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The Football Fumble

The flag football season is in full swing for Franklin Elementary School, and the MVP Club, which comprises five best friends, is preparing for a major showdown against their rival school, Hamilton Elementary School. For the past several years, Hamilton has dominated Franklin’s flag football team, and it always seems like “their players are bigger and better.” However, the MVP Club is determined to change their school’s fortune, and its members have dedicated themselves to practice, teamwork, and super-secret football plays. Will they finally bring home a resounding victory? 

The Football Fumble is an action-packed book about the power of teamwork in the face of difficult challenges. Told from a third-person perspective, the story focuses on the five members of the MVP Club—Max, Alice, Nico, Luke, and Kat—and their roles on their elementary football team. While the book attempts to give each member of the club adequate attention and development, much of the conflict and difficulty revolves around Max, who struggles to complete football plays. Max also faces opposition from Hamilton football team’s bully, Logan, who makes his life more difficult with constant teasing and taunting. Nonetheless, each of the five kids displays exemplary character and fortitude in their ability to work as a team. In addition, their optimistic attitude despite tough times will be inspiring for many readers. Add in the charm of flag football and fun rivalries, and the book and its characters become relatable for readers who have competed in team-dependent sports. 

The book presents a positive outlook on the themes of teamwork and self-belief. Early on in the big game against Hamilton, the MVP Club struggles to execute plays and work well together. However, after leaning into each other’s strengths, such as Kat’s football intelligence and Max’s speed, they turn a disappointing start into an unbelievable victory—something that Kat reiterates after the final whistle: “We didn’t give up when we were down, and we believed in ourselves enough to come back and win the game!” The story reminds readers of the importance of working towards a goal and demonstrates that teamwork and the right mindset can accomplish mighty tasks. 

The book also wraps up Max’s struggle with Logan by having the two characters admit their shortcomings to each other after the game. For example, Logan recognizes his unkind behavior by telling Max that he “should have focused on football instead of teasing you. Sorry. Sometimes I try so hard to be tough.” Through Max and Logan’s repaired relationship, the story teaches readers that bullying can be solved through honest conversations and acknowledgment. 

The Football Fumble is divided into eight small chapters, with each chapter typically comprising eight to twelve pages and containing a couple of hand-drawn illustrations. Although the story doesn’t use advanced diction, its paragraph-oriented structure and longer sentences might be challenging for emerging readers. At the end of the book, a small section provides real-life facts and definitions for key football terms and plays. It also includes a sneak peek of the next MVP book to keep readers interested. Overall, The Football Fumble is a fabulous book that utilizes the sport of football to highlight the importance of teamwork, friendship, and self-belief. Although the characters and plot can be enjoyed by a broader audience, this book will appeal more to football and sports fans alike. 

Sexual Content 

  • None 

Violence 

  • Logan, a mean bully from Hamilton’s football team, makes fun of the opposing teammates. Kat, the kid coach of Franklin’s football team and one of the MVP kids, gets angry and “Kat smooshed her cone right into Logan’s forehead! The cone stuck to Logan’s head for a moment. It made Logan look a little bit like a unicorn.”  

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • None 

Language 

  • After Max, one of the main characters in the story, fumbles the football during practice, his friend Alice teases him by shouting, “Butterfingers! Max has butterfingers!” 
  • Logan bullies one of his smaller teammates because he doesn’t run fast enough. Logan says, “My grandmother runs faster than that! You’re out for the next five plays.” 
  • Logan makes fun of Max, calling him names and comparing his small stature and personality to a bunny. Logan says, “Look at this one! He’s small and has big ears, just like a rabbit.” This teasing scene lasts for four pages.  
  • During the coin flip, Logan teases Max, referencing his earlier bunny joke. Logan says, “‘Aww, its Hopper! The wittle bunny came to play football.’ Then, Logan stuck out his upper teeth and made rabbit sounds at Max. ‘Tuc-tuc-tuc!’” 
  • After Logan stops Max from reaching the end zone, he teases Max and references his bunny joke again, saying, “Oh, wook at the poor wittle bunny wabbit. He slipped and messed up. Why don’t you get up and hop along back to the other baby bunnies?” 
  • When Max approaches Logan with the football during a play, Logan mocks Max by pretending to cry and again calling Max a bunny. Logan says, “Aw, wook at the wittle bunny. He can’t go weft and he can’t go wight. Poor wittle bunny is going to cry!” 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content 

  • None 

I Must Betray You

Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu and his family are merely trying to survive in 1989 Romania, a country ruled by a communist regime. He lives with his parents, his sister, and his terminally ill grandfather, Bunu. All Romanians live under constant surveillance and are censored by the communist dictatorship. They cannot speak freely, openly trust others, and have limited access to information about the world beyond Romania. Cristian dreams of becoming a writer and exploring the world beyond Romania, but he must keep this dream a secret for his protection.  

Inspired by his terminally ill grandfather, who openly opposes the regime, Cristian documents his thoughts and experiences, hoping to share them with the world one day. Cristian’s character is admirable because he values the importance of writing freely in a society that strongly disapproves of it. However, when Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police for possessing illegal American currency, he is forced to become an informant. Cristian cannot tell anyone, not even the one person he trusts—his sister. He is initially tasked with spying on an American diplomat’s family residing in Romania. However, his orders go beyond this, and he is forced to spy on his classmates and loved ones.  

Frustrated and guilty, Cristian takes matters into his own hands. He bravely leaves his notebook filled with documentation and observations of life in Romania on the American diplomat’s desk. A risk like this could land him in prison and put his family in danger, but he seeks to expose the truth about life in Romania. As citizens grow increasingly frustrated with the current regime, a revolution rises. Cristian’s decision to join exposes him to strong violence and the loss of those he loves. However, he is determined to unveil the government’s treatment of Romanians and help his family survive. Through all of this, he never forgets his dream of becoming a writer and engaging with the world. Will he be able to expose Romania’s oppressive conditions and escape the web of lies he finds himself entangled in?  

Lilliana Pavel, a quiet yet curious girl who lives across the street from Cristian, becomes a romantic interest. She engages in intricate acts of resistance, such as listening to American music, reading literature, and sneaking foreign snacks. Although subtle, these actions reflect her exploratory spirit and her willingness to challenge the regime. When her family gets into trouble with the police, she accuses Cristian of informing on them, and their relationship suffers. However, as the story unfolds, Lilliana’s affection for Cristian leads her to join the revolution as well, proving not only how courageous she truly is, but also how much Cristian means to her.  

I Must Betray You captures the bleak realities of those living in a communist society, as well as how restricted their lives are. Filled with tension, gritty content, and resilience, the novel will most definitely appeal to fans of historical fiction. Readers will undoubtedly remain in suspense throughout the story, wondering what lies ahead and how it will impact the characters’ lives. Additionally, the reader will be emotionally invested in the characters’ circumstances and the trajectory of their journeys.  

The story combines themes of betrayal, oppression, courage, and hope to create a powerful narrative. The idea that change can begin with one single voice is prevalent throughout. In this case, Cristian’s actions brought about immense change, and in the wise words of his Bunu, “Wisdom [is]… something [a] country can’t take from you.” Although the story contains graphic scenes, including multiple deaths, they play a crucial role in the overall effect on the reader. This is a must-read for readers interested in stories of liberation and bravery. Readers who want to read more stories based on communism should also read Breaking Stalin’s Nose and Spy Runner by Eugene Yelchin. 

Sexual Content   

  • Liliana and Cristian share their first kiss, not knowing if it will be the last time they see each other. “I kissed her. And kissed her again… More gently each time. I kissed her nose, her jaw, her neck.” A guard came into the room, and the kissing stopped.  
  • Liliana visited Cristian at his family’s apartment, and the two cuddled. Liliana “leaned in to make the point and kissed me. I scooted over on the bed, making room. I wrapped my arms around her and we lay there, sharing the pillow.” Eventually, they fell asleep.  
  • After the revolution ends, Liliana and Cristian share a flirtatious kiss on Christmas Day. “A dot of vanilla fluff lingered on the side of Liliana’s mouth. I leaned in and kissed it away, hovering close to her.”  

Violence   

  • Cristian feels betrayed by his best friend Luca, who informed on him and his family. He is so angry that he punches Luca. “I whirled around and threw my fist. I punched my very best friend.” Luca fell and did not fight back.  
  • Individuals were sent to beat Cristian’s grandfather, who voiced opposition to the regime. “Bunu’s hands lay like broken birds. Their color, a purple so dark, nearly black. The bones above his palms were snapped, smashed. . . Bunu’s bare feet had been clubbed beyond recognition.” Cristian’s mother says, “His chest. The same. All ribs broken. They beat him to death.” 
  • Soldiers capture Cristian and beat him because of his involvement in the revolution, as well as his failure to comply with his Securitate [secret police] handler. “The first blow was to the top of my spine, between my shoulder blades… Then they sat me up and clubbed my ribs . . . They took turns punching my face. . . Then they kicked me below the waist. I lost breath and all track of what was happening.” Finally, they stopped beating him and became distracted by something. The beating is described over several pages. Cristian was badly beaten and in a lot of pain.  
  • Cristian and Liliana discuss their experiences with the state’s soldiers. Liliana tells Cristian that, “They beat us with canes, kicked us, punched us . . . A man was on a special list. . . They scalped him.” 
  • Cristian, Liliana, and a few small children were taken into custody for their role in the revolution and taken to a prison. They are led to a small, interrogation-like room in the prison, and out of frustration, Cristian destroys a picture frame hanging on the wall. When a soldier enters the room and sees what Cristian has done, he punishes Cristian. “He smacked my back and legs with his club.” Although Cristian is already in pain from his prior beating, he acts brave for Liliana and the children.  
  • Cristian’s best friend, Luca, is shot while participating in a revolutionary protest. It is unknown who shot him, but it is clear that there were many bullets in the air. “A bullet tore through Luca’s right shoulder, another ripped through his arm. Blood burst like fireworks in front of me. Multiple rounds flew nearby . . . Luca swayed, staggered, and buckled to the ground.” Luca disappears into the crowd. Later, it is revealed that Luca is in critical condition. 

Drugs and Alcohol   

  • None 

Language   

  None 

Supernatural   

  • None  

Spiritual Content   

  • None  

King of Scars

After a brutal civil war that shook his fragile nation, King Nikolai Lantsov was pushed onto the throne of Ravka and must attempt to pick up the pieces. However, just as his kingdom is still scarred by the actions of the tyrant and powerful Grisha (magic-user) known as the Darkling, Nikolai is similarly haunted by the past. Nikolai begins shapeshifting into a hideous flying monster at night, threatening not only the lives of people around him but his tenuous claim to the throne.  

Simultaneously, Ravka begins experiencing strange magical phenomena that some call the work of Grisha, while others attribute it to the work of the Saints. Nikolai and his trusted Grisha general, Zoya Nazyalensky, follow the trail of these phenomena to the Shadow Fold, the site of the Darkling’s abuses of Grisha power and his death. With the help of a Darkling-follower named Yuri Vedenen, Nikolai and Zoya hope to use this journey to rid Nikolai of his demon and secure the future of the kingdom. Their quest leads to discoveries about the worshipped Saints, the Grisha, and their world as they know it. 

Meanwhile, Grisha spy Nina Zenik is still reeling from the loss of her love, Matthias Helvar, and recovering from her addiction to the deadly jurda parem, a drug that makes Grisha incredibly powerful at the cost of their free will and, usually, their lives. Nina is on a mission to gather intel in the cold and closed-minded land of Fjerda, which hates Grisha like her. In addition to arranging safe passage away from Fjerda for any Grisha she can, Nina must also finally lay Matthias’ body to rest. When Nina and her fellow spies discover a river that has been poisoning a Fjerdan river city called Gäfvalle, they trace the source to a mysterious factory that piques their interest. Hiding in a convent, Nina’s mission to uncover the hidden truth causes her to uncover a larger scheme against the Grisha and Ravka.  

King of Scars switches third-person perspective every chapter, following Nikolai, Zoya, Nina, Isaak, the Ravkan soldier who takes Nikolai’s place during his quest, and Dima, a minor character in the beginning of the story. The focal point of each chapter is specified in the chapter’s title (i.e. “Nikolai” or “Zoya”). Nikolai, the “King of Scars,” is the primary focus of the story and duology, and most of the issues faced by the other characters are tied back to his country’s problems. Despite having multiple perspectives, the story remains easy to follow due to its pacing and the frequency of expositional dialogue. Each perspective takes on the unique personalities of the characters, and, although every persona has its flaws, all of them are relatable and entertaining. Each one is given a proper backstory and depth, which keeps this ensemble story engaging. 

This book contains numerous storylines and a multitude of characters. Nothing feels unimportant due to the author’s care in making the characters and their lives feel three-dimensional. Side characters usually get only a sentence of exposition, so it can be difficult to remember the relationships and connections between them. Many of the less significant characters, such as Adrik, David, and Leoni, play central roles in other stories within the Grishaverse, and the events they mention are often elaborated upon in other books. While much of the backstory is explained, King of Scars takes place after the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology. Thus, King of Scars is not meant to be read first, and doing so would undoubtedly confuse.  

King of Scars is about determination, change, and hope. Ravka is a nation constantly plagued by war and despair, and the central characters are as well. Nevertheless, despite facing many challenges in the past, present, and future, none of the protagonists relinquish the fight. They grow stronger, learning new powers, abilities, and tactics to succeed. The overarching theme of resilience makes for a worthwhile read for audiences interested in the Grishaverse and its characters.  

Sexual Content  

  • After Nikolai has a particularly brutal transformation, he says to Zoya, “When you purse your lips like that, you look like you’ve made love to a lemon.” 
  • Zoya tries to find Nikolai a wife. Zoya argues that the precautions they take to prevent his nightly transformations into the winged monster should not inhibit a strategic marriage, remarking, “She can lock you in at night and kiss you sweetly in the morning, and Ravka will be secure.” 
  • To cover up the fact that Nikolai’s curse makes him disappear, he and Zoya pretend to have spent the night together. Nikolai jokes, “Kiss me sweetly as a new bride would.” To be more convincing, Zoya makes their clothing appear more disheveled. A guard who encounters them asks, “She only play with royals?. . .She looks like fun.” While Nikolai and Zoya’s affair is a ruse, Zoya does admit that she would have “possibly taken him to bed for a few hours” under other circumstances. This scene lasts for about two pages. 
  • Lazlayon, aka The Gilded Bog, is a compound in Ravka that the rakish Count Kirigin runs. It is a “pleasure compound” that Nikolai designs to serve as a front for secret technological experiments and innovation that will help Ravka compete on a global scale. During his first visit, Nikolai sees a “man wearing nothing but an admiral’s hat.” The Gilded Bog is a recurring setting with a reputation for being steamy. 
  • In a meeting with Ravkan officials, Zoya and Nikolai compare international alliances to nighttime companionship. Zoya asks, “Who do we want to go home with when the music stops?” Nikolai adds, “Pick the wrong partner and we could be in for a disappointing night.” 
  • The previous king, Nikolai’s father, had a reputation for having many affairs. Nikolai admits that those who claim “to be a by-blow of [his] father” may be telling the truth. Genya Safin, a Grisha tailor whose beautiful face was mutilated by the Darkling, was essentially the king’s concubine. Zoya says that Genya was “tossed into the old king’s bed” by the Darkling. 
  • There are also rumors that Nikolai’s mother cheated with a “Fjerdan shipping magnate” named Magnus Opjer, who is Nikolai’s true biological father. This is explained over three pages. 
  • Brothels exist in multiple locations. Zoya mentions them, and Nina worked in one during the events of Six of Crows. The activities inside the brothels are not described. 
  • Isaak admits to “falling a bit in love” with Genya while she is altering his appearance. A few pages later, Genya excitedly kisses Isaak’s cheek in response to his effective impersonation of Nikolai, and Isaak blushes. 
  • Zoya is not sexually active, but her dalliances are mentioned. She refuses to tell Nikolai where she goes at night, and the narration later says, “Zoya did not desire; she was desired.” Zoya later says, “Every lover [she’s] taken” has asked about her scars. 
  • The tension between Nikolai and Zoya is palpable. Zoya thinks before their journey to the Shadow Fold that Nikolai looked like “a boy in need of kissing.” Nikolai briefly kisses her knuckles later, and Zoya admits to herself that she “long[s] to try” to make Nikolai fall in love with her.  
  • One night, Zoya takes off her kefta and shows Nikolai the scars on her back, and Nikolai stamps down “an unwelcome bolt of desire.” 
  • Nina often uses flirtation as a tactic in her covert operations. The Wellmother, the leader of the Fjerdan convent, accuses Nina of wanting to “become a rich man’s mistress” after seeing her interact with the fearsome Fjerdan officer Jarl Brum. 

Violence  

  • Since the book contains an excessive amount of violence, not all of it is included below. 
  • The book opens with Nikolai turning into a winged demon and attacking a farm. Dima, a young boy who fears the creatures of the dark, is threatened by a demon that has “dark stains around its mouth and on its chest,” which Dina realizes are blood. Zoya chains the snapping monster before it can harm any humans. This scene is described in two pages. 
  • Nikolai has scars that are “a reminder of the torture he had endured at the hands of the Darkling” during the Ravkan civil war. This torture is what led to his demon curse. 
  • Adrik Zhabin, a Grisha Squaller remarks, “I’ve been shot, stabbed, bayoneted, and had my arm torn off by a shadow demon.” All of these events take place in the previous series. 
  • Zoya reflects on “the Darkling’s slaughter of Novokribirsk,” which resulted in the death of her aunt Liliyana. 
  • Nina prepares fish for the market. “She drove her blade into the fish’s belly, yanked up toward its head, seized the wet pink mess of its innards, and tossed them onto the filthy slats where they would be hosed away.” 
  • Captain Birgir is a violent inspector who tortures and murders Grisha. Nina reflects on multiple instances of his brutality: “She’d seen Birgir and one of his favorite thugs, Casper, drag a mother and daughter off a whaler bound for Novyi Zem and beat them bloody . . . Then he’d doused them in a slurry of waste and fish guts from the canneries and bound them outside the harbor station in the blazing sun.”  
  • Nina keeps shards of bone that she uses like darts. She first uses them on the Casper: “The darts lodged in Casper’s windpipe, and a sharp wheeze squeaked from his mouth. Nina twisted her fingers, and the bone shards rotated. The guard dropped to the dock, clawing at his neck.” 
  • Nina kills Captain Birgir to protect Grisha refugees. Nina drives “a shard of bone through his heart,” and the fearsome captain dies. 
  • Nina and her fellow spies save a girl who was thrown from her horse and nearly trampled to death: “All it would take was a single heavy strike and the [girl’s] skull would be crushed.” This incident occurs over three pages. 
  • The Ravkan Triumverate council talks about “the Lantsov pretender,” Dunyasha Lazareva, who was found “splattered on the cobblestones outside the Church of Barter . . .” 
  • Zoya has an altercation with Nikolai’s monster form. Her shoulder “crack[s] against the edge of a column,” and her arm is dislocated. The demon and the Grisha battle for three pages before the Shu soldier siblings Tamar and Tolya arrive as reinforcements and save Zoya’s life. 
  • Wolves attack Nina while she is burying Matthias. First, Nina uses her bone shards and “pierc[es] the animals’ bodies,” but the remaining wolf bites her arm. Another wolf emerges and fights the remaining wolf off. The fight occurs over two pages. 
  • The Saints trapped in the Shadow Fold—Elizaveta, Grigori, and Juris—fight Nikolai and Zoya upon their arrival. Elizaveta swarms them with bees, and Grigori fights in the shapeshifting form of various animals. Juris takes on the form of a dragon, and he and Zoya fight one-on-one: “The dragon unleashed its fire and Zoya let loose the storm…then the flames collapsed. The dragon reared back, a choked wheeze emerging from its throat. Zoya had stolen its breath…” The battle spans five pages and concludes in a tense truce. 
  • In an act of betrayal, Elizaveta impales Nikolai’s palms and legs with thorns to prevent him from slaying the shadow demon. This action initiates a multi-chapter battle between those on the side of the Darkling and those who are not. 
  • Zoya is encased in amber for the final battle, but she escapes and runs to Juris for backup. She finds him dying. Juris says, “My flames burned me from the inside.” To take on his power, Juris urges her to kill him, and she does so by stabbing a broadsword into his heart. He, in turn, pierces her chest with his dragon claw, solidifying the sacrificial bond. 
  • Elizaveta kills Grigori with her insects: “Tiny holes and furrows began to appear on his flesh as burrowing insects consumed him.” 
  • Zoya is the one who ultimately defeats Elizaveta in the Shadow Fold. She turns the Saint’s powers against her, reversing the path of Elizaveta’s vicious thorns and impaling her “on the claws of her own creation.” 
  • Nina uses her power to manipulate the dead and summon an army of corpses. As the corpses claw through the Earth, the dead speak through Nina and recount their tragic endings at the hands of the Wellmother and the Fjerdan guards. One woman says, “You cut me open and took the child from my womb. You let me bleed to death as I pleaded for help.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Nikolai uses a tonic “to keep [him] tucked into bed and the monster at bay.” Later, the tonic is enhanced to knock him out completely. He needs a separate wake-up elixir to emerge from sleep. 
  • Nina is a recovering addict and survivor of the drug Jurda Parem, a synthetic substance created to enhance Grisha’s powers. “The drug was the product of experimentation in a Shu lab. It could take a Grisha’s power and transform it into something wholly new and wholly dangerous, but the price for that brief bit of glory was addiction and eventually death.”  
  • Nikolai has commissioned a man to “develop both an antidote to jurda parem and a strain of the drug that might allow Grisha to heighten their powers without making them addicts.”  
  • A river is poisoned by runoff from a factory. After testing the water, the Grisha spy, Leoni, falls ill. A version of jurda parem is infecting the water, resulting in the “orange eyes and rangy bodies” of the wolves that Nina encounters. 
  • Absinthe is a drink that “tastes like sugar dipped in kerosene.” 
  • The Fjerdans have been dosing pregnant Grisha women with jurda parem. Nina sneaks into their facility and finds, “Women and girls . . . in narrow beds . . . addicted to parem.” Their children would be born addicted to the substance, making for “perfect Grisha slaves.” 
  • Characters drink alcohol frequently at social and political gatherings. For example, The Gilded Bog reportedly has “a wine cellar said to stretch for a mile underground. . .”  
  • Zoya and Nikolai share a bottle of brandy. 
  • While impersonating the king, Isaak is nearly poisoned by arsenic gas.  

Language  

  • Profanity is rarely used. Profanity includes damn, ass, shit, and hell. For example, Nina says to the deceased Matthias, “Matthias, your country can kiss my fat Grisha ass.” 
  • Bastard is used a few times. Nikolai ponders how, “The rumors of his bastardy had circulated since well before birth.” 
  • Instead of saying “oh my God” or similar phrases, characters fill in the word “Saints” or “Djel” (a term for god in Fjerdan culture). For example, some say, “For Djel’s sake.” 

Supernatural  

  • As detailed in the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology, the Grisha are individuals with various magical abilities, categorized into three broad groups, each with smaller subcategories. This is called “The Small Science.” 
  • The Corporalki are “The Order of the Living and the Dead” (Heartrenders and Healers). Nina was a Heartrender who could control the living before the drug jurda parem changed her powers and gave her control over the dead. 
  • The Etherealki are “The Order of Summoners” (Squallers, Inferni, and Tidemakers). Zoya is a Squaller with power over wind and air. “The wind did what she willed it, had since she was a child.” 
  • The Materialki are “The Order of Fabrikators” (Durasts and Aklemi). Leoni is an Alkemi who can control and study poisons. 
  • The deceased Matthias Helvar’s voice speaks to Nina until she finally buries his body. Upon laying him to rest, Nina finally admits that “Matthias’ voice was not [real]. It never had been.” 
  • The Shadow Fold was created by “merzost,” also known as “abomination” or the corruption of Grisha power. The Darkling had aimed to create more amplifiers, magical artifacts that enhance Grisha magic, but instead created abominations.  
  • Zoya explains to Nikolai that amplifiers are “tied to the making at the heart of the world, the source of all creation.” Grisha’s magic is intrinsically connected to the world itself and the powerful forces that created it. 
  • Three “Saints,” Elizaveta, Juris, and Grigori, are all trapped by the Shadow Fold. Nikolai, Zoya, and Yuri are all transported there, where time is immeasurable. Elizaveta can control natural organisms like bees, other insects, and plants. Grigori is a shapeshifter whose form constantly morphs between human, bear, and amalgamated forms. Juris is a less chaotic shapeshifter who can take on the form and powers of a dragon. 

Spiritual Content  

  • People in Ravka pray to the Saints, all-powerful beings of old who performed miracles and were revered for their martyrdom. There are “churches” dedicated to the Saints. 
  • Tolya and Tamar are both very religious. When Tolya recites “liturgical Ravkan,” Tolya explains, “It’s from the Book of Alyosha, which you might know if you ever went to church.” 
  • Zoya admits that she isn’t “much for praying” to the Saints, and it is later revealed that her faith was destroyed by past unfulfilled prayers. 
  • In the country of Fjerda, Djel is worshipped as an all-powerful god. The people believe the river’s poisoning was “a sign of Djel’s disfavor,” requiring “a priest to say prayers.” 
  • “The great ash” is a sacred tree to Djel.  
  • People in Fjerda sometimes make signs in the air, “meant to wash away evil thoughts with the strength of Djel’s waters.” Water is also sacred in Fjerdan culture. 
  • One of Nina’s main goals is to lay Matthias to rest so that “he could find his way to his god.” 
  • The Apparat is the Ravkan “spiritual counselor to the king,” but the current one is considered self-serving and a traitor. He is followed by the “Priestguard,” holy soldiers who supposedly originated from shapeshifters who survived the obisbaya ritual. 
  • Yuri is a young monk who follows the “Cult of the Starless Saint.” He urges Nikolai during a large demonstration, “Tell your false priest [the Apparat] to do what is right and recognize the Starless One as a Saint.” He believes that the Starless One deserves Sainthood because of the “good” he did for Ravka, despite the horrors that he committed. 
  • The line between the Grisha and the Saints is consistently blurred, and multiple characters imply that the martyred Saints, whom many civilians worship, were actually powerful Grisha, not otherworldly beings.  
  • Grigori says that creation “belongs to the First Maker alone,” implying the presence of an all-powerful creator figure. 

Dodsworth in Paris

Dodsworth, a distinguished mouse, and his hilarious friend — a white duck known only as “the duck”—are visiting Paris for the first time. Join this charming duo as they explore the city streets and familiar landmarks of a fictional early 20th-century France, bustling with a menagerie of impeccably dressed animal characters going about their days. 

There is never a dull moment as they dine in a café and visit the Eiffel Tower, bicycling through town, admire the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, and sail over Paris in a hot air balloon. A few days in the City of Light provide a charming backdrop for a series of comical missteps and surprising twists for these two complementary characters. After losing their money due to the duck’s whimsy, getting caught up in a chance mishap, and crashing their bicycle—only to end up penniless on a park bench—will these two friends find a way to recover their funds? 

In this chapter book, Egan presents themes of humor, friendship, and resilience through a simple narrative that is sure to delight young readers. Dodsworth and the duck arrive in Paris by sea. Immediately after disembarking the ship, the duck comically picks up an acorn cap and wears it on his head to resemble a beret. Dodsworth is constantly trying to ensure his friend behaves appropriately, while the duck — driven by earnest curiosity — seems to seek mischief at every turn.  On their first morning, a spontaneous desire to scale the towering clock tower leads the duck to climb out of his hotel window and make his way “all the way up” the structure, while Dodsworth is still fast asleep. 

Young readers will relate to the lighthearted setbacks and moments of serendipity that unfold throughout this Parisian holiday. One scene that highlights forgiveness between friends occurs when the duck accidentally loses all their money, leaving Dodsworth furious. Sensing his friend’s anger, a tear “fell onto the duck’s beak.” Dodsworth instantly feels remorseful and reassures him, saying, “Everyone makes mistakes. Don’t cry.” Comically, Egan reveals that the duck wasn’t really crying. “He just had something in his eye for a second.” Readers are left to interpret the moment themselves, knowing the duck’s mischievous nature. Similarly, after a bicycle crash, Dodsworth fears the worst, but after a tense pause, the duck dramatically opens one eye and declares, “Bonjour.” 

The story is suitable for fluent readers who are ready for a book with multiple plotlines. Cheerful watercolor and ink illustrations appear on every page. Many of the illustrations depict the characters’ facial expressions, which will help readers understand their emotions more clearly. For example, after losing all their money, Dodsworth and the duck are seen bicycling down the street, with Dodsworth wearing a furrowed brow of frustration and the duck shedding a tear from his downcast eyes. Another positive aspect of the story is that most of the French words are explained within the text. Additionally, readers can use context clues and illustrations to understand the meanings of unfamiliar words, such as Monsieur and magnifique. Although Dodsworth is a series, the books do not need to be read in order, as each focuses on a distinct storyline. 

Resilience in the face of misfortune, along with the deep bond of friendship between these two characters, brings the story full circle. A chance visit to the Louvre sparked a creative idea that ultimately fell flat, but the characters never gave up. “The duck did not like his friend to be sad. He had an idea.” The idea was a well-intentioned effort to earn money, although it initially failed. What followed was a final twist that will charm young readers and parents alike. Animal-loving readers who are always ready for a little mischief should also read The Great Pet Escape by Victoria Jamieson. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Mary Blair’s Unique Flair: The Girl Who Became One of the Disney Legends

As a visionary artist for Walt Disney Studios in the 1940s and ’50s, Mary Blair created artwork for some of the most iconic animated film masterpieces and attractions in history, including Dumbo, Cinderella, and It’s a Small World. A college-educated woman in the 1930s, Mary was ambitious and independent, defying the expectations society placed on women at the time. In the male-dominated field of animation, she forged her own path and ultimately became one of Walt Disney’s most celebrated artists. 

Mary Blair’s Unique Flair is a picture book that inspires readers to learn more about the origins of beloved Disney animated films. Mary Blair introduced inventive color palettes to Walt Disney after a pivotal visit to South America in 1941, where “she had never seen such bright and happy colors before.” Her concept art dazzled with vivid colors, swirling shapes, and childlike imagination. Working with cut paper, she created whimsical forms that felt fresh and magical. Walt Disney couldn’t deny her extraordinary talent. 

Long before she became a legendary talent, Mary Blair was Mary Brown Robinson, a little girl growing up in Texas with grand aspirations. “Mary was a dreamer . . . she dreamed of being an artist.” Mary’s path wasn’t easy. Her parents, both creative but with limited means, often went without necessities so she could have art supplies. Even as a child, her imagination and talent stood out. 

Eventually, the family relocated to California, setting the stage for her future. Recognized early for her talent, she pursued a bachelor’s in art and advanced studies, challenging the norms of her era. “She later married another artist, named Lee, and became Mary Blair. They vowed to make art. But it was hard to make a living as an artist.” Still, Mary never gave up on her dream! 

In 1940, she secured a rare art position at Walt Disney Studios and created artwork for major animation projects, including Dumbo and Lady and the Tramp. These projects showcased Mary’s unmistakable talent. Seeking more artistic freedom, Mary briefly left Walt Disney Studios to work from her home studio and focus on fine art.

Soon after, she asked Walt Disney if she could join the art department’s research tour to South America—and he agreed. “Walt believed in magic, and he believed in Mary.” Her return from abroad marked a turning point in her career, as she rejoined Disney and created artwork for films like Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. 

Mary’s belief in herself embodied true empowerment, and what followed was a legendary career. One of her most meaningful projects was It’s a Small World, a Disneyland attraction inspired by her South American travels and featuring animatronic dolls in traditional dress from cultures around the world. Her endearing artwork celebrated unity, goodwill, and global peace. 

Mary Blair’s Unique Flair uses vibrant illustrations and a playful font to bring the story to life. Young readers will enjoy the cheerful sequence of events and the large, colorful artwork on each page. With just one to seven short sentences per page, the text is easy to follow and accessible for early readers. An especially engaging page is dedicated to Spanish words for color names. Readers can use context clues and illustrations to infer the meanings of words like rosa and lavanda. 

The story offers adults an opportunity to discuss meaningful themes with children, such as boundless imagination, women’s empowerment, and appreciation for diverse cultures. Mary Blair was ahead of her time, and her perseverance and vision continue to encourage aspiring artists today. For Disney enthusiasts, learning about this pioneering artist offers deeper insight into the artistry behind classic animation. 

The book includes informative supplementary material at the end, featuring a note from illustrator Brittney Lee, a message from Mary Blair’s niece Maggie Richardson, a list of books Mary Blair wrote or illustrated, and a photograph of her with Walt Disney. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

by Maureen Lowe 

Find Your Way Home

The Runaways used to be more than a team; they were a family. After they lost one of their own, Gert, they all went their separate ways. Living on their own, each person is trying to figure out how to put their lives back together, which is difficult when your parents are supervillains and you have no one who understands.  

Fed up with the division, Chase Stein, hacker extraordinaire, hijacks a time machine and goes back to save Gert, bringing her to Runaway magician Nico’s doorstep. This time, the old members are able to heal Gert, but she wakes up to a new world where her found family is in pieces and she’s still sixteen – two years younger than the rest of them. Determined to recover what they lost, Nico, Chase, and Gert embark on a journey to reunite the team and save each other.   

Using their powers and Gert’s pet dinosaur, Old Lace, they find the other three members of their team: Victor, the robot who is now a disembodied head, Karolina, the alien college student who lights up like a rainbow, and Molly, the endlessly enthusiastic and invincible thirteen-year-old.  

None of the Runaways feels completely at home in their new lives. Victor feels lost, and a part of him is relieved that he’s getting his family back, but he doesn’t want to revert to the person he used to be. Karolina is finally happy at school with a girlfriend and her own life, but she’s torn between staying at college and leaving behind her old family forever. Molly lives with her loving grandmother, who dotes on her. But when the Runaways show up at her door, Molly’s grandmother seems a little too interested in them, and her cats are a little too strange.  

The Runaways is a graphic novel divided into six main parts, each focusing on a different team member. At times, the panels are disorganized, making it difficult to know which panel to read next. This makes it easy to read the panels out of order, negatively affecting the flow of the story. Additionally, since the story is part of the Marvel universe, the beginning of the story has exposition dumps. However, this still leaves a gap in the context, which will make the story confusing for those unfamiliar with Marvel.  

This graphic novel is filled with beautifully illustrated magical battles and fantastical creatures. Each page has approximately six panels, although they vary slightly. The dialogue is designed to engage, featuring simple vocabulary and bubbles that escape their panels, interacting with the next ones. This gives the story a realistic feel. The action lines are usually incorporated at the bottom of the panels, perfectly captioning and capturing the movements happening above, so as not to overwhelm readers. Some pages are dialogue-heavy, but the overall flow is good and doesn’t allow these pages to distract from the rest of the story.  

Readers who enjoy superheroes, outcasts, and creatively strange adventures will love the wacky powers, fierce determination, and wholesome energy of The Runaways. The well-developed characters are uniquely inspiring, so anyone can root for them. Each member of the Runaways is trying to find their voice, their independence, and stick by their moral principles in a world without positive role models to guide them. Overall, this is a wonderful story with a sweet message: family can be found anywhere, regardless of your blood, background, misdeeds, or freak flags.  

Sexual Content  

  • When recruiting Karolina back onto the team, Nico attempts to kiss her, but Karolina pushes her away. They used to date, but Karolina currently has a partner. Their lips don’t actually touch, but they get very close. 

Violence  

  • The story begins with Chase appearing at Nico’s apartment, carrying their friend, Gert, who has a stab wound in the middle of her chest. The illustration depicts a dagger plunged into Gert’s chest with blood spilling around it. However, Nico saves Gert.  
  • Before this comic begins, “Victor was killed by the Vision’s late wife, Virginia.” Since Victor is a robot, he’s still able to function, even though he only has a head. In every scene, he’s depicted as a head with some wires sticking out, but no blood or human insides. 
  • While rescuing Gert and Molly from Molly’s grandmother’s house, the Runaways battle and use their powers against Molly’s grandmother and her cats. There are punches thrown, most of them against the cats, and the cats claw and scratch Gert. There is no blood, and no cats are harmed.  
  • Molly’s grandmother orders the cats to attack Molly’s friends telepathically, and they collapse to the ground, hands on their heads in pain. Molly talks her grandmother down and no one is grievously injured.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • While trying to figure out where to go after leaving Chase’s house, Nico mentions that “being a mopey goth is just like drinking: it’s just depressing when you do it alone.”  

Language  

  • Words like stupid and damn appear frequently. 
  • The acronym WTF appears a couple of times. 

Supernatural  

  • This graphic novel is about superheroes. Most of the Runaways have magical or superhuman abilities, allowing them to fight crime. “Nico Minoru is a very powerful magician. But her magic doesn’t come easily.” She carries a magic staff that allows her to cast spells.  
  • When Chase appears at Nico’s apartment and asks her to save Gert’s life, she does so with magic. Frantic, trying to figure out what spell would work, she casts several of them, including summoning a doctor, making it rain, and manifesting X-ray goggles for the doctor. The illustration depicts bright colors swirling around Gert’s and Nico’s bodies with each spell, and the staff lights up.  
  • Chase has access to technology that allows him to time travel. Gert was killed two years before these events, but Chase time-travels to save her. As Chase describes how he rescued Gert, he mentions that he “just reached out to [Gert’s pet dinosaur, Old Lace] through [their] old psychic link and told her to haul [the past version of himself] out of there, so the [current version of himself] could take Gert [to the future to be saved].” 
  • When Gert and Molly are staying at Molly’s grandmother’s house, Molly warns Gert to be careful with what she says. Gert is confused, but Molly explains that “[her] Grandma gives her cats powers—just like she gave [Molly’s] parents powers.” Molly’s grandmother’s cats possess telepathy, allowing them to read minds and spy on people. When doing this, they are depicted with red, glowing eyes. 
  • Before Molly leaves with the Runaways, her grandmother reveals that she’s cloned Molly’s mom and given her powers. Molly’s mom enters the room and exhibits these powers. Her eyes turn red, and red lightning leaves her mind, trying to hurt them. The Runaways escape through an open window.  

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

by Kate Schuyler 

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love: A Novel

Gwendoline and Arthur are the worst of enemies and, unfortunately for them, unhappily betrothed. It’s been centuries since King Arthur Pendragon ruled England and passed away, the legend being that one day he will return to reunite the country and bring peace to all. Nowadays, England is split between cultists, those who believe in King Arthur’s return, and Catholics, who don’t. His descendant, the reckless and witty Arthur (“Art”) Delacey, has grown up hating the stubborn and confident princess Gwen. When Art’s father forces him to spend the summer with Gwen, neither of them can imagine a worse fate until they both learn a secret about the other that changes everything.  

Gwen’s in love with the first-ever female knight, and Art kisses boys in dimly lit back alleys. So, they make a deal. If they fake liking each other, then maybe they could have the very thing neither thought they could have: true love. As the annual royal tournament unfolds, Art encourages Gwen into Lady Bridget’s arms. Unbeknownst to Gwen, Art takes an interest in her older brother, heir to the throne, Gabriel. Both are brave, optimistic characters anyone would want to root for, though things soon become more complicated as unrest stirs in the North and political conspiracy threads its way through the castle of Camelot. Gwen, Art, and their new group of friends must find the source of this new mystery before it’s too late.  

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is immersed in Arthurian legend and English lore. While the history and details of many key figures and events are explained, they aren’t explained thoroughly, so it would be helpful for readers to have some knowledge of the Arthurian legend. At first, the novel gives the impression that the story is a retelling of King Arthur and Guinevere, which is not the case. Overall, the story is very endearing and well thought out, but there is an excessive reliance on the original stories of Arthur and Camelot.  

The novel playfully explores what queer teenage life would look like in medieval times, complete with fun characters that deliver powerful themes of acceptance and found family, in between petty feuds, stolen kisses, and witty repartees. Gwen & Art Are Not in Love sandwiches moments of relatable stupidity with the hope of true love beautifully and successfully. 

Readers who enjoyed Imogen, Obviously, What If It’s Us, and Cemetery Boys will love this queer adventure set in a post-Arthurian England, where swordfights, romantic antics, and growing to accept familial bonds abound. This novel is a feel-good story about embracing all kinds of love and learning to lead by gaining more confidence in oneself, even in the face of criticism. Gwen matures and teaches herself to take risks and find her voice. Art is a self-possessed character who knows who he loves but learns that he can be loved himself. Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is overwhelmingly positive and loving, re-imagining a world where everyone belongs, even among the knights and monarchs of Camelot itself.  

Sexual Content  

  • During the description of the tournament, when Lady Bridget is first introduced, Gwen thinks about a dream she’d had, where Bridget “reached over with one gauntleted hand to tilt Gwen’s chin toward her, and then kissed her so hard.” 
  • During one of the feasts, Gwen catches Art “pressing his mouth to Mark or Michael’s jaw while sliding one hand inside the other man’s tunic. The dog-boy closed his eyes and allowed his neck to be kissed, tilting his head back so that his hair fell away from his face, looking completely at ease.” Gwen is unsure who he’s kissing, but she recognizes him as someone who works in the palace. 
  • In one of Gwen’s old diary entries, she writes, “I don’t know why, but I would like to kiss [Lady Bridget].” 
  • Strolling in Camelot’s gardens, Art asks a statue, “Shagged any of your sisters lately?” 
  • Talking about birds, one of Gabriel’s passions, Art “tilt[s] his head and look[s] quizzically at Gabriel, then [gives] a little shrug, leaned forward, and kiss[es] him.” 
  • When Gabriel finds out about Art and Gwen’s arrangement, he confronts Art and kisses him. Art describes it as “extremely clumsy—he had approached with far too much speed, and practically knocked their heads together—but Arthur pressed a hand to Gabriel’s neck to steady him, feeling Gabriel’s curls brush against the tips of his fingers as he held him in place. Gabriel had the element of surprise this time, but if there was one thing Arthur knew he was good at, it was kissing; his eyes fluttered closed as Gabriel tentatively put a hand to his chest, and then Gabriel was moving more insistently, surprising Arthur with the urgent press of his mouth and the fact that his fingers were fisting in Arthur’s tunic.” 
  • In a conversation with his friend, Art remembers his ex, “kissing him with spiced wine on his tongue at a Christmas feast and then throwing him out into the snow ten minutes later when they were almost discovered.” 
  • To test whether they could feel anything for each other, Gwen and Art try kissing, though it doesn’t work for either of them. “So, Arthur rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the back of the head, pressing a kiss to her closed lips. Instinct took over as she opened her mouth; he leaned in, deepening the kiss, his hand slipping through her lightly perfumed hair.” 
  • Art confronts Gabriel about running away from their relationship, and Gabriel “just kissed him back. It was gentle and uncertain at first, but then he seemed to relax into it, sighing into Arthur’s mouth in a way that made Arthur’s nerves sing.” 
  • Bridget kills someone for the first time. To calm Bridget down, Gwen kissed her. “She followed through by leaning forward and kissing Gwen so fiercely that Gwen made a noise of surprise into her mouth. She had just recovered enough to reciprocate—to close her eyes and let her hand fall to clutch at Bridget’s shoulder, to taste salt on her tongue and go in search of more.” 
  • When Art finds out that Gwen kissed Bridget, he tries to confirm by asking Gwen through innuendo, saying, “You—you got your lance wet, didn’t you? You gave her the green gown! You ground her corn!” Later, he thinks, “behold, kissing hath recently taken place betwixt this lusty knight and this passing good woman.” 
  • During Gwen’s birthday party, Bridget kisses her again, and Gwen thinks that “she liked the way that Bridget seemed to smile into her mouth as she kissed, as if she were pleased to have discovered something; she liked the feeling of strong arms and sure hands pulling her closer; she especially liked the small, frustrated noise Bridget made in her throat when she reached for Gwen’s hair, which was carefully plaited away under her hat.” 
  • After Art is severely beaten, he dreams “of golden-haired boys who kissed him hard and left him bleeding.” 
  • To distract a guard, Art’s bodyguard Sidney asks “what sort of rash do you get if you have a lover’s disease?…oh, God, it’s gone such an unnatural color, I think it might be about to fall off—” 
  • When Sidney survives the final, grand battle, Gwen observes that “Sidney had been kissing Agnes quite enthusiastically, both of them in tears.” 

Violence  

  • Thrown out of a tavern by the owner, Arthur is on the ground with the owner about “to kick Arthur’s skull in if he didn’t move in the next few seconds.” 
  • During the first tournament, two knights fight. One of them, a vicious and bloodthirsty knight, has earned the nickname, the Knife. “The victorious knight had his sword at his competitor’s throat; he looked, for a moment, as if he might be considering using it to lethal effect.” When Bridget competed, she “tried to land a hit, the Knife stepped neatly to one side, hooked her leg, and sent her sprawling. She struggled to get up; he let her try for a few seconds before raising his sword and bringing it down on her helm with such force that many of the people in the crowd groaned.” 
  • Later, as Gwen and Bridget watch another duel, one of the competitors almost kills another in cold blood. The knight, Sir Woolcott, “deliberately unsheath[s] his sword” and brings it down quickly. Bridget steps in to stop him, “her weapon [was] held above her head, Sir Woolcott’s pressing down against it and eliciting a tortuous, shrill squeal as steel met steel.” No one is hurt. 
  • Gabriel describes an Arthurian legend at a feast, he mentions a landmark, saying, “it’s a stone block where Arthur Pendragon apparently beheaded one of his enemies. Cultists treat it as a sacred site.” 
  • When Gwen’s pet bird attacks Bridget due to a lack of training and supervision, “there [is a] large scratch on Bridget’s right cheek, oozing a slow trail of blood down to her chin.” 
  • Art is speaking to Gabriel in his bedroom when they hear a noise outside and find “Lady Bridget Leclair [standing] in the corridor, sword raised, shoulders heaving. On the floor at her feet lay a man who seemed to have recently been clutching a dagger. He had dropped it, largely due to the fact that he was dead.” 
  • After Bridget kills the intruder, she copes with it by practicing her fighting skills. Concerned, Gwen “put herself squarely between Bridget and her target and clumsily raised the sword. The blow she caught seemed to vibrate all the way down to the base of her spine, but she managed to hold her ground.” 
  • During the jousting part of the tourney, “Bridget’s aim [doesn’t] waver; her lance splinter[s], and the crowd roar[s]. The man she [is] competing against [hasn’t] even managed to strike a blow.” Then, later, Bridget has “to duck to avoid the risk of decapitation as the end of her competitor’s lance snap[s] almost completely in half against her shield.” 
  • After a night out, Gwen finds Art severely beaten. “She had assumed Arthur drunk, but as his hat fell from his head, she saw in the torchlight that he was hurt. There were dark bruises blooming on his face, gashes where the skin had split open, and there was a terrifying amount of blood splattered down the front of his shirt under his jacket.” 
  • Several guards try to kidnap Art. “One of the men toward the back of the group let[s] out an extremely loud grunt as something in his body [makes] the sort of cracking noise that healthy bodies shouldn’t, on the whole—and then he [is] toppling sideways; another manage[s] to turn and raise his sword just in time as Lady Leclair, wielding only a dagger, [brings] her arm up to meet him.” 
  • During another tournament, someone tries to kill the king. At one point, a “knife that had been thrown with deadly precision from the arena [strikes] the wooden post just above the throne—and chaos [is] unleashed from all directions.” 
  • After being kidnapped, Art wakes up near horses, worried that “the horses with the very large hoofs were going to kick Arthur’s skull in if he didn’t move in the next few seconds.” 
  • At the end of the novel, there’s a very graphic, eight-chapter-long battle. Among these bloody moments, the king dies. One of the tournament contestants’ “sword slipped up under the king’s armor almost casually, as if he hadn’t quite made up his mind to do it until the last second.”  
  • When trying to save Gabriel, “a spray of mud and blood hit Arthur full in the face as [a] man toppled heavily down beside him.” He later finds Gabriel, and “one of [his] arms was so mangled beneath his crumpled armor that it barely looked like a limb at all. The other was theoretically still clutching his sword, but his grip had gone slack around the pommel.” 
  • The heroes finally win when “Lady Bridget Leclair, caked in mud from head to toe, [launches] herself at Lord Willard, with [a sword] raised high above her head.” She kills Lord Willard, the man who initiated a coup against the king, and his armies soon lose organization, allowing the good forces to overtake them and win. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Before leaving for Camelot, Arthur asks his bodyguard, Sidney, to “Bring as much wine as [he] can carry.” And later, while they’re traveling, they both drink some of the wine.  
  • When touring the castle, Art inquires about the wine cellar. When Gwen asks him why, he responds, “It’s where the wine lives.” 
  • Visiting Gwen’s room, Arthur greets Gwen by saying, “Evening. Wine?” and offering her some.  
  • While visiting Camelot’s drinking establishment, Art observes that “Sidney kept fetching him drinks, and he kept knocking them back.” 
  • Art describes his hangover, thinking about how “a night of drinking, for example, usually precipitated an extremely gloomy morning, punctuated by roiling nausea and waves of self-hatred that left him dour and sullen and utterly useless to absolutely everybody, himself included.” 
  • Climbing into Gwen’s room after a late night out, Art claims that he’s “over. [He’s] done. And [he’s] drunk—[he’s] drunk all the wine.” 
  • Gwen describes Art as “the man with the suspected alcohol problem.” Later, Art finds “himself looking at an unattended cup of wine” and hesitates while thinking about Gwen’s disapproval of his drinking. He abstains for part of the night but succumbs eventually.  

Language  

  • Foul language such as shit, hell, and damn are used very frequently. 
  • Bitch and fuck are used infrequently. 
  • Since the main characters are British, they also say bloody and arse frequently. 

Supernatural  

  • Art describes that the cultists in England “believe wholeheartedly in real magic—the type that could turn back armies, transform people into birds, and heal the sick.” However, they had their limits, as “even they had to admit that nobody had exhibited that sort of power since the days of Merlin and Morgana (and that was if you believed the legends, which Arthur decidedly did not).” 
  • Gwen attends a pagan celebration for the witch, Morgana. Gabriel explains: “The more progressive Arthurians celebrate the duality of her spirit. Her capacity for kindness and evil,” and calls the birthday party “a sort of ritual.” 
  • One of Bridget’s friends makes necklaces that are implied to have supernatural healing powers. Bridget says, “Elaine gave [one] to [her]. For protection. Apparently, it’s magic.” Bridget’s friend says that “it’s a spell. Or—[she] think[s] it is, anyway.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • The story describes a religious conflict between Catholics and those who believe in King Arthur instead, implying that people are either one or the other. The book eventually attempts to convey that religious beliefs are distinct from the relevant political power struggles. 
  • During a tournament, Gwen thinks that her father’s cousin “Willard had been bolstered by the backing of many Arthurian cultists—those who believed wholeheartedly in the magic of King Arthur and his enchanted sidekicks, the stories that good Christians had long decided were simply fables and legends.” 
  • Art mentions to Gwen that his “mother was Muslim, and [Gwen’s] father is Catholic.” Arthur says, “that spiritually, [England’s] cup overflowth.”  
  • Contextualizing the history of religion in their version of England, Gabriel explains that “after the Saxons invaded, there was a bit of a muddle with lots of old gods in the mix, and then the country was Catholicized very rapidly.” 

by Kate Schuyler

The Black Witch

Seventeen-year-old Elloren Gardner looks exactly like her grandmother but lacks her grandmother’s magic. Her grandmother was the Black Witch, the Gardnerian people’s savior and leader against the evil demons and blasphemers. Yet Elloren was raised along with her two brothers by her uncle deep in the woods, and all she wants to become is an apothecary so she can heal others. So when her aunt comes to take her to Verpax University, Elloren is overwhelmed by the outside world. Per their customs, her aunt wants Elloren to enter into an arranged marriage and fulfill her people’s prophecy by becoming the next Black Witch. However, by the time Elloren reaches school, the stories she grew up hearing don’t exactly add up.

Undaunted and determined, Elloren is a powerful and curious protagonist who strives to uncover the truth, as her country’s history isn’t all as it seems. While all the Gardnerians at her school revere her for who she resembles, every other group fears and avoids her. Her childhood isolationist and supremacist views fade the longer she spends time at school, and she soon gains the friendship and respect of other outcasts. Dealing with the complications of teenage life, including crushes and bullies, Elloren learns how to adapt to new situations and speak her mind. With the help of her new friends and her brothers, Elloren discovers the dangers and corruption of her increasingly religious government. How can she change a world that doesn’t want to change? This complex fantasy world will enthrall the reader with alluring, emotional characters and a powerful cause to root for.

Like many long fantasy series, The Black Witch‘s intricate worldbuilding can be overwhelming at times, and there are many details to track. Despite this, the plot remains simple and predictable. Much of the groundwork laid at the beginning of the book reveals some of the plot’s surprises, making them less impactful. It’s also difficult to root for the main character, Elloren, because she initially appears ignorant and unobservant, making her seem two-dimensional. However, her character evolves and gains greater depth throughout the story. Ultimately, the draw of the novel isn’t a unique plot but rather solid characters, worldbuilding, and the positive message it conveys. The author constructs a society that slowly descends into fascism, and the characters find their

Readers who enjoyed Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Dorothy Must Die will love the political intrigue, elaborate magic system, and fierce resistance network of The Black Witch. The book is filled with all kinds of supernatural creatures, from werewolves to elves to demons, vying for a good education in a world embroiled in international power struggles. Elloren is an inspiring character who grows when challenged, leading by example and standing by her moral principles. Overall, The Black Witch is a beautiful story with moments of unifying outrage, magical corruption, and lovely, budding friendship.  

Sexual Content  

  • While at a party, Elloren meets the famous Lukas Grey, who can’t take his eyes off her.  Lukas “raises [Elloren’s] chin, leans in and brings his lips to [hers] with gentle pressure.” 
  • Frustrated with Yvan’s hatred of her, Elloren dreams that Yvan “pulls [Elloren] toward himself and joins his lips to [hers] in fierce urgency.”  
  • Three friends question Elloren about her experience with Lukas, asking, “Have you kissed him?” Elloren is evasive and didn’t answer the question. 
  • After class, before going back to her stressful rooming situation, Elloren kisses Lukas. She thinks that her “lips are still warm and swollen from his fevered kisses.” 
  • After Elloren’s friend, Aislinn, kisses someone, she says she “didn’t just like it. [She] loved it. [They] kissed for over an hour. It was like heaven.” 
  • While Elloren is talking to her other brother, Trystan, he approaches her subtly. Elloren says, “You can’t really think he’s beautiful. You can’t think that way. Trystan, tell me you don’t mean it that way.” His non-response implies that he does admire men that way. 
  • Elloren discusses rumors of werewolf culture with friends. They think werewolves “stand up in front of everyone, pick out someone to mate with and mate with them right there, in front of everyone. Sometimes [they] mate when [their] men are in wolf form and [their] women are in human form.” This is all conjecture on the part of the characters.  
  • Diana, a werewolf, leaves the woods “completely naked. Seeing [Elloren], Diana breaks into a wide exhilarated grin. She strides toward [Elloren], oblivious to the two Gardnerian men down the path who halt to gawk at her.” Elloren’s culture is more conservative, so it takes a while for Elloren to convince Diana to clothe herself. 
  • After an emotional moment, Rafe, who had been friends and hunting partners with Diana for a long time, “brings his mouth to [Diana’s] and they kiss, gently at first. Then Diana moans and presses herself into him, their kissing quickly becoming passionate.” It was their first kiss, and rather spontaneous. 
  • To clear up a misunderstanding, another werewolf, Jarod, describes their culture. “When two Lupines decide to take each other as life mates, one of them stands up and announces his or her desire to be with each other to the whole pack. The two then go off privately into the woods.’” 
  • When Elloren asks Shane about his sister who is an old friend of Elloren’s, he says that someone “used [his] sister, forced his filthy self on her.” 
  • Prostitution is described a couple of times very vaguely. Elloren’s brother, Rafe, says that “some of our men do this. The seals are called Selkies, and they can take human form.” Elloren responds, “What? Aunt Vyvian told me people kept them as pets.” The Selkies are sea creatures who take human form. Gardnerians enslave them in prostitution because if one possesses their “skins,” the Selkies can be controlled. 
  • A Selkie named Marina says, “She was claimed by [a] man. Money given for her. He took her for his own and abused her. Many times.’” 

Violence  

  • Elloren explains that she “came to live with [her uncle] when [she] was three, after [her] parents were killed in the Realm War. It was a bloody conflict that raged for thirteen long years and ended with [her] grandmother’s death in battle. But it was a necessary war, my beleaguered country relentlessly attacked and ransacked at the beginning of it.” 
  • Along with descriptions of prostitution, there are descriptions of women in “actual, locked cage[s], only big enough for [them] to sit in, not stand,” and “two boys are poking at [one woman’s] side with a long sharp stick.”  
  • When Elloren is talking to a friend’s brother about his sister’s new fugitive status, he mentions that he “lacked the necessary level of detachment needed to kill [his] own sister.” 
  • Before reaching university, Elloren is viciously attacked by a creature with wings called an Icaral, because her grandmother was the Black Witch. Her grandmother killed many Icarals in the Realm War, and they held a grudge. “A strong bony hand slams against [her] mouth. An arm flies around [her] waist and locks [her] elbows against [her] sides in a viselike grip.” The demon is killed by a soldier as “a longer blade bursts through the creature’s chest” and “a fountain of blood spurts out.” The battle is described over three pages.  
  • At school, a classmate, Fallon Bane, bullies Elloren, intentionally tripping her. Elloren’s “foot painfully hits something solid,” and she “topples to the ground.” 
  • Some of the servants also bully Elloren. While working in the kitchen, a “hard kick to [Elloren’s] rear sends [her] sprawling” into mud and manure. 
  • When Elloren spends her first night in her room, her roommate threatens to kill her. She even goes so far as to “scrape [her] nails down the length of the door,” while Elloren hides in the closet. 
  • To prevent bullying, Lukas threatens the servants who were bullying Elloren. He says, “It would be a shame if something went amiss during military training exercises, and your parents’ home was fired upon.” He also threatens the lives of the servants’ children. 
  • Elloren’s friend, Wynter, trips. When Rafe helps her up, Wynter’s brother thinks Rafe is being inappropriate. The brother “reaches for his knife [and yells], ‘Stay away from our women!’” 
  • A hate crime is committed against Elloren’s friend, Ariel, and her pet chicken is found with “two stakes driven through its breast, its head dangling. Its severed wings are staked on either side of the animal’s body. Blood streaks down the door and pools on the floor below.” 
  • After Fallon Bane calls Diana unsavory names, Diana “leaps out of bed and slams Fallon to the ground” and tries to “impale Fallon’s new uniform.” 
  • There’s a vague description of abusive child labor and slavery a couple of times. One of the professors explained that “embroidery that intricate . . . was done by Urisk workers . . . many of them children. Working for practically nothing, beaten if they try to protest.” 
  • As Elloren and her friend, Yvan, walk in the woods, they discover a woman being kept in a cage by the groundskeeper. They see him “kick[ing] her hard in the side with his heavy black boot” and him “strik[ing] her so hard that she cries out and falls backward to the ground.” 
  • A woman wants all the Selkies killed. The woman “introduced the motion. To the Mage Council. Earlier this year. To have them shot as soon as they come to shore.” 
  • As fascist ideology grows, Elloren thinks that their leader, Vogel, tried to make it legal to “execute anyone who defaces the Gardnerian flag” or who maligns their religion. 
  • Elloren discovers a mistreated dragon lying “on her side, eyes closed, in a large pool of blood, her spectacular onyx hide covered, just covered, with gashes and lash marks. One of her wings and a hind leg are bent at odd, unnatural angles.” 
  • After a big dragon jailbreak, there’s a description of “dead men and dragons strewn across the field.”

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Elloren’s friend, Ariel, is described as having been locked up in a sanatorium and heavily medicated, so much so that she is addicted to a fictional substance called nilantyr that seems to have an effect similar to opiates. Ariel’s friend explains that, “When she takes the nilantyr, the memories disappear. It all goes blank and empty. It is a cold peace, but peace nonetheless.” 

Language    

  • Words like stupid, idiot, and hell appear frequently. 
  • The word whores is used once. 
  • Bitch is used twice. 

Supernatural  

  • This book features a diverse array of supernatural creatures, including witches with green skin, werewolves (referred to as Lupines), demons (known as Icarals), Amazonian women who utilize runes in battle, fairies, elves, Selkies, and various half-human, half-animal beings.  
  • The story is set in a world where magic is a reality, encompassing spells, runes, and other forms of magic. Almost all of Elloren’s classes at Verpax involve magic, and most of the violence in the book involves magical battles. There are no explicit spells spoken in battle. An example of this violence occurs when Elloren and her friends try to free the dragons, and “a glowing red orb whirls by overhead, along with stray wand fire, the orb exploding behind me into a circle of red flame.” 
  • In classes, spells are used to train younger students and test their magical ability. For example, when Elloren arrives at Verpax, the Commander of the Guard tests her magical ability by having her “lift the wand awkwardly and point it at [a] candle” and whisper the word “illiumin.” Elloren is shocked by the wand and drops it quickly. Spoken spells are rare in the book; most of them are implied.  
  • Gardnerians marry using magical bonds that appear as tattoos on their skin, exhibiting their marital status and binding the couple together more literally. If they run or divorce each other, the tattoo damages their skin and can kill them.  
  • When Elloren was a child, she was required to be wandtested to see how powerful she was. She describes it as “a powerful energy shoot[ing] through [her]” even going so far as “an explosion. Fire shooting from the tip of the stick. The trees around [her] suddenly engulfed in flames. Fire everywhere. The sound of [her] screaming.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • The Black Witch establishes a complex religious system that mirrors modern monotheistic religions and intertwines it with politics. This religion has strong allusions to the three main monotheistic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Their religious structures dictate more conservative norms and different swear words than what people literally use. References to their religion are heavily present in the novel, and priests hold prominent positions in high government and university institutions. 
  • Asleep and thinking at night, Elloren provides context for the color of her skin, as “like all Gardnerians, [her] skin shimmers a faint green in the dark. It’s a mark of the First Children, set down on us by the Ancient One above, marking us as the rightful owners of Erthia. At least, that’s what our holy book, The Book of Ancients, tells us.” 
  • An example of the more conservative customs, “wandfasting” means arranged marriage at a very young age. When describing one of her friends, Elloren thinks about how her “zealously religious family fasted her at thirteen to Tobias Vassilis.” Later, Elloren’s aunt explains that “wandfasting” is a beautiful sacrament, meant to keep them pure and chaste. The aunt says, “The lure of the Evil Ones is strong . . . wandfasting helps young people. . . stay on the path of virtue.” 
  • Elves are considered “idol worshippers.” 
  • After a particularly violent day, Elloren tries to calm herself by reading from their holy book. She reads that “all of creation joined together to worship, glorify, and obey the Ancient One.” The book describes the Gardnerian creation myth in detail, complete with justifications for species biases and discrimination. 
  • Elloren rooms with two Icaral girls. When Elloren tells her friends about this, they say that Elloren “should go to evening service with [them],” and that “the priest can exorcise [the Icarals’] evil.” Later, one of Elloren’s professors refuses to teach one of them because “to look at [her] would be against [his] religious beliefs.” 
  • When Elloren’s friend’s family visits and they meet one of the werewolves, they whisper a prayer: “Oh, most holy Ancient One, purify our minds, purify our hearts, purify Erthia. Protect us from the stain of the Evil Ones.” 
  • One of Elloren’s professors comes from a culture similar to that of the Amazons (called the Amaz), and their creation myth is different. Professor Volya explains that “the First Men were not grateful at all for what the Goddess had done for them. Instead, they tried to convince the Three Sisters to join them and slay the Great Mother, so that they could rule over all Erthia.” 

by Kate Schuyler

Hurricane Rescue

Meet the Disaster Squad! Leela, Jaden, and the rest of the Jackson family travel the country and respond to natural disasters, helping people in need and rescuing animals along the way. 

In this second adventure, the Jacksons are called to Texas, where a hurricane is heading down the coast. Stormy skies, flooding streets, and crowded storm shelters… there are people and animals in danger! Will the Disaster Squad be able to weather the storm and lend a helping hand? 

Hurricane Rescue educates readers on the different aspects of hurricanes, including how they are named, how to evacuate safely, and the difference between a hurricane watch and a hurricane warning. The plot of Hurricane Rescue is broken up into small sections showing how the Jackson family helps many people. 

The Jackson family goes to a shelter to help where needed, and Leela and Jaden jump in and help when it is safe. The reason the Jackson family goes to the shelter is unclear. However, they still find ways to help during the storm. While there, they meet Mayor Garcia, who shows them emergency dos and don’ts. While at the hurricane shelter, the lights go out, so Leela and Jaden use a flashlight to make shadow puppets to entertain the little kids. They also help rescue a baby dolphin that was beached during the storm. Interspersed throughout the book are short animal interactions that will appeal to animal-loving readers. 

The kids see a rattlesnake and wonder if they should help the snake find shelter from the hurricane. Their mom tells them, “Never touch a rattlesnake in the wild. They are very aggressive. . . Your aunt Maya often finds rattlesnakes in her backyard in Arizona. She calls a trained professional who captures the snake and puts it back in the wild.” Even though the Jackson family helps animals in need, they always use procedures that keep them and the animals safe. 

For young readers who live in an area affected by hurricanes, Hurricane Rescue can help them understand how to prepare for a hurricane and the importance of going to a shelter. The story begins while the Jacksons are traveling to Florida. While there, the family helps at two different shelters. The Jacksons change locations often, making the plot a little choppy. Even though the book uses kid-friendly descriptions, younger readers may need help understanding the cause and effects of the hurricane.  

Hurricane Rescue focuses on the Jackson family—a biracial family with two professional parents. The book also features a Hispanic female mayor who plays a significant role at the shelter. The Disaster Squad Series is part of Scholastic‘s early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. The easy-to-read text and illustrations on every page will appeal to readers ready for chapter books.  

Hurricane Rescue reminds readers that “It’s important that people see how natural disasters and climate change are affecting the planet.” However, the book doesn’t give any information about how to help stop climate change. Still, the increasing number of natural disasters worldwide makes Disaster Squad a relevant series that will help readers understand the complexities of natural disasters. Readers interested in helping animals in need can find another action-packed adventure by reading  Storm Rescue by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Storm Dragon by Paula Harrison and Lucky Leopards by Aline Alexander Newman. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Pup and Hound Catch a Thief

A broken bank, a missing locket — there seems to be a thief about! Who could it be? Hound has no doubt. It must be Cat! Only she sneaks and slinks like that. But where will the trail of clues lead the doggy detectives?  

Readers will be eager to follow the clues along with Pup and Hound. When the farmer’s locket, earrings, and hairpins go missing, the two dogs are convinced that Cat is the culprit. But when they follow the clues, they find a surprise. In the end, Pup and Hound learn that Cat is a friend who can help them guard the farmer’s house. 

As a Level 1 Reader, Pup and Hound Catch a Thief uses easy vocabulary, simple sentences, and lots of repetition and rhyme. The playful illustrations provide visual clues to unfamiliar words. Each page has two to four simple sentences, making the book perfect for beginning readers learning sentences and word recognition. Plus, the use of rhyme and onomatopoeia makes Pup and Hound Catch a Thief a good book to read out loud.  

Pup and Hound Catch a Thief is a suspenseful mystery that will have readers guessing if Cat is indeed a thief. The basic plot is easy to follow, and readers will be eager to follow Cat as he sneaks around the farm. The conclusion has a fun surprise, and readers will be glad to discover that “Cat was no thief!”   

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • None

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

The Poet X

Fifteen-year-old Xiomara Batista, a Dominican teenager living in Harlem, learns to express herself through poetry as she navigates issues such as religion, boys, and family. Xiomara uses poetry to explain the world around her and navigate the changes that come with growing up.   

Xiomara struggles with feeling unheard and ignored by her mother, and she begins to question the religion that her mother forced her to partake in. She also deals with her mother’s physical abuse and name-calling. Xiomara finds herself rebelling as she attempts to gain some freedom from her mother’s control. Through her poetry, she learns to express herself and gains the courage to confront her mother about her feelings, ultimately leading to a healthier dynamic in their relationship.  

Xiomara feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body developed curves, she has learned to let her fists and fierceness do the talking. She is being sexualized by the kids at school, as well as the older men in her neighborhood. As she begins to express herself through poetry, she grows more confident in questioning the world around her and sticking up for herself. 

Xiomara is a relatable main character who navigates realistic conflicts, including family expectations and self-identity. Although she makes mistakes, she learns from them and becomes a better communicator. Xiomara’s experiences highlight the power of words as she uses them to connect with others and make friends. As Xiomara learns who she is, she breaks the expectations of others who don’t see her as a poet and believe in her dreams.  

The Poet X highlights the challenges that teenage girls encounter while growing up, particularly within the context of religion and Latino culture. The lessons in the novel will leave a lasting impact on readers, effectively teaching them the power of words and how to strengthen relationships.  Xiomara’s growth will help readers gain confidence in themselves and discover their identity as they navigate the world around them. 

Sexual Content  

  • Xiomara deals with unwanted attention from boys in her class. She writes, “I am the baby fat that settled into D-cups and swinging hips so that the boys who called me a whale in middle school now ask me to send them pictures of myself in a thong.” 
  • Xiomara discusses her desire to kiss a boy. She tells her friend, “I’m just saying, I’m ready to stop being a nun. Kiss a boy, shoot, I’m ready to creep with him behind a stairwell and let him feel me up.” 
  • Xiomara and the boy she secretly dates, Aman, hold hands and kiss. “I press my lips to his. His mouth is soft against mine. Gently, he bites my bottom lip. And then slides his tongue into my mouth.” They hang out at the park after school and listen to music, and then they walk home. “My hand held in his hand held in his coat pocket.”  
  • Xiomara runs from her home after getting into an argument with her mom and meets up with Aman. The two head over to his house, as his parents are not home. They kiss and undress each other but do not have sex because Xiomara changes her mind. “In Aman’s arms naked skin rubs against mine. In Aman’s arms kisses and kisses. My neck and ear. In Aman’s arms fingers touch my breasts. In Aman’s arms I stop breathing. In Aman’s arms I feel good.” The scene is described over two pages. 
  • Xiomara discusses masturbation in one of her poems. She describes, “In bed at night my fingers search a heat I have no name for. Sliding into a center, finding a hidden core, or stem, or maybe the root.” The poem lasts for one page.  
  • Xiomara’s brother, Xavier, is gay and goes on dates with a boy.  

Violence  

  • Xiomara writes about how she gets in fights with boys who are mean or vulgar towards her. “I face the dude who groped me, push him hard in the back. . . If you ever touch me again I’ll put my nails through every pimple on your fucking face.”   
  • Xiomara’s mom makes her kneel on rice and hits her to punish her after spotting her kissing Aman on the subway. “Mami prays and prays while my knees bite into grains of rice.”  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Xiomara talks about the drug dealers who hang out in her neighborhood. They make vulgar comments as she sits on her stoop. They shout to her: “You need to start wearing [short dresses] like that,” “Shit, you’d be wifed up before going back to school,” and “Especially knowing you church girls are all freaks.” Xiomara ignores them.  
  • Xiomara dates a boy who smokes weed. She says, “I’ve never smoked weed, but I think Aman does sometimes after school; I smell it on his sweater.”

Language  

  • Profanity is used occasionally and includes ho, bullshit, damn, fucking, and slut.

Supernatural  

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • Xiomara struggles with being Catholic because she doesn’t feel as connected to it anymore. She questions whether she truly believes in God.  “As I got older I began to really see the way that the church treats a girl like me differently.”  
  • She no longer feels close to God: “Jesus feels like a friend. . . who has suddenly become brand new; who invites himself over too often, who texts me too much. A friend I just don’t think I need anymore.” 

Good Night Thoughts

With their mind racing with visions of tarantula-filled toilet bowls, giant robot sharks and the dentist, a child struggles to find the quiet mindset they need to fall asleep. They remember the time they envisioned the world popping into a piece of popcorn or pictured themself falling off a cloud and flying towards the sun. With these scary thoughts bouncing around in their mind, the narrator wonders how they will ever fall asleep. Though they attempt to think of happier things, such as a baby panda and singing donuts, they cannot convince their minds to settle down. 

However, they begin to feel less anxious when they remember that their thoughts are just in their head, and that all those scary ideas are not reality. After reminding themselves that they are okay, the child finds the peace they need to say goodnight to their thoughts and go to sleep.  

Told from the first-person perspective, the main character experiences a common struggle as they attempt to navigate their racing thoughts. Although the young child is the only character in the book, the child’s imagination becomes a character of its own as it surrounds the narrator. The child’s facial expressions are exaggerated to show their emotions, which range from scared to completely at ease by the end of the book. Full-page illustrations appear on almost every page. The child and their surroundings are depicted in dark blue, while the things they imagine are drawn mainly in pink, blue, yellow, and green. The colors take away from the image’s realism. For example, a toilet filled with tarantulas is depicted fully in pink, making the drawing appear less lifelike and, as a result, less scary.  

Although Good Night Thoughts is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read independently for the first time. Each two-page spread features one to three sentences that occasionally employ complex sentence structures. For example, when the child can’t sleep, they say, “And if I really can’t fall asleep, if it feels like my brain won’t ever calm down, I try to think about all the people who love me holding hands and wearing every piece of clothing that they own.” The book is an excellent bedtime story because it conveys an essential message: anxious thoughts are not always a reflection of reality.  

Through the narrator’s struggles, readers will learn that nighttime can often be when the brain is at its noisiest, but the child’s ability to bravely tune out scary thoughts and peacefully fall asleep will encourage children to do the same. Readers will be drawn in by the imaginative illustrations and fall deeper in love with the story as they find themselves relating to the child’s struggles. The humorous images will engage children and reinforce the idea that thoughts are often just the imagination running wild. Good Night Thoughts is an essential and entertaining tool for helping children learn how to identify and manage their anxiety before bedtime. If you know a child who has a difficult time falling asleep, pair Good Night Thoughts with Pippa’s Night Parade by Lisa Robinson, Arlo, The Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep by Catherine Rayner, and The Pout-Pout Fish and the Can’t-Sleep Blues by Deborah Diesen. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language    

  • None

Supernatural  

  • None

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

The Eyes and The Impossible

Johannes, a free dog, lives in an urban park by the sea. His job is to be the Eyes—to see everything that happens within the park and report back to the park’s elders, three ancient Bison. His friends—a seagull, a raccoon, a squirrel, and a pelican—work with him as the Assistant Eyes, observing the humans and other animals that share the park and ensuring the Equilibrium is in balance.

But changes are afoot. More humans arrive in the park. A new building, containing mysterious and hypnotic rectangles, goes up. And then there are the goats—an actual boatload of goats—who appear, along with a shocking revelation that changes Johannes’s view of the world. 

The park, nestled by the sea, is a vast, lush sanctuary that is “green and windblown.” The park provides a protected sense of rugged mystery that draws the reader into this story about animals and their relationships. But it’s so much more. This story follows the comical, emotional, and philosophical observations and dilemmas that come when alliances are formed and tested between friends and communities. The day-to-day experiences of the protagonist, Johannes, reach a tipping point when he begins crafting an “impossible” plan that could change the course of his fate and that of those around him. Meanwhile, a heroic act is misunderstood, and new activity in the park places Johannes in danger, threatening both his life and the delicate ecosystem that protects the park’s inhabitants.  

As the narrator, Johannes invites the reader into his world where they meet a collection of memorable characters—his closest friends. The animals are humorous and share emotionally rich, interpersonal bonds that deepen the story. Time is comically exaggerated, much to the reader’s delight. From the start, and woven throughout the narrative, the theme of nature serves to guide, comfort, and amuse Johannes as he navigates the ups and downs of survival. Known for his speed and for running the perimeter of the park, Johannes is proud to be “unkempt and free.” 

Interspersed spiritual themes convey a reverence for nature. The animals express an appreciation for harmony and beauty in the natural world. Johannes perceives God as the sun—he delights in its warmth but also seems to understand it on a biological level, as a vital force behind all life and existence. “God is the sun. Clouds are her messengers. Rain is only rain.” This phrase becomes Johannes’s mantra, and its meaning is open to interpretation, allowing readers to draw their own connections. 

A sequence of exciting and revealing events propels Johannes to uncover his origin story. As plans for the “impossible task” unfold, the reader is drawn into a journey filled with lessons of love, loss, and friendship, resulting in an intelligent and heartwarming read. The story accelerates as Johannes attempts to carry out his plan, sweeping the reader up in a cascade of events that lead to a dramatic and satisfying conclusion. 

Eggers taps into deep emotions, the kind that make readers connect with a character and root for them. Themes like success, fear, and happiness are woven into the story in a way that feels universally relatable. In addition, the story features illustrations by Shawn Harris every 30 pages, in the style of classical landscapes from old-world painters. With surprising depth for adults and plenty of charm for kids, The Eyes & The Impossible makes a perfect addition to a child’s reading list. Johannes takes great pride in his friendships and responsibilities: “I have been entrusted with seeing and reporting.” Much like our own lives, his mission is shaped by the relationships he forms, and ultimately, his love for others. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language 

  • In one scene, park rangers yell, “Oh my God” in response to raccoons causing chaos.  

Supernatural  

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • The animals show reverence for nature. Johannes perceives God as the sun—he delights in its warmth but also seems to understand it on a biological level, as a vital force behind all life and existence. 
  • One storyline addresses the loss of purpose and, ultimately, death by depicting a ritual called “coda.” When injured or aged, seagulls take flight and then drop into the sea, signaling the end of life. 

My Survival: A Girl on Schindler’s List

The Nazis forced eleven-year-old Rena Finder and her family into the ghetto in Krakow, Poland. Rena worked as a slave laborer with scarcely any food and watched as friends and her father were sent away. A Girl on Schindler’s List details Rena’s experience as a young Jewish girl during the time of Nazi rule.  

Rena’s time in the ghetto was miserable, but things were going to get worse. Rena and her mother were marched to the Plaszów concentration camp, where they experienced Nazi terror firsthand. Near the end of the war, Rena and her mother were relocated to Auschwitz, where they met Oskar Schindler. In Auschwitz, they were put on Schindler’s list, which allowed Jewish prisoners to work in Schindler’s subcamp. Rena was one of the lucky few because the individuals on Schindler’s list were treated better than other camp members. They were given food, water, and Schindler’s factory also provided them with shelter from harsh winter conditions and death marches.  

Young readers will relate to Rena’s confusion about the world around her and empathize with her as she loses her childhood innocence and the rights she once had, such as the ability to play and learn like the non-Jewish children around her. She feels lost and scared when she is called a “dirty Jew,” and she wonders, “Why did that girl call me dirty? I’m not dirty, I took a shower just this morning.” Many of the chapters end in a question, which solidifies the feeling of confusion. She loses so much at such a young age, and young readers may feel the weight of this loss. As Rena matures, she begins to understand the harsh truths about the world and how much hurt hate can cause. 

Joshua M. Greene works to paint an accurate picture of the horrors Rena faced, making A Girl on Schindler’s List a quick and eye-opening read for young readers. The book includes depictions of murder and death, but the descriptions are handled with tact and grace. The descriptions are from Rena’s point of view, which provides a more innocent perspective on World War II. Each chapter flows smoothly into the next, advancing the story at a steady pace. However, the ending speeds up significantly, making the conclusion feel rushed.  

A Girl on Schindler’s List serves as an accurate first-person account of the horrors of the Holocaust. This novel serves as a tool to enlighten younger readers on the realities of World War II and Nazi Germany. A basic level of background knowledge about World War II is required to understand the context of this novel. The book is worth reading due to its accurate and nuanced perspective on the Nazi regime during World War II. It is narrated by a young girl, which lends it a unique perspective that few other Holocaust books possess. Readers who want to learn more about World War II should read Survival Tails: World War II by Katrina Charman and I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis. 

Sexual Content 

  • None

Violence 

  • Rena hears about the torture in camps from adults. “In some camps, prisoners were worked to death. In other camps, prisoners were suffocated in gas chambers and their bodies burned to ashes in crematorium ovens.” 
  • Rena’s grandparents were taken away as punishment for hiding from Nazi guards. “I will never forget the expression on my mother’s face watching her parents walking away to be murdered.” Rena never sees her grandparents again. 
  • Amon Goeth, a Nazi guard at Auschwitz, finds pleasure in torturing Jews. “Each morning, he aimed his rifle at people coming and going and killed people at random.”  
  • As Rena and her mother are taken to Auschwitz, Rena hears gunshots outside the orphanage. She hears someone sharing the fate of the children: “Someone came up and whispered that the children in the orphanage were being murdered.” 

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • Vodka is used as a bartering tool once Rena and her mother are freed from the camp. 

Language 

  • The word “Jew” is occasionally used in a derogatory way. For example, a girl yells, “Go home, you dirty Jew,” to Rena.  

Supernatural 

  • None

Spiritual 

  • Rena and her parents practice the Jewish religion. “We secretly held religious services at our apartment.” Religion is only mentioned once because the story is from Rena’s perspective, and being Jewish is just another part of her everyday life.   

The Triumphant

In the wake of their victorious fight to win back the Ludus Achillea, Fallon and her gladiatrix sisters have become the toast of the Republic. However, as a consequence of his actions during the Ludus uprising, Fallon’s love Cai has been stripped of his Decurion rank and cast down to serve as one of Caesar’s gladiators.

Amid fighting for Cai’s freedom, Fallon soon learns that Caesar’s enemies are plotting against him and planning to get revenge on his fearsome gladiatrices. When Caesar is murdered by these conspirators, Fallon and the girls lose any sort of protection they once had. Fallon also realizes that the foreign queen Cleopatra is now in grave danger.

Fallon rallies her war band and Cai’s friends to get Cleopatra out of the city, and the group heads to the safety of Cleo’s homeland, Alexandria, Egypt. Once there, the gladiatrices are promised a place of honor in the queen’s elite guard, but is that what any of them really want? 

The Triumphant begins with Julius Caesar’s death, giving readers a glimpse of Rome in chaos. Fallon and her warrior sisters help Cleopatra flee Rome and return to Alexandria, Egypt. Along the way, several of Fallon’s companions die, and Fallon blames herself for their death. While each death is a terrible loss, Fallon learns that her guilt is misplaced for several reasons. First, Fallon’s fellow warriors chose to stay in Rome or travel to Egypt. In addition, only one person can be blamed for another’s death—the person who killed them. In The Triumphant, Fallon mourns the death of her friends, but death is portrayed as another part of life. Cleopatra tells Fallon, “Caesar once told me that he didn’t understand those who feared death. It will come when it comes, he said. To everyone. Even to him.” 

Fallon and her warrior sisters take an epic journey from the corrupt Roman Republic to the wonder of the ancient world: Alexandria, Egypt. While on this journey, Fallon isn’t the only strong woman who shines. Fallon’s friend Elka plays a more significant role in the story, allowing readers to appreciate Elka’s strength and loyalty to Fallon. Cleopatra also has a starring role that highlights the belief that Cleopatra was the daughter of gods and, as such, she possessed both brains and bravery. In the end, The Triumphant shows that women are capable of choosing their own path. However, Cleopatra says, “Destiny is not something that is given. It’s something you prove yourself worthy of taking.” 

Anyone who enjoys fast-paced stories full of action and political intrigue will enjoy The Valiant Series. Fallon’s determination to give her sister warriors freedom is admirable. Caesar and Cleopatra give the story a historical element and added intrigue. Each installment of The Valiant Series highlights the importance of choosing your own destiny. If you’re ready to take another epic adventure, read A Court of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J. Maas and the Dust Lands Series by Moira Young. 

Sexual Content  

  • A slave was sold to a brothel.  
  • Fallon goes to visit Cai, who is locked in a cell. When he is allowed out, Fallon kisses him. “I reached up to pull his bruised, beautiful face gently down toward mine. It was strange, being able to tangle my fingers in Cai’s hair. . . [his lips were] firm and soft at once, pressed hungrily against mine as if we could make up all the lost months. . .” 
  • One night, Cai and Fallon were keeping watch for trouble when “Cai’s head dipped beneath mine as his mouth moved from my wrist to the inside of my elbow. . . My fingers traced up the twin columns of muscle along his spine until I reached the collar of his tunic, and I could slip my hand underneath. . .” They are interrupted before things can go further. The scene is described over two and a half pages. 

Violence  

  • Cai is sent to be a gladiator. During his first fight, Cai’s “sica had still hit the mark early on and more than once. The man’s shield-arm shoulder and biceps were running blood from several long, shallow cuts. . . As Cai scrambled past his adversary, the points of his curved blades tagged the murmillo again—this time on the back of his legs, below his armored kilt. Blood splashed from the wound.” 
  • After Cai beats the murmillo, a group of gladiators surround him. One man steps up to help Cai. Cai and his ally “rushed forward, swords cutting the air before them, flashing sunlight like fire. . . Together, they swept through the line of their opponents, and the man unlucky enough to find himself at the center of that line dropped to the ground. . . bleeding from wounds on both sides of his body.”  
  • During the battle, “Cai’s left blade caught one of the attackers on the side of his neck. The ground gasped. . . as the man dropped to the ground. Blood sputtered in a fountain from between his fingers as he clutched at his throat. . . and then he was still.” The scene is described over six pages. One man dies, and others are seriously wounded.  
  • Fallon hears a story of a group that is “burning whole villages” and “killing most of the men and carrying off the women.”  
  • Other members of the Roman senate stab Caesar. Afterwards, “Caesar reached out, grasping handfuls of air. . . and then a group of men charged him like a pack of jackals on a wounded lion. . . blood flew, splattering the gleaming marble columns of the theatre portico.” The murder is described over a page.  
  • A gladiatrix was injured and later drowned herself. 
  • One of Fallon’s companions, Charon, is shot with an arrow. His “face was rigid with pain. He had one hand pressed to his flank—blood seeping between his fingers. . .” Fallon throws a knife and “was rewarded with a grunt of pain.” The attacker flees. Later, Charon dies from his wound.  
  • Fallon and her companions are traveling in a caravan when a man on a horse grabs someone. “[One of the gladiatrices] lurched to her feet and smashed the rider over the head with the short curved bow she carried, wielding it like a club. The man tumbled instantly from the back of his horse, dead or unconscious. . .”  
  • Another rider grabbed the gladiatrix Vorya. “He clutched at her tunic as Vorya raised her sword to strike, but she couldn’t get any solid footing. . . She fell forward, and there was nothing to stop her. . . Nothing but the rider’s blade, thrust to the hilt between Vorya’s ribs.” 
  • Nephele, Vorya’s companion, “lunged for the man who’d killed Vorya and, with a cry of pure rage, thrust her dagger straight through his eye. The man screamed and fell, arms and legs bent and twisting.”  
  • While being attacked, someone began shooting arrows at Fallon. “The first missed. The second laid a fiery kiss along the top of my shoulder, the razor-sharp point slicing through the fabric. . . carving a searing gash in my flesh.” The attack is described over seven pages, and several people die. 
  • After being chased by an enemy, Cleopatra says, “Then tell your dark god when you meet him that it was I who sent you to his realm.” Then she slit his throat “from ear to ear.”  
  • A woman named Tanis was trying to kill Cleopatra. Fallon shadows Tanis, waiting for the right time to kill her. Tanis “pulled the bowstring taunt beside her ear. And I hurled myself at her, hitting her with my shoulder, hard in the center of her back.” The two women fall off the roof, and Fallon “delivered a swift kick to her ribs . . . I hauled her to her feet and drove my fist into her face. Her head snapped back, and blood flew in a thin arc from her mouth.” Fallon calms down and lets Tanis escape. 
  • While Fallon is in a temple, she sees a reflection of a blade descending. “I heard the scuff of a sandal and spun around in time to see the jackal god Anubis himself swinging a sword at my head. . . He had the Aegyptian god of the dead with him!” The villain lifted a “bloodstained blade high above me. . . I lunged upward, the Tartarus key clutched in my fist like a dagger. And I drove it straight through his eye. . . [The villain] clutched weakly for the key, jutting obscenely out from his eye socket before toppling backward and hitting the surface of the reflection pool.” He sinks to the bottom of the pool, dead. 
  • Another man moves toward Fallon. The villain’s “second stop faltered. And as a sword’s point seemed to suddenly sprout like a flower from the center of his naked chest, he fell to his knees in front of me.” Cai killed the man to save Fallon. The scene is described over nine pages. 
  • In the final battle, Fallon’s friends and her father’s warriors battle the Romans. A Roman, Yoreth, attacks Fallon with a spear. “His first thrust tagged my thigh. . . a long, shallow cut. . .I blocked the next blow with my shield. . . he lunged forward with a long dagger drawn from his belt.” 
  • To save Fallon, someone shoots Yoreth with an arrow. Fallon “recoiled as he gagged once, a horrid, harrowing sound, and blood poured from his mouth.” 
  • Fallon attacks a warrior. “I threw my sword at him. It spun between his neck and shoulder. . . enough to make him scream and drop his own sword.” 
  • When a Roman threatens Fallon’s father, she “thrust my sword up under the polished black scales of his pristine ceremonial armor, stabbing him through the heart while he ranted.” The man and many others die. The final battle is described over five pages.

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • The adults often drink wine. Fallon goes to the gravesite of a dead gladiatrix. She had beer and “two cups. . . and poured out two measures of good dark Briton beer.” Fallon drinks her beer and “poured half of Nyx’s measure out onto her grave.”  
  • Fallon remembers when she drank wine spiked with mandrake. 
  • Fallon goes to a party where many are drunk.  
  • After Cleopatra discovers Ceasar has been killed, she is given “two measures” of wine.  
  • Fallon’s sister is given “potions to ease the searing headaches that made even the dimmest light unbearable.” Later, she is given “poppy draughts.”  

Language  

  • Profanity is used occasionally. Profanity includes ass, bastard, bitch, and damn.
  • “Ye gods,” “Jupiter’s beard,” and “Morrigan’s teeth” are each used as exclamations once.  
  • Some people call Cleopatra an “Aegyptina whore.”  

Supernatural 

  • A soothsayer warns of Caesar’s demise. She says, “Mars comes for you, great lord!”  
  • According to legend, Kassandra was a soothsayer. “Only she was cursed by the gods so that no one ever believed her. She could see the future but remained powerless to change it.”  
  • Fallon goes to the temple of Sekhmet to mediate. She has a vision of Julius Caesar, who is dead. They have a three-page discussion on why Caesar invaded Fallon’s island.  

Spiritual Content  

  • Fallon often refers to Morrigan, the goddess she worships. For example, Fallon believes Morrigan “had in her wisdom seen fit to send me so far from home to seek my density.” 
  • Fallon thinks about the Roman gods. “I knew the Romans worshipped virtually the same pantheon, only with different names. Were they interchangeable? The divine beings who, in spite of their own wars and ruins and tangled relationships, did their best to guide us mortals through our muddled and messy lives?” The passage continues for half a page.  
  • Some people believed that Caesar was a god. Likewise, some believe Cleopatra is the daughter of a god. Cleopatra said, “I’m the daughter of the gods. Isis and Osiris protect me.”  
  • A group worships the god Dis. After Caesar is killed, one man dips a sword in Caesar’s blood. It is implied that the man eats the blood.  
  • As Fallon and her companions try to get Cleopatra back to Egypt, Fallon is thankful that she is joined by others who know how to fight. “Even as I prayed to the Morrigan that we would have no opportunity to call upon those skills.” 
  • Some believe that earthquakes happen “when Hades gets angry.” 
  • While being pursued by an attacker, Fallon prays, “Hear me, my goddess. . . Help me save my friends. Send me your strength. . . Send me help! Take my blood, take anything you want from me . . . Raven of Battles. . . help me!” 
  • After the above prayer, Fallon’s friend, Hestia, is murdered. Fallon wonders, “Was Hestia’s sacrifice part of the price the Morrigan demanded of my prayer?” 
  • While trying to protect Cleopatra, Fallon “sent up silent prayers to the Morrigan and Minerva and Sekhmet that we could just get her aboard a ship without incident.”  
  • The Varnini tribe believes that after a person dies, they go to “drink the All-Father’s finest mead in his hall of heroes.” 
  • Fallon’s sister tells her, “The gods give and take life as it pleases them.” 
  • When Fallon returns to her home, she buries the ashes of a dead friend. Then she asks the Morrigan, “Is it enough? Will it ever be enough? Was Sorcha not even enough for you? Or will you take my friends and my father too?” The prayer is a half-page long. 

The Pirates of Pompeii

It is A.D. 79. The Roman world is reeling from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Hundreds of refugees are living in a makeshift camp, trying to come to terms with what has happened. Then even more tragedy strikes: the camp’s children begin to disappear. Flavia Gemina and her friends Jonathan, Nubia, and Lupus are determined to find out more and start to investigate a powerful and charismatic man known as the Patron. A dangerous trail leads them to the caves and grottoes of Sorrento, where they encounter pirates, slave dealers, and possible death. 

Flavia and her friends embark on a new adventure as they try to unravel the mystery of the missing children. After hearing rumors of the Patron, the children convince Felix—who may be responsible for the kidnappings—to take them to his estate. Once there, Flavia and her friends investigate every aspect of Felix’s world. While Felix is kind and generous, Flavia is still convinced that he is the mastermind behind the kidnappings.  

Flavia and the others meet Felix’s spoiled daughter, Pulchra. The bratty girl flaunts her wealth, beats her slave, and demands that Nubia be treated like a slave as well. Instead of standing up for her friend, Flavia treats Nubia poorly. After Pulchra beats Nubia, Nubia decides to join a group of runaway slaves. However, the slaves are in more danger than they know. 

The Pirates of Pompeii leads readers on an epic adventure full of suspense and surprises. Felix and his daughter Pulchra are welcome additions to the cast of characters. Felix’s generosity seems too good to be true, while Pulchra is a selfish brat who is easy to hate. Soon, Flavia begins treating Nubia more like a slave than a friend. When Pulchra and Flavia are kidnapped and beaten, they finally realize how horrible it is for slaves. The dramatic shift in Pulchra’s perception and Flavia’s offer to free Nubia redeems the girls and highlights the importance of treating everyone with respect.   

Lawrence uses vivid descriptions and diverse characters to bring Ancient Rome to life. While the wealthy lived in luxury, many Romans’ lives were difficult, and children were particularly vulnerable. Readers will empathize with the kidnapped children and the mistreated slaves. The final battle between the children and their kidnappers will leave readers cheering. The Pirates of Pompeii is a fast-paced adventure with well-developed characters that readers will love. In addition, it reminds readers: “Don’t be ashamed of your tears. A man is never afraid to weep for his family.” 

Readers can learn more about Pompeii’s tragic destruction by pairing The Pirates of Pompeii with Through Time: Pompeii by Richard Platt. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • Many people died when a volcano close to Pompeii erupted, and “one man’s bloated corpse had washed up on the shore around noon.”  
  • Lupus joins a group of mourners. “When the professional mourners scratched their cheeks, he scratched his. It hurt, but it brought release. He needed to feel the pain.” While Lupus doesn’t know the person the mourners are grieving, he grieves Pliny, “the great admiral who had treated him with courtesy and respect, but who had died gasping like a fish.” He also grieves a friend’s death as well as his father’s death. “The father whose murder he witnessed, powerless to stop.”  
  • Flavia finds a little girl named Julia hiding in a cave, crying. Julia says men grabbed her and her brother, Rufus. “. . . Rufus was brave and had kicked on so hard that he had fallen to the ground. . . Then I screamed my loudest scream and bit the other one on the arm and Rufus kicked him between the legs and we ran. . .” Julia gets away, but her brother is missing. 
  • Flavia’s uncle Gaius was robbed. “The robbers who had cracked his ribs had also bruised his jaw and broken his nose.” Uncle Gaius’s dog “almost died trying to protect his master. . . and a knife wound in the chest had rendered him harmless as a lamb.” 
  • Nubia meets a runaway slave. She is worried because “the Romans crucified runaway slaves. She was not sure what ‘crucified’ meant, only that it was something terrible.” 
  • Lupus has difficulty eating because “someone cut out his tongue.” 
  • Jonathan’s father, Mordecai, explains that Emperor Titus “gave the command to burn the temple. Thousands of our people died in the siege of Jerusalem. . . There are those who say that he is the reason Vesuvius erupted. The rabbis always said God’s curse would come upon this land if ever Titus rose to power.” 
  • When Pulchra’s jewelry box falls off her bed, she blames her slave, Leda. Pulchra “slapped Leda hard across the face. . .” Later, Flavia finds Leda “curled up in a box. . . rolling her eyes in terror. She lay on one side with her knees drawn up almost to her face, which was red and swollen from crying.”  
  • Leda said Pulchra beat her for misbehaving and locked her in the box. Flavia convinces Leda to come out of the box. Flavia sees Leda’s back. “In one or two places, seeping through the fine yellow linen of her tunic, Flavia could see the dark stain of fresh blood where Pulchra had wielded a birch switch with particular vigor.” 
  • Pulchra beat Nubia for being “insolent.” Then Pulchra purposely broke Nubia’s flute. Nubia runs into a tree grove.  
  • Pulchra and Flavia get into a fight. “Furiously, Flavia grabbed a handful of Pulchra’s yellow hair and tugged as hard as she could. . . Pulchra screeched and aimed a few feeble blows at Flavia. . .” After being hit in the stomach, “Flavia doubled over, trying desperately not to be sick, then furiously tackled Pulchra around the knees and brought her thudding down onto the dusty ground.” 
  • As the girls were fighting, two masked men came out of the bushes and kidnapped Leda, Pulchra, Flavia, and Jonathan. “Flavia and Pulchra were still rolling in the dust when the masked men lifted them apart and wrenched their hands behind their backs. When she saw the leering masks, Pulchra screamed.”  
  • Flavia’s dog Tigris, “raced down the hillside and sunk his teeth into the shorter man’s ankle. . . The masked man cursed and kicked the puppy hard. Tigris flew up into the air, then landed in the dust with a thud. He lay motionless.” Later, Flavia is reunited with the puppy. 
  • The kidnappers take the group of friends to a cave where there are approximately fifty children tied up. The kidnappers beat Pulchra, Flavia, and Jonathan, but not Leda because, “You’ve been beaten quite enough.” 
  • Flavia “felt a searing streak of pain across her back. And then another. And another. . . [the kidnapper] had beaten her heart, too, though he had taken care not to break the skin.” The other beatings are not described. 
  • After being taken to a ship, the children fight the kidnappers. Their first move is to dump chickpeas on the deck. “As one of Venalicius’s big men took a step forward, his foot flew out in front of him and he crashed to the deck.” Jonathan used his sling to throw coins at the men, and Nubia threw a wine jug at a man. “It shattered on the man’s head and he sank gently to the deck.”  
  • Venalicius goes to grab a dagger, but “then a figure with tangled hair head-butted Venalicius in his stomach. He went down. . . And now children were swarming over him, tying his hands and legs and stomach until he was more rope than man.” Some of the men jumped overboard and sunk to their deaths while the others were tied up.  
  • Lupus sees the slave dealer, Venalicius, “treasured up like a pig for slaughter. . . Lupus wrenched the dagger from the cabin wall and in one savage motion he brought it down toward the slave dealer’s throat. Flavia screamed as she saw blood spurt from the slave dealer’s head.” Lupus cut off the slave dealer’s ear. Felix stops Lupus from killing the man. The story implies that Lupus saw the slave dealer kill his father. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Flavia’s uncle Gaius sells wine. Wine is mentioned when describing the items being given to the survivors. 
  • Before Flavia and her friends leave Pompeii, Jonathan packs a “dark brown powder.” He says, “We’re going to an unknown place with a possible criminal mastermind. You never know when you’ll need a good sleeping powder!” 
  • After his daughter is kidnapped, a farmer seeks help from Felix. Felix gives him wine, and “the farmer drained the cup and shuddered.” 
  • During dinner, wine is served to everyone, including the children. The steward “filled each guest’s cup, simultaneously pouring out foamy black wine from one jug and clear water from the other. The mixture ranged from ruby red in Felix’s cup to the palest pink for the little girls.” Flavia drinks so much wine that she is ill the next day. 
  • To help the kidnapped children get free, Nubia puts a powder in their wine. She believed it was a sleeping powder, but instead, it was “mushroom powder” that made the men hallucinate. 

Language  

  • Several times, Flavia exclaims, “Neptune’s beard!” 
  • An adult exclaims, “By Jupiter!” 
  • After a walk, Pulchra says, “Great Juno!” 
  • After Pulchra beats Nubia, Flavia thinks, “That stupid, spoiled little harpy with the golden hair and eyes. She had dared to strike Nubia!” 
  • Pulchra and Flavia call each other names such as spoiled little patrician, peasant, harpy, and gorgon. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • The gods Castor and Pollux are Flavia’s “guardian gods.”  
  • After the volcano erupted, “people moaned and wailed at the evil omen of a bloodred world. Some believed Apollo, the sun god, was dying and that he would never rise again.” 
  • After her uncle is robbed, Flavia wonders what they will eat. An adult tells her, “God will provide.” 
  • When Jonathan is in a coma, his father prays for him, saying, “Please, Lord, bring him back.” When Jonathan finally wakes, his father says, “Praise God!” 
  • When the emperor promises to compensate people who lost property in the eruption, the people cheer. “There were many shouts of ‘Hail Caesar!’ and ‘May the gods reward you.’” 
  • Felix has “an ancient shrine to the wine god, Dionysus.” Felix explains why the shrine has a picture of a ship with dolphins surrounding it. Pirates kidnapped Dionysus and “dragged the god into their ship and tied him up.” Dionysus escaped and “turned into a lion and roared in their faces. . . The pirates leaped overboard before the beast could devour them.” Afterwards, Dionysus drank wine. “The wind put Dionysus in such good spirits that he took pity on the drowning sailors and turned them all into dolphins. And that is how dolphins came to be.” 
  • Felix believes Flavia and her friends survived the volcano’s eruption because “the gods must surely have favored you.” 
  • Felix’s wife says, “I believe that my husband is part man, part god. Like Hercules. . .For a long time, I wondered which of the gods was his father. . .” 
  • Lupus was the only child who escaped the kidnappers. As he looks for Felix, he prays, “Let him be there.” 

Four Perfect Pebbles

Marion Blumenthal Lazan’s memoir follows her family’s escape from Nazi Germany. They fled to Holland, where the Nazis forced them into prison camps and they eventually were sent to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. Their journey is filled with pain and loss as they try to immigrate to the United States in hopes of survival. However, Marion’s ritual of finding four perfect pebbles shows her effort to remain hopeful.  

Four Perfect Pebbles is told in the third person, focusing on the life of Marion Blumenthal Lazan, a young Jewish girl who survived the Holocaust. While the story is filled with her real-life experiences, it’s narrated from an outside perspective, allowing the reader to see both Marion’s emotions and the historical context. Marion is a relatable and admirable main character who holds onto hope in the darkest of situations. Marion uses a ritual of finding four perfect pebbles to comfort herself with the idea that her family would survive. Her courage and curiosity make her compelling to read about, especially for readers interested in learning about history.  

The people closest to Marion are her family, which includes her mother, Ruth, her father, Walter, and her older brother, Albert. Her mother provides not just physical care but emotional strength, helping Marion endure the harsh conditions by keeping their Jewish traditions alive and telling stories at night. Walter is a calming and hardworking individual who aims to protect his family. He’s a beacon of strength for them. Marion’s older brother becomes a role model because of his courage and love. Their devotion to one another becomes the emotional center of the book. Marion doesn’t simply observe their actions; they shape her. This is what drives her to cling to the idea that staying together is what will keep them all alive.  

Four Perfect Pebbles is educational and emotionally impactful due to its descriptions of starvation, disease, and death. These moments are handled with care and respect, making them suitable for middle-grade readers yet still powerful enough to leave a lasting impact. It’s concise and direct writing, teaching readers about the Holocaust through the lens of the Blumenthal family. However, some sections, specifically the earlier chapters, feel somewhat slow and focus more on history than on Marion’s personal accounts. Historian Lila Perl co-writes this book, so the tone shifts between more narrative storytelling and factual explanation, which can make certain parts feel less personal.  

This book is absolutely worth reading because the memoir offers both education and empathy. The addition of real photos of the Blumenthal family, documents, and the camp makes the events even more real. For readers unfamiliar with the Holocaust, Marion’s story helps readers understand what children endured during the war. It’s a story about perseverance, family, and survival. Through Marion’s journey, readers are reminded that even the smallest things can bring hope. Four Perfect Pebbles leaves readers with the ultimate message that even in the darkest moments, hope can give people the strength to endure.  

Sexual Content 

  • None 

Violence 

  • Marion recounts the harsh living conditions of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. The barracks were crowded. “As many as six hundred crowded into barracks meant to hold a hundred.”  
  • At the camp, Marion would wake up to “gasps and moans, rattling coughs, and short piercing cries,” and “the stench of unwashed bodies, disease, and death.”  
  • The prisoners were subjected to unhygienic conditions. There were no toilets, and they would go weeks without washing themselves. “We were covered in lice. They lived in our clothes, in our hair, and the itching never stopped.”  
  • There was also a constant fear of death. Marion notes that despite Bergen-Belsen not having gas chambers, many still worried they were being led to their deaths because “how could we ever be sure?” 
  • While at Bergen-Belsen, many people died from starvation and disease. “The wagon trundled past, and a closer look told her that it was filled not with firewood but with the naked, sticklike bodies of dead prisoners.” 
  • The news mentions gas chambers. “By June 1942, reports of Jews being gassed in Poland had already appeared in American and British newspapers and been aired on the BBC.”  
  • Typhus was the most prevalent disease and spread quickly. “No symptoms showed until the deep pink, pea-size spots appeared around the midriff. This rash had given the disease the common name of spotted fever. Its onset was accompanied by a severe headache and a high fever that often resulted in delirious ravings and hallucinations. Death usually followed within one to two days.” 
  • A pot of soup severely burns Marion’s leg and, due to harsh conditions, it’s unable to heal properly. “I was sitting on the bed, near the pot of soup, with my right leg bent at the knee. In our haste to cover what we were doing, we tipped over the pot and the boiling soup spilled across my leg, scalding the lower part from the knee down.” 
  • Marion’s father passed away from Typhus shortly after liberation. “For days, he lay in the farmhouse bedroom suffering from the burning fever, the stabbing headaches, and the weird fantasies and semiconsciousness of the disease. And then one morning, Albert went to his bedside and saw that he was dead.” 

Language 

  • Hitler disparaged various groups of people. For example, “He also denounced any Germans who were crippled, deformed, or mentally ill, as being unworthy of existence.”

Supernatural Content 

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • The Blumenthal family is Jewish, and their religious identity is mentioned throughout the story. Marion and her family maintain Jewish customs and adapt their meals for Passover. “I could make do with eating matzoh, our unleavened bread, instead of raised bread. But many sweets that I’d been looking forward to were not kosher for Passover.” 
  • While imprisoned in a transport camp, the family still maintained some religious observances, despite the conditions. “We lit the Sabbath candles when we could, whispering prayers that were part of her childhood.” 

Digger Man

A little boy imagines driving a great big digger – scooping and pushing mud to make a playground for his baby brother. The boy scoops rocks, pushes mud, and honks the horn, and “sometimes my mom and dad can bring my brother to see me.”  

Any child who is fascinated by trucks will love Digger Man. Each page features bold colors that highlight various types of trucks used for digging. But this isn’t just a book about trucks; it’s a book about family. The boy’s family is depicted in some illustrations, and the narrator discusses teaching his brother. “As soon as my brother gets bigger, I will teach him so he can be a digger man, too.”  

Each two-page spread has a single sentence and an array of trucks. The end pages depict the park the boy created by digging a hole for the ducks, building a dirt mountain, and designing a playground. One of the best parts of the book is that the boy is creating something that he and his brother can enjoy together.  

Digger Man will leave readers dreaming about all of the things they can create. You don’t have to dig into a library shelf to find more transportation-related books. Instead, scoop up Bulldozer Helps Out by Candace Fleming, Go, Go, Trucks! by Jennifer Liberts, and Construction Site: Taking Flight! by Sherri Duskey. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

The Cave Challenge

Harry likes to look his best – new white trainers for indoor games, designer jeans for the evening Camp barbecue. But when he meets Bear Grylls exploring an underground maze of caves and tunnels, Harry realizes that his clothes are going to be put to the test – and so is he, if they want to make it back to the surface. Will Harry discover that there’s more to the right kit than just keeping it clean?  

Readers will instantly connect with Harry, who is overly fashion-conscious but seems destined to get dirty. Harry “hated the idea of getting filthy. He would never usually sign up for anything that meant he would trash his clothes or look stupid.” When he’s magically transported into a cave system, Harry has no choice other than to belly crawl through bat guano, swim inside a tunnel, and complete other tasks that get him filthy. At first, Harry’s dislike of dirt is comical, which makes Harry’s transformation all the more satisfying for readers. 

With Bear Grylls as a guide, Harry faces his fears and gains confidence along the way. Throughout the adventure, Harry learns many important life lessons, such as the importance of maintaining a positive outlook. Bear also teaches him that, “Sometimes you just have to take things as they come. . . Some things, you just don’t worry about until you have to.” In the end, Harry no longer cares about keeping his clothes clean because “he had helped Bear get through the caves by being brave and working hard, not because of what style of outfit he was wearing.” 

The Cave Challenge’s large text and illustrations will appeal to readers. The illustrations help readers visualize the story’s events, while also adding humor and suspense. When cave terms are used, the story incorporates a definition, making it easier to read. Additionally, the book is printed “in a reader-friendly font and design” to help those with dyslexia. Two pages of additional information about caves are included at the end of the book. These facts discuss a soccer team in Thailand that got trapped in a cave. Readers who would like more information on the team’s experiences should read All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat. 

The Bear Grylls Adventure Series books can be read as a standalone and do not need to be read in order. Each book focuses on a different child at the outdoor activity camp. Once the camper is given the magical compass, they meet the adventurer, Bear, in an amazing place and learn new skills and facts they can take with them back to their real life. Each book aligns with Common Core Standards, making it suitable for educational purposes.  

The Cave Challenge takes readers into the depths of a natural cave system, where they’ll discover many fascinating facts about the formation of caves. When Harry is uncertain or afraid, Bear’s voice is kind and gentle, which allows Harry to overcome his fears. While Harry’s antics are often funny, Bear never rebukes or teases him. Instead, Bear helps Harry view crawling through caves as a fun adventure, and that tone is infectious. While the plot isn’t unique, young readers looking for adventure will find the story engaging, and it will encourage them to try new things. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • A magical compass transports Harry to an extensive cave system. One minute, Harry is at camp, and the next, “Camp had vanished.”  
  • Without any explanation, Harry is transported back to camp.

Spiritual Content  

  • Deep in the cave, Harry finds a statue of a person. Bear says, “The ancient peoples who used to live in this part of the world thought the caverns were entrances to the Underworld, so they would throw offerings in for their gods.” Out of respect, Harry leaves the statue where he found it. 

Megan Rapinoe: Athletes Who Made a Difference

When Megan Rapinoe retired from professional soccer in 2023, she left behind one of the most extraordinary careers in the sport. Rapinoe won an Olympic gold medal, two FIFA Women’s World Cups, and the FIFA Player of the Year award. These accomplishments coincided with victories off the field as well. An advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and equal pay for female athletes, Rapinoe inspired countless people who may not have felt welcome in professional sports. In this book, readers will follow Rapinoe’s illustrious career, from her beginnings as a promising junior athlete to her many achievements as an Olympic athlete.

Megan Rapinoe: Athletes Who Made a Difference is divided into three short chapters, and the last four pages are filled with a glossary, citations, and an index. Chapter One describes Rapinoe’s childhood, where she discovered her passion for soccer and joined her first team. Readers will learn how Rapinoe’s love for the sport persisted through numerous obstacles. Her family lived two and a half hours away from where her team practiced, and the round trip was 350 miles. Although the journey was difficult for Rapinoe and her family, her team made it to the finals of the US Youth Soccer National Championships – the first of many accomplishments for Rapinoe.

Chapter Two follows Rapinoe’s college career. In her first season with the Portland Pilots, Rapinoe scored seven game-winning goals, helping the team win the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship. This victory led to a life-changing phone call: Rapinoe was invited to join the US Women’s Senior National Team.

Chapter Three follows Rapinoe’s professional career. At this time, Rapinoe discovered that she and many of her teammates were gay, but they hid their identities from the press and their fans. Rapinoe soon made her identity public and became an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights. “[Coming out] can be a difficult, emotional process,” Anderson writes. “Megan hoped that coming out would set a positive example for others.”

The book is presented as a comic book, with one to three brightly colored panels per page. The characters’ dialogue appears in word balloons, but most of the information is presented through captions in the corner of the page. The information is spread over the pages, so young readers are not overwhelmed by the text. Each caption contains one to three sentences. The syntax is simple and accessible, though the book uses several soccer terms such as “cross” and “penalty kick.” Readers unfamiliar with soccer can consult the book’s glossary for the meaning of each term.

Megan Rapinoe: Athletes Who Made a Difference is a thoroughly researched introduction to a monumental figure. Casey Ella Fredrick’s kinetic illustrations of Rapinoe’s many games will excite soccer fans, but the book is a valuable read for any reader. Rapinoe’s story demonstrates to young readers the importance of standing up for what is right and speaking out when they are being treated unfairly.

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Sunrise on the Reaping

The 25th annual Hunger Games features a brutal twist: twice the number of boys and girls will be selected as tributes to compete in this televised fight to the death. On Haymitch Abernathy’s 16th birthday, he is chosen to compete in the Games and is sent to the Capitol with three other tributes to prepare. After a series of tragic events in the Capitol, Haymitch finds himself in the middle of a rebel plot to destroy the arena where the Hunger Games are held.

When the Games begin, Haymitch finds himself in an arena where nothing is as it seems. The arena, which appears to be an idyllic paradise, comes with a catch: everything in it is poisonous. Haymitch faces a near-impossible task. In order to make it home, he must survive the dangers of the arena and outlive the 47 other tributes, many of whom are his friends and allies. Survival is not Haymitch’s only goal, and as the brutality of the Games unfolds around him, he becomes more determined to complete his mission of destroying the arena. But will his rebellion come at a cost?

Haymitch is a courageous and caring protagonist, and many of his actions are driven by a desire to protect others. Although he faces terrible circumstances, Haymitch remains kind and loyal to his friends and allies. Fans of the original Hunger Games trilogy will be interested to meet this version of Haymitch, who is just as abrasive and jaded as he is in the previous books. However, Sunrise on the Reaping shows both Haymitch’s growth and his downfall. At the beginning of the novel, Haymitch is more naïve and easygoing, as he is unaware of the full scope of the Capitol’s horrors. As the story progresses, Haymitch learns to be both an empathetic leader and a strong fighter. Due to all that he has suffered at the hands of the Capitol, Haymitch’s character evolves into the beaten-down version of himself that readers are familiar with from the original series. Despite this, Haymitch still holds onto enough hope and strength to help aid in the events of The Hunger Games trilogy.

When Haymitch is sent to the Capitol, he is separated from his girlfriend, Lenore Dove. Lenore Dove is rebellious, free-spirited, and has a knack for getting into trouble. Another person who impacts Haymitch is Maysilee Donner, an angry, intelligent, and strong-willed teen with whom he forms a strong alliance in the arena. Both Lenore’s rebellious streak and Maysilee’s rage give a deeper understanding of the Capitol’s cruelty and the injustices the protagonists face.

Readers do not have to be familiar with The Hunger Games to understand Sunrise on the Reaping, but the book will be more enjoyable to those who are already fans of the series. Sunrise on the Reaping summarizes key details from the previous books, making it accessible to new readers of the series. Sunrise on the Reaping is similar to the original Hunger Games series in terms of setting and conflict, and much like The Hunger Games trilogy, takes place in District 12, the Capitol, and at a Hunger Games arena. The conflict is also similar, as Haymitch fights against tributes and mutts in the arena, much like how Katniss and Peeta did in the first and second Hunger Games novels. Sunrise on the Reaping takes these familiar elements and uses them to enthrall readers and subvert their expectations. However, Sunrise on the Reaping, unlike the original series, is more psychological and political. Rather than focusing mainly on survival in the arena, as the first Hunger Games novel does, Sunrise on the Reaping explores the Capitol’s failings and how these abuses affect the people living under this tyrannical government’s reign. Additionally, this novel is more mature and darker than other books in the Hunger Games series. The mature themes of this novel are handled skillfully and presented in a manner that is accessible to readers.

Sunrise on the Reaping is a must-read novel that teaches important lessons about trust, friendship, and hope. Despite being placed in horrific situations, the protagonists support one another and help each other to become the best versions of themselves. Haymitch often acts selflessly and is dedicated to defending and protecting his friends. This novel is fast-paced, detailed, and tells an enthralling story that will make readers reflect. Sunrise on the Reaping is an action-packed and emotionally charged addition to the Hunger Games series. Filled with ideas of trust, hope, and survival, readers will look deeper than the words on the page and consider the themes of this book. In this novel, Suzanne Collins weaves together a story featuring complex new characters and beloved fan favorites. Sunrise on the Reaping is an interesting and engaging novel that readers will struggle to put down and will remember long after they turn the final page.

Sexual Content  

  • Haymitch and Lenore Dove kiss often during the few scenes they share together. Haymitch narrates, “Then I kiss her again. And again. And she kisses me right back.” 

Violence  

  • This novel contains many violent scenes, and over 50 people (most of them children) die. 
  • Woodbine, a boy who is selected to compete in the Games, tries to escape and is shot in the head. “Just when I’m thinking he might make it — all those chance kids run like greased lightning — a shot rings out from the Justice Building rooftop, and the back of Woodbine’s head explodes.” 
  • While protecting Lenore Dove, Haymitch is hit in the head with a rifle. “I leap in to shield her, just in time to intercept the rifle butt that slams against my temple. Pain explodes in my head as jagged lights cut through my vision.” Haymitch is knocked to the ground, but he recovers.  
  • Maysilee and a Capitol worker named Drusilla slap each other after Maysilee insults Drusilla’s age and clothing. “Drusilla hauls off and slaps Maysilee, who, without missing a beat, slaps her right back. A real wallop. Drusilla’s knocked off her boots and into the chair I recently vacated.” 
  • After Maysilee slaps Drusilla, Drusilla beats her with a riding crop. “Drusilla flies up, rips the riding crop from her boot clip, and begins beating Maysilee, who cries out and raises her arms to protect her head. But the blows keep raining down, forcing her to the floor.” 
  • When the tributes are being presented in a parade, Haymitch’s friend Louella is killed in a chariot crash. “One of her braids rests in the blood leaking from the back of her skull, which cracked open when she hit the pavement.”  
  • A rabbit drinks poisoned water and “starts squealing like a baby bird, goes stiff as a board, then falls over dead. A trickle of red stains the fur on its chin.” 
  • Haymitch’s friend, Lou Lou, inhales poisonous pollen from flowers, and Haymitch states, “I cradle her in my arms as the convulsions begin. There is nothing I can do but watch, helpless again . . . her skin begins to turn blue.” Lou Lou dies. 
  • Haymitch’s friend, Ampert, is eaten by squirrel-like mutts. “One flies through the air and lands at my feet. Before it springs back up, I spy a bloody scrap of electric-blue fabric snagged on its incisors, and everything becomes clear. Carnivorous mutts. Tearing Ampert apart . . . Panting, I watch them fade away. Then I turn back to what I am meant to witness. A small white skeleton, stripped clean to the bone.” 
  • Haymitch gets into a fight with the other tributes in the arena. “A girl tribute from District 4 lunges with her trident pointed at my neck, I clumsily deflect with my left arm and whip out my knife just in time to drive it into her gut. Rolling to the side, I encounter a leg and hamstring it, leaving her district partner writhing on the ground. Scrabbling to my feet, I pull out the ax and cleave open his neck with a single adrenaline-fueled blow.” Both the girl and her partner die. 
  • Haymitch gets into a one-on-one fight with a tribute named Panache. “With a single swoop, he knocks the ax from my hand, his blade drawing blood, and then slams the shield into my chest so hard I lose my grip on my knife.” Haymitch recovers and the pair keep fighting.  
  • Maysilee shoots Panache in the throat with a poison dart. “What I see is the surprise that transforms his face as the dart pierces his throat.” Panache dies. 
  • Ladybug-like mutts attack Haymitch and Maysilee. “All up and down [Haymitch’s] arms, the creatures latch onto the flesh. Within seconds, they inflate to the size of acorns and begin exploding, splattering my face with my blood.” They pull the mutts off their bodies and recover from their injuries.  
  • Haymitch and Maysilee discover Buck and Chickory, two other tributes, stabbed with needles. “About fifteen feet away, Buck and Chickory lie writhing on the ground. Long spikes that resemble knitting needles protrude from their flesh. They paw at them with clumsy hands, as if they’ve got really bad frostbite, or something’s disabled their fingers.”  
  • In the arena, Haymitch and Maysilee encounter three Gamemakers along with two other tributes, Silka and Maritte. Maritte and Maysilee attack the Gamemakers. “Maritte’s arm snaps back and I think I’m a goner, but the trident whistles over my head and lodges in the mopper, sending him down into a pillow of poppies. Almost simultaneously, the woman with the drill grabs at the spot beneath her ear and comes away with a dart. She collapses as the final Gamemaker plunges head-first through the open berm into Sub-A. It takes a few moments before we hear her skull crack on the concrete below.” All three Gamemakers die.  
  • A group of flamingo-like mutts kill Maysilee. “They dive again and again at Maysilee, who’s kneeling on the ground, trying to use a tarp as protection while she vehemently slices at them with her dagger. A couple of dead birds lie on the ground, but they have taken their toll. Blood blossoms from her cheek, her chest, the palm of her hand.”   
  • A tribute named Wellie is decapitated in the arena by another tribute. Haymitch narrates, “In [Silka’s] right hand, her ax. Her left holds Wellie’s head, eyes still open, mouth agape. The only movement, the only sound, comes from the blood dripping into the pine needles on the forest floor. Wellie’s body lies crumpled in a heap a few feet away.” 
  • Haymitch stabs Silka in the eye. “In a last-ditch effort, I yank my knife from my belt and drive it back over my shoulder. A shriek.” Silka recovers enough to keep fighting against Haymitch.  
  • Silka is killed when an ax she throws rebounds into her head. “Then there’s the return of the whistle, her moment of confusion as the spinning ax catches the sunlight, and the dull sickening sound as it lodges in her head.” 
  • Haymitch holds his intestines in after he is struck in the gut with an ax by Silka. “My last sensations are of the slippery coils of my intestines in one hand . . . ” Haymitch is saved by the Capitol because he is the last tribute alive, and the victor of the Hunger Games.  
  • Haymitch accidentally gives Lenore Dove a gumdrop that has been poisoned by the Capitol. “A blood-flecked foam bubbles up over her lips” and she dies. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Haymitch brews moonshine with a woman named Hattie Meeney. “Brewing white liquor with Hattie Meeney is dicey business, but it’s a picnic compared to killing rats or cleaning outhouses.” 
  • Haymitch is drugged by the Capitol to keep him unconscious. “A coldness surges from the needle planted in my arm. Nothingness.” 
  • Haymitch becomes an alcoholic. “My liver’s wrecked and I only dry out when the train’s late. I drink differently these days, though, less to forget, more out of habit.” 

Language  

  • The word hell is used rarely.  
  • The word jackass is used rarely. For example, Haymitch says, “Oh, hello again, jackass!” 

Supernatural  

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

In this collection of short stories, four classic fairy tales are retold with a twist, and Bardugo includes two original stories. In the first story, Ayama and the Thorn Wood, Little Red Riding Hood is Ayama, a poor serving girl who goes to confront the terrible beast of the woods. Instead of killing him, she persuades him to stop destroying the kingdom’s crops, and in return, he grants her the power to depose the land’s evil king.   

In the story The Witch of Duva, Hansel and Gretel become Havel and Nadya. After Havel goes off to war, Nadya discovers that it is not a witch who is eating children, but her own father.  

Then, in The Soldier Prince, the Nutcracker comes to life. At first, he thinks it is because of Clara’s superficial, admiring love, but he realizes it is actually the fatherly love from the clockmaker who designed him that brought him to life.  

Finally, in When Water Sang Fire, readers meet Ulla, the witch from The Little Mermaid. Ulla is betrayed by her closest friend, Signy, who marries the prince, Roffe. Signy later becomes Ariel’s mother. Thus, Ulla holds a grudge against Ariel and her family forevermore. 

In the first original story, The Too-Clever Fox, a clever fox escapes from predators with his sharp tongue, but when words fail him, he must ask for help from his only friend, a songbird.  

Finally, in Little Knife, a beautiful woman named Yeva is auctioned off for marriage, and a suitor named Semyon pleads with the river in the village to help him marry Yeva. Yet when the wedding day comes, the river helps Yeva gain her freedom from unwanted matrimony. 

Every fairy tale is told in omniscient third person, and almost every main character is a strong young girl who must overcome incredible cruelty and hardship. When the main character is male, there is no shortage of well-rounded supporting female characters. Contrary to the original fairy tales, the main characters never simply slay monsters or find true love. Rather, they question the truth of what has been told to them and work to find meaningful companionship. Though the main characters’ personalities vary, it is easy to root for them and sympathize with their difficult lives. 

The supporting characters are full of surprises, which is part of what makes this collection so intriguing. Many of the characters readers expect to be good (the prince, the suitor, the father) are actually sinister, and vice versa for the “evil” characters (the witch, the beast, the evil stepmother). The supporting characters urge the reader to question the characters’ intentions and decide for themselves what is true. As the back cover reads, “Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns.” 

The Language of Thorns collection of stories is incredibly entertaining, with twists that constantly surprise and delight readers, whether they are familiar with or unfamiliar from the classic fairy tales. While the tales can often be dark, the messages and themes they convey are hopeful, emphasizing the power of love and companionship. In fact, the contrast of dark and light themes has a powerful effect. The Language of Thorns is perfect for fairy tale, fantasy, or thriller lovers. 

Sexual Content  

  • In The Witch of Duva, there is an implication of pedophilia from Nadya’s father, Maxim, but it is performed on an illusory double of Nadya rather than Nadya herself. “But her father’s hand slipped beneath the hem of her skirts, and the ginger girl did not move . . . Maxim opened his wet mouth to kiss her again.” The sexual content is described over a page, but it is implied that Maxim regularly preyed upon young women. 
  • In The Soldier Prince, Clara kisses the Nutcracker after developing a crush on him. “She could not wait. Clara stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.”  
  • Clara kisses the Nutcracker again, believing him to be romantically interested in her. “He kissed her beneath the stairs.” 
  • Frederik kisses the Nutcracker after similarly developing a crush on him. The Nutcracker “kissed Frederik in the darkened hall.”  
  • In When Water Sang Fire, when Ulla, Signy, and Roffe go to the human world, Signy and Roffe have romantic interactions with many mortals. “Roffe took his pleasures [and] Signy suffered but drowned her longing in a tide of human lovers.” 

Violence  

  • In The Too-Clever Fox, Koja’s mother (a fox) eats a few of her young children. “So she snatched up two of her smallest young and made a quick meal of them.” 
  • Koja gets caught in a metal trap. “Koja ran all the way back to his den, trailing the bloody chain behind him.” 
  • Koja frequently kills and eats chickens. “He raced back from Tupolev’s farm with a hen’s plump body in his mouth. . .” 
  • Hunters Lev and Sofiya Jurek come to the woods and kill a bear that Koja was friends with. “Koja’s blood chilled at the sight of his fallen friend’s hide.” 
  • Sofiya stabs Koja and attempts to kill him. “‘Why?’ he gasped as Sofiya worked the knife deeper.” 
  • Lula, the songbird, attacks Sofiya to save Koja. “Lula came flying, and when she saw what Sofiya had done, she set upon pecking at her eyes.” 
  • In The Witch of Duva, Nadya’s fingers get cut off as ingredients for a spell. “At the sight of her fingers lying forlorn on the table, Nadya fainted.” 
  • Maxim eats a gingergirl who is an illusory double of Nadya. The gingergirl is not alive or conscious, but this implies that Maxim has been sexually assaulting and then killing and eating young girls. “Nadya watched her father consume the gingergirl, bite by bite, limb by limb.” 
  • Maxim dies when his stomach ruptures from the witch’s spell. “They found Nadya’s father there the next morning, his insides ruptured and stinking of rot.” 
  • In When Water Sang Fire, to walk on land, the mermaids cut off their tails. “Only then did Ulla add her own voice to the song and drive her blade into her tail.”  
  • Roffe murders a young boy with the help of Signy and Ulla in order to create fire that will exist under water. “Even above the sound of their voices, she heard a horrible wet thunk, and the boy cried out, woken from his sleep by the blade piercing his chest.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language    

  • None 

Supernatural  

  • Most animals talk throughout the book. “To her surprise, the runt answered, ‘Do not eat me, Mother. Better to be hungry now than sorry later.’”  
  • In Ayama and the Thorn Wood, Ayama turns into a monster. “Then she took off her hat, and all the people saw that she was a girl no longer.” 
  • In The Witch of Duva, there is a witch named Magda who can cast spells. She turns Nadya into a crow and creates a girl made of gingerbread who looks just like Nadya. When Maxim eats the gingergirl, he dies. “As for Nadya, she lived with Magda and learned all the old woman’s tricks, magic best not spoken of on a night like this.” 
  • In Little Knife, there is a river that is a sentient spirit named Little Knife. “‘You have been a loyal friend, and so I think I must name you,’ Semyon said to the river as he tried to wring the water from his ragged coat.” 
  • In The Soldier Prince, the Nutcracker is alive and can take children to a magical world via flight. “He would offer his hand and with a whoosh, they would fly through the attic window, out into the cold.” 
  • In When Water Sang Fire, Ulla, Signy, and Roffe are mermaids who can use magic by singing. Witches also exist. “It was the deepest magic, music of rending and healing, the only song all royalty were trained in from birth.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

In Other Lands

When thirteen-year-old Elliot Schafer sees a wall that no one else can, he is invited to attend a military school in the Borderlands—a strange and magical land filled with elves, dwarves, harpies, and mermaids. While initially eager to escape his lonely and dull surroundings, Elliot soon discovers that life in the Borderlands is no picnic.   

Over the next four years, Elliot navigates being a witty pacifist in a war-driven world that only values the strong. But even as Elliot and his classmates train for battle, they still face the usual growing pains of self-discovery, class rivals, and love triangles.  

Elliot is a crafty protagonist who uses his intelligence for good and bad. Initially, his main goal is “wooing” his classmate Serene, a beautiful elven warrior from a matriarchal culture. He befriends her for the sole purpose of making her his girlfriend, even if it means playing into her reversed gender stereotypes. However, as the interspecies conflict escalates into a wide-scale war, Elliot becomes less self-serving. He finds a higher purpose in achieving peace, working to author peace treaties and expose corruption among the military’s higher-ups, who manufacture conflict for their own gain. Despite his good intentions, without family prestige or combat skills, Elliot struggles to gain respect or be believed. Still, Elliot’s determination never wanes. To make an impact, he works twice as hard as his peers and uses every means at his disposal. However, while his strong opinions can be a force for good when he is the sole voice for peace, he is not perfect. For example, his harsh words upset friends, provoke a violent bully, and accidentally make a small child cry.   

Despite his blunt personality, Elliot forms a tight friendship trio. While good-natured and kind, Serene is a fish out of water and frequently misunderstands human culture. Readers may initially be charmed when she comedically reverses gender stereotypes, but they’ll grow frustrated when she refuses to change or outgrow her bigotry. Luke is everything Elliot is not–popular, athletic, and considerate. Initially, Elliot only tolerates him to get closer to Serene, but soon realizes the golden boy is more complex than he appears.  Luke is gay and often the only voice of reason amidst Elliot and Serene’s antics. He balances the group and adds a sense of normalcy.   

In Other Lands is a funny, subversive take on magic schools and portal fantasies, reminiscent of Harry Potter and Narnia. Brennan’s meta style is the book’s main appeal, but it sometimes comes at the cost of world-building. However, In Other Lands is more of a parody than an original, so the underdeveloped magic systems and inter-species politics are not necessarily deal-breakers.  

At its core, In Other Lands explores coming-of-age and LGBTQ themes in a fun fantasy setting. There is some violence, usually played for laughs. Overall, In Other Lands is worth reading for teens seeking a fresh take on familiar tropes and an unconventional protagonist whose eccentricity is not treated as a character flaw to overcome. While Elliot modifies his personality to be kinder to others, he learns that he does not have to change himself entirely to find family, creating an overall positive message of self-acceptance.  

Sexual Content  

  • Elliot runs from Adam, Luke’s cousin, who makes unwanted sexual advances. “Elliot was pulled in and pressed against him, and then Elliot was being kissed. . . Elliot pushed Adam away . . . and ran.” The scene is described over two pages. 
  • While context clues indicate a sexual encounter has taken place between Elliot and Serene, no sexual act is named or described in detail, aside from kissing.  
  • After a battle, Elliot and Serene kiss several times and share a tent. She “kissed him again . . . still kissing, kissing, and kissing . . . the words lost between their mouths, kissing and clinging.” The scene ends with Elliot requesting Serene “besmirch” him, then cuts to Serene and Elliot lying beside each other several hours later. The scene is described over two pages.  
  • After admitting their mutual feelings, Luke and Elliot share a passionate kiss. “Luke shivered, he followed the trail of shivers with kisses along the line of Luke’s jaw . . . Luke’s shirt was basically in shreds from the sudden wings . . . [Elliot] slid his hands down Luke’s skin . . . Luke [took] off Elliot’s shirt . . . he felt the strain of Luke’s body, arching against him to get as close as he could.” The scene lasts three pages. 

Violence  

  • There are fighting tournaments and combat training sequences referenced; however, Elliot refuses to take part in them. For example, during a tournament, Luke’s mom “got struck out with a lucky blow to her helmet—she told him afterwards, Elliot obviously did not see for himself.” 
  • There are battles, but as a pacifist, Elliot avoids most of the violence and only learns of the outcome after the fighting finishes.  None of the main characters are seriously injured or killed; however, several supernatural creatures die. 
  • Serene and Luke both kill supernatural creatures to protect Elliot during a surprise attack. Luke “wrenched the blade out of [the troll’s] belly and the point to his heart. The troll crumpled.” Serene “shot every troll but one” using a bow and arrow. The scene lasts three pages, most of which is spent on Elliot’s comedic internal monologue.  
  • To escape a “boring” conversation, Elliot impulsively “stabbed himself in the arm with a butter knife.”  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language 

  • Damn is used four times. For example, Elliot thinks, “God damn it, the battle.”  
  • Badass is used five times. For example, Elliot praises his friend, “That is badass.” 
  • Hell is used three times. For instance, Luke tells Elliot to “go to hell.” 
  • The phrase “Oh my god” is used frequently to indicate surprise or frustration.   

Supernatural 

  • While Elliot is human, most members of the supporting cast are fantastical creatures, such as elves and harpies. They possess supernatural abilities, including but not limited to super strength, super speed, and the ability to fly.  

Spiritual Content  

  • Elliot complains about having to explain to a supernatural creature that he is “Jewish but not practicing.” This is not explained any further. 
  • Elliot’s antics frequently drive supporting characters to say an unspecified “prayer for patience.” 
  • To express his frustration, Elliot frequently says, “Oh my God.”  

Legendborn

Sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews arrived at the University of North Carolina for Early College, still reeling from the death of her mother. On her first night, she sees a flying demon feeding on human energies. A boy dressed in all black, Selwyn Kane, defeats the creature.  

Later, Bree again witnesses events she can’t explain. Selwyn, who is a Merlin, attempts but fails to erase her memory. As she tries to figure out who is keeping secrets from her, Bree realizes that someone attempted to erase her memories the night her mother died. Bree wants answers for her mother’s death, and it seems like the mysterious society—the “Legendborn”—hidden on the edges of campus can provide them.  

Bree recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. With Nick’s help, Bree enters the Order of the Round Table and begins to find her answers.  

When Nick takes Bree as his page, she has to endure a series of trials while dealing with Selwyn’s suspicion of her, racism from the all-white order, and her own secrets about her magic. To complicate matters, the Legendborns reveal that they are descendants of the Knights of the Round Table, and that a magical war is coming. Bree must walk the line between both worlds while still trying to find out what happened to her mother.  

Told from Bree’s point of view, readers unravel the mythology as Bree does. Bree is grieving, yet stubborn, and her refusal to conform to the outdated regulations of the Legendborn society proves vital in her fight to figure out where she belongs. Despite the racism she faces from society, she remains endearingly confident, and readers will be rooting for her. However, Bree is single-minded in her quest to uncover the mystery of her mother’s death, often leading her to make selfish decisions or forget to consider how her actions affect her friends. Her lack of knowledge can make her vulnerable, but her strong-willed nature and adaptability lead to strong character development over the novel.  

As she tries to balance her secrets, Bree does eventually find support from her friends. Bree, Nick, and Selwyn each have compelling dynamics with each other. With each character having unique strengths and powers, they have to learn how to work together. Nick and Selwyn are bonded to one another, able to feel each other’s emotions, but they both resent the bond at times. Despite Selwyn’s suspicion of Bree, they do eventually work together as they uncover a much more sinister plot. Bree and Nick’s relationship provides Bree with an entry point to Nick’s society, but as it grows deeper, they are forced to choose between each other and their duty. Bree’s best friend, Alice, plays a vital role, as Alice becomes a symbol of normalcy while unwaveringly supporting her friend.  

Legendborn moves fast, working within a complex mythology that is revealed in bits and pieces as Bree jumps headfirst into a world she doesn’t understand. The supporting characters are all vital to the story, offering a rich web of relationships that keep the reader turning the pages. The Order of the Round Table represents white higher society, but Bree still has insight into her culture, allowing the author to paint a rich picture of what it is like to be a Black teenager who yearns to be a part of something while still remaining tied to her own culture. Legendborn deals delicately with themes of grief and loss, and the absent mothers of Bree, Selwyn, and Nick haunt their stories. With plenty of turns and a major twist at the end, this book introduces a beautiful world and will leave you reaching for the next book in the series, Bloodmarked. 

Sexual Content  

  • Bree and Nick are attracted to each other and eventually enter into a tentative romantic relationship. Bree says, “I feel desire batting against my ribs like a caged bird.”  
  • Nick and Bree hug and kiss throughout their relationship. “[Nick’s] hands are so large they span the whole of my spine. Heat from his palm radiates out from where he clutches me. . . I don’t expect each gentle brush of Nick’s lips to shift, grow insistent  – and set me on fire.” 
  • There are two instances where Nick and Bree are making out. “My heart pounding with his, the heat of his chest against mine, the strength of his thigh pressing into my own . . . his lips ghost over my jaw, just as his fingers feather over my sternum. . . His hands slide down to my thighs and I’m airborne, held up by the strength of his arms and the press of his hips.” They are interrupted before anything else happens. 
  • Nick and Bree plan to share a bed. Nick says, “When I get back, we can talk about whatever’s going on. Or not talk. . . The version of not talking that means we’re doing other things?” 
  • Nick sees Bree naked when he walks in on her getting medical treatment. “Nick’s face has gone summer-strawberry red. He definitely saw my butt. And my back. And my bra straps. And maybe some side boob.” 
  • As an insult, people imply that Bree is in a relationship with Nick due to ulterior motives. Vaughn, another page, says, “Then why are you spending time alone with the Scion of Arthur? Getting a pep talk? Giving him a helping hand?” 
  • Two types of demons are discussed: succubi and incubi. They are referred to as “sex demons.”  
  • Relationships between two Scions, or descendants of knights, are forbidden because getting pregnant would mix the ancestral lines. William, a medic, explains, “Order law forbids crossing the bloodlines, so no hanky-panky between anyone who could become a Scion or whose kids could become a Scion in the line of succession.”

Violence  

  • Before the book starts, Bree’s mother is killed in a car crash when “she was crushed inside our family sedan, body half-crumpled under the dashboard after a hit-and-run.” 
  • Bree attends a party on the outskirts of campus where football players get into a fight. “Four drunken, enormous boys are rolling and swinging in a pile on the ground . . . The third is on his feet, rearing back for a kick to the fourth boy’s stomach.” Some of the boys are mildly hurt (punches, kicks), but they are all able to walk away. 
  • The Legendborn use weapons like swords, staffs, knives, and bows to fight the Shadowborn, which usually take the form of animals, but can occasionally be humanoid. It is their duty to fight the Shadowborn, who prey on human emotions. When a demon shows up at the party, Tor, a Legendborn, kills it with an arrow. “Tor’s arrow has pierced the shimmering mass . . . A thud—and it’s writhing on the ground.” When a Shadowborn attacks Bree, Nick kills it with a sword. “Nick’s sword is buried a foot deep into the downed creature’s spine.” 
  • A demon attacks Bree. “Razor-sharp nails drag a burning path down [Bree’s] cheek, slicing [her] skin open.” Nick and his father fight back against the demon. “Nick’s father scrabbles at the demon’s grip with both hands, wheezing for breath, eyes bulging. . . Nick’s father hits a tree with a stomach-churning crunch and falls to the stone surface in a loose pile of limbs.” Nick’s skull is cracked, and his father’s spine is broken, but their healing is accelerated by magic.  
  • When Selwyn is suspicious of Bree, he threatens her with violence. “I’ll kill you. Burn through you until your blood becomes dust.” 
  • To complete one of the trials, Bree has to kill Selwyn’s projections of Shadowborn. She stabs the demon projection by diving from a tree. “Gravity drives the sharp blade into the creature’s shining neck, not me, but the blow works just the same.”  
  • As a child, Nick’s father trained him to fight by having adults beat him. Nick says, “It’s not the broken bones or the bruises, the black eyes of the concussions, that keep me up at night.” 
  • Bree punches through a hellfox and her “fist and forearm have disappeared up to the elbow inside the fox’s chest . . . I nod and close my right hand, crying out as my fingernails scrape past the still-warm heart.” 
  • Selwyn and one of the trainers, Owen, spar. “Finally, one sharp crack to the head sends Owen to a knee.”  
  • Bree and Vaughn fight in one of the trials. “The flat of my blade smacks [Vaughn’s] fingers hard, breaking his grip. . . Vaughn’s blade swings down in my peripheral vision. I hear the deep crack in my collarbone before I feel it.” 
  • Tor, one of the Legendborn, is attacked by Shadowborn. Tor’s injuries are described: “Broken ribs, internal bleeding. Punctured left lung. Spleen and left kidney sliced right down the middle.” 
  • Demons attack two Legendborns, Fitz and Whitty. “Fitz’s limbs, loose and limp, hang from his hips and shoulders, but his chest is gone. It’s gone. In its place is a shining red point of rock protruding up from his body like a spear.” Whitty is killed in front of Bree. “[Whitty’s] eyes are wide, black. His chest angles up. Toes drag on the ground, like he’s being lifted—By the hand buried in his back. . . I see my friend’s unseeing eyes. The wrong angle of his shoulder. Blood on his favorite camo jacket. His jaw open to the dirt.” The demon also kills Russ, another Legendborn. “He has Russ by the throat. He lifts him high—and pitches him like a fastball straight into a stone wall.” Multiple Legendborn are killed. 
  • Bree stabs a demon, Rhaz, with a sword. “I spear Rhaz through his broken ribs . . . I watch him writhe and twist on his own death.” 
  • When Bree is taken into the memories of her ancestors, she witnesses the violence of slavery. She describes a slaveowner getting her ancestor pregnant: “What that man did was not an accident. He knew exactly what he was doing. He liked owning her life. Her body.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • At a party, students, both underage and adults, are drinking, but Bree does not. “Two guys struggle to lift the kegs…while a small crowd beside them tries to help ‘lighten’ the barrels by drinking straight from the hose.” 
  • After a demon injures Bree, she is taken to the Lodge of the Order to be healed. Selwyn tries to erase her memory. Alice tells Bree, “Some blond guy brought you back here, stumbling and slurring. He said you’d partied too hard in Little Frat Court . . . Isn’t that exactly what a blackout drunk would say the next day?” 
  • Bree goes out with members of the Order, uses a fake ID, and drinks. “I almost refuse, but then I think of the conversation I need to have with Nick, and suddenly alcohol sounds like a good idea.” 
  • When Selwyn uses a lot of magic, the other characters say that he is “aether-drunk”, and he becomes looser and less in control of himself.  

Language  

  • Profanity is used sparingly. Profanity includes damn, shit, bullshit, asshole, and fuck. 
  • People occasionally say derogatory comments about Bree. For example, someone says, “Her blood is dirty. She’ll taint the line.” No slurs are used. 

Supernatural  

  • The mythology of the book revolves around magic, referred to as both aether and root. “There is an invisible energy all around us . . . Some of those people call it magic, some call it aether, some call it spirit, and we call it root. . . the living must borrow, bargain for, or steal the ability to access and use this energy.” 
  • The Scions gain the powers of their ancestors when they are “called to power — violently — by their knights’ spirits.” 
  • Bree can summon mage fire. “Bloodred fire ignites at the tips of my fingers and races to my elbows in a loud whoosh.” 
  • Demons enter the world through Gates. “No one knows when a Gate will appear . . . Most of the Shadowborn that cross are invisible and incorporeal. They come to our side and amplify negative human energy—chaos, fear, anger.” 
  • Merlins have the ability to control aether, supernatural strength and speed, and erase their memories. “Still holding my gaze, [Selwyn ] makes a quick, jerking motion with his chin, and a vicious snap of invisible electricity wraps around my body like a rope and yanks me backward . . . the rope sensation responds, tight pain in my body blossoming into a single utterance: Leave.” 
  • Bree’s grandmother and other ancestors possess her, talking to her through her mind. Bree says, “It’s a strange sensation, having a whole other person inside your skin.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • In a memory, a slave has just given birth to a crossroads baby. Her friend refers to the baby as a “red-eyed devil.” Crossroad babies are Merlins, people with demon-blood. 
  • Bree is given her mother’s Bible. Bree says, “It feels like I’m touching something intimate and private, and I am. Personal Bibles, even though I’ve never owned one, always seem mystical.” 
  • Bree’s grandmother prays in Bree’s mind: “The Lord is my shepherd.” 
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