Cozy Middle Grade Fantasies: The Lost Library and the House of the Lost on the Cape

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Katy K.

Here are two lovely, cozy Cybils-nominated middle grade fantasy books that are perfect for reading aloud as well as solo. Remarkably, both of them achieve this while being set in the aftermath of significantly traumatic events – and both have cats who play important roles.

Cover of The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
over of the House of the Lost on the Cape by Sachiko Kashiwaba. Translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa.

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass. Feiwel & Friends, 2023. ISBN Feiwel & Friends. Read from a library copy. Ebook and audiobook available from Libby.

A boy, a cat, and maybe a ghost join to bring a small town’s library back in this sweet story.  Mortimer the cat has two jobs: keeping the mice away from the food in the Historical House, and watching over the cart of library books that are all that’s left of the collection since the library burned down. But when one of the secret residents of the Historical House, Al, builds a Little Free Library in front of the house and puts the old books on it, Mortimer decides to stand guard by the books instead.

Al, the former Assistant Librarian, spends her time in the house making applesauce, tea, and cheese trays to give to Ms. Scoggin, the ghostly librarian, and Mr. Brock, the other ghost, as well as remembering times in the old library both good and bad. 

Evan is the kid who first discovers the Little Free Library and works to solve the mystery of why the books in it are all stamped as having been returned to the library the very day of the fire, why one of them was checked out in the name of a bestselling author he doesn’t think is from their town, and why the site of the library has been allowed to go to weeds and never been rebuilt.  Also, why his father won’t answer questions about this topic.  

Despite the trauma of the fire, this is a sweet and cozy mystery, with partnerships developing between Mortimer the cat and the mice he’s formerly rerouted, Al learning more about herself, and Evan learning about his father and exploring with his friend, whose parents have kept him extremely sheltered until elementary school graduation, which happens during the book.  

The House of the Lost on the Cape by Sachiko Kashiwabe. Translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa. Illustrated by Yukiko Saito. Yonder, 2023. ISBN 978-1632063373.  First published as Misaki no Mayoiga by Kodansha, 2015. Read from a library copy.  Ebook available from Libby. Audiobook due out April 2024.

This story from the author of Temple Alley Summer (and many other beloved Japanese books that haven’t been translated) begins, as an opening note tells us, the day in March of 2011 a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit the area of Tōhoku in Japan.  In the chaos following, we focus on three people, all meeting in the same gym that’s being used as an emergency shelter. Kiwa is an elderly woman who was just preparing to move, of necessity, from living on her own to living in an eldercare home. Yui is a young woman who decided to use the chaos of the earthquake to run away from her abusive husband, while newly orphaned Hiyori (about 8) was being sent off to live with an uncle she’d never met.  Despite her fear of her husband, Yui takes charge of Hiyori when she’s separated from her social worker, and Kiwa claims them both as family at the shelter, saving them both from unwanted discovery.  Kiwa is quick to make friends and is able to find an empty traditional-style house overlooking the sea for them to fix up and live in. Yukiko Saito’s pencil illustrations are beautifully helpful here, showing the characters, the traditional tatami mat room with its square sunken fireplace, as well as scenes from the stories Kiwa tells Yui and Hiyori.

At the beginning, this appears to be entirely realistic fiction, punctuated by Kiwa’s stories about the legends of the area.  As time goes on, though, it becomes clear that Kiwa has personal connections to the spirits of the area – and that the earthquake or the subsequent tsunami have let something dangerous loose.  It will take all three of them working together to stop whatever it is – and Yui and Hiyori will need to face their personal demons to do this. Hiyori’s trauma has expressed itself in her being unable to speak, which makes this especially challenging.  Though Yui’s abuse all happened before the story begins and we never get any graphic scenes of it even in flashbacks, I feel like it’s a rare and important acknowledgment that intimate partner violence can happen, and that escape and healing are possible.  It’s also rare in having an adult character like Yui who needs to grow herself- though I see that the movie adaptation made her a teen.  Hiyori also goes from being a very passive character in the beginning to being able to take personal initiative as the story progresses. Even before I knew about the adaptation, the book felt to me like a Miyazaki film, with its wonderful found family, a strong sense of place with lots of nature, and magic slowly seeping through into everyday life. ‘Even before I knew about the adaptation, the book felt to me like a Miyazaki film, with its wonderful found family, a strong sense of place with lots of nature, and magic slowly seeping through into everyday life. 

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Dog Stories: Elf Dog and Owl Head and The Eyes and the Impossible

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Katy K.

Continuing on with my Cybils reading, I have two beautifully illustrated stories of dogs, both great for reading aloud as well as independent reading. I confess I’m more of a cat person myself, but these doggos still won me over.

Cover of Elf Dog and Owl Head by M.T. Anderson
Cover of The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers

Elf Dog and Owl Head by M.T. Anderson. Illustrated by Junyi Wu. Candlewick, 2023. ISBN 9781536222814. Read from a library copy. Ebook and audiobook available from Libby.

Under the Mountain, the Elves hunt with their magical dogs for the giant Wyrm… but outside the mountain, Clay knows nothing of this and is just trying to survive quarantine, with the unbearable pressure of being too close to his family and their troubles – sibling fights, lost income, not enough computer access for school, not able to see even his best friend.  When the strange white dog with even stranger ears appears, everything gets better.  Elf Dog* is always  filled with joy and leads him on trails to places Clay has never seen before in all his exploring, including to a town of owl-headed people who dress as if it were still the 1600s.  Making friends with an owl-headed boy improves his life even more.  But when the Folk under the Mountain realize that Elf Dog has escaped, and the Owl Headed-people realize that their child is breaking their rules, the two boys have to work together to save Elf Dog while staying safe themselves.

M.T. Anderson’s books often combine familiar elements in original and very unexpected ways – his Pals in Peril series being a favorite example.  This is also original and yet completely different from his previous books.  It is that perfect speculative fiction combination of the recognizable fairy tale elements with the struggle of the pandemic, the joy of dogs, the out-of-the-blue owl-headed people – an engaging plot arc with a resonant emotional truth.  Junyi Wu’s stippled black-and-white illustrations are the perfect complement. You can read more about the history behind the book in an interview with M.T. Anderson at a Fuse #8 Production.
*I am sure that Elf Dog had a name, but sadly, I returned the book before taking notes and can no longer remember it.

The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers. Illustrated by Shawn Harris. Knopf, 2023. ISBN 978-1524764203.  Read from a library copy. Ebook and audiobook available from Libby.

Johannes is a free dog who lives in a great park, running all over as the Eyes for the Bison, the wisest creatures in the park, who live in an enclosure.  The philosophical seagull Bertrand, shy squirrel Sonja, clumsy pelican Yolanda, and the raccoon Angus act as Assistant Eyes, working together to keep up with the happenings of the park to keep everything safe for its animal residents.  Their peaceful way of life is put at risk as Johannes is first kidnapped by some Trouble Travelers, as the animals call them, and then accidentally brings himself to the attention of the park guards, who are very concerned about the stray dog loose in the park.  These experiences, though, encourage Johannes to come up with a dangerous and selfless plan to help his friends. 

It takes a lot to do an animal story well – it’s very easy for the animals to feel too much like people, or for the story to verge too much towards either violence or sugary sweetness.  Here, the animals feel like animals, and the book feels epic without magic because of  Johannes’ poetic voice:

“I run like a rocket. I run like a laser. You have never seen speed like mine. When I run I pull at the earth and make it turn. Have you seen me? You have not seen me. Not possible. You are mistaken. No one has seen me running because when I run human eyes are blind to me. I run like light. Have you seen the movement of light? Have you?”

The Eyes and the Impossible by David Egger p 12

Johannes is very sure of himself and his important place in his world, but this confidence is broken down over the course of the story, as the learns how much bigger the world is than he thought, and that he is not truly invincible, as he’d always believed.  With meditations on freedom, community, and art alongside the adventures, I feel like this would make a good read-aloud.  I’d still want the print book on hand, though, for the gorgeous illustrations – classical landscape oil paintings to which artist Shawn Harris has added Johannes, matching the style of each one.  It’s also just been named one of Publisher’s Weekly best children’s books of 2023. This is one to be savored. 

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Monsters and Murder: Between Monsters and Marvels and Don’t Want to Be Your Monster

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Katy K.

Today I have for you two stories of monsters that, while taking readers along on adventures to solve murders, also ask them to question who the real monsters are.

Cover of Between Monsters and Marvels by Alyssa Wishingrad
Cover of Don't Want to Be Your Monster by Deke Moulton

Between Monsters and Marvels by Alyssa Wishingrad. HarperCollins, 2023. ISBN 978-0063244870.  Read from a library copy. 10/15/23

Everyone on the island of Barrow’s Bay seemed to love Dare Coats’ mild-mannered father as much as they hate Dare herself.   Her father, the official monster hunter, never pushes back against those who argue that since no monsters have been seen in a century, they no longer need a monster hunter.  Dare, of course, picks fights with anyone who says he’s useless – until he dies under highly suspicious circumstances that could be either human or monster. Her mother quickly remarries the wealthy town mayor, who promptly burns all of Dare’s father’s papers.  And when Dare insists on investigating, she is shipped off to the dirty city on the mainland to live with her aunt, who lives in the  formerly popular theater she once starred in.  Once there, a still determined Dare finds herself struggling to know who to trust and where to look for more answers to her questions.  Can she trust her aunt’s loyal servant? The street urchin who turns up to help whenever she’s lost?  Or the owner of the rival theater across town who says he was friends with her father?  

This book contains a wonderfully dark Edwardian atmosphere, complete with a secret society, an old sailor with a mysterious background, striking factory workers, a child theater star, an adorable and cuddly animal of indeterminate breed and origin, a murder mystery, and a prickly heroine who is set on figuring things out for herself, no matter what anyone tells her.  It has larger themes of the power of stories to shape beliefs, and what happens when traditional stories are challenged.  

Don’t Want to Be Your Monster by Deke Moulton. Read by Davin Babulal and Noah Beemer. Tundra Books, 2023. ISBN 978-1774880494. Listened to audiobook on Libby.

Mom and Mama try to keep life as normal as possible for 10-year-old Adam, his 14-year-old brother Victor, and their college-age older sib.  But things are not really normal for a family that is awake only at night, keeping windows tightly shuttered and the driveway concealed with branches during the day. Adam enjoys their homeschooling lessons and knows the stories of all their siblings, but is still frightened by the possibility of vampire hunters.  Victor, on the other hand, feels overly confined and wants to spend more time learning the “cool vampire stuff” their moms aren’t teaching them.  Even their meals come home in plastic tubes, carefully selected and siphoned by Mom, a phlebotomist. (Mama, a healer in times when vampires were more accepted, now works as an astronomer at the university.)

The two boys used to get along, but lately things have been rough.  One night, Victor sneaks Adam out to see a late-night showing of the “classic” (I feel old now) vampire movie “The Lost Boys”, conflict breaks out.  Victor wants to practice his skills by convincing the ticket vendor they’re old enough to get in; Adam is worried about the exposure.  Then, on the way home, they pass a bloody murder scene – and then learn that it’s part of a string of killings.  Adam is horrified and wants to help; Victor, with significant trauma around the mortals from his own past, doesn’t think the mortals deserve it.  But Adam feels strongly enough that he’s willing to sneak out, and in doing so, meets some mortal kids his own age who also want to find the murderer.  He might be able to help them – if he can do so without revealing his secret to them, and while keeping them a secret from his family.  

This is on the surface an homage to the campy vampire horror films of the past, and has plenty of fun scenes of the kids jumping through trees, but there’s a lot of nuance underneath. It ties the hatred of vampires in with antisemitism and other blind prejudice, subtly at first, but with growing strength, while still telling a taut and character-centered story.  This was so good, y’all!  My own kid isn’t into scary books enough to want to read it, but I passed the audiobook on to my love, who’s also enjoying it. 

For more monstrous middle grade reads, try Let the Monster Out by Chad Lucas, Secret of the Shadow Beasts by Diane Magras, The Monsters of Rookhaven by Pádraig Kenny, and The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street by Lauren Oliver.

These books have been nominated for the Cybils award.  These reviews reflect my opinion, not that of the Cybils committee.

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Haunted Houses: Finch House and Nightmare House

Posted on October 21, 2023 by Katy K.

Here are two stories of kids standing up to haunted houses and the horrors behind them – one more action-oriented and the other more introspective. Both of these books have been nominated for the Cybils Award, and these reviews reflect my personal opinion, not that of the full panel.

Cover of Finch House by Ciera Burch
Cover of Nightmare House by Sarah Allen.

Finch House by Ciera Burch. Read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2023. ISBN 978-1665930543. Listened to audiobook on Libby. 10/18/23

11-year-old Micah is feeling melancholy over the last days of winter break, as her mother prepares to move them away from Micah’s beloved Poppop, with whom Micah is very close.  One of their favorite hobbies is “networking”- cruising around richer neighborhoods to salvage their cast-offs.  The only place they never go is a cul-de-sac with an abandoned Victorian house at the end of it – a house whose faded walls and turret have always intrigued Micah, especially when she learns that it was originally built by a Black entrepreneur, before being absorbed by a whites-only neighborhood.

On a day of exploring on her bike, Micah finds Finch House fixed up and a white boy her own age, Theo, sitting in the snow. Eventually, they go in for cocoa, and Micah feels like her grandfather’s warnings were overblown.  Until the next day, when her Poppop goes missing, his truck left parked outside Finch House…

Now the creepiness that Micah and Theo wanted to pretend wasn’t there returns in full force, as they can both hear whispers behind the wall and have found multiple stories of children going missing in Finch House over the years… including Micah’s own great-aunt.  Will Micah be able to rescue her Poppop and keep Theo and herself from being trapped in Finch House themselves?

This was a wonderfully exciting and creepy story, beautifully read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, whose expressive voice I recognized immediately.  While it does mention the racism of redlining in passing, most of the story focuses on secrets both within Micah’s family and in Finch House’s past to solve the mystery behind its hauntings and disappearances.  Micah, in turn, gains confidence that will help her in her near future.  

Nightmare House by Sarah Allen. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023. ISBN 978-0374390952.  Read from a library copy. 10/18/23

11-year-old Penny was fearless until the Halloween when she was 7.  Then, she thought it would be nice to give the monster under her bed a candy, and she ate the candy apple it gave her back.  Since then, with a bitter apple seed lodged inside her, she’s had trouble sleeping because the Fear Maker with his too-pale skin and red eyes is always lurking in her dreams, showing her the progress of the house he’s building in the woods and making subtle threats.  She’s seen the house in the waking world, which was bad enough.  But now that her beloved poet grandmother has had to move to a nursing home, now that her parents are so worried about money that she can’t talk to them – now she’s starting to see people with blank eyes that mean the Fear Maker has taken their souls.  The Fear Maker tells her he’s getting closer and that she’s too stupid to do anything to stop him.  The one hope Penny has is the magical garden she finds from time to time, where giant sunflowers and blue skies give her space to breathe easily.  And better, the boy her own age, Aarush,  who likes to hang out with her grandmother while his mother works at her home is sympathetic, if only she can trust him with her truth.  

First-person chapters are interspersed with poems on black pages describing Penny’s fears. The poetry is in a range of styles and Penny discusses some of the techniques she uses making them tiny literary studies as well as tools that Penny and her grandmother use to fight back against their monsters. I would personally rather have had the garden without the kindly bearded Gardener who shows up to give Penny wise advice from time to time, but the story was still absolutely chilling, despite or perhaps because of its very small focus on the people right around Penny.   I would not have been able to read this as a child, and even now, it was hard for me to read at bedtime. 

For more books for the season, see my lists of 8 Spooky Middle Grade Books and 8 Eerie Middle Grade Books.

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Nominate Me for the Cybils 2023!

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Katy K.

Dear readers – it’s Cybils time! Being a panelist always brings with it the joy of stacks of books to read – and the fear that those stacks will be missing important titles. Here are some of the books that I love that haven’t yet been nominated, as well as several that I’d really like to read and would love for you to nominate so I *have* to read them. Just as a reminder, anyone can nominate one – and only one – book in each of the Cybils categories, so this works best with lots of support from lots of people!

Books I’ve read

Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction

Middle Grade Fiction

Young Adult Fiction

  • Riley Weaver Needs a Date to the Gaybutante Ball by Jason June

Books I Want to Read

  • Camp Sylvania by Julie Murphy
  • The Dark Lord’s Daughter by Patricia C. Wrede
  • Eagle Drums by Nasugraq Rainey Hopson
  • The House of the Lost on the Cape by Sachiko Kashiwaba
  • Nimbus by Jan Eldredge
  • Serwa Boatang’s Guide to Witchcraft and Mayhem by Roseanne Brown
  • Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit by Jesse Q. Sutanto
  • The Witch of Wild Things by Rachel Vasquez Gilliland
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Adventures with Djinn: Nayra and the Djinn and Kingdom over the Sea

Posted on September 29, 2023 by Katy K.

Dear readers, it’s the end of September, which mean the beginning of Cybils time! I’m excited once again to be serving on the Round 1 Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction panel. And as usual, I’m trying to write up reviews of the many, many books I’ve read and loved and not yet gotten to reviewing before nominations open up on October 1 and I start reading even more books I’ll want to share with you. Stay posted for those details, and meantime, be aware that both of these excellent books are eligible to be nominated!

Cover of Nayra and the Djinn by Iasmin Omar Ata
Cover of Kingdom over the Sea by Zohra Nab

Nayra and the Djinn by Iasmin Omar Ata. Viking, 2023. ISBN 9780593117118. Ebook available through Libby. Read from a library copy. 

In this graphic novel, set entirely during the holy month of Ramadan, our main character Nayra is struggling with lots of things – trying to fit in in school (middle school, in general; trying to avoid difficulties especially when she’s lightheaded and clumsy from fasting, dealing with friends, and dealing with her family.  finds relief and new perspective on these when she bonds with a djinn – who it turns out has secrets of their own.  The art has a mostly pastel palette, with frequent use of overall tints and beautiful decorative in-between panels that reminded me a little bit of Heartstopper, though this is aimed at a younger audience.  The plot is streamlined because of the short space, the story and art blending together beautifully and effectively.  Plus, I’ve never read a book set during Ramadan, a valuable perspective both for the many Muslim kids who haven’t seen this important holiday in their books as well as kids unfamiliar with it.  In addition, though, it serves as an excellent framework for the story, neatly holding all the events of the book. This is well worth looking at. 

Kingdom over the Sea by Zohra Nabi. Margaret K. McElderry, 2023. ISBN 978166531083. Read from a library copy. 

12-year-old Yara has grown up in London, but when her mother dies leaving behind a letter with strange instructions, Yara has to travel to the magical land of Zehaira.  One catch: the letter includes directions to the sorceress Leyla Khatoun, but when Yara arrives, she discovers that not only does her modern clothing stand out in this ancient Middle-Easternish world, but sorcery has been outlawed.  What was once the sorcerer’s quarter is now the alchemist’s quarter, so that following her mother’s instructions establishes Yara as a dangerous suspect.  Even more unfortunately, the very little she’s discovered makes her certain that the alchemists are making Nefarious Plots that must be stopped.  Still, she meets a persistently friendly black cat and a woman who is able to point her in the right direction.  There are new friends, people to win over, a jinn who usually disguises himself as a goat, and hidden powers to discover – all while avoiding the alchemists.  The bare plot description sounds familiar, yet all the elements and characters blended together so perfectly for me that I was drawn in almost immediately and didn’t want to put the book down.  It was simultaneously epic, funny, and a heartfelt exploration of self-discovery.

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Back to Magic School: a Middle Grade Book List

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Katy K.

Now that school is back in swing where I live, I’ve been itching to put together a list of the great magic school fantasies that have (mostly) come out since I put together my Magical Middle School list. Unlike that list, this one includes only books with school specifically designed for magical kids – some you might want to go to and some you definitely wouldn’t. As usual, links are to my full reviews. Let me know in the comments if you have or want to read any of these, or if you have other titles you’d want to add to this list!

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston. – Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

Conjure Island by Eden Royce. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

Ice Wolves. Elementals Book 1 by Amie Kaufman. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

Nevermoor: the Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tọlá Okogwu. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

A Taste of Magic by J. Elle.

The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu. Ebook and audiobook available through Hoopla.

Wildseed Witch by Marti Dumas. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

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For Real: Nikhil Out Loud, On Air with Zoe Washington, and The Many Masks of Andy Zhou

Posted on September 13, 2023 by Katy K.

Fantasy is the genre I return to again and again, but these realistic middle grade picks are all books I’m excited to share with you!

Cover of Nikhil Out Loud by Maulik Pancholy.
Cover of On Air with Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
Cover of The Many Masks of Andy Zhou by Jack Cheng

Nikhil Out Loud by Maulik Pancholy. Read by the author. Balzer + Bray, 2022. ISBN 978-0063091924 Listened to audiobook on Libby. 

Nikhil’s story opens with a bang, as he’s accepting an award for his long-standing role as the star of a wildly popular animated series, Raj Reddy in Outer Space. Things get rockier as his mother moves them from California to small-town Ohio to help care for his sick grandfather. Now, not only does he have to adjust to a new school, but he also has to deal with his grandfather’s traditional Indian views around homosexuality. At school, joining the drama club seems like a natural fit – but studio voice acting is a whole lot different from getting up on stage in front of people. Managing his stage fright is even more complicated by his having a crush on one of the other drama club members, and again when local parents find out he’s gay and start protesting the “homosexual agenda”. And on top of everything else, puberty is coming – which feels like death for a kid whose identity revolves around playing a kid with a kid’s voice. Can Nikhil figure out who he is without Raj Reddy – and even more importantly, stand up for himself?

Writing all these elements down makes it sound like a very serious story, but Nikhil is an energetic, lighthearted type despite the angst. This book is filled with so much hilarity that I laughed out loud constantly at Nikhil’s physical and verbal missteps. There are some tear-jerking moments as Nikhil and his grandfather develop their relationship, and a sweet, low-key romance. Maulik Pancholy reads this book perfectly, as someone with enough similar experiences, including the voice acting. And if you haven’t already, be sure to go back to read his The Best at It.

On Air with Zoe Washington by Janae Marks. Read by Bahni Turpin. Harper Audio, 2023. ASIN B0B1N73K1R. Listened to audiobook on Libby. 

Zoe might have expected life to just keep on getting better after she proved her incarcerated father’s innocence in From the Desk of Zoe Washington. But even though her dad is now out of prison, the road to a normal life is a long one, with many barriers. Many people don’t want to hire or give an apartment to someone who was in prison – he has no work or credit history, even if he was ultimately proven innocent. And while he’s content to accept things as they are, Zoe isn’t. When she learns of his dream to start his own restaurant with her, she’s determined to make it happen. It will take possibly even more effort, learning, and help from her friends and family to make a plan and find the funding. Along the way, she – and we – learn more about the many difficulties faced by all people trying to build a life after prison.

As with the first book, Marks does a great job of blending these serious topics with Zoe’s relationships balancing her old friendships as things shift, making a new friend, and trying to maintain the bond she’s always had with the stepfather she considers her dad while building a new one with Marcus, her biological father. Zoe’s using a podcast to help spread the word about her efforts, and the details about technology and building an audience will interest young readers who want to spread their own stories through this popular medium. All in all, this is another engaging story about a young women I’d be happy to keep reading about.

The Many Masks of Andy Zhou by Jack Cheng. Dial Books, 2023. ISBN 978-0525553823. Read from a library copy. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

Andy’s lived a safe, predictable life for quite some time now.  And then, going into sixth grade, lots of things change all at once.  His father’s parents, Hao Bu and Ah Dia, come to visit from Shanghai.  His best friend, Cindy, whose family shares a duplex with his, decides that they should both bleach their hair and try out for the Movement club at school – neither of which Andy is really interested in.  And for the first time, Andy and Cindy don’t have all their classes together.  In science, he’s paired with a Khaldean boy named Jameel, who is at first the bane of his existence, calling Andy “Irish” for his orange hair.  

All of these changes – any one of them probably manageable on their own – swirl into the pattern of this life, causing a string of further changes. Andy develops anxiety with a body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB) – but also he slowly builds new friendships, learns things about people he thought he knew, develops his own artistic skills, and begins slowly to push his family towards talking about the difficult things they’ve always avoided.  There’s a lot going on, yet all of it feels real, without the complexity of real life stripped down to focus on just one big problem.  It deals with several weighty topics, including bullying, discrimination, eating disorders, and family health problems while still having many threads of joy, laughter, and connection.  I also loved and recognized the distinctive metro Detroit setting, with its landmarks, snack foods, and ethnic mix.  Also, the movement teacher goes unremarked by the prefix Mx., which is awesome. This is just all-around good, and reminds me a little of 2021 Cybils Finalist Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas.

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Ghosts, Toast, and Other Hazards by Susan Tan and Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Siguira

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Katy K.

In an accidental confluence, I found myself reading two books at once – one in print, one in audio – with a lot of similarities.  Both Ghosts, Toast, and Other Hazards and Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind feature middle school girls called Mo or Momo who struggle with anxiety and making friends, have missing fathers and mothers whose health issues make it hard for them to be fully present in their childrens’ lives.  

Cover of Ghosts, Toast, and Other Hazards by Susan Tan
Cover of Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Siguira.

Ghosts, Toast, and Other Hazards by Susan Tan. Roaring Brook Press, 2023. ISBN 978-1250797001. Read from a library copy. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

Mo, short for Monica, is fine.  Really. She, her mom and little sister Cece  may have just had to move in with her “Chinese hippy” uncle while her mom gets back on her feet after losing her job and their house. He may have very strange taste in food, and Mo’s mom may have trouble getting out of bed – but things could be worse.  Mo may have chosen to set her things up in a closet rather than share a bedroom with her sister, but at least she has a space to herself. She may have some strong fears about things like toast catching on fire, but fires are dangerous and it’s completely normal to be cautious about them – right?  But Mo and her family have had some serious trauma in their lives, and Mo is struggling hard to keep it all together. 

While not fitting in at her new school, Mo starts spending the lunch period in the library, where she meets a boy named Nathaniel who’s obsessed with ghosts.  He tells her stories about an elephant rumored to be haunting town.  Mo isn’t one to believe in ghosts – but when the elephant appears in her dreams repeatedly, she starts to pay more attention.  With help from a friendly librarian who encourages them to question what they read in local history narratives, Mo and Nathaniel learn more about Maudie the elephant and her brief career as a circus performer in a field that might just be the forbidden junkyard behind Mo’s uncle’s house.  Meanwhile, Mo’s uncle – who is the best – is able to encourage her to explore the way that things might not be fine through listening to rock music after school every afternoon.  

This is clearly a case where Mo and Nathaniel finding out why the ghost of Maudie the elephant is still around both encourages them to break out of their self-imposed isolation and work on their own underlying issues, and I loved that it was told with plenty of humor despite the serious things going on for both Mo and Nathaniel in the present and Maudi the elephant in the past.  I was with them all the way until the very end when (spoiler alert) Mo starts to wonder if Maudie’s ghost was ever real.  That’s a trope that always bugs me – I always want the magic to be real – but I really enjoyed it up to that point. 

Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Siguira. Listening Library, 2023. ASIN B0B6JPGGSH. Listened to the audiobook on Libby; ebook also available.

Momo Arashima used to have a best friend, and used to have a mother who told her stories and played games with her.  Now, though, her former best friend Danny- the only other Japanese-American kid in her class – has stopped talking to her, even joining in the popular kids making fun of her.  Momo has told her mother to stop telling her pretend stories, and while her mother also needs more care from Momo than she’s able to give to her, she no longer allows Momo to go and do things on her own.  Momo’s father disappeared years ago, and Momo’s mother has never given up hoping he’ll return, long after everyone else has assumed he’s dead.

This is clearly a Percy Jackson-style book, so we learn very quickly that Momo’s mother’s pretend stories were never pretend – Momo just convinced herself that she couldn’t see the mythical creatures because teachers and classmates told her she had an overactive imagination.  When a fearsome witch starts chasing her and a fox boy comes to her rescue, Momo is catapulted into adventure.  She soon learns that both her mother and the world are in danger, and her half-human, half-komi heritage makes her uniquely qualified to stop the impending apocalypse.  She and Niko the fox boy are joined by Danny, much to Momo’s chagrin.  The resulting adventures involve lots of world-crossing shenanigans, including attempted thefts, accidentally mortally offending important people, and meeting lots of gods and other beings from Japanese mythology.  There is a lot of focus on the action, but also time for Momo to reflect on who she really is and for she and Danny to try to resolve some of their issues.  This is a solid choice for people looking either for Percy Jackson read-alikes or fantasy celebrating Japanese heritage.  I’m hoping the next book, Momo Arashima Breaks the Mirror of the Sun, which is due out in February 2024, will include more on the fate of Momo’s father.

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Time Travel Trio: A Spoonful of Time, the Carrefour Curse, and the the Rhythm of Time

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Katy K.

It’s always fun when themes pop up in my reading, and what’s recently bubbled up is several books on the perennially favorite theme of time travel. Even within that, there’s lots of variation, as we have one nostalgic, one scary, and one fast-paced adventure.

Cover of The Carrefour Curse by Dianne K. Salerni
Cover of The Rhythm of Time by Questlove and S.A. Cosby
Cover of A Spoonful of Time by Flora Ahn

The Carrefour Curse by Dianne K. Salerni. Holiday House, 2023. ISBN 978-0823452675. Read from a library copy. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

Twelve-year-old Garnet’s mother told her many stories of growing up in the big old Carrefour house, surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins, and lots of the family magic. Garnet herself has never seen the place – until she’s suddenly vomiting frogs and the only cure is going back to the ancestral home. It should be a dream come true, but even frogs aside, there is a lot wrong: the house is falling apart, her great-grandfather refuses to die, much to the consternation of the rest of the family – and no one can leave the house without some dramatically horrible thing happening to them. Garnet has always had the magical ability to work with stones and crystals that her name implies, but inside the house, she finds herself walking through doors into different times of the past. Could this newfound ability be the key to freeing her family?

There’s plenty to appeal to lots of readers here, from the ancient house hiding secrets, to the wide spread of relatives ranging from decidedly creepy to caring, friendly, and cute, as well as Garnet’s journey to feeling like she is really part of the family. Readers interested in magic will appreciate the chapters named after crystals with their powers explained and the branches of the family (shown in a family tree), each specializing in a different earth element. The old house and buried secrets reminded me a little bit of Thirteens by Katherine Marshall, and the old house in Eden’s Everdark by Karen Strong also has plenty of secrets to hide.

The Rhythm of Time by Questlove and S.A. Cosby, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2023. ISBN 978-0593354063. Read from a library copy. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

Seventh grader Rahim has two main activities: sneaking away from his father, with his strict no-technology stance, to record tracks with his best friend and tech genius Kasia – and staying out of the way of his nemesis, a bully who insists on being called Man-Man. His father, a successful history professor, wants him to learn to research from books and won’t even let him have a laptop to do homework with. So when Kasia builds him a cell phone – routing it through a secret government satellite to avid carrier fees – Rahim is thrilled. That is, until the cell phone accidentally transports him back to 1997, right before the biggest concert of his favorite old rap band. Then everything goes kablooey: he can’t just use the phone to get back home the same way. The only place he can find to stay for the night is with his father – and we all know how dangerous that can be. Back in the present, the FBI has tracked the disturbance in their signals to Kasia – and she desperately needs her equipment to be able to get Rahim back. Meanwhile, all the changes are ripping the fabric of space-time, causing massively dangerous phenomena all over. Can Kasia and Rahim find their way back to the right time – without destroying time itself in the process?

This is fast, smart, and funny adventure with a strong Pittsburgh setting that still takes some deeper looks at the dreams and realities of Black kids, both in 1997 and now. I really enjoyed it, and think it will draw in kids who don’t love the introspective books I usually gravitate towards. Though not quite as slapstick, it would pair well with The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles.

A Spoonful of Time by Flora Ahn. Quirk Books, 2023. ISBN 9781683693185. Read from a library copy. Ebook and audiobook available through Libby.

Maya grew up alone with her mother, until her Halmunee came from Korea to live with them. Halmunee’s memory may be fading, but when she’s most herself, Maya loves spending time with her, away from prickliness that currently dominates her relationship with her mother. One hot August day when it’s too hot to do anything, Halmunee says it’s “patbingsu weather” and makes Maya the traditional Korean shaved ice and fruit dish. Not only are the sweet red beans tastier than Maya expected (mmm, sweet red beans!) – but eating it takes them back to a long-ago memory of Halmunee’s, so that Maya sees her mother as a young girl with her Harabujee, the grandfather she’s never met, so much more engaging than the formal wedding photo that’s all she’s ever seen of him.

This is just the beginning of their journey, where Maya learns to cook traditional dishes and experience her family history. At first, all she’s able to do is watch the memories, but eventually she meets a boy her own age, Jeffrey. in the memories, and learns how to walk in and out of different memories. These adventures serve to uncover more and more mysteries in both Maya’s past and the boy’s. Eventually, though, it will be up to Maya to figure things out to stop a past disaster. Maya is much less concerned with preserving the integrity of the time stream than Rahim and Kasia are! But Maya’s family version of time traveling has its own dangers – not only is it a skill that Maya will have to practice herself, but any mistake could end with her being stuck between the time streams, unable to return to her own time. This was a lovely blend of relationship building with Maya, her mother, her Halmunee, and Jeffrey (and cuteness from her dog Gizmo), homey cooking (recipes included), and traveling through time. Though it comes to a satisfactory ending, there’s definitely room for Maya to have more adventures through her family’s history. I’d love to read them! Where’s Halmoni by Julie Kim and When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller both also involve learning deep secrets about grandmothers, though Comb of Wishes by Lisa Stringfellow felt similar in tone if not in obvious plot elements.

What are your favorite time travel books?

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