Hello, dear readers! If you’re here, it’s probably because you care about quality books for kids and teens, and if so – please read on!
It’s a time of year that I look forward to with anticipation and a little bit of anxiety every year – Cybils Nominations time! I love seeing what books everyone else is excited enough about to nominate for awards, and to reading the books in my category. And I get a little nervous because there are so many excellent books published every year. As the category chair for Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, I want every one of those excellent eligible books to be nominated. Right now there are over 250 eligible books on the Cybils Goodreads EMG Spec Fic shelf; last year, we had not quite 100 books nominated. Okay, that’s still a lot to read before December – but that’s still a lot of books left out.
You can help!! Check out the Reader Nomination Time post from the Cybils to see the eligibility requirements, how to vote, and what’s already been nominated. As we get closer to the deadline, I’ll post more about books that I’ve read that I want to be nominated, and books I want to be nominated so that I can read them.
Before I get started, just a reminder – if you’re reading this on or before September 7, 2024, you still have a little bit of time to apply to be a Cybils judge! I found many of the books below reading them for the Cybils or because they were Cybils finalists.
Several months ago (time got away from me), my parents brought a Nigerian grad student over to my sister’s house for dinner. As is usual for me, the topic of books came up, and it turned out that she hadn’t heard of any of the Nigerian-based fantasy books I’d read. I passed my copy of Daughters of Nri, one of the few of these books that I owned personally, on to her and promised her a list. I’m hoping that I’m just scratching the surface of what’s out there, so if you have any recommendations, please mention them in the comments. I haven’t read enough adult Nigerian-based fantasy to recommend anyone but Nnedi Okorafor, so if you have, again, please comment!
Middle Grade
Abeni’s Songby P. Djèlí Clark – Abeni must learn magic from a witch she doesn’t trust to save the other children of her village, who have all been called away by a mysterious piper.
Adia Kelbara and the Circle of Shamans by Isi Hendrix – Orphan Adia has always wanted to learn magic, but her aunt and uncle follow the new religion of the Bright Father and think she’s cursed. She runs away to work at the traditional school of magic – where things aren’t much better.
Children of the Quicksands by Efua Tratore – Simi has grown up in modern Lagos, so she’s shocked when she must move in with her grandmother in a rural village. Then she hears stories of the goddess Oshun, and children trapped forever in the nearby quicksand.
Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor – Nnami is filled with rage over his father’s unsolved murder. A year after his death, his father’s spirit gives him an Ikenga, a powerful statue, which gives Nnami superhero powers. But a superhero powered by rage is dangerous indeed.
Onyeka and the Academy of the Sunby Tọlá Okogwu – Living in England, Onyeka has always been told that her hair is too big, and too much. Then her hair magically saves her life, which brings her to the attention of a high-tech magical school in Nigeria.
Tristan Strong books by Kwame Mbalia – this series from Rick Riordan’s imprint involve a modern-day kid caught up in adventures with the gods and heroes of West African and African-American folklore. It has won many awards and deserves them.
Teen
Akata Witchby Nnedi Okorafor – Sunny, who is albino, learns when she moves back to Nigeria after growing up in the US that her difference gives her magical powers. Soon, she and other magical teens are joined in a coven to stop the evil magician who is murdering children. This was the first Nigerian-based fantasy I ever read, and I still love it.
Children of Blood and Boneby Tomi Adeyemi – In a West Africa of mythic past, siblings Zélie and Tzain fight to preserve magic in the face of a government determined to wipe it out. Filled with gods and traditions of Nigeria, forbidden romance, and lots of blood.
Daughters of Nri by Reni K. Amayo – Two twins, separated at birth – one raised in a small village and the other in the palace – both believing they’re human. But they are goddesses, and they will need to discover themselves and each other to end the violence that started when the gods left the earth.
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna – When 16-year-old Deka bleeds gold instead of red at her coming-of-age ceremony, she’s recruited to join an army of other girls like herself to fight monsters attacking the empire. This Cybils finalist has lots of military strategy and battle scenes with limited romance.
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (Link to a review at Falling Letters, as I still need to read this one.) “Raised in isolation, Tarisai yearns for the closeness she could have as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11, but her mother, The Lady, has magically compelled Tarisai to kill the Crown Prince.”
The call for Cybils panelists is open now through September 7, 2024! It takes a lot of people to make these wonderful awards work, and you can be part of it! If you love books and post about them regularly, you can apply. Read all about the requirements!
I have been a Round 1 Panelist on the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction panel for almost a decade. This is my first year as Category Chair. I have kept doing it all these years because I really enjoy it, and I think you would enjoy it, too! As a round 1 panelist, there are usually about 100 books nominated (some of which you’ll already have read because you love the genre) and we’ll need at least two panelists reading all of them. As a round 2 judge, you’ll need to read all 7 seven finalists.
Here are my top six reasons to apply to be a Cybils judge today:
Elementary and middle grade speculative fiction is the most fun category in my very biased opinion! Fantasy and science fiction take us out of the mundane while at the same time letting us explore contemporary issues through a very different lens, and middle grade fiction tends to do this through an overall belief in good that’s often lacking in adult literature.
You will gain broad and deep knowledge of the middle grade fantasy and sci-fi being published right now, whether you want to help kids find their perfect book or are reading for your own satisfaction.
This will lead to you discovering new favorite authors! I wish I’d kept a list – but there are so many authors I now follow whose books I first discovered through my Cybils reading.
You’ll be able to discuss your real thoughts on these books in a private forum with other book lovers (including me!), which will lead to
Making new book-loving friends who share your favorite genre!
You will have a really, really good reason to make lots of guilt-free time to read.
…There are of course other categories of the Cybils that you could also apply for, including YA Speculative Fiction if you prefer the teen drama and romance!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments or directly! I would love to have you apply especially for my category, and will be grateful in a more general sense if you apply for any of the Cybils categories.
As I’ve mentioned before, I really loved Eden Royce’s Root Magic, and her Conjure Island was one of my personal favorites from last year as well as being one of the Cybils finalists. I’m very excited to share her newest book with you today!
The Creepening of Dogwood House by Eden Royce
Walden Pond Press, 2024
ISBN 9780063251403
Review copy read via Netgalley
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Walter Award Honor–winning author of Root Magic returns with a terrifying story in the Southern Gothic tradition, inspired by the hoodoo practice of hair burning.
At night, Roddie still dreams of sitting at his mother’s feet while she braids his Afro down. But that’s a memory from before. Before his mom died in a tragic accident. Before he was taken in by an aunt he barely knows. Before his aunt brought him to Dogwood House, the creepiest place Roddie has ever seen. It was his family’s home for over a hundred years. Now the house—abandoned and rotting, draped in Spanish moss that reminds him too much of hair—is his home too.
Aunt Angie has returned to South Carolina to take care of Roddie and reconnect with their family’s hoodoo roots. Roddie, however, can’t help but feel lost. His mom had never told him anything about hoodoo, Dogwood House, or their family. And as they set about fixing the house up, Roddie discovers that there is even more his mother never said. Like why she left home when she was seventeen, never to return. Or why she insisted Aunt Angie always wear her hair in locs. Or what she knew of the strange secrets hidden deep within Dogwood House—secrets that have awoken again, and are reaching out to Roddie…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eden Royce is a writer from Charleston, SC, now living in the Garden of England. Her debut novel, Root Magic, was a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, an ALA Notable Children’s Book, a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award winner, and a Nebula Award Finalist for outstanding children’s literature. Her latest book, The Creepening of Dogwood House, is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Find her online at edenroyce.com.
MY THOUGHTS
Ms. Royce’s books so far have ranged from very scary, with the worst of the horror coming the humans in Root Magic, to somewhat scary but no real villain in Conjure Island. The Creepening of Dogwood House takes yet another turn, starting out just sad, with slowly building horror of a definitely supernatural variety. If you haven’t found hair terrifying before, you will after reading this book, where the horror spins out of the danger hoodoo finds in shed hair. For those who love old houses, Dogwood House definitely delivers, with ghosts, a floor plan that changes by night, and an old hand-drawn map to guide the way through the changes. Roddy himself is an appealing and believable character as he grieves his mother, tries to make sense of the happenings all around him that defy everything he’s known about the way the world works, and begins to build trust and relationships his new family. Definitely recommended for fans of old houses, ghosts, old traditions proving their worth, and rebuilding after loss.
Kekla Magoon is best known for her award-winning realistic and history books like How it Went Down and Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People. I, however, first read and loved her magical Robyn Hoodlum Adventure series, beginning with Shadows of Sherwood, and was thrilled to see another fantasy from her.
The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon Read by Nekia Renee Martin
Candlewick/Listening Library, 2024.
ISBN 978-1536230888
Listened to audiobook on Libby.
Dally craves a life of adventure – something she had with her late grandfather. Now, though, her mother has all of Dally’s time outside of school scheduled with business lessons, to prepare her to take over the family firm. When her mother refuses to let her join the afterschool Adventure Club, Dally secretly finds and reads the letter her grandfather wrote for her to read after she reached adulthood. Following the clues in the letter, Dally is able to find the Secret Library. Reading this title, you’d be tempted, as I first was, to stress the second word to make it clear that the library is a secret. And the library is a secret, visible only to people who know it’s there and look for it the right way. But the library is also a secret library, housing secrets of people throughout time and across the world. They sit on the shelves in categories like “Family Secrets” and “Hidden for Your Own Good”, looking like books whose size varies based on the length of the secret.
But when taken to the private reading room and opened, the secrets open up into full experiences, taking Dally into her own family’s past. Some of them, like seeing her Black father and white mother meet for the first time, she experiences by herself, sneaking around the edges of the memory without talking to the people in the memory. Some are adventures that last for days, taking her on journeys with a pirate crew, often meeting a boy named Jack just a few years older than Dally. It’s not clear from the beginning how all of these connect to Dally herself, but she’s often having too much of an adventure to do more than wonder. We see points of the past including the 1860s, 1930s, 50s, earlier 2000s, and parts of Dally’s own life from other points of view – those shedding particular light on her mother. By the end of the travels we see, Dally has learned things that make her see her family in a whole new light, some I saw coming and some I didn’t.
The idea is sound one, and the exploration is a lot of fun. I had some issues with the timeline, especially the 1860s pirate ship adventures over a century after the end of the golden age of piracy, as well as lining up the generations. The ending, too, was not at all what I expected, though I won’t say much about that to avoid spoilers. I’ll just say that I wonder if it’s partly me as a mother that really wanted an improved relationship between Dally and her mother that never came. I’m guessing younger readers will have less of an expectation around that. I still really appreciated Dally’s experiencing of herself as a biracial girl in multiple time periods, and looking at different interracial couples over the very long time span she witnesses. There is also a major character who doesn’t go by the gender they were assigned at birth, though the time period is different enough that “trans” doesn’t quite seem to apply. Narrator Nekia Renee Martin read the characters with unique and distinguishable voices – my only gripe was that she consistently said “secret library” when the text clearly said it was a “secret library.” That’s a small complaint for the overall quality of the book, though. I’m still struggling to figure out how I feel about the ending of the book – but I enjoyed the people, adventures, and insights on the way.
As soon as I heard about this book, I was hooked. I’ve enjoyed lots of books by Sarah Beth Durst in the past, but a cozy fantasy starring a librarian – with jam and a sentient plant friend – was absolutely irresistable. I requested it from my library to make sure they would have it, but I definitely want to own it for myself, too. The only question is whether I want the print, the audio, or maybe even both.
TheSpellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Bramble, 2024
ISBN 978-1250333971
Read from a library copy. Ebook and audio available from Libby.
Kiela has loved her life as a librarian in the Great Library of Alyssium. She has the best assistant she’s ever had – Caz, a sentient spider plant – meals delivered, all the book access and interesting research questions she could want. But when revolutionaries actually start burning the library, she and Caz flee with the few crates of spellbooks they’d packed up in one of the library delivery boats. They go to the only place Kiela can think of to go – the remote island of Caltrey, where she lived as a child until her parents decided to move them to the city in hopes of a better life. Now, though, with her parents dead ofr years and the city in flames, a quiet island life seems like the best option.
Kiela doesn’t dislike people, exactly – but she’s always been more comfortable with books than people and is certainly out of practice dealing with them. (This tells public-librarian me that Kiela’s Great Library was much more an academic library, as public libraries are very social places, despite the number of introverted librarians working at them.) She thought she could sneak into her parents’ old cottage and live there unnoticed – but a young and overly friendly neighbor named Larran discovers her on the first day, and keeps showing up, fixing her chimney and bringing her food.
Kiela realizes that she is going to have to people whether she likes it or not and is instantly befriended by the town’s baker, Bryn, whom she later learns also fled a different life to make a home on Caltrey. Even though magic is forbidden for any but trained sorcerers to use, Kiela sees the hardship that the island is suffering as magical overuse in the capital leads to hard storms and failing harvests on Caltrey. She determines to use her magic books to make small spells to help and her parents’ old cookbooks to make jam to earn enough to keep going. Her adventures are both hilarious and filled with wonder as spells go wrong and forest spirits ask for help.
This book, with multicolored, multifantasy people feels like it could be illustrated by Kay O’Neill, with blue-skinned Kiela keeping company with antlered Brynn, a Black centaur lady, and a four-armed harper, among others. The island also has a flying cat population and is known for herding merhorses. Kiela’s journey towards joining the community, not just hiding in the cottage, is slow and satisfying, with experimentation around spells and jam, bad storms, a grouchy village resident, and unwelcome arrivals from off the island providing conflict. While we the readers can tell from the beginning that there’s going to be a romance with Larran, Kiela’s social skills are undeveloped enough that it takes her an endearingly long time to recognize it herself, and suitably for her character, stays at a kisses-only level. I also really appreciated the deeper thoughts on magic and power – who has it and why laws are made around it. With charm, found family, and self-discovery, this is a beautiful comfort read to return to over and over again.
I picked this one up as part of my Cybils summer reading, recommended by fellow panelist Debbie. Adam Gidwitz’s stunning The Inquisitor’s Tale (which won a Newbury Honor and the Sidney Taylor Award, as well as the audiobook winning the Cybils award the one year we had an audiobook category) is a book that still resonates with me. Naturally, I was excited to see this World War II story.
Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz
Dutton Books for Young Readers, 2024.
ISBN 978-0593112083
Read from a library copy. Ebook and audiobook available from Libby.
Before our story opens, we are instructed to forget everything we know about World War II – because the people of 1939 did not know what was coming. Our main character, Max Bretzfeld, is just angry about being sent away from Berlin. Sure, school has gone radically downhill since the Nazi party came into power and started replacing the curriculum with propaganda and open bullying of Jewish students like Max. But he’s never lived anywhere else, and his parents seem a whole lot less competent at survival than he is. We learn in the opening chapter that Max is a genius who can build radios out of scraps – and that two different but identical-looking and outspoken immortal beings, a kobold named Berg and and a dybbuk named Stein, have attached themselves to him.
Max is fortunate enough to wind up in the home of the Montagus, a wealthy Jewish family in London, though it still takes a long time to feel at home and attitudes towards Jews in London are nearly as bad as they were in Berlin. Reactions in his host family towards this vary from trying to fit in to trying to hide – the host brother his own age works hard for a spot on the rugby team, while the younger brother is just a victim of bullies. Max, though, stands up to the bullies and orchestrates elaborate pranks in revenge – managing to harness pigeons to sabotage a much-anticipated school rugby match. When the bombings of London start, Max – now 12 – learns that one of his adoptive uncles is a spy. (The other one is a table tennis fanatic, socialist, and amateur film maker.) From there, he determines to do everything in his power to get trained as a spy himself so that he can check up on his parents and do whatever possible to bring the Nazis down. Just before he is sent off to train as a spy, the socialist host uncle warns him that the British “find a resource and exploit it… We wring it dry, till it’s all used up. Or dead… In this case, Max, you are the resource.” Once in training, Max works with a bunch of old white men and one very energetic young woman on a tight deadline, either to be good enough to be a spy in Germany or to fail and return to his host family and safety.
Talking about World War II from a Jewish perspective for a middle grade audience is something that hasn’t been attempted nearly as often as it should be, most likely because of the daunting nature. Most often, I’d expect something slow and sad. This, while Max definitely has plenty to be sad about, is an adventure story that nevertheless is open about the horrible things being done to Jews, even though Max and his host family don’t know that details and those in power in London don’t at all believe the stories of the worst things happening in Germany. Berg and Stein are mischievous creatures, pulling their own pranks, making commentary that sometimes gives voice to what we as readers might want to say in the situation and often reveals their inhumanity and lack of compassion for the human condition to hilarious effect. Their presence combined with Max’s determination and the support of at least some of the people around keep the story from bogging down despite the grimness of the period. Though we see the world from Max’s perspective, the many perspectives of the world around him also make this a much more nuanced portrait of the time period than we usually see.
Full disclosure: this is the first book in a duology and ends on a cliffhanger, so to experience Max’s adventures after his training, we’ll have to wait until Max in the Land of Lies comes out in 2025. For another excellent speculative World War II middle grade tale, try Hollow Chest by Brita Sandstrom.
I have more fantasy reviews coming up soon – but I wanted to let you know about this upcoming new book from Zen Cho, whose Sorcerer to the Crownis one of my all-time favorites.
The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho
Bramble, 2024
ISBN 978-1250330390
Review copy read via Netgalley.
Renee Goh left her family in Singapore years ago. Now living in London, she has a swanky flat and runs her own successful fashion business, far away from her bullying older brothers and family expectations about the proper place and behavior for a good Asian girl. Her glamorous but tidy world is shaken up when her father calls to ask her to consider taking over the enormous family business, Chahaya, just hours after her secret K-pop boyfriend breaks up with her on what was supposed to be an intimate vacation.
Into this chaos steps Yap Ket Siong, the man who broke her heart when they were both at uni a decade ago. She doesn’t know what he’s doing in London, but his attention is just as focused on her as he was then, and he’s even better looking. But Ket Siong’s life has changed for the worse in those past 10 years. A close family friend in Malaysia went missing – kidnapped very close to their house – when he was protesting the destruction of old-growth forest to make an oil palm plantation. Since then, he’s had to give up his career as a concert pianist to go into hiding with his mother and older brother.
Renee really has her hands full already keeping her own business going andputting together a presentation for a possible project between Chahaya another large Asian company (while keeping the owner’s nephew/ her abusive ex away from putting his hands all over her.) Between that and her recent breakup, she really shouldn’t be starting another relationship. But Ket Siong is so easy to be around – surely it couldn’t hurt if they were just friends, right?
Ket Siong, for his part, has reason to believe that both of the giant corporations Renee is working with have caused major misfortune is his family’s life. Certainly hanging out near someone as high profile as Renee isn’t keeping him off the radar of whoever it was caused their friend’s disappearance. But once again, with life so stressful, how can he stay away from someone who makes him happy?
This is a lot of frothy and moderately steamy fun, with outrageously beautiful, talented, and sometimes very rich people falling for each other. Under that, though, are some serious looks at class, misogyny, and social justice. It’s a winning combination.
I was recently part of a discussion of favorite mythical creatures. While I’m often drawn to dragons, another true answer is that I’ll listen to or read any well-told tale about any mythical creature. Benji Zeb is a Ravenous Werewolf is a contemporary story of magic, Judaism, first crushes and anxiety, while The Selkie’s Daughter is a historical story of identity, family, and survival.
Benji Zeb is a Ravenous Werewolf
by Deke Moulton
Tundra Books, 2024
ISBN 978-1774880524
Read from an ARC.
Things Benji Zeb loves: Being a werewolf, and the joy of being in his wolf form. The beauty of Judaism. His community in the werewolf kibbutz and wolf sanctuary where he and his family live. When his classmate Caleb used to smile at him and be friendly with him. Also the particular shade of amber that Caleb’s eyes are.
Things Benji Zeb worries about: Not being able to memorize his parsha before his bar mitzvah. Letting down his family by doing anything about his bar mitzvah wrong. Caleb bullying him, especially in gym class. Possibly being gay. Accidentally shifting into his werewolf form (no full moon required.) Why Caleb’s stepfather is driving around the wolf sanctuary with a gun. The increasing hostility in town towards the wolf sanctuary.
I really loved Deke Moultons Don’t Want to Be Your Monster last year, so I was thrilled to snag an ARC of this at PLA this March. I was immediately sucked into Benji’s intimate first-person narrative, which clearly reveals the anxious circles his mind turns in even as they don’t bog the story down. And Benji has a lot going on, all of it complicated by the way his words and thoughts freeze up in front of everyone, even his family. As you might guess by it being set in a kibbutz, Judaism is an important part of Benji’s life, the music and rituals a great comfort to him, even though he struggles to prioritize his bar mitzvah prep as he feels that their existence in the community is under threat – the ranchers and the wolf sanctuary had to compete to be the focus of the community fair. The wolf sanctuary won, but now the ranchers feel that their best option is to attack the sanctuary.
When Caleb, the stepson of the chief opponent, turns up at the sanctuary, Benji has a lot of educating to do – both about werewolves (the myths are mostly wrong) and about Judaism (ditto) – even as Caleb, a Chinese-American, knows a lot about the historical and current discrimination against Asian-Americans. There’s a lot, but it worked for me as it’s perfectly relevant to the story and the tensions between the differet elements in the community feel all too real. The budding feelings between Benji and Caleb are a sweet counterpoint to the tensions, and the resolution of the story is absolutely perfect.
I went looking through my archives to find other books about werewolves and was a surprised not to find any other middle grade books about werewolves. For older readers, though, Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver trilogy and Gail Carriger’s long-running series beginning with Soullessremain classics. If you have any favorites, be sure to let me know in the comments!
The Selkie’s Daughter by Linda Crotta Brennan
Holiday House, 2024
ISBN 9780823454396
Read from a library copy.
Brigit lives with her parents and younger brother in a tiny isolated cottage, separated even from the rest of the tiny fishing village in 19th-century Nova Scotia. They’re surrounded by the beauty of the sea, and the inside of the cottage is made beautiful with the ballads they sing and the tunes they play and dance to. But Brigit’s webbed fingers betray her family secret: her mother is a selkie. Brigit has always tried to hide this, regularly having the webbing cut and wearing extra-long sleeves to hide them. The book opens with a startlingly hard scene of Brigit’s aunt cutting the finger webbing apart, and there are other very hard things in the book, softened only slightly by the gentle retelling.
Then comes change: a new boy, Peter, whose white-blond hair reminds her of the stories of Finn MacCoul. Her cousin Margaret no longer letting Brigit push her away. A deadly diptheria outbreak. And Margaret’s father and older brothers hunting what they think are baby seals, but which are really baby selkies, bringing famine and storms to the village as the selkies enact their revenge.
With all of these events, good and bad, Brigit is drawn out of her isolation, pulled to stand up against cruelty and make friends for the first time in years, both among the humans and getting to know her selkie relatives for the first time. The story takes a while to build, but the language and scenery are beautiful, as is Brigit’s realization of her own power and the will to use it.
I always like to see what my counterparts on the Cybils young adult speculative fiction panel have chosen as finalists! I started listening to these first thing in January, and only realized when I went to start writing reviews that I’d missed the one book. Here at last is the epic compilation of my short takes on all seven books.
Divine Rivalsby Rebecca Ross. Read by Rebecca Norfolk and Alex Wingfield.Wednesday Books/Macmillan Audio, 2023. Listened to audiobook on Libby. What 18-year-old Iris Winnow wants more than anything is for her older brother to come back from the war – where he was called by the song of a goddess – and for her mother to stop spending all their money on alcohol, as she’s been doing since her brother left. But since neither of those are in her control, she needs to get the position as the full-time columnist for the Oath Gazette, where she currently writes obituaries. Unfortunately, she has a rival in the wealthy and well-educated Roman Kitt, already the publisher’s favorite. Iris types letters to her brother on her typewriter and slips them under her wardrobe door… and after a long period of silence, starts getting letters back. The drama intensifies as we learn who the letters are coming from, and the publisher becomes adamant that there is no war, even as more and more young people go off to fight, never to be heard from again. The suspense and the romance are both dialed way up in this novel with World War I feels. Dual narrators work very well to bring both Iris and Roman to life. If you have strong feelings about cliffhangers, be sure to have the sequel, Ruthless Vows on hand as well. Major characters read as white.
Fault Linesby Nora Shalaway Carpenter. Running Press Kids, 2023. ISBN978-0762480999. Read from a library copy. Isolated 17-year-old Viv spends a lot of time in the tree stand her recently deceased aunt built, the only place she can still feel her energy. When the tree sinks into the ground, that energy leaves, and Viv is convinced it has to do with the fracking that’s been making increasing inroads into their rural Appalachian community. Dex has just moved to the community for his mother’s job on the pipeline – the first job in a long time that will pay for them to have a place nicer than a run-down apartment. Though they’re on opposite sides of the environmental issues, Viv and Dex are drawn to each other in this sensitive and nuanced story. Viv and Dex read as white, while Viv’s best friend is Black and Dex’s Latine.
The Half-Life of Love by Brianna Bourne. Read by Pete Cross and Stephanie Willing. Scholastic, 2023. ISBN 978-1338712667. Listened to audiobook on Libby. In this alternate present-day world, most people have a seizure exactly halfway through their lives, letting them and everyone around them know exactly which way they will die. Flint had his when he was just 8, and is now quite reluctantly spending his last 41 days in a rented house with his divorced parents, who are trying to get along and have cheerful family bonding moments for their last days. September lives in this small town, home of the Half-Life Institute, where she is interning. Ever since her own little sister died, she’s wanted to find a cure for the half-life, and she wants this even more as she and Flint fall in love. This is a tender exploration of familial, friend, and romantic love, as well as the value of science and life itself. The narrators highlight Flint’s gradually softening cynicism and September’s hopefullness and grief. Major characters read as white.
Isles of the Godsby Aimee Kaufman. Read by Nikki Patel, Homer Todiwala, Donnabella Mortel, Vidish Athavale, and Steve West. Listening Library, 2023. ISBN B0BF7NY8CR. Listened to audiobook on Libby. Teen sailor Selly really wants to find a ship to take her to find her father, who should have been back from the Northwest Passage a month ago. Instead, she finds herself on another ship in her father’s fleet – secretly chartered to carry the disguised crown prince to the Isle of the Gods to complete the sacrifice he should have completed years ago. Unfortunately, since he’s put it off so long, it will take a bigger sacrifice to keep their kingdom safe. Doubly unfortunately, their rival kingdom is determined to prevent the sacrifice to awaken their long-sleeping god and bring their kingdom back to ascendency. The world-building mixes technology of different time periods, with sailing ships, magic, Greek-like gods, and electricity all mixing. As you can tell by the long list of narrators, the story is told from multiple different perspectives, including some from the opposite side, all interesting and mostly sympathetic. As I’ve come to expect from Aimee Kaufman (see Illuminae, Ice Wolves, and Aurora Rising) this is a high-action, swashbuckling adventure with a side of romance. Characters have a variety of skin tones, sexual orientations, and economic backgrounds. Book 2, The Heart of the World, is due out September 17, 2024. I’m looking forward to it!
The Q by Amy Tintera.Crown Books for Young Readers, 2022. ISBN 978-0593486177. Read from a library copy. 17-year-old Maisie Rojas has grown up in the Q, as the quarantine zone that used to be Austin is called. It’s divided into area controlled by different ruling factions, and Maisie is in a high position as part of the ruling family. When teen Lennon, the son of the President of the United States, is kidnapped and dropped into the Q, she’s able to give him a vaccine that will keep him safe from the disease that everyone in the Q has – but only for 48 hours. After that, he’ll be susceptible to the disease and stuck in the Q for life. It’s a battle for their lives as they journey through multiple territories trying to escape enemies and rivals. Lennon and Maisie are both learning more of the reality of life on the other sides of the borders that have separated them – and meanwhile, losing their hearts to each other. Can there be a happy ending for them?? Maisie is described as Latine, while Lennon is white.
RevellebyLyssa Mia Smith. Narrated by Taylor Meskimen and Kirt Graves. Balzer + Bray, 2023. ISBN 978-0063239265. Listened to audiobook on Libby. Luxe Revelle is the star of her circus-style family’s show on the magical island of Charmant, just offshore from New York City. But it’s the 1920s, and Prohibition is threatening her family’s livelihood – how can they make a living when they can’t get the alcohol they need to draw people in and them tempt them to pay for magical experiences in gemstones. So when the younger son of the current mayor, part of the wealthiest family on the island, offers to help her family out of its bind – including giving them a permanent building instead of the collapsing tent they’re all living in – Luxe can’t refuse. Then she meets Jamison Porter, who’s just arrived on the island and finds it startlingly familiar. He’s an orphan who’s been traveling with some of Luxe’s family, who introduces them. Sparks fly immediately – but their attraction must be kept a secret while Luxe is officially dating someone else, and there are layers and layers of secrets with the power to hurt multiple people. Meanwhile, there are random but recurring attempts on both their lives with no apparent motive. All the drama, feels, romance, and impossible choices are here in a glamourous 20s setting. Luxe and Jamison both read as white, though some of Luxe’s cousins/best friends are Black. Once again, the romance and mysteries are shown to good effect through the use of dual narrators.
Threads that Bindby Kika Hatzapoulou. Read by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw. Razorbill/Listening Library, 2023. ISBN 978-0593528716. Listened to audiobook on Libby. The world in which we find ourselves feels something like the 20s or 30s, but seems to be a post-apocalyptic world, (is it just me who tries to figure out when and where the story is set?) the descendants of the Greek gods pass their powers on to their descendants – at least those who have the correct number of siblings. Io is the youngest Ora sister, and she and her older two sisters have the powers of Fates to weave, draw, and cut the threads of life. Even though it’s a gift of the gods, Cutters are feared rather than respected, so Io keeps her skill as secret as possible in her work as a private investigator. Then she finds that someone is cutting the threads of women, leaving them not dead but in a zombie-like state – and those women then go on to commit murders. Her effort to solve this mystery leads to her finally meeting the man that she’s bound to with a fate thread – who is an assistant to the dreaded Mob Queen – and to the highest and lowest depths of society. The world is vibrant and multi-cultural, with one of Io’s older sisters in a sapphic relationship. Though I enjoyed all the finalists, I could definitely understand why this one won the award. The story is definitely not over by the end of this book – Hearts that Cut, the second book in the duology, came out earlier this June.
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