her father’s death, twelve-year-old Maisie McMeans is spending the summer at her aunt Gertie’s ranch in Heaven, Texas, while her mother heads to rehab in Arizona. Maisie is initially skeptical about farm chores and rural life but comes to find plenty to like about being a free-range kid in a small town.
Review of The Sweet Spot
The Sweet Spot by Elaine Vickers Intermediate Peachtree 224 pp. 5/26 9781682637746 $18.99 As the third William Henry Roberts in his family, Trip thinks a lot about his legacy, and he’s pretty sure it’s baseball. The book opens with Trip anticipating his final season of Little League—as team captain, playing on his father’s old team—just as his Marine dad heads off on deployment. His excitement fades when it turns out that new player Sam is a girl.
Review of The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story
The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri Intermediate, Middle School Levine/Levine Querido 192 pp. 9/25 9781646145669 $18.99 Nayeri’s stirring historical novel—emotionally rich, suspenseful, and profound—sheds light on a lesser-known front of World War II: Iran, a neutral country occupied by both British and Soviet forces. Thirteen-year-old Babak and his younger sister, Sana, have been recently orphaned and are facing separation.
Review of The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli
The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser; illus. by the author Intermediate, Middle School Allida/HarperCollins 432 pp. 9/25 9780063284432 $19.99 Make space on your shelf for this delectable, suspenseful adventure spanning more than a thousand years. Eleven-year-old Luli Lee lives in 1930s New York City, in the tightly knit Chinatown neighborhood. Her family hopes to own their building, a seemingly unachievable goal during the Depression.
Review of Stella & Marigold: Mermaids and Mix-Ups
Stella & Marigold: Mermaids and Mix-Ups by Annie Barrows; illus. by Sophie Blackall Primary, Intermediate Chronicle 116 pp. 9/25 9781797219714 $15.99 Big sister Stella and little sister Marigold make a welcome return to the page with their own brand of sibling affection. The humor, energy, and poignancy of the first book (Stella & Marigold, rev. 9/24) hinged on their frequent, and entirely plausible, misunderstandings of the adult world, and they are still at it.
Review of Reasons to Hate Me
Reasons to Hate Me by Susan Metallo High School Candlewick 400 pp. 9/25 9781536240351 $18.99 High school senior Jess finds herself a pariah when her best friend Chloe’s boyfriend, Noah, sends a school-wide text claiming that she tried “to have sex with me.” Now Jess and Chloe aren’t speaking, and Chloe’s new friends bully Jess at every turn.
Review of Defanged
Defanged by H.E. Edgmon Middle School Feiwel 240 pp. 9/25 9781250874009 $17.99 Lux Priddy has always considered himself a good vampire who doesn’t make trouble for others, unlike those scary, violent vampires rumored to live in an underground society called Nox Urbus. In theory, he should be fine with being Defanged, a procedure pioneered by the organization Vampirism Sucks to “cure” vampirism.
Review of The Unexpected Lives of Ordinary Girls
The Unexpected Lives of Ordinary Girls by J. Anderson Coats Middle School Atheneum 272 pp. 9/25 9781665968614 $17.99 In 1910 small-town Colorado, Stanislava’s plan for getting out of her Slovene immigrant community—going by the “American name” of Sylvia, concealing her heritage to avoid discrimination, and one day going to college—comes to an abrupt halt when her older sister, Stina, runs away to get married.
The Horn Book | Review of Birdy
Birdy by N. West Moss Intermediate Ottaviano/Little, Brown 288 pp. 2/26 9780316446419 $17.99 Eleven-year-old Birdy and her younger brother, Mouse, leave New York City to live with distant cousins upstate after their mother’s death. Birdy is skeptical of the elderly Mitzie and Shadow because of their advanced age, their rural location, her own complicated grieving, and her longstanding role as Mouse’s protector.
Review of Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story
Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story by Sarah Myer; illus. by the author High School First Second 272 pp. 6/23 9781250268792 $25.99 Paper ed. 9781250268808 $17.99 e-book ed. 9781250337238 $11.99 Myer’s graphic memoir is a welcome transracial adoption story told from the adoptee’s point of view. Adopted from South Korea by a white couple, Sarah (who now uses they/them pronouns) basically knows nothing about their birth parents and wonders: “Did they WANT me?
Review of I’m Gonna Paint: Ralph Fasanella, Artist of the People
I’m Gonna Paint: Ralph Fasanella, Artist of the People by Anne Broyles; illus. by Victoria Tentler-Krylov Primary, Intermediate Holiday 48 pp. 10/23 9780823450060 $18.99 e-book ed. 9780823457380 $11.99 In this engaging and child-friendly overview of Fasanella’s (1914–1997) life and evolution as a self-taught, working-class artist, Broyles highlights the man’s “rambunctious,” resilient, and independent nature, even as a child.
Review of Thank You, Moon: Celebrating Nature’s Nightlight
Thank You, Moon: Celebrating Nature’s Nightlight by Melissa Stewart; illus. by Jessica Lanan Primary Knopf 48 pp. 10/23 9780593435076 $18.99 Library ed. 9780593435083 $21.99 e-book ed. 9780593435090 $11.99 An offstage narrator speaks directly to the moon, expressing thanks for the light it provides, and sometimes doesn’t, to the inhabitants of Earth at night.
Review of Coretta’s Journey: The Life and Times of Coretta Scott King
Coretta’s Journey: The Life and Times of Coretta Scott King by Alice Faye Duncan; illus. by R. Gregory Christie Intermediate Calkins/Astra 48 pp. 9/23 9781662680045 $18.99 e-book ed. 9781662680052 $11.99 In a sophisticated, poetic picture-book biography, Duncan alternates double-page spreads featuring prose or poems in a variety of forms that highlight Coretta Scott King’s accomplishments.
Review of The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity
The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity by Nicholas Day; illus. by Brett Helquist Intermediate, Middle School Random House Studio/Random 288 pp. 9/23 9780593643846 $19.99 Library ed. 9780593643853 $22.99 e-book ed. 9780593643860 $11.99 The Mona Lisa wasn’t the world’s most famous painting when it disappeared from the Louvre in 1911.
Review of Glitter Everywhere!: Where It Came From, Where It’s Found & Where It’s Going
Glitter Everywhere!: Where It Came From, Where It’s Found & Where It’s Going by Chris Barton; illus. by Chaaya Prabhat Primary Charlesbridge 48 pp. 6/23 9781623542528 $19.99 Barton explores glitter, a source of fascination (and frustration), diving into the science, history, and entrepreneurship that created the material we know today.
Review of 83 Days in Mariupol: A War Diary
83 Days in Mariupol: A War Diary by Don Brown; illus. by the author High School Clarion/HarperCollins 128 pp. 5/23 9780063311565 $22.99 e-book ed. 9780063311589 $10.99 Here’s a rare chronicle of a contemporary, ongoing war. This comic-format “war diary” isn’t told from the viewpoint of any one person, although individual perspectives are plentifully represented and woven throughout the narrative in a cohesive fashion.
Review of The Book of Turtles
The Book of Turtles by Sy Montgomery; illus. by Matt Patterson Primary, Intermediate Clarion/HarperCollins 40 pp. 5/23 9780358458074 $19.99 “Sometime around 240 million years ago—about the time of the first dinosaurs, and 9 million years before the first crocodile—the shell invented the turtle.” With this cheekily thought-provoking opening sentence, acclaimed science writer Montgomery introduces turtles to young readers.
An interview with Linda Gerdner
Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict SKIP IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict SKIP IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict GET IT Our Verdict SKIP IT Profiles Kaushik’s Storybook Deals With Adult-Size Feelings Profiles Julia Sullivan Is a Voice for Outsiders Profiles Hail to America’s Storyteller-in-Chief Profiles Fall YA Preview 2023: Danielle Paige...
Review of Not a Monster
Not a Monster by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez; illus. by Laura González Primary Charlesbridge 32 pp. 5/23 9781623543037 $17.99 e-book ed. 9781632899446 $9.99 In this picture book, Martínez seamlessly blends legend and science to expand readers’ understanding of axolotls.
Review of West of the Sea
West of the Sea by Stephanie Willing Intermediate Viking 352 pp. 8/23 9780593465578 $18.99 e-book ed. 9780593465592 $10.99 Haven West doesn’t understand why her mother is always disappearing—either outside or into the bathroom—or why she herself sees prehistoric creatures in the Texas desert that surrounds her home, but no one else can.
Review of Half Moon Summer
by Sarah Rettger Jun 26, 2023 | Filed in Book Reviews Drew and Mia met as infants—born on the same day in the same hospital, they stopped crying only when nurses put them in the same bassinet—but grew up... Half Moon Summer by Elaine Vickers Intermediate, Middle School Peachtree 288 pp. 6/23 9781682635391 $17.99 e-book ed.
Review of The Islands of Elsewhere
by Sarah Rettger Jun 26, 2023 | Filed in Book Reviews The three Snolly sisters, their infant brother, and their mother are spending the summer at the coastal home of their grandfather, whose dementia is... The Islands of Elsewhere by Heather Fawcett Intermediate Rocky Pond/Penguin 224 pp. 6/23 9780593530528 $17.99 e-book ed.
An Interview with Lucky Ringwood
“My favorite literary characters are endearing and flawed,” says novelist Lucky Ringwood, listing Emma Bovary, Anna Karenina, and Sister Carrie as some of her top picks, while she considers Nurse Ratched “the most compelling villain ever created.” Why do they appeal to her? “That’s how people are,” she says. “You kind of like them, but you kind of hate them too.” Ringwood’s characters in her debut novel, Desert Prophets, are all endearing and have plenty of imperfections.
Review of The In-Between
by Sarah Rettger May 29, 2023 | Filed in Book Reviews In this memoir in verse, Van Heidrich recalls the time when her family, whose housing situation had always been precarious, experienced homelessness.... The In-Between by Katie Van Heidrich Middle School Aladdin/Simon 304 pp. 1/23 9781665920124 $18.99 e-book ed. 9781665920148 $10.99 In this memoir in verse, Van Heidrich recalls the time when her family, whose housing situation had always been precarious, experienced homelessness.
An Interview with Jan Kelly
Jan Kelly is a lifelong Arizona resident, and she wants readers to understand the state’s long history and complex geography. “A lot of people think of Arizona as the iconic desert and the saguaro cactus,” she says, but through her series of novels, the sixth volume of which was just published, she has been able to share many of the lesser-known aspects of the state.
An Interview with Xuemei Zhong
When Xuemei Zhong left her lab at Boston University’s medical school behind to become a coach for burned-out medical professionals, she realized it was not just a turning point for her career, but for medicine as a whole.
An interview with Alex Grass
Alex Grass thinks that, on some level, he was always destined to become a horror novelist. “Everything makes sense now,” he says. “When I was in the midst of it, it did not.” His path to becoming a novelist included time in law school, a passion for weightlifting, and a close relationship with his family, especially his three younger brothers.
An Interview With Kelly Vincent
Retta, the protagonist of Finding Frances, Kelly Vincent’s 2020 young adult novel, knows that something is off with her overprotective mother. After years of home schooling, Retta is starting classes at her local high school. But her mother keeps her on a tight leash, and Retta’s getting home from school late can send her into hysterics.
An Interview with Lee Woodman
“I’m a global citizen,” says poet Lee Woodman. “I think all my books reflect that.” Woodman was born in the United States and moved to France at the age of 2. Her family later moved to India, where her father worked for the State Department and the Ford Foundation, and her mother opened a ballet school; Woodman lived there until she returned to the U.S. as a teenager.
Review of The Prisoner of Shiverstone
by Jonathan Hunt May 10, 2022 | Filed in Book Reviews This debut graphic novel introduces readers to Helga Sharp, a unique and entertaining iteration of the plucky heroine. Tired of boarding school, Helga... The Prisoner of Shiverstone by Linette Moore; illus. by the author Intermediate Amulet/Abrams 160 pp. g 4/22 978-1-41974-391-7 $24.99 Paper ed. 978-1-41974-392-4 $14.99 e-book ed.
Review of Sir Ladybug and Sir Ladybug and the Queen Bee
by Laura Koenig May 04, 2022 | Filed in Book Reviews A gentle but fiercely loyal ladybug knight is joined by his faithful herald (a roly-poly bug who gets a little nervous sometimes but loves to loudly t... Sir Ladybug by Corey R. Tabor; illus. by the author Primary Balzer + Bray/HarperAlley/HarperCollins 72 pp. g 3/22 978-0-06-306906-0 $12.99 e-book ed. 978-0-06-306908-4 $7.99 Sir Ladybug and the Queen Bee by Corey R. Tabor; illus.
An Interview With Matt Rosas
A Texan Shares His Love for New Orleans in an Emotion-Driven Novella Matt Rosas ended up in New Orleans by chance. He took a job with the retailer Dillard’s, not knowing where the company would send him. “They said, ‘If you accept the job, we’re going to move you somewhere. You don’t know where it’s going to be. You have to sign and say yes.’ I said, ‘OK.’ ” Dillard’s sent the Texas native to Louisiana, where he spent six years. “I loved it, until I was ready to come home,” he says.
An Interview With Joshua Senter | Kirkus Reviews
A Television Writer Turns to Novels for the First Time Last year was a challenge for Joshua Senter. As a television screenwriter, he was looking forward to getting back to work in 2020 after a lengthy dispute between the Writers Guild of America and the agencies that represent screenwriters. “Then Covid happened, and everything shut down again,” he says. With opportunities limited in Hollywood, and with a story he felt he needed to tell, he started writing prose instead of screenplays.
An interview with Jacqueline Friedland
A lawyer-turned-writer probes the complex nature of parenthood Jacqueline Friedland’s new book was inspired by a quirk of biology: a gestational surrogate—a person carrying an embryo created from a donor egg and sperm and in no way related to the carrier—can become pregnant after the donor embryo is implanted. They end up giving birth to two babies who seem to be twins but are completely unrelated to each other.
An interview with Charles Souby
Charles Souby knows that his experiences in music and acting have shaped his writing career as well as his life in general. “I studied jazz composition and theory,” he says, which introduced him to the concept of “developing a coherent theme.” Leaving theory behind, he spent years as a street musician in San Francisco, playing a five-string banjo. The years of street performing inspired his semiautobiographical novel A Shot of Malaria. “That book is really dear to my heart,” Souby says.
An Interview with Stephanie Alexander
Tipsy, the protagonist of Stephanie Alexander’s latest novel, Charleston Green, was not named after Alexander’s dog. “The character named Tipsy came first,” she says. “I just loved this character so much,” and like the book’s Tipsy, a newly divorced artist whose supernatural abilities allow her to connect with ghosts, “the dog is very quirky too.” However, the connections between Alexander’s life and her latest novel go beyond character and pet names.
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