Icon: Diverse Characters

I’m Ok

Ok’s life takes a dramatic turn for the worse when his father dies. His mother works three jobs, yet barely makes ends meet. Ok feels that as the man of the house, he should help pay the bills. As a twelve-year-old, he has little opportunity to make money. He hopes he can win the cash prize at the school talent contest, but he can’t sing or dance, and he has no magic up his sleeves. With no talent, he has to come up with another business.

Soon, Ok is braiding hair for the girls at school, but the girls can’t pay him much. His braiding business makes Mickey McDonald notice him. The girl, with a larger-than-life personality, wants to be his friend. Ok is used to being by himself, and he doesn’t want to be friends with Mickey, who will distract him from his mission—making money.

Life gets worse when the pushy deacon at their Korean church starts wooing Ok’s mom. Ok doesn’t want his mom spending time with the deacon. His mom is so caught up in the deacon that she doesn’t even notice Ok anymore. Feeling lost and confused, Ok comes up with an exit strategy. Will being totally alone, give Ok the peace he needs?

I’m Ok deals with the difficult topics of grief, poverty, racism, and friendship. Even though the story highlights the importance of friends, Ok’s story is often dark and depressing. At school, Ok is bullied and made fun of because he’s Korean. He reluctantly becomes friends with Mickey, who is self-assured but also ignored by many of the students. The two team up to win the school talent contest, and Mickey begins teaching Ok to skate. Mickey spends time with Ok, gives him a pair of skates, and is kind to him. Despite this, the only thing Ok cares about is winning the contest’s money. At one point, Ok even steals from Mickey’s mother. While Ok’s homelife is understandably difficult, his negative reaction to all events and his self-centered, mean personality make it difficult to feel compassion for him.

Ok spends time reminiscing about his father, who he clearly misses. Even though Ok grieves for his father, most of Ok’s memories of his father are negative. His father treated both Ok and his mother terribly. For example, Ok’s father would talk under his breath, “loud enough that I could hear, but soft enough so I felt guilty about eavesdropping, ‘When’s this idiot going to be human?’” Ok’s father isn’t shown to have many positive aspects other than financially supporting the family.

I’m Ok shows the difficulties many Korean immigrants face. However, the story’s conclusion leaves several threads untied. Plus for the entire story, the deacon is portrayed in such a negative light that it is difficult to understand why Ok’s mother marries him. Even though Ok and several of the supporting characters are well-developed, readers may have a difficult time relating to Ok, who is often mean to those who care about him. If you’re looking for a book that tackles racism and/or poverty, you may want to leave I’m Ok on the library shelf. However, Katherine Applegate excellently tackles both issues in her books Crenshaw and Wishtree.

Sexual Content

  • While braiding girls’ hair, the girls talk about a lot of different topics. For example, “Jaehnia is in love with Asa, and Asa is not at all interested in her in that way ’cause he’s not into desperate girls… Kym’s parents are getting a divorce… Claudio got caught sneaking around under the back staircase looking up girls’ skirts.”

Violence

  • Several times Ok thinks about his father’s death. When Ok makes a mistake, he thinks his dad would have called him stupid. Ok thinks, “At least I didn’t trip while working on a roof and come tumbling down and land so hard and wrong on concrete that my neck broke.”
  • Ok’s mother accidently “Ran into a parked car, smashing its headlight. My father called her an idiot, yelled at her, took over the wheel, and raced out of there like it was a getaway… He told her to shut up. I crouched on the floor of the backseat, scared my mother would get kicked out of the country.”
  • Asa and Ok wrestle, and Ok “bite[s] his finger, grab[s] his shirt, and stretch[es] it over his face… He punches me in the stomach. I cough and punch him back… We tumble around some more, no longer really hitting each other, holding and rolling disguised as fighting.” A neighbor tells them to stop and they do.
  • Ok steals $10 out of Mickey’s mom’s purse. The next day, Mickey shows up at school with “a bruise on her cheek.” Mickey says, “Ain’t you ever seen a bruise before? If you gotta know, Ma did it.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Ok’s father would play cards with his friends and drink beer. Ok thinks back to a time when his father “let me take a sip of his beer. When I grimaced at the taste, he laughed.”
  • Ok’s father often had a Johnnie Walker in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

Language

  • After Ok’s father dies, a woman tells him that he will need strength to get through this hard time. “What a senseless mess. Makes you want to kick some idiot’s butt, she says, shaking her head…”
  • Pissed is used five times. When Ok is called to the principal’s office, he tells the principal he has to go to the bathroom and “pressing my knees together and making the I’m going to piss right here, right now face.”
  • A kid in Ok’s class makes fun of him, calling him “Okie Dorkie” and “Wong-chung-chung.”
  • Oh my god is used as an exclamation six times. For example, when Ok tells a girl that he saved a puppy’s life, she says, “Oh my God, you’re the bravest.”
  • Mickey McDonald uses “Oh my Lord Jesus Christ” once and “Oh my Lordy” as an exclamation seven times. For example, Ok accidently goes into the girls’ bathroom. When Mickey McDonald sees him, she says, “Oh my Lord, what on God’s green earth are you doing in the girl’s bathroom?” She then calls Ok a “perv.” Later she calls Ok a “snothead.”
  • A kid calls a girl a moron.
  • Ok calls a kid a jerk; later, he thinks the deacon is a jerk.
  • A kid teases Mickey, calling her “Old McD. White Trish-Trash. Mick the Hick. Mickey Gives Hickeys… Mickey McDonald looks like Miss Piggy and a troll doll had a baby.”
  • Ok thinks the deacon is a jackass.
  • Badass is used once, and hell is used three times. For example, a woman tells Ok, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
  • Ok tells Asa, “Aren’t you glad yo’ mama could spell? Otherwise yo’ name be like Ass… I’m calling you Ass ’cause you look like one, smell like one, and God knows you read and write like one.” Later, Ok calls Asa a butt-face and moron.
  • Ok calls Asa stupid and a nincompoop.
  • Ok tells Mickey that a classmate is a pervert.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Ok and his mother attend the First Korean Full Gospel Church. After a service, some of the women “moan and babble because the Holy Spirit has a hold on them.” Ok wishes “the Holy Spirit would get a hold of me so I could wail my sadness too.”
  • After his father dies, a woman from church tells him “to be good and strong for my mother and have faith in God’s will, because I’m the man of the house now. God works in mysterious ways.”
  • After his father dies, Ok’s mother tells him, “I’m not worried. God will take care of us. We just need to do our part and believe he loves us.”
  • When a classmate is mean to Ok, he “prayed I wouldn’t piss my pants, prayed I wouldn’t get beat up because I looked like one of those kids you couldn’t help but beat up.”
  • During church service, the pastor asks the congregation to pray. Ok closes his eyes and prays, “telling God that I need a talent for the talent show so I can win a hundred dollars…”
  • When a girl sees Ok writing in a library book, Ok “pray[s] hard that she doesn’t walk away and tell on me.”
  • After Ok earns some money, he wonders what to do with it. “I could offer the money to God tomorrow, drop my coins onto the plate… What blessing can $11.68 buy me?”
  • The deacon tells Ok’s mother, “Do not worry. What does the Bible say? Worrying is a waste of your time and energy. It is a sign of your lack of faith. Obey our Lord and don’t worry… All things work for the good of those who have faith in God.”
  • When Ok’s mother hurts her ankle, Ok prayed “that I had nothing to do with my mother slipping on some ice that had spilled out of a tub full of mackerel.” Ok wonders if God allowed his mother to get hurt because he stole something, then he blames God for allowing his mother to get hurt.
  • The deacon tells Ok, “God is in math. Oh sure. The concept of infinity. That is God.”
  • Many of the characters pray. For example, after making kimchi, Ok’s mother prays, “thanking God for her abilities, for our kitchen, and for me… She asks God to bless the kimchi, bless anyone who eats it, make the person strong and good and faithful.”
  • At church, the preacher told the congregation, “if we felt sad, we should count our blessings. Make a list of all the things we were grateful for. Not focus on what we lost.”
  • When the deacon is trying to teach Ok to swim, he says, “The Bible says that if you build a house on sand, that house will collapse, so you must build your house on stone, so it can withstand wind and storms.”
  • When the deacon clears his throat, Ok thinks, “here we go with the sermon about how God created the universe, the moon, and the stars, and how he created me in his image and loves me so much he killed his only son for the forgiveness of sins.”

The Princess and the Fangirl

Everyone knows that Jessica Stone hates everything to do with the beloved sci-fi franchise Starfield. When she signed on to play the beloved Princess Amara, Jess was expecting to use the role as a springboard into bigger and better films. But being an actress in a sci-fi universe comes with an overwhelming amount of criticism. Jess can barely handle the hatred she gets from fans on the internet, and she certainly isn’t looking forward to being surrounded by them at the annual ExcelsiCon.

Starfield fangirl, Imogen Lovelace, practically grew up on the convention floor. Every year her family runs a booth at ExcelsiCon, but this year Imogen has her own mission. She wants to #SaveAmara from being killed off, and she’s got thousands of signatures on an online petition to prove she’s not the only one. When an unfortunate case of mistaken identity leaves Imogen onstage at a panel in Jessica’s place, Imogen takes the opportunity to speak out in favor of saving the Princess.

Jessica is furious, telling Imogen she will ruin her if she even attempts such a thing again. But when an incredibly confidential script to the Starfield sequel leaks online, and Jessica’s script is nowhere to be found, she’s afraid the blame will fall to her. Jess needs to expose the real culprit before the end of the Con or risk losing her career. The solution? Trade places with Imogen so she can scope out the Con herself, a plan that turns out to be much easier said than done.

The Princess and the Fangirl is a modern-day Prince and the Pauper with a fandom twist. Both Jessica and Imogen think they can gain something by stepping into each other’s shoes, but they both end up with an unexpected perspective. Jess is longing for anonymity and an escape from the harsh gaze of the Starfield fandom. She finds herself dropped right into the middle of it all, getting a first-hand look at how the stories she always viewed as inconsequential can bring people together. Meanwhile, Imogen, who is searching for a sense of purpose, is eager to use her newfound influence to right a few wrongs. But her peek behind the scenes reveals a disturbing darker side of Starfield that only Jessica Stone gets to see.

This story is technically a sequel to Geekerella, bringing readers back to ExcelsiCon one year later. There are a few cameos from familiar faces, but Geekerella can still stand on its own. Fans of romance will enjoy the fact that each of the girls has an adorable love interest, while the mystery of the leaked script will keep readers on their toes. Both Jessica and Imogen struggle with self-image issues that teen readers will find very relatable. And, like in Geekerella, Poston’s commentary on fandom is clever and meaningful: behind every Princess, there is a normal girl.

Sexual Content

  • Jess contemplates her role as Princess Amara, thinking about how she’d accepted the role expecting it to launch her career into more meaningful roles that wouldn’t require her to look “hot in a suffocating dress while running in heels.”
  • Imogen makes several sci-fi references, including a mention of “sexy David Tennant,” the actor who played the Tenth Doctor on the television series Doctor Who.
  • While onstage next to Darien, the actor who plays Prince Carmindor in the Starfield movie, Imogen thinks of him as “the love of [her] Tumblr life.”
  • Jess is jealous of how the Starfield fandom has grown to love Darien while they continue to harass her. “Darien sort of got the same blowback when he was announced to play Federation Prince Carmindor—which is how he met his girlfriend, btw—but it died off as the fandom embraced him. Now they write love letters about his inky-black eyelashes and immaculate abs while I get dissertations on how the small mole on the left side of my mouth has ruined the beauty of Princess Amara.”
  • Imogen tosses a #SaveAmara pin to a cosplayer in a “sexy Xenomorph” costume.
  • When one of Imogen’s moms asks the other to put a Captain America figurine on the top shelf of their display, she makes a joke that could be taken sexually. She says, “I could’ve sworn he belonged on the bottom.”
  • Imogen says that her little brother met his boyfriend in the astronomy lab. Although she thinks they probably “spent more time studying each other’s astrological compatibility than learning solar physics.”
  • Imogen doesn’t look like either of her moms. Imogen says, “…although Kathy carried both Milo and me. I look like the sperm donor apparently.”
  • Ethan, Jessica’s best friend, changes his shirt in front of her. Jessica thinks, “Sure he’s pretty cute, but my eyes don’t really linger. He’d be a catch if someone burns all of his nerd shirts and puts him in some jeans that actually show he has a butt.”
  • When Jessica looks through the comments on her social media, they include, “I can tell her where she can put those pretty lips” and “fixed her chest with small kitties lol [censored photo].”
  • Imogen literally runs into Ethan, spilling coffee all over him. Before she recognizes him as Jessica Stone’s rude assistant, she thinks that he’s hot. “He’s very very Hot like I-want-to-be-stuck-in-an-elevator-with-you hot, not we-are-now-mortal-enemies-because-I-just-spilled-my-coffee-on-you-while-not-paying-attention hot.”
  • Before trading places, Jessica makes a list of rules for Imogen to follow. Rule number four is, “Don’t flirt with anyone.”
  • Jessica doesn’t give her number out freely because someone “put it on an unsavory message board.”
  • Imogen thinks that contact lenses feel like “condoms for [her] eyeballs.”
  • Harper, Imogen’s friend, is selling her fan art out of a booth next to someone “hawking sexy pin ups of burly men.”
  • When Jess first sees Harper, her mind blanks because Harper “is very pretty, with delicate features, brown skin, and natural hair pulled into twin puffs on the sides of her head.”
  • Harper’s artwork is displayed on a board in the boot. Jessica describes it as a “copious amount of fan art of Princess Amara in the arms of various characters—men and women.”
  • Actor Vance Reigns is introduced as the villain for the Starfield Imogen finds him very attractive. “He is face meltingly hot. His shoulders and chest are broad, his torso tapers down to thin hips and sturdy legs. I mean, not that his legs wouldn’t be sturdy, but you know the kind of legs where you just know, under the molten-golden trousers, that he can basically smash watermelons between them? Yeah that’s the kind of thighs I’m picturing, and I think my knees have gone numb and dear god he’s too close.”
  • When Jess sees a picture of Princess Amara embracing a female Starfield character, she says, “I can’t help but blush seeing a girl with my likeness kissing the likeness of Fiona Oro who plays Zorine.”
  • Imogen notices that Ethan is wearing Captain America-themed shoes, “And then I’m just thinking of Ethan punching Nazis, and that’s kinda hot, actually.”
  • When Ethan heads off to watch a panel, Imogen says, “Have fun with the tres horny bois.”
  • Imogen thinks she can tell that Ethan likes Jess “by the way I caught him looking at me while I was posing for pictures with a seven-year-old Carmindor, the softness of his gaze, the curl of his lips upward ever so slightly. He must’ve forgotten for a second that I wasn’t the real Jess. Those looks are probably only for her.”
  • At the Stellar party, Jess sees two girls kiss goodbye. She thinks, “I don’t mean to stare but their kiss is so simple and easy, like saying see you later, that I don’t think any thought was put into it, I wish I knew what that was like.”
  • Harper and Jess tell each other about their first kisses. Harper says, “My first kiss was a seven-minutes-in-heaven thing. I was at a birthday party in middle school. It was…terrible.” Jess’s first kiss was on a movie set. Jess says, “He was older and I was, like, fifteen. His stubble was scratchy and it gave me a rash—and he smelled like weed. He’d been smoking all day.”
  • Jess realizes she has feelings for Harper. Jess thinks, “I have a crush on this girl with curly dark hair and ink smudges on her brown fingers and trouble tucked into her maroon-colored lips.”
  • Imogen, overwhelmed by her feelings, jumps on Ethan in the pool. “Turns out he’s a lot heavier than I thought, especially for a beanpole. And his torso is very solid. Are those abs I feel? Oh sweet baby Daleks, please don’t tell me Ethan actually has a nice bod.”
  • While in the pool, Imogen and Ethan are very close. Imogen thinks, “I have to remind myself that I can’t like him, but it’s hard when a droplet of water beads at the end of a lock of raven hair in front of his face, and falls on his cheek, and rolls down his cheek slowly, languidly, like I want to run my finger down his jawline. It’s like there’s no one else but us in the world, and his eyes navigate steadily to my lips.” They almost kiss, but Imogen pulls away at the last second.
  • After having spent the night talking to Harper, Jess thinks, “I am not a serial dater. I simply never cared… I’m not built to take a random person into a bedroom, I’m not wired to want those things, and so it made all those dates and chaste kisses with celebrities so easy.”
  • Jess dislikes the internet because it makes it easy for fans to forget about the people behind the characters. “Your hot take shouldn’t dehumanize me, or tell me that I’m wrong, or that I’m worthless, or a slut who slept on some casting couch for the role.”
  • Imogen’s ex-boyfriend shows up at a meet-and-greet. When they hug, “his hands slip low.”
  • While at dinner with Vance Reign, Imogen (disguised as Jess) discovers Vince has been trying to get the real Jess to go on a publicity date with him for a long time. He tries to kiss her, but she pushes him away.
  • Jess crashes the final Starfield panel. When she starts to leave, the director asks her where she’s going. Jess responds, “The horizon is wide, and I have a girl to kiss.”
  • Jess apologizes to Harper very publicly, and when the two of them are reunited, they kiss. Jessica says, “I give her the Starfield salute—You and I are made of stars—and I hope that’s enough. She smiles and presses her hands to mine in the same pose, and then slowly, finger by finger, they fall together—And she kisses me.” The description of the kiss is about half a page.
  • Imogen kisses Ethan. She takes “his face in my hands and pull him down to kiss me. He tastes like Cheerwine, his hands rising to cup the sides of my face.” The description lasts about half a page.
  • Jess and Harper meet to get coffee and kiss again. Jessica says, “I kiss her in front of the entire world, the first word on the first page of the rest of my life.”

Violence

  • When Jess discovers Imogen has taken her place on stage, she has some murderous thoughts. “I am going to kill her. I don’t even know her name but I don’t need her name to put her in an unmarked grave. I am going to chop her up into so many pieces that when alien archeologists find her bones in a thousand years they won’t even realize she was once human.”
  • Imogen’s younger brother calls her an embarrassing nickname. She tells him, “If you weren’t my brother and I didn’t love you, I’d strangle you with your own jockstrap.”
  • In a leaked scene from the Starfield sequel script, “A group of soldiers push CARMINDOR, tied up and beaten, into the middle of the council. CARMINDOR stumbles and collapses onto the dais. Blood drips from his mouth where he has been punched repeatedly.”
  • Imogen tells Ethan a story. “When I had to debate a guy over women’s reproduction he told me that women are too fragile to have control over their own bodies. I got kicked out of the club for kneeing him in the nards.”
  • Imogen’s ex-boyfriend, Jasper, shows up at a Jessica Stone meet and greet, causing trouble. Ethan steps in to get him to leave. “Jasper whirls around, fists clinched, ready to swing. I don’t have time to shout to Ethan that a punch is coming before he raises a hand and deflects the blow with his lower arm, grabbing Jasper by the shirt and pull-throwing him out through the nearest curtain.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Imogen claims to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time, like “delivering someone’s homework to a frat party when the cops show up.”
  • Harper invites Jess to join her at the Stellar Party, a space-themed party that her friends throw every year, where they “drink a little, sing some karaoke, stuff like that.”
  • In the hotel room where the Stellar Party is held, “on the kitchenette bar is a wall of liquor bottles and sodas.”
  • There is a drink at the Stellar Party called “Oh No.” Harper says, “Oh No is way more vodka than common sense.”
  • Imogen hugs her brother and notices that he smells like Stellar Party, “vape juice and Oh No.”

Language

  • Imogen uses the phrase “Starflame” in place of curse words frequently. “‘Starflame!’ I curse. ‘I’m so sorry.’”
  • When Imogen and Ethan run into each other a third time, she calls him a “nerfherder,” an insult from the Star Wars “‘He is possibly the worst nerfherder in the—’ I say, while at the same time he says, ‘She’s that monster of a girl I was telling you—’ We both stop mid-sentence.”
  • When Imogen puts on a wig in order to pass as Jess, she thinks “the whole bit about long hair being more feminine is Noxballs.”
  • Ethan gets upset at Imogen and calls her a “Rapscallion look-alike.”
  • After the incident with her ex-boyfriend, Imogen appreciates that the remaining fans in line are decent people, but she thinks, “I hate that some of the dickwads in their midst are not.”
  • Natalia Ford, the actress who originally played Amara, rescues Jess from a crowd of angry fans. Jess notices that she’s wearing a shirt “covered in a pattern of tiny, artistically rendered middle-fingers.”
  • Right before the final panel, the director is looking for Darien, who is busy helping enact the girl’s plan to reveal who stole the script. Imogen tells him, “He went to take a piss.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Imogen runs into her ex-boyfriend, she asks herself, “God why do I feel so horrible?”

by Evalyn Harper

 

Goldie Blox and the Best! Pet! Ever!

Bloxtown is hosting a pet pageant and the winner gets to name the new animal shelter. Goldie’s friend Li wants to name the animal shelter “Dr. Zhang Animal Shelter” after his grandmother. To help Li, Goldie, and her dog, Nacho, enter the contest. Even though Nacho spends his time napping and chasing his tail, Goldie is confident that she and her friends can teach Nacho everything he needs to know in order to win the contest.

When rich and snobby Zeek Zander enters the contest, Goldie is even more determined to win. Zeek doesn’t like pets and wants to call the shelter “Flea Bag Hotel for Ugly Dogs.” With the help of Zeek’s Butler Phone, Zeek sets out to get the best pet and win the race. Will Goldie and her friends be able to teach Nacho to follow commands? Will they be able to beat Zeek?

Goldie and her friends turn to engineering in order to get Nacho to run an obstacle course and follow commands. However, Nacho is more interested in sleeping and eating. In order to help Nacho get ready for the contest, Goldie and her friends make many gadgets, such as a tuxedo programmed to music. Younger readers will giggle at Nacho’s response to the gadgets and his crazy antics.

Goldie and her friends demonstrate positive friendship traits. One morning Goldie discovers Nacho missing. Her friends quickly jump in to help find Nacho. Ruby uses a drone to help find Nacho. However, Ruby used questionable methods to obtain the drone. Ruby says, “I may have borrowed one from HiBo Prep. And I may have hacked the system. And I may need you to keep it secret.” At another point in the story, Goldie enters a contest and she doesn’t win first place. But that doesn’t stop her from celebrating. The story emphasizes that winning a contest doesn’t make Goldie a winner. Instead, Goldie celebrates because “We built an awesome go-cart and had an amazing race. It was so much fun!”

Goldie Blox and the Best! Pet! Ever! will appeal to younger readers because of its humor. The story introduces readers to the idea of engineering; however, the story doesn’t explain the process that goes into making gadgets. The story is accessible to younger readers because it uses easy vocabulary, short paragraphs, and cartoonish black and white illustrations that appear every three to five pages. Goldie and her friends demonstrate positive traits such as perseverance and working together. Readers who want to delve into more books that mix science and humor should put The Data Set Series by Ada Hopper on their must-read list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Zeek calls Goldie and her friends losers.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Spin

Spin centers around the murder of Paris Secord, an up-and-coming musician whose stage name was DJ ParSec. After finding fame and fortune on SoundCloud and YouTube, Paris begins to clash with some of the friends who helped her on her way to the top. When Paris is found dead on top of her signature turntables, her childhood best friend Kya and social media guru Fatimah (“Fuse”) find themselves suspects in the investigation. To clear their name, they set out to solve the murder themselves.

Kya and Fuse are the two main narrators of the story, which switches between their first-person perspectives. As Kya and Fuse delve deeper into Paris’s past, they must come to terms with the bitter fallings-out they had with Paris before she died. While Kya and Fuse start as enemies, they soon bond in their shared efforts to bring justice to Paris. As they investigate, the two encounter a conspiracy involving crazed fans who will do anything to prove themselves loyal members of the ParSec Nation. As Kya and Fuse unravel the mystery, some chapters flash back to Paris’s perspective, which reveals crucial details and reveals how she coped with fame.

 Spin is a fast-paced mystery that introduces readers to music industry concepts, such as ill-intentioned managers and nosy journalists. The story honestly portrays contemporary music culture and rabid fandom. While some of this portrayal comes across as well-researched and genuine, other parts feel forced. Readers might find the narrative’s dialects and buzzwords unnatural. For example, the book often shows tweets from rabid fans, but the style and syntax of the tweets is disingenuous and awkward.

Spin succeeds in its earnest portrayal of class tensions. Kya, Fuse, and Paris all must deal with their families’ financial situations and how their circumstances have shaped their worldviews. For example, Paris set up a bank account for her newfound wealth while trying to keep her grandmother from being evicted. “I learned quickly,” Paris says, “that black-folks rich and rich-rich aren’t the same thing.”

Spin delivers no central lesson about racial injustice. However, Spin is a diverse story set across a backdrop that shows readers how black music and culture evolve. From seeing Paris in the studio to seeing her fans’ blogs and bedrooms, readers will get a close-up look of how people of color influence and lead in the music scene. Readers will also see the anxieties Kya and Fuse experience while dealing with the police, because they are wary that, as people of color, they may become victims of police brutality.

Overall, Spin feels fairly one-dimensional, and readers may guess the ending before the murderer is revealed. The story is strongest in its theme of friendship, and readers will enjoy seeing Kya and Fuse bond as they begin to heal from Paris’s death. Equally important is the way art and culture bring people together, even as fame pushes artists to their breaking points.

Sexual Content

  • An internet troll asks Fuse, “If I hooked jumper cables to a car battery and clamped them onto your fingers and toes…would you blow?”
  • In a flashback, Paris narrates how she meets her boyfriend Shameik, who was “a CUTE-cute boy from my grade. Suddenly him invading my personal space wasn’t such a big deal.”
  • Paris’s boyfriend Shameik “kissed my neck again. It tickled, but I didn’t giggle because I liked acting as if those kisses didn’t affect me so he’d keep trying.”
  • Shameik and Fuse kissed once. It isn’t a big deal to Paris and is never described in detail, but the kiss keeps being brought up.
  • A character says, “If you made me leave so [Shameik and Fuse] could make out, I’m going to need some gas money.”

Violence

  • On the night of Paris’s murder, Kya punches Fuse in the face. “Her punch connected with my left eye. A solid POP! A white explosion of pain that washed out the room for a hot second.”
  • While questioning Fuse about the murder, a police officer “holds his hands at chest level, fingers curled, ready to grab” Fuse. Another cop grabs Fuse “so all I could do was kick, then he lifted me so those kicks only hit air.”
  • Fuse remembers finding Paris’s body. “That sheet of sticky, dark blood over half of ParSec’s [Paris’s] face. How she’d been a rag doll, arms spread wide, across the turntables…Her eyes bulged, the right one deep red where white should be, like something in that side of her head had exploded.”
  • A ParSec fan at school shoves Kya into a locker.
  • Fuse says, “Beyoncé could start the Purge with a tweet if she wanted.” (The Purge is a film about an anarchic period of unhinged murder and violence; the saying “The Purge” has become shorthand for such an event.)
  • Dedicated ParSec fans kidnap Kya and Fuse, zip-tie their hands and ankles together, and put them in the back of a van. Kya’s “turned—too late—to see two [people] rushing at me, duct tape stretched and ready. The first strip pressed hard against my lips while one of my assailants wrapped me [Kya] in a bear hug, pinning my arms.” During the attack a person in a mask “slammed a palm into my [Fuse’s] chest, pushing me back against the van wall.”
  • While they are captive in the van, Fuse is “angry enough to tear a chunk out of Kya” and aims “a two-heeled kick towards Kya’s chest.”
  • Someone tells Kya, “You should calm down. You’ll bust a blood vessel.” Kya responds, “I’ll bust your blood vessels!”
  • Devoted ParSec fans threaten to cut off Kya’s pinkie with garden shears. Later, they claim they were joking.
  • When they find the murderer, a group of ParSec fans deliver him to the police, “tied, gagged, and slightly bruised.” The fans have cut off his pinkie. The murderer’s hand “was heavily bandaged. A splotch of red seeped through.”
  • Fuse threatens Paris’s manager with a stun gun, but never uses it.
  • Fuse’s mother had the stun gun because “these days she preferred pepper spray and the spiked keychain her self-defense teacher gave her.”
  • When confronting a suspect, Fuse expects Kya “to kick the door in, snap this woman’s neck like Jessica Jones, and tear [her] out the house through a load-bearing wall.”
  • Paris’s narration reveals that her murder was an accident. She recounts, “His forearm grazed my chin, and I bit into his denim jacket sleeve. There were layers between my teeth and his flesh…I bit down with all the force in my jaws. He howled, tried to fling me off. He succeeded… The stand my laptop sat on was made of heavy aluminum… the corners were sharp… My temple connected with all the force generated from me and [the murderer]’s combined pain. A solid thunk, then my legs wouldn’t work.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A popular rapper smells “strongly of weed and cologne.”
  • Paris’s boyfriend, Shameik, finds beer bottles in Paris’s apartment and says, “Who was over here drinking beer?” Paris admits to sharing beers with a popular rap group. Shameik says, “My girlfriend’s alone with some drunk old guys, and I’m not supposed to be concerned?”

Language

  • “God,” “crap,” and “Jesus” are used infrequently.
  • “God!” and “Jesus!” are used as an exclamation occasionally.
  • Fuse says that ParSec fans view Paris as “their god.”
  • Paris says that Kanye West is “one of the gods.”
  • Paris’s grandmother sometimes says, “Lord.”
  • Paris says, “I promptly lost my ish [sic]” when she gets 8,000 plays on her SoundCloud.
  • Paris’s manager calls Fuse a “strumpet.”
  • Fuse says, “Screw it,” once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Kya’s mother thanks God for Kya’s safety.
  • Kya attends Paris’s funeral and observes that “The Fifth Street Baptist Church choir should’ve been here. That was [Paris’s grandmother]’s church…where Paris got dragged every Sunday before she could call shots. There was no ‘Amazing Grace,’ no ‘His Eye Is on the Sparrow.’”
  • A music journalist finding a lead looks “like someone told him Christmas Eve got rescheduled to today.”

by Caroline Galdi

Ghost

Ghost (or Castle Cranshaw, as he would rather not be known) knows how to run all too well, and since the night his father tried to shoot him and his mother, running is all he can do to handle his wild emotions. When he shows up at a running practice, Coach Brody sees Ghost’s natural talent and insists he joins the team with one condition: that Ghost keep his head straight. For Ghost, who has a knack for running into trouble, this might be the most difficult task of all.

Ghost speaks to audiences that are otherwise underrepresented in middle grade literature, as Ghost and his friends are a diverse bunch. Ghost himself lives in a poverty-stricken part of the city. The novel tackles weighty themes like absent/abusive parents, race, and substance abuse; it contextualizes them through the lens of a thirteen-year-old who is learning to come to grips with his rage and fear. Ghost’s story in particular examines the effect of his father’s drinking and imprisonment on Ghost’s emotional state. Characters like Coach Brody and the other runners help him comprehend his situation, and their story is one about forging a new family through track.

As a character, Ghost can be arrogant. He delivers snap judgments of others. At times, he makes questionable decisions, including a major plot point where he shoplifts shoes because he cannot afford them. Despite these traits, he’s a sympathetic character who embodies what it’s like to be a kid dealing with a difficult home life, and emotions like humiliation, rage, and fear. By the end, Ghost realizes he “was the boy with the altercations and the big file. The one who yelled at teachers and punched stupid guys in the face for talking smack. The one who felt…different. And mad. And sad. The one with all the scream inside.” By the end, Ghost learns how to manage his emotions in a healthier way, as running track gives him a productive outlet.

Overall, Ghost is an entertaining read, and Reynolds does a good job delivering realistic characters that display both good and bad qualities. The plot is smart, straightforward, and doesn’t fall into predictable stereotypes. The biggest strength of the book is its ability to relate to students who otherwise don’t have a voice in middle school literature.

Although Ghost will resonate with those who love sports, any reader who has felt lost will relate to Ghost. The story shows how much of an impact one person or team can make in a kid’s life. Ghost is a must-read because it presents a growth in emotional maturity and shows that anything is possible with a support system and self-discipline.

Sexual Content

  • Ghost briefly mentions that Damon started a rumor at school. Damon “told everybody that I kissed a girl named Janine, who was the only pretty girl who liked me, but I didn’t.”
  • Some of the other runners tease Patty about having a crush on Curron, another runner. She quickly dispels that idea when she says, “Ain’t nobody got a crush on Curron!”

Violence

  • In a drunken rage, Ghost’s father tries to shoot Ghost and his mother. As they run away, Ghost “saw him, my dad, staggering from the bedroom, his lips bloody, a pistol in his hand… As soon as she swung the door open, my dad fired a shot… I didn’t look to see what he hit, mainly because I was scared it was gonna be me. Or Ma. The sound was big, and sharp enough to make me feel like my brain was gonna pop in my head, enough to make my heart hiccup.”
  • Ghost makes an offhand comment when he thinks about his mom meeting Coach Brady. Ghost says, “I’ve seen those weird shows where psychos pose like coaches and stuff and get you caught up and the next thing you know my mother’s in jail too for handling this guy.”
  • Another student bullies Ghost and strikes him with a chicken drumstick. The bully says a series of insults, and then the bully “threw the chicken wing at me. It hit me in the chest… I brushed the over-fried wing off my lap, opened my milk carton, took a swig, and then, with all my might, beamed the container at Brandon’s head…before he could even make a move, I had picked up my plastic tray and whacked him over the head.”
  • Ghost watches a fight break out between a group of men on the basketball court. One man, nicknamed Sicko, pushes someone. Ghost says, “A fight. As usual. Stupid Sicko pushed the wrong guy… And then Pop got into it. And then Big James. Then Big James’s girl. And then some other girl.”
  • Coach Brody details his father’s abuse. Coach Brody says that his father “punched me in the mouth when I was fifteen because I asked him to change the channel on the TV.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Ghost’s father is an alcoholic, which Ghost talks openly about throughout the novel. Ghost says, “It was three years ago when my dad lost it. When the alcohol made him meaner than he’d ever been.”
  • Ghost observes the drug addicts hanging around the basketball courts. He says, “And junkies. They’d just be zombied out, roaming around the outside of the court… Goose was the dope man… Super flashy, but an all-around nice guy. Well, except for selling drugs.”
  • Coach Brody talks about his own father’s addiction and overdose. Coach says that his father “was an addict… Three weeks later, he…he stole my medal for a twenty-dollar high. He overdosed, right there on those steps.”

Language

  • Slang and otherwise grammatically incorrect sentences are used in dialogue to simulate authentic speech. For instance, Ghost says, “running isn’t anything I ever had to practice. It’s just something I knew how to do.”
  • Ghost frequently insults people’s appearances. For instance, upon seeing Coach Brody, Ghost says that Coach looks like a “turtle with a chipped tooth.” Later he calls Coach “this bowling-ball-head coach.”
  • When describing people, Ghost will sometimes refer to their race. For example, “milk-face running boy” and “fancy, white-black boy.”
  • Ghost compares a bully to Jack from Lord of the Flies, calling him a “power-hungry dummy.”
  • Ghost and the other kids frequently use words like dang, stupid, weird, crazy person, and jerk.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Ghost references God once, saying, “His skin was white. Like, the color white. And his hair was light brown. But his face looked like a black person’s. Like God forgot to put the brown in him.”

by Allison Kestler

 

Like a Love Story

Like a Love Story takes place in New York City in the late 1980s. The AIDS crisis is devastating gay communities, and activists are protesting the government’s reluctance to extend research or support to those affected. The narration rotates between three teenagers: Reza, Art, and Judy.

Reza is new in town, having recently immigrated to New York from Iran, where his family escaped a violent revolution. In the closet with a nearly hypochondriac fear of AIDS, Reza starts at a new school and soon meets Judy and Art, who have been best friends since childhood. Both Judy and Art are committed to gay culture and gay activism under the tutelage of Judy’s uncle Stephen, an AIDS patient and well-known member of the gay community. Art is an out-and-proud gay teenager, who is assertive and upfront about his identity. Brash and unafraid, Art is full of anger at the injustice of the AIDS crisis. Judy, a straight girl who shares Art’s love of Madonna and fashion, supports him in everything and shares his love of fashion and film.

A romance develops between Reza and Judy. But Reza, a closeted gay, knows he can only hold out for so long before his secret comes out. The first two acts of the novel largely concern their false relationship, eventual falling-out, and then the ensuing romance between Reza and Art. Each of the three narrators has a fairly equal stake in the plot, and each brings their own narration, perspective, and personality to the story. Like a Love Story is largely a coming-of-age story, but it is really three coming-of-age stories as each character grapples with their sexuality, their future, and their imminent emergence into the adult world.

Like a Love Story is essential reading for anyone who wants to learn about the AIDS crisis or the origins of the modern gay rights movement. Without preaching or lecturing, the narrative paints a rich and engaging portrait of the political climate through its three narrators. Each character in Like a Love Story has a completely unique voice; readers can open the book to any page and immediately know who is speaking.

Regardless of their own identities, readers will see themselves in the characters because of how authentically they are portrayed. Each character has uncertainty about their place in the world, an imperfect relationship with their parents, a faulty understanding of how the world works, and a yearning to belong—and readers get to see them grow as the story progresses.

 Like a Love Story has some of the most compelling adult figures in a genre where adults are often one-dimensional and cast to the side. The relationship that each teen has with their parents is complicated and imperfect, but masterfully written. It is genuinely heart-wrenching to see Art’s interactions with his homophobic parents, and it is genuinely moving to see Judy’s conversations with her mother evolve throughout the story.

Like a Love Story does not shy away from sexual content and depictions of sex acts, but it’s one of the few books that feels justified in its usage. Characters frequently talk of condoms and bodily fluids. The mechanics of AIDS transmission and the effects of the disease are explained as Uncle Stephen succumbs to infections. Readers who pick up this book in 2020 will already know the ending to some extent. Thanks to modern medicine, many people today can live full lives with HIV and new pharmaceuticals can help prevent transmission. However, the characters don’t know this, and they can only grieve the dead and dying members of their community while fighting for rights and recognition. The story highlights the importance of community, activism, and love.

Sexual Content

  • When asked how he knew he was gay, Art says, “I had a wet dream about Morrisey.”
  • During a make-out session, Judy tries to find out if Reza is aroused. “As nonchalant as I can, I move my hand down, feeling his crotch. I feel something hard. Is it him, or is it his zipper? I can’t even tell. I’ve never felt a hard-on before.”
  • Judy thinks, “Art told me once that the subway was the hottest place in the city, as in sexual heat, not physical temperature. He said that all those bodies rubbing against each other basically made it a clothed, co-ed bathhouse.”
  • Reza sees a naked male mannequin in a store window and thinks, “I look at the mannequin’s body and find myself getting a little hard. I cover my crotch with my hands. I imagine that Art is the mannequin, standing in the store window naked. How sick do you have to be to be turned on by a piece of plastic?”
  • After Reza sees a photo of Art, Reza thinks, “I need to stop thinking about him, and I know there’s only one way to do that. I lie back on my bed, close my eyes, and unzip my pants. I see Bartholomew Emerson Grant VI come to life, enter my room, climb into bed with me. He kisses me, undresses me, tells me not to be scared. But then he’s gone, and all I see are images of dying men with lesions.”
  • A big part of the second half of the plot is Reza’s shame and paranoia surrounding his sexual desires. Stephen teaches Art and Reza about safe sex and about how to use condoms safely. Stephen tells them, “If you want a tutorial, we can go home and practice with bananas. . . Lube is lubricant. Men need it, because we don’t naturally get wet down there . . . the jury is out on whether oral sex is safe or not, but my advice is to use a condom for that too.”
  • Stephen says, “The straight world has defined losing your virginity as intercourse. That’s their thing. But we get to define it for ourselves. And you never, ever have to do anything you don’t want to.”
  • Reza thinks, “I hate those words. Oral. Anal. I hate how graphic they are, how hostile they feel.”
  • In a photography darkroom, Art takes off his clothes for Reza. “There’s only one thing to take off. My boxer briefs. I remove them. I stand in front of him, exposed.” They kiss, but don’t do anything else.
  • Judy has an intimate moment with Reza’s brother, Saadi. As Judy makes out him, “It’s furious. Our tongues explore each other. Then his hands are all over me… his breath is heavy, and his hips are thrusting urgently. I feel what I never felt when Reza and I kissed, an erection. Saadi is so hard. He sits up and takes his polo off.” They don’t go all the way. “He wants to have sex, but I tell him I’m not ready.”
  • Art says, “The first time I read porn, I was twelve. I found my dad’s stash of Penthouse and Playboy magazines in the back of his closet. But Penthouse has these sex stories in them, and they were very hot because there were men in them.”
  • The characters all go to a Madonna performance wherein she masturbates onstage. The act is not described in detail.
  • When Art and Reza finally consummate their relationship, they use condoms and lube. Reza wraps “my legs around him, pulling him closer to me, or deeper into me, because he’s in me now. We thrust and grunt and sweat until we almost fall off the bed.” The scene takes up about three pages, but it is mostly dialogue and doesn’t go into more physical detail.

Violence

  • While attending a protest, Art hears bystanders say, “Hose those faggots down. They like that.”
  • During a protest, police officers “yank Art away and handcuff him.” The other police officer “pushes Reza to the ground.”
  • Some bullies begin to taunt Art, and he reacts violently. “My fingers tense into a fist. Before I know it, I leap out of my seat and tackle Darryl to the ground, taking him down like I’m one of the gorgeous ladies of wrestling. ‘Go to hell, you fucking ASSHOLE!’ I scream as he writhes below me, his scared, beefy body stronger than mine but unable to overpower the force of my rage. ‘Get off me, fag!’ he yells. ‘Not until I give you AIDS,’ I say, and I spit on his face.” Art describes later, “I pull Darryl’s foot toward my face. He pushes his leg up, kicking my chin hard in the process. My teeth hit my lips. My head doubles back, hits the wall with a thud… My eyes flicker with the shock of pain. When I open them, I see blood on my hand and on my shirt.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • At a party with some kids from school, Judy gets “drunk on fruit punch.” Her friend tells her, “You don’t want your parents to see you like this.”
  • When Uncle Stephen is on his deathbed, he asks for a glass of wine. Judy’s mom pours wine for him and a small glass for Judy.
  • Uncle Stephen has been taking morphine for his pain; by the time he dies, his bottle of morphine is empty.

Language

  • Profanity is used frequently. Profanity includes: fuck, shit, hell, ass, and damn.
  • “Oh my God” is often used as an exclamation.
  • Art is determined to reclaim the words “faggot” and “fag,” which is a recurring point throughout the story. Judy’s mom asks Art not to use the word because “I heard that word hissed at my brother like a dagger throughout his childhood, and I don’t want to hear it ever again.” They eventually agree to disagree.
  • After coming out, Reza has “heard every possible word a homosexual could be called . . . Faggot. Pansy. Mary. Butt pirate. Fruit. Turd burglar. Flamer. Nancy. Queen.”

Supernatural

  • Art can see “auras.” Readers might recognize them as a condition called synesthesia, but to Art they take on a spiritual and artistic significance. Art doesn’t “snap a photo unless I see its energy. I know they’re all black-and-white, but they have colors to me. Auras.”

Spiritual Content

  • Art says, “I think that if it weren’t for all the bullshit rules of Catholicism, then there would be no Madonna, because what is she if not a rebellion against all of this?”
  • In a church, Art thinks, “I don’t want to burn this place to the ground. What I want is to make them see that I AM HOLY. These thoughts of me and Reza, they are holy.”
  • A priest’s homily “makes multiple references to protecting ‘the unborn.’” Art thinks, “It’s amazing how gung-ho he is about saving the lives of fetuses, but then he turns a blind eye to all the actual humans DYING right in front of him.”
  • Art lights prayer candles in a church and thinks, “I know that I don’t believe in a God who can grant wishes, but if there’s even a chance that such a God exists, then I have some wishes I’d like granted.” He wishes for AIDS to be cured.

by Caroline Galdi

 

Many Waters

When identical twins Dennis and Sandy accidentally mess with their father’s scientific experiment on faster-than-light travel, they are transported to a desert wasteland. Stranded and confused, the two boys meet the locals—dark-skinned people who are only four feet tall. Between the strange people, the miniature mammoths, unicorns, and manticores, Sandy and Dennis are convinced they’re on a strange planet on the other side of the universe. After nearly dying from heatstroke, they are taken in by Grandfather Lameck. When they meet Grandfather Lameck’s son, Noah, the twins realize they have been thrown back in time and are on Earth in the time right before the Great Flood. But the flood is coming—will the twins find a way home before the rain starts to fall?

To make matters more complicated, humans are not the only intelligent beings to deal with. There are seraphim, a tall and beautiful winged people who know many things—maybe even how to get the twins home—but the seraphim do not like to interfere with the lives of men. Then, there are the nephilim, just as tall and beautiful as the seraphim, but they spend their time seducing women with worldly pleasures and extravagant treasures. The nephilim are suspicious of the twins’ sudden appearance, and they will do anything to find out what they are up to.

Once again, L’Engle spins a magical tale that centers on the battle between good and evil. Yalith and Jephath, two of Noah’s children, are kind people that do all they can to help the twins. But most people who live in the oasis are corrupt and evil, abandoning tradition to pursue pleasure and to get ahead in life. The twins and Yalith are all tempted to give in to worldly pleasures. While conflicted, all three reject temptation in exchange for kindness, unicorns, and listening to the stars.

While there are good and bad characters, several members of Noah’s family and Noah himself are more ambiguous, showing that even godly people are not perfect. While God is mentioned several times as “El,” the story centers more around the twins as they adapt to the time period and try to find a way home. The seraphim and the nephilim are revealed to be angels and fallen angels, respectively. They add intrigue and excitement to the story. Overall, Many Waters is a fun tale with a unique twist on the story of Noah’s Ark that will leave readers satisfied.

Sexual Content

  • In Noah’s time, bothmen and women only wore loincloths. Therefore, Sandy and Dennis see several women’s breasts, but none are described graphically. When meeting Yalith, Sandy notes “the girl, who wore only a loincloth . . . was gently curved, with small rosy breasts.”
  • Yalith kisses Aariel, a seraph, much as a child kisses a parent. “Like a child, she held her face up for a kiss, and Aariel leaned down and pressed his lips gently against hers.”
  • Yalith sees her sister with a nephilim. Her sister was “gazing up at him adoringly, leaning against him so that her rosy breasts touched his pale flesh.”
  • Japheth kisses his wife several times. Once, “Japheth leaned to her and kissed her on the lips. Dennis . . . thought that it was a nice kiss. It was the kind of kiss he had seen his father give his mother. A real kiss. If he lived through this, he would like to kiss someone like that.” Another time, Japheth’s wife “bent toward him to kiss him.”
  • A girl from the oasis flirts with Sandy. She “bent closer and brushed her lips against his.” Later, she tries to seduce him. “He was not prepared to have the light suddenly darkened by Tiglah’s face as she pressed her lips against his . . . he knew what she wanted, and he wanted it, too; he was ready, but not, despite her gorgeousness, with Tiglah . . . her breathing mingled with his. He knew if he did not break this off, he would not be able to. With a deep inward sigh, he pulled away.”
  • Sandy thinks about taking Yalith to the future with him. Sandy “looked at Yalith’s small and perfect body, barely covered by the loincloth, her breasts delicate and rosy, and had a moment’s absurd vision of her in one of the classrooms at the regional high school.”
  • When saying goodbye, “Yalith nodded, then reached up to Sandy and kissed him on the lips. Then Dennis. Full, long kisses.”

Violence

  • Sandy is kidnapped. “He tried to wriggle out of the clutch of whoever was carrying him, and a fish crashed into his belly, winding him, and something sharp pricked his arm.”
  • When Japheth tries to rescue Sandy, “the older man swooped on him with the spear, and despite Japheth’s quick reflex, the spear cut across his ribs, and a trickle of blood slid down his side.”
  • Japheth comes home with “an ugly bruise on his cheek where an angrily thrown stone had hit him.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Noah has the “largest and best vineyards on the oasis . . . the fame of his wine had spread to many other oases round about.”
  • A man is sick from drinking too much. Afterward, “the smell of Ham’s sickness mingled with the smell of wine, of meat form the stewpot, of the skins of the tent.”
  • Yalith remembers how her sister had a wedding with “far too much wine, inferior, at that.”
  • When Noah reconciles with his father, he “handed his father a small wineskin. . . The old man held the wineskin to his lips, then smacked them in appreciation.” Sandy also takes a small sip.

Language

  • When a woman’s family kidnaps him, Sandy thinks, “you slut.”
  • An angry man says, “Auk’s nuts to you.”

Supernatural

  • Sandy and Dennis accidentally mess up their father’s scientific experiment and are sent back in time. “Dennis groped through a pervasive mist, his hands touching nothing. Came a great sonic boom. Then absolute silence.”
  • In the past, there were miniature mammoths. “From behind the outcropping of rock came something grey and sinuous which the twins at first thought was a snake. But it was followed by a head with small, bright, black eyes, and great fans of ears, and a chunky body covered with shaggy grey hair.”
  • There are manticores in the past, which try to eat the mammoths several times. The manticore had a “man’s face with filthy hair. . . From the mat of hair came two horns, curved downward, with sharp points like boar’s teeth. . . The rest of the creature pushed into the tent. The head did not belong to a man’s body but to a lion’s . . . the lion did not have a lion’s tail but a scorpion’s.” The manticores can only say the word “hungry!”
  • There are unicorns that flicker in and out of existence. They can flicker out of existence in one place, then be called into existence miles away instantaneously. “On the horizon to the far left, moving toward them, appeared a creature which shimmered in and out of their vision, silvery in color, as large as a goat or a pony, with light flickering out from its forehead.”
  • There are seraphim (angels) and nephilim (fallen angels). Both have “Great wings. Much long hair. . . The seraphim are golden and the nephilim are white, whiter than sand.”
  • Both the seraphim and the nephilim can turn into animals; each has their own animal they transform into. One of the seraphim is a scarab beetle. “Grandfather Lameck took it on his palm, a scarab beetle, glinting bronze in the lamplight. The old man stroked it gently with a trembling forefinger, and closed his palm. Then came a vivid flash of light, similar to that of the unicorn’s horn, and a tall presence stood in the tent, smiling at the old man…Hair the color of wheat with the sun on it, brightly gold, long, and tied back, falling so that it almost concealed tightly furled wings.” One of the nephilim is a giant desert lizard. “As the lizard neared her, it rose straight upward to a height of at least six feet, and suddenly [its] arms were outstretched above the head; the tail forked into two legs, and a man came running toward her, a man of extraordinary beauty, with alabaster-white skin and wings of brilliant purple.”
  • Yalith shows Dennis how to listen to the stars. “He listened, listened, focusing on one bright pattern of stars. Closed his eyes. Listened. Seemed to hear a delicate, crystal chiming. Words. Hush. Heal. Rest. Make peace. Fear not. He laughed in excitement. Opened his eyes to twinkling diamonds.”

Spiritual Content

  • A woman tells the twins, “We don’t have any men on the oasis who are as tall and like gods as you are.”
  • The twins discover that Grandfather Lameck’s son is Noah, from the biblical story of Noah and the Arc.
  • Yalith recounts her family lineage, which includes the biblical figures Methuselah and Enoch. “Methuselah, my great-grandfather, lived for nine hundred and sixty-nine years. And his father was Enoch, who walked with El, and lived three hundred and sixty and five years, and then El took him.”
  • The people in Noah’s time call God “El” and El sometimes speaks to them, though his words are never shared directly in the story. Noah says, “Yesterday, when I was working in the vineyard, the Voice spoke to me. El told me that I must find wives for you.”
  • Japheth mentions a curse on the land. “When our forebears had to leave the Garden, they were told, Accursed shall the ground be on your account. It will grow thorns and thistles for you. You shall gain your bread by the sweat of your brow.”
  • The seraphim mention the pattern. They say the twins “are part of the pattern,” but “the pattern is not set. . . It is fluid, and constantly changing.” They always maintain that the pattern “will be worked out in beauty in the end.”

by Morgan Lynn

The Dragon Thief

Jaxon had just one job—to return three baby dragons to the realm of magic. When he got there, only two dragons were left in the bag. His best friend’s sister, Kavita, is a dragon thief!

Kavita only wanted what was best for the baby dragon. Now every time she feeds it, the dragon grows and grows! How can she possibly keep it secret? Even worse, stealing the dragon has upset the balance between the worlds, and the gates to the other realm have shut tight! Jaxon needs all the help he can get to find Kavita, outsmart a trickster named Blue, and return the baby dragon to its true home.

The sequel to Dragons in a Bag continues Jaxon’s story; however, many of the characters from the first book only make a very brief appearance. Instead, The Dragon Thief jumps back and forth between Jaxon’s and Kavita’s points of view. Jaxon and Kavita both want to return the dragon to the realm of magic, but they don’t work together until the very end. Much of the story focuses on both Jaxon and Kavita trying to figure out how to return the dragon. With talking animals, magic, and a cast of helpful characters, the story has many interesting elements.

Readers may be disappointed that the dragon rarely appears in the story. However, several new characters add interest to the story. Jaxon meets a feisty fairy and gains the help of a classmate. At one point Jaxon thinks, “A week ago, a talking pigeon would have freaked me out. But over the past few days, I’ve encountered a very determined squirrel, actual dinosaurs, a talking rat, and three baby dragons. I’ve learned to take it all in stride.”

The Dragon Thief hints at some important themes, but they are undeveloped. Several times the story mentions slavery and freedom, but the information is not integrated into the story and seems random. Jaxon’s family only appears at the end of the story, but he thinks, “This is my family. Sure, we’re different from other families. Ma’s a witch, and I’m her apprentice. Mama’s a widow, and Trub’s reformed thief. We’ve all made mistakes—big and small—but we stick together because that’s what you do when you love someone.”

The Dragon Thief has some interesting elements, but the undeveloped plot will leave readers with many questions. One positive aspect of the story is that both Jaxon and Kavita are diverse characters who want what’s best for the dragon. Overall, The Dragon Thief has enough mystery and magic to interest fantasy fans, but the abrupt ending and the many characters may confuse some readers.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • At the end of the story, Ma tells Jaxon, “Then let’s get this party started boy! Bring me a beer!” Ma means a root beer, but readers won’t know that unless they’ve read the first book in the series.”

Language

  • As Jaxon is walking in a park, he almost steps on “a pile of dog crap.”
  • Kavita’s brother tells his friend that Kavita is a brat and a “pain in the butt.”
  • A boy tells Jaxon that “a lot of kids at our school are jerks.” Later, the same boy says Blue is a jerk.
  • While looking for Blue, Jaxon asks a rat for help. The rat tells Jaxon, “Blue’s a nasty piece of work. Trash, really…He hasn’t got a selfless bone in his freaky blue body.”
  • A boy calls Blue a creep.
  • Three times, someone calls the trickster Blue a fool.
  • Blue calls Jaxon and his friends “rotten brats.”

Supernatural

  • Ma is a witch who can travel to another dimension where magic exists.
  • Kavita and Aunty go to see Bejan, an astrologer and psychic. Bejan explains, “Jyotisha, or the science of light, involves the study of the stars and planets.” Bejan uses a dragon’s birthday to give Kavita and Aunty advice.
  • Jaxon can talk to animals.
  • Jeff, a fairy, “raises his arms once more, but this time when he lowers them, a circle of blue light appears. It’s as if the fairy traced a bubble in the air and then willed it into existence.” The bubble allows Jaxon to talk to someone who is in another dimension.
  • Blue takes animals from another dimension and turns them into tattoos. Blue explains, “These are my guests… We share space and show respect… Real tattoos are permanent, but these…are just temporary.” Later, Blue’s tattoos are taken away. “We see movement beneath his clothing and hear a faint clamor as Sis extracts the creatures tattooed on Blue’s skin. One by one the mermaid, parrot, sea serpent, unicorn, and others peel off and float toward Sis. Still in miniature, the creatures huddle together and are soon encased in a clear spear that forms above Sis’s outstretched palm.” The creatures are taken back to the realm of magic.
  • Blue uses the tattoos to give him power. He creates “potions, spells, curses, and hexes. Everything humans most desire—love, wealth, revenge, success. Put it in a bottle and slap on a price tag.”
  • A dragon appears and then changes into a “human form.”
  • Jaxon is given a potion that will wake up Ma. He is instructed to put three drops in a glass of water “before the moon wanes.” When Ma drinks the potion, she awakens.
  • In order to transport the dragon to the proper diminution, “Sis points at the creature and draws a circle around it once, twice, and by the third time another elastic sphere has formed. Unlike Blue’s tattoos, however, the dragon doesn’t accept its fate. It whines and claws against the sphere, but to no avail.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Tumbling

Tumbling takes place over the course of a two-day gymnastics meet, but it’s not just any meet—this meet determines who will represent the United States at the Olympics. The story is told from the perspectives of five different girls, each of whom deals with her own struggles.

Leigh is a closeted lesbian and worries about the implications if her secret gets out. Grace has a distorted view of what a perfect gymnast is and ends up paying the price. Monica is a nobody and feels she isn’t good enough to be there. Wilhelmina’s shot at the Olympics was taken from her four years ago because of a rule change, and now she is determined to prove she deserves to go more than anyone else. Camille was injured four years ago in a car crash and is making a comeback to gymnastics, but she can’t decide if this is what she truly wants. Is the Olympics worth sacrificing her boyfriend and her happiness?

Although each girl’s problem is unique, they all struggle with the complexity of competing against friends. Everyone is paranoid; no one’s words can be trusted. Tumbling explores the enormous pressures that come with gymnastics—on bodies, mental states, friendships, and relationships.

Tumbling is an intense book with routines so detailed that readers will hold their breaths as they read them. Readers will cheer when the girls land their routines perfectly and ache when they make mistakes. Readers who know nothing about gymnastics will be able to understand Tumbling, but there is a glossary in the back of the book to help with the gymnastics terminology if needed. Rather than focusing on the intricacy of the sport, the story focuses more on the girls’ struggles. Readers will relate to the girls’ problems, which include sexuality, eating disorders, confidence, family relationships, and boyfriends.

The characters invoke sympathy, but none of them are truly likable. They are petty and constantly play mind games with each other. Because the story takes place over two days, there isn’t enough time for the girls to develop. The book ends abruptly and leaves the reader with many unanswered questions. Overall, Tumbling is best suited for those looking to read an entertaining book. Readers who want a mix of spots, teenage drama, and intense competition will enjoy Tumbling.

 Sexual Content

  • Leigh has a crush on Camille and fantasizes about her a couple of times. Leigh is distracted at the meet and thinks about “Camille’s cushy lips.” Camille comes to Leigh’s room with the other gymnasts to watch an interview. “It wasn’t going to be like it had been in Leigh’s fantasies last night. When Camille had sat down with Leigh on her bed and told her she was dumping her boyfriend because she’d realized she thought Leigh was so much hotter. And then had laid down next to her and. . . ”
  • After Leigh performs a perfect floor routine, she hugs teammate after teammate until eventually, Camille hugs her. “Camille was hugging her, actually pressed against her body, like Leigh had imagined so many times in the privacy of her own head.”
  • Dylan Patrick, a member of a famous boy band, messages Grace and says she’s “hot.” He, Grace, and Leigh send flirty messages throughout the book, such as, “It means a lot to know someone is watching me. Especially someone as cute as you.”
  • Monica flashes back to when she got waxed “down there.” She describes how “…the wax job from a few days ago had replaced her pubic hair with angry red welts.” She remembers she lay “half-naked” and “her crotch burned like any other fifteen-year-olds.”
  • During the meet, Monica is uncomfortable being “basically naked” and having “every line on her body on display.”
  • A doctor asks Camille, who is sixteen, if she menstruates.
  • Camille lists the things that were different about her before she met her boyfriend. “Different height. Different weight. Different voice. Virgin.”
  • Camille talks about how she has grown since she took a break from gymnastics by saying, “…a woman of five feet and one inch with breasts and hips.”
  • Wilhelmina almost wishes she could be a mean gymnast, someone who would “message Dylan Patrick something suggestive tonight to get under Grace’s skin.”
  • There are several instances of Wilhelmina fantasizing about kissing her boyfriend, such as, “She’d wrap her arms around his and press her lips to his.”
  • Wilhelmina and her boyfriend almost kiss. Wilhelmina’s “lips were just centimeters away from his. She could feel her breath on his mouth.” They don’t kiss because he says he can wait until Wilhelmina is done with the Olympics.
  • Leigh thinks Grace wraps herself in multiple towels because she didn’t want Leigh to see “a bit of skin besides her face and her feet.”

Violence

  • Grace has an eating disorder. She “pared herself down to three hundred or five hundred calories a day just to be a bee to keep up with the skinnies.” She worries Leigh will “see how far my collarbone is sticking out today, afraid you’d notice that my legs are like twigs growing out of the hotel carpet.” She eventually confesses she doesn’t eat to Leigh and Camille, with the intention of confessing to her dad, and promises she will get help.
  • Wilhelmina sees evidence of Grace’s eating disorder a few times throughout the book and is saddened by it, but chooses not to do anything about it. She sees Grace throw away an entire plate of food twice. She notices how skinny her body is a few times. “Wilhelmina swore she could see through Grace’s quadriceps to her femur. Even when Grace was bent over, her hip bones were visible.”
  • In a flashback that takes place four years ago, Camille is ecstatic after making it onto the Olympic team. She is having an out-of-body experience when she gets into a car crash. “…almost like she wasn’t in the car but was instead floating about it, watching and saving the joy for later. And it was good she wasn’t in her body at that moment. Because that’s probably why she didn’t feel her head go through the windshield.” Her doctor says gymnastics caused “‘…the stress fractures in your back that caused it to break in three places during the crash.’”
  • Gymnastics is discussed as being dangerous to your health. Camille’s doctor tells her, “‘It’s gymnastics that almost killed you.’” Camille thinks, “Everyone had some sort of scare when she fell head-first off the bars or whacked her back into the balance beam from three feet in the air.”
  • Grace suggests to the reporters Leigh is a lesbian, and Leigh gets angry. “Leigh was going to slap her. If it weren’t for the cameras still in the vicinity, her hand would be imprinted on Grace’s face.”
  • Grace almost falls off the bar due to her eating disorder. During her routine, “her body almost crumpled off the bar and whacked it before falling 8.2 feet to the floor.”
  • Leigh falls off the beam and gets injured. “A hammer bashed into her forehead just above her right eye. Her body stiffened and her blood was sharp and painful, like razors running through her veins, and her eye was going to fall out and roll on the floor, that floor, which was coming up beneath her limbs much too quickly, and then, thankfully, she blacked out.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Leigh and Grace watch as Monica picks her wedgie. They say she needs to “‘buy better butt glue’” and call her the “Wedgie Queen.” They continue to joke about this a few more times throughout the book.
  • God, Oh God, Oh my God, and For God’s sakes are used frequently as exclamations.
  • Christ is used once as an exclamation.
  • Leigh’s coach calls a reporter an asshole.
  • Leigh worries she is a bitch on the mat.
  • Profanity is used sparingly throughout the book. Profanity includes: shit, bullshit, damn it, damn, badass, freaking, and kick ass.
  • “For the hell of it” is used once.
  • A girl says, “That was some effed-up stuff.”
  • Wilhelmina tells Camille to “cut the crap.”
  • “Get her butt back on the beam” and “Kicking butt” are each used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Grace meditates before her beam routine. “It would look like she was praying, but Grace didn’t pray…It was her own body she counted on, not some Great Unknown Creature in the Sky.”
  • Camille made the Olympic team four years ago, but she had to withdraw due to a car accident. She describes her moment of happiness in the car as “this hoped for, prayed for moment was almost otherworldly, almost like she wasn’t in the car but was instead floating above it, watching and saving the joy for later.”
  • Leigh is tired of being mean during the gymnastics meet, so she promises to be nice and still win the meet. “So when Leigh had closed her eyes last night, she had made a promise to the Gods of Gymnastics or the Universe or whoever was in charge out there. Tomorrow, I will be me, and I will still win. I will win while being nice.”
  • After Leigh falls, Grace says, “I think I accidentally prayed for it.”
  • After Leigh falls, Monica tells Grace and Ted, “You aren’t gods.”

by Jill Johnson

 

Up for Air

Annabelle is relieved to be finished with seventh grade, and she’s ready to swim the summer away with her two best friends, Jeremy and Mia. In school, Annabelle struggles due to a learning disability, but when it comes to swimming, she’s the fastest girl in middle school. In fact, she is so fast that she is recruited to join the high school summer swim team. She is excited to hang out with her new teammates, especially Conner, a cute sophomore who just can’t seem to take his eyes off her. However, after an accident that leaves her unable to swim, she realizes how fragile her popularity really is. She starts to question if Conner really likes her, who her real friends are, and who she is without swimming.

Morrison addresses difficult topics through the eyes of an incredibly perceptive thirteen-year-old. Annabelle wants to express her sympathy to others, such as Jeremy’s older sister, Kayla, who is recovering from an eating disorder. Although Annabelle has never had an eating disorder, she understands how hard it must be for Kayla to wear a swimsuit or go to an ice cream parlor. She tells Kayla, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. It must have been really hard. And I’m really happy you’re better.”

Annabelle also struggles with the changes in her home life. Annabelle’s parents got divorced four years ago due to her father’s drinking problem. Since then, her father moved away and her mother remarried. Annabelle feels guilty for having a good relationship with her stepfather when she isn’t even sure she wants a relationship with her biological father.

Although Annabelle is a competitive swimmer, Up for Air hardly talks about the sport itself. Instead, it focuses on how being on the high school swim team affects Annabelle, her friends, and her family. Even though Annabelle makes mistakes throughout the book, readers will still love her as she grapples with the changes that come with adolescence. Like many girls, Annabelle struggles with insecurities, anxiety, and the desire to be liked.  Up for Air explores the themes of self-confidence, friendship, and trust, making it the perfect bridge between elementary and young adult books.

Sexual Content

  • Annabelle describes her new swimsuit, which is more revealing than her previous ones. “The straps were thin and the front dipped low enough that she could see the freckle in the middle of her chest – the one most of her shirts covered up. Her other racing suits flattened her out, but this one didn’t. And the leg openings were cut extra high, which meant her legs looked extra long.”
  • At the pool, Annabelle notices she looks more like the high schoolers now that her body has changed. She is excited when Conner looks at her in her swimsuit and tells his friend she is “all grown up.”
  • It is implied that Annabelle cannot buy a shirt because it is too revealing. “When Annabelle had stepped out of the dressing room, Mia’s mom had said, ‘Va-va-voom! Honey, I don’t think you can wear that shirt to school!’”
  • Elisa, an older swimmer, tells Annabelle, “Coach Colette was practically salivating about how she’ll get to coach you once you’re fourteen.” Conner says, “What’s that now? Who’s salivating?” Elisa responds, “If anybody says anything that could in any way be twisted around to sound inappropriate, there you are.”
  • Annabelle admires her swim coach, Colette’s, body. “Annabelle hoped that when she did peak, her body would look a lot like Colette’s. People talked about how hot, pretty, and strong Colette was. Annabelle wanted people to talk about her like that, too.”
  • Annabelle invites Mia to get ice cream, so Mia can see the guy who was flirting with her last time they went.
  • At lunch, Annabelle sits with a few high schoolers. They are playing a game where one person names two people, and the others have to choose one. The high schoolers tell Annabelle the purpose of the game is to choose who they would want to “spend an afternoon alone with.” Annabelle doesn’t understand the underlying meaning.
  • When a guy asks Annabelle to choose between two guys, she says, “I don’t know. Why don’t you choose first?” She feels bad for making this joke. She knows they only laugh because they’re uncomfortable with homosexuality.
  • At a meeting with her principal to discuss her low test scores, Annabelle reflects that while her body is developing earlier than her peers, her brain is developing later than her peers.
  • When someone suggests going swimming, Annabelle notices no one has a swimsuit. “Were they going to swim in their clothes? Or – ack – not in their clothes?” In the end, they don’t swim.

Violence

  • Annabelle and her friends attempt to sneak into the backyard of a famous director. They hoist her up to unlock the gate, but she falls when the alarm goes off. “Her left knee smacked one of the iron bars halfway down, and her right ankle twisted under her weight when her foot hit the ground. But that was nothing compared to the pain that knifed through her right wrist when she put down her hand to stop her fall.”
  • Annabelle looks at her injured wrist a few minutes after falling. Her wrist “had puffed up pretty badly, and the tender skin on the side of her thumb was turning blue.”
  • The morning after she injures her wrist, “her wrist and thumb were even bigger, and the tender skin was pink and purple, like the ugliest sunset imaginable. She couldn’t rotate her hand at all. She could barely even flex her fingers.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Annabelle’s biological father had a drinking problem. She flashes back to one day when he came to pick her up from swim practice. He was swaying and talking “funny, as if he had marshmallows inside his cheeks.” Annabelle’s mom drove her home.
  • When Annabelle’s dad still lived with her and her mom, Annabelle would “wake up in the middle of the night and find him sitting on the couch with a glass of amber liquid in his hand.”
  • Annabelle remembers her mom telling her dad, “I’m worried about the drinking. I’m worried you haven’t started looking for another job. I’m worried you don’t seem like your old self.”
  • Annabelle goes to a party where a few high schoolers are drinking beer. Annabelle does not drink.
  • Annabelle has “never been able to forget the way her dad had slurred late at night or the way he swayed and couldn’t focus his eyes on her that terrible day when he showed up drunk at swim practice.”

Language

  • Jeremy tells Annabelle, “I can’t believe those dicks left you!”
  • Mia tells Annabelle, “It sounds like you really treated Jeremy like crap.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Jill Johnson

 

Geekerella

Elle Whittimer is living in an impossible universe. Her father died, leaving her with her awful stepfamily. Now her only connection to her father is through Starfield, an old science fiction television show that he loved so much he started a fan convention for it. These days ExcelsiCon is one of the biggest cons in the country, but Elle hasn’t been back since her father died. Instead, she finds her solace in late night Starfield reruns, posting on her blog, Rebelgunner, and dreaming of the day when she can escape to California and become a screenwriter. When a movie reboot of Starfield is announced, Elle is afraid that her favorite story is about to be ruined. But this movie just might be the ticket to her dreams because this year, the first-place prize for ExcelsiCon’s cosplay contest is a chance to attend the premiere in Hollywood. With a little help from her coworker Sage, Elle decides to turn her father’s old costume into a prize-winning cosplay.

Darien Freeman just landed the role of a lifetime: Federation Prince Carmindor in the Starfield movie reboot. However, as a lifelong fan, he’s afraid he won’t be able to do the character justice. There are already fans, like the blogger behind Rebelgunner, who are convinced that casting a teen heartthrob was a terrible idea. The last thing Darien wants to do is surround himself with a bunch of angry, hardcore Starfield fans, which means he really needs to get out of judging the ExcelsiCon’s annual cosplay contest. When Darien sends a text hoping to contact someone at ExcelsiCon, he ends up reaching Elle. After connecting through a mutual love of Starfield, their anonymous friendship begins to grow into something more. But what will happen when their paths cross on the convention floor?

Geekerella is part modern-day Cinderella story and part love letter to fandom culture. Poston does a wonderful job exploring the ways in which art can bring together creators and fans alike – across time and distance. Themes of love and acceptance are an integral part of the story. At the same time, some darker topics are addressed, like Elle’s mistreatment by her stepfamily and how Darien has lost his personal life to overzealous fans and toxic paparazzi.

At its heart, Geekerella is an adorable fairytale. Even if readers are unfamiliar with fandom culture, they can still have fun picking out the parallels to the classic Cinderella story. Elle is a charming heroine, whose wit and determination make her easy to root for, while Darien’s sweet optimism makes him an incredibly endearing character. When these two lonely souls find each other through a mutual love of Starfield, it’s nearly impossible not to hope that their budding romance will overcome all the obstacles thrown in their way.

Sexual Content

  • Darien says he doesn’t want to think about the “creepy google searches” that male fans of his costar Jessica Stone make, implying that they might be sexual in nature.
  • Elle describes Darien’s face as “annoyingly beautiful.”
  • When Darien takes off his shirt on live TV, Elle says, “His abs and chest beam across Catherine’s plasma TV, piercing through [her] sleepy brain like a ray of hope in this godless universe.”
  • A fan jumps on stage and forces herself onto Darien. “Her mouth connects with [Darien’s] with such force that it sends them both tumbling over the sofa.”
  • When Darien discusses the kissing incident with his bodyguard, Darien says he thought he’d “choke on her tongue.”
  • Darien and his co-star Jessica must kiss for a scene. When Jessica asks where Darien learned how to kiss, he jokes that he’s had “two hours of practice by now.” In the same scene, Jessica refers to herself as “the best kisser in Hollywood.”
  • Elle daydreams about what life in a better universe would be like. “And maybe at that midnight release, I’d see a guy across the theatre dressed in a federation uniform, and we’d lock eyes and know that this was the good universe. Maybe a guy with dark hair and chocolate eyes and—for a moment Darien Freeman flashes across my mind.”
  • Darien thinks to himself that when he was kissing Jessica, he was really thinking about Elle. “The truth is, it wasn’t just when we’d kissed that I’d thought about Elle. I’d thought about her during every step of that dance.”
  • During a text conversation with Darien, a.k.a. Carmindor, Elle describes an episode of Starfield as “the one with the other Carmindor being sexy in the shower.” She then panics and adds, “Not that YOU couldn’t be sexy too.”
  • Elle worries about what would happen if she met Carmindor, a.k.a. Darien, in real life and thinks to herself, “I hate that I’m falling for someone I don’t even know.”
  • Darien refers to Elle as “ah’blena” during one of their text conversations, in the universe of Starfield this is a phrase meaning “my heart.”
  • Darien’s handler says that whoever wrote the negative blog posts about him “has a serious crush.”
  • After filming the final scene for the movie, Jessica asks Darien if he’s thinking about “the absolute sadness that we didn’t make out more?”
  • When Elle meets Darien for the first time, she describes him as “beautiful in person,” but thinks that his personality is “the biggest turn off.”
  • When she enters the cosplay ball, Darien is captivated by Elle. Darien watches “the top of the stairs, the girl with glowing red hair stares down at the rest of us from behind a sparkling golden mask. Her bowlike lips are painted the flaming color of a red giant. She’s beautiful.”
  • As Darien watches Elle enter the ball, he compares the moment to a meet-cute from a movie scene. “But this isn’t a movie, and I’ve already missed my meet-cute. The sky doesn’t suddenly crash in around us. The world doesn’t lose sound. Because this isn’t where I fall in love. I fell in love across the cell signals and late-night texts with a girl I barely knew.”
  • A rude stranger at the cosplay ball insinuates that Elle is simply a Darien Freeman fangirl, not an actual Starfield fan, and tells her that she is “too cute to play dumb” when she gets offended.
  • Elle and Darien share a dance at the cosplay ball and start to fall into familiar banter. “We’re so close, I can feel his breath on my lips, and my heart is tugging, telling me to kiss him even though I don’t know him. Even though my heart, battered and bandaged and taped together, is still rattling from the text a few hours before. But there’s something familiar in the cadence of his words, the way he phrases sentences, the way he articulates thoughts, like a voice I’ve heard before.”
  • Realizing she’s stayed too long, Elle rushes out of the cosplay ball. Darien, having realized who she is to him, chases after her. “His mask has fallen off and I can see the shiner on his nose, dark as a rainstorm, and the alarm in his eyes. The kind where you’re afraid you’ll never see someone again. ‘Wait, ah’blena!’ Ah’blena? I stumble and one of Mom’s shoes slips off.”
  • One of Elle’s stepsisters tells her friends that Darien is “way sexier in person.”
  • When Darien shows up at the country club looking for Elle, Chloe throws herself at him. Elle thinks that “flirting comes as natural as breathing” to her stepsister.
  • Darien reflects on seeing the real Elle for the very first time. “I won’t say that she is perfect or that she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, but the moment her gaze finds mine, she’s the best part of the universe. She’s a person I would love to spend a lifetime with on the observation deck of the Prospero.”
  • Elle and Darien share a kiss upon being reunited. “‘Ah’…,’ he begins, enunciating every syllable, raising his hand to my chin, ‘blen…,’ tilts my face up, slowly drawing toward me, like two supernovas about to collide, ‘…a.’ And somehow, in this impossible universe, his lips find mine.”
  • Elle and Darien kiss a second time and she describes it as “the kind of kiss that creates [possibilities].”
  • Sage and her girlfriend are holding hands in the limousine before the Starfield Elle says, “I don’t think they’ve stopped holding hands since that day at the country club.”
  • Sage’s girlfriend says she loves Jessica Stone, to which Sage responds, “Maybe we can share her.”
  • When a reporter asks if Elle and Darien are a couple, he tells her, “I want you, ah’blena. I want to try this thing with you, whatever this is. I want you to be my copilot. And I want to ask you before the movie, in case you really hate it.”
  • Darien kisses Elle on the red carpet. “He bends close, despite the crowds, despite the cameras, despite Franco’s nose-diving into his suit pocket where he’s probably keeping a snack, and kisses me. Around us, the flashes flare like the thrusters of the good ship Prospero, sending my heart rocketing into the farthest reaches of this impossible universe.”

 Violence

  • During a fight, Elle’s stepmother, Catherine, hits her. “With a crack, Catherine’s manicured hand strikes the side of my face.”
  • Darien films a choreographed fight scene. “There’s an explosion behind us—bright lights, the actual effects to be added later—as half the ship blows. Calvin lunges at me. I dodge left, grab his right hook, but he powers through it and sends me careening backward. I slam against the floor, pulling my weight back, scrambling to get my feet under me. He picks me up by the collar; I grab his hand and wrench it away. Quickly, I reach for my gun. Too slow. He rams his shoulder into my chest, and I stumble into the console. The entire structure shakes. He grabs hold of my neck and pretends to squeeze.”
  • Elle accidentally hits Darien in the face with a door, causing his nose to bleed. He describes the blood as leaking “into my mouth and down my chin and onto my favorite T-shirt.”
  • Darien gets into a physical altercation with his former friend, Brian. “If one good thing has happened over the last few months of preproduction and soulless salads and four A.M. workouts with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cousin, it’s that I learned to throw a punch. Thumb out, clench fist—swing. Brian stumbles from the force of it.” The fight scene lasts for three pages.
  • Sage tells a dog, “The next time you jump on me I’ll skin you and wear you as a hat!”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Prior to the beginning of the story, Darien was in an accident that prompted headlines to speculate about his health. When he describes the accident he says, “I wasn’t drunk, or high, or tripping on anything besides my own feet.”
  • Darien describes his former relationship with Brian, a friend who sold him out to the paparazzi, as “shoot-the-shit, drinking beer in the back of pickups friends.”

 Language

  • Elle uses the phrase “Nox’s crack” in place of a curse. The Nox are a race of aliens from the Starfield
  • Anon, the director of the Starfield movie, tells Darien that he has “brass balls” right before he films a stunt sequence.
  • Darien describes one of his lines as a “kiss ass goodbye.”
  • Elle describes sitting inside the food truck on a warm day as “hot as balls.”
  • Sage refers to Elle’s stepsisters as “the hell twins.”
  • Sage describes Princess Amara’s character arc as a “crappy subplot.”
  • When Elle first sees Darien in person, she thinks to herself, “Holy Federation Prince, Batman. It’s Darien effing Freeman.” This is one of three times this phrasing is used as an exclamation.
  • Miss May, one of the people running ExcelsiCon, says that Elle gave Darien “a snowball’s chance in hell.”
  • When Sage enters ExcelsiCon, she says, “Holy shit.”
  • Darien uses the word “fracking” in place of an f-bomb.
  • Darien tells Brian that he’s “not trying to be a dick.”
  • Elle calls the stranger harassing her a “left-testicled Nox.”
  • During his fight with Brian, Darien imagines a headline describing the incident: “DARIEN FIGHTS WITH SLEAZY PAPARAZZO AND MURDERS HIS ASS.”
  • During an argument with his father, Darien asks, “Why the hell insure my abs anyway?”
  • Sage tells Darien that she has been grounded by her mother, adding, “like hell I am.”
  • Elle says that her stepmother got rid of all of her Starfield memorabilia, including “one hella rare Pez dispenser.”
  • Elle tells Darien that she will make his life “a living hell” on her blog if he screws up Carmindor.

 Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Elle describes herself as sending a prayer to “the Lord of Light or Q or whoever is listening.”

by Evalyn Harper

 

King & Kayla and the Case of the Secret Code

Kayla and Mason both get mysterious letters written in code. Neither of them knows where the letter came from or what it means. King, a lovable dog, knows which one of their friends left the letter, but Kayla doesn’t understand him.

Kayla and Mason use clues to discover who left the letter. Kayla makes a list of “everything we know about the case” and a list of “everything we don’t know about the case.” The two friends find out who sent the letter, but it isn’t the clues that lead them to the culprit. Instead, King leads them to the answer. The person who sent the letter gives Kayla and Mason a clue so they can figure out what the letter says.

Readers will giggle as King tries to tell Kayla who left the letter. He sings, dances, and barks, but Kayla can’t figure out what King is trying to say. King is a loveable dog, who thinks that everything is his favorite thing. The bright illustrations do an excellent job showing King’s and Kayla’s emotions.

King and Kayla are likable characters who solve a relatable problem. Much of the humor comes from King’s desire to communicate with Kayla. The fun, easy story is perfect for readers transitioning out of picture books and into chapter books. Each page has a large picture that allows the text to be spaced out so younger readers will not get discouraged by the amount of text. The simple, fun plot and interesting characters will keep readers engaged until the very end.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Project Middle School

Eleven-year-old Hope is excited to start JFK Middle School and be in advanced classes. However, Hope is nervous because for the first time, she won’t be in the same class as her best friend, Sam. When Hope heads to her first class, she discovers that middle school may be harder than she thought.

Hope makes her first embarrassing blunder in science. She makes her second embarrassing mistake in Spanish. When she goes to science club, Hope becomes frustrated because the boys don’t listen to any of the girls. That’s all just on the first day.

Hope may know a lot about science and her favorite superhero, Galaxy Girl, but that may not be enough to survive middle school. Can Hope navigate homework problems, changing friendships, and prove girls can do anything?

Hope has relatable problems that every middle school student can understand. She struggles to make friends, has embarrassing moments, and gets frustrated that others do not always listen to her and the other girls in the science club. In order to prove girls can do anything, Hope takes on more work than she can handle, which causes a colossal disaster. In the end, Hope and her peers are able to “acknowledge that failure is a key ingredient in success. Great scientists make mistakes all the time, and that’s how they learn and grow.”

Project Middle School is told from Hope’s point of view and focuses on both her home and school life. Even though the story has relatable conflicts, the story’s flow is choppy. Several of the events felt like they were incorporated to prove a point instead of being a natural extension of the story. For example, Hope asks a Latinx classmate if Spanish is her superpower. Hope then realizes that she shouldn’t make assumptions about other people.

Middle school readers will enjoy Project Middle School, which is told from Hope’s point of view. The story uses easy vocabulary and cartoon-like black and white illustrations. Large illustrations appear on almost every page. JFK Middle School’s students are diverse. The story teaches valuable lessons about not making assumptions and apologizing. The story illustrates that every voice counts. Despite this, Hope doesn’t have a clear voice and her story is bland. Even though Project Middle School isn’t a memorable story, middle school readers will understand Hope’s struggles as well as learn positive life lessons. Readers who enjoy Project Middle School should add You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly to their reading list.

Sexual Content

  • During class, Hope accidentally reads the wrong page from the science textbook. She reads to the class, “The mating habits of fruit flies will be the main subject of this selection.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Darn is used once.
  • OMG is used as an exclamation four times. For example, when Hope’s friend sees her in the school hallway, the friend says, “OMG, Hope! I was just thinking about you.”
  • Hope calls her dogs “little fluff butts” twice.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Hope goes up to the whiteboard, she was “praying no sweat marks are visible under my arms.”

Crooked Kingdom

When Jan Van Eck, a member the Merchant Council of Kerch, hired Kaz Brekker and his team to infiltrate the infamous Ice Court to extract the maker of the drug jurda parem, no one believed they really stood a chance. Yet Kaz, Inej, Wylan, Jesper, Matthias and Nina pulled it off, even if it was just barely. They extracted the drug maker’s son, Kuwei Yul-Bo, and were ready to receive the money that would make all their dreams come true. At least, until Van Eck betrayed them all and kidnapped Inej.

And the problems don’t stop there. Ketterdam has become a dangerous city, one that sees old and new enemies stream in to get a hold of Kuwei’s knowledge of jurda parem. To corner Kaz and his team, Van Eck will force the group to test their loyalties and use up all the wit they have to offer. With nowhere to run, there’s only one option available to Kaz: fight back.

While wanted posters display Kaz and his crew, the six are busy planning and plotting to find a way to get everything they’re owed. They’ll save Inej, get Kuwei out of the city, and make Ketterdam theirs again. One way or another, they’ll even the score.

Bardugo’s Crooked Kingdom is just as fun and exciting as the first novel. Building off their trip into the Ice Court, Crooked Kingdom delves deeper into the main conflict between Kaz’s crew and Jan Van Eck. From the very beginning, the claustrophobia of Ketterdam, its sense of despair, and its dwindling hope take center stage, laying the foundation for the story to push the main characters into finding their own way out of the hole they’ve found themselves in.

That’s where the main theme of standing up for yourself comes in. Learning to fight for yourself in a cruel, greedy world comes across easily through Kaz’s determination to see his crew properly rewarded for helping stop the production of jurda parem, the drug that enhances Grisha power. This theme also comes through with the other five main characters, like Inej’s desire to hire a ship and go after slavers or Wylan’s realization that he needs to overcome his father. It’s safe to say that each member of Kaz’s crew is a role model in their own right. Each person grows stronger from the trials they encounter.

Overall, Crooked Kingdom is a wonderful follow-up to Six of Crows. This sequel is definitely a must-read. The book is chock full of action, suspense, and plot twists from beginning to end. The main cast of characters really shine in the hectic moments of the plot. While the pacing can feel relentless at times, that only raises the stakes.

Sexual Content

  • When going over the plan to con Smeet, one of Kaz’s targets, Kaz tells the others, “Smeet never cheats on his wife.” During the job, Wylan thinks when he sees Nina, a member of Kaz’s group, “She was dressed in a sheer lavender gown rigged with some kind of corset that pushed her cleavage to alarming heights, and though she’d lost weight since her battle with parem, there was still plenty of her for Smeet to grab onto.” And, again later on, Smeet “was ogling those guns almost as much as Nina’s cleavage.”
  • When thinking about her past as a working girl, Inej, Kaz’s love interest, thinks, “The man with sharp teeth like a kitten who had bitten at her breast until she’d bled.” Later, when thinking about the worst client she had, Inej thinks, “because when the man who smelled of vanilla had begun to kiss her neck and peel away her silks, she hadn’t been able to leave her body behind.” Finally, when her thoughts stray to Kaz, Inej thinks, “What if he had come to her, laid his gloves aside, drawn her to him, kissed her mouth?”
  • When Inej is attacked by Dunyasha, an assassin, Dunyasha says, “I hear you whored for the Peacock.”
  • When confronted by a group of thugs, Nina tells the leader, “‘I’m fast enough to make sure you never’ —her eyes gave a meaningful slide below his belt buckle—‘raise a flag on West Stave again.’”
  • When thinking about his first few nights in the Barrel, Wylan remembers, “The couple in the room above him were fighting. The couple in the room below him were definitely doing something else.”
  • Later, Wylan remembers how a man told him, “Young dollop of cream like you should be able to make fine coin on West Stave.” When Wylan thinks about getting help from his father, he thinks, “But he would sell himself in the pleasure houses of West Stave before he’d ask for his father’s mercy.”
  • When Wylan first met Jesper, his “first thought was that this boy had the most perfectly shaped lips he’d ever seen.”
  • When waiting to meet Ravkan Grisha, Matthias is alone with Nina and thinks, “It was too easy to imagine himself kneeling like a penitent before her, letting his hands slide up the white curves of her calves, pushing those skirts higher, past her knees to the warm skin of her thighs.”
  • When Jesper meets Wylan in the music room of a hotel, he “moved slowly, deliberately, kept the kiss quiet, the barest brush of his lips, giving Wylan the chance to pull away if he wanted to.” Then later, when Jesper sees Kuwei standing in the doorway, he asks, “Do the Shu not kiss before noon?”

Violence

  • When Retvenko, a Grisha, thinks about his previous employment, he thinks, “After Hoede had died, the Kerch Merchant Council had let Retvenko take on sea voyages to pay his way out of the indenture.” Later on, Retvenko thinks about his role in a former war. “He’d murdered former comrades, civilians, even children.” When Retvenko is later attacked, he “peeked around the desk in time to see the shotgun blast strike the woman directly in the chest.”
  • When thinking about a past conversation with Kaz about a working girl, Wylan remembers that Kaz said, “Tante Heleen beat her to death.” After that, Wylan remembers, “They were the last words he’d spoken. If he’d talked less, he might have lived.”
  • When speaking to a little girl who could give Kaz and Wylan away, Kaz tells her, “Because if you do, I’ll slit your mother’s throat and then your father’s, and then I’ll cut out the hearts of all these sweet slobbering hounds.” Afterwards, Kaz justifies what he said by saying, “It was that or snap her neck and make it look like she fell down the stairs, Wylan.”
  • When Inej is detained by Van Eck, she thinks about her friend Nina “squeezing the life from a man with the flick of a wrist.” Later, Inej is trying to free her wrists “After what seemed like a lifetime of sawing and scraping and bloodying her fingertips on the shard’s edge.” And, when Inej is about to be tortured, Van Eck tells the torturer, “I don’t want it to be a clean break. Use the mallet. Shatter the bone.”
  • When Jesper and Wylan go to meet Colm, Jesper’s father, “A shot rang out against the walls of the courtyard. Jesper shoved his father behind him as a bullet pinged off the stones at their feet, sending up a cloud of dust.” Later, Wylan tells Jesper, “I’ve got two flash bombs and something new I rigged up with a little more, um, wallop.” When someone sees Jesper, Wylan and Colm fleeing through a library, he says, “I won’t go with you! I’ll kill myself first!”
  • When Nina realizes Kaz has the jurda parem, she tells Matthias that Kaz would “slit my throat” if she tried to take some from him. Later, Nina’s Grisha power doesn’t work. After she killed a guard, she says, “I didn’t mean to kill him.”
  • After the panic about a plague, Wylan muses over how “people were bruised and concussed, and Wylan had heard that one woman’s hand had been crushed when she’d gotten knocked to the floor.”
  • When Matthias is confronted by a Fjredan drüskelle warrior, the warrior says, “You killed my friends. In the raid on the Ice Court.” After that same warrior shoots Matthias, he passes away. “The light vanished from his eyes. His chest stilled beneath her hands.”
  • When threatening Pekka Rollins, the former King of the Barrel, Inej tells him, “I left pretty Dunyasha’s brains dashed all over the Ketterdam cobblestones.”
  • When Kaz threatens Pekka Rollins, he says, “‘I buried your son,’ he crooned, savoring the words. ‘I buried him alive, six feet beneath the earth in a field of rocky soil.’” Later Kaz says, “‘Inej, I could only kill Pekka’s son once.’ He pushed the door open with his cane. ‘he can imagine his death a thousand times.’”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • As with the first book, alcohol is mentioned frequently in the novel.
  • Retvenko, a minor character, is drunk at the very start of the book. At a bar in the Barrel, where the thugs and cheats of the city live, Retvenko realized, “The whiskey had failed to warm him.” Later, when speaking to a barman he thinks, “His Kerch wasn’t good to begin with, and it was worse after a few drinks.”
  • Wylan, a member of the Dregs, has to pretend to be a waiter at a gambling hall. When signaled to serve champagne, he thinks, “He at least knew how to pour a proper glass of champagne without it foaming over.”
  • When thinking about Wylan’s change in appearance, Jesper thinks, “It always left him feeling a little off-kilter, like he’d thought he was reaching for a cup of wine and gotten a mouthful of water instead.” Later Jesper says to Wylan, “I mean, just think of the heights of debauchery we could reach if no one kept this city in check. Champagne for breakfast.” When Jesper and Wylan later speak with Jesper’s father, Jesper thinks, “They’d eat. They’d talk. Maybe they’d drink. Please let them drink.”
  • As with the first book, jurda parem, a harmful drug that enhances a Grisha’s (magic user’s) powers, is a main plot device in the story. Kuwei, the son of the creator of jurda parem, says that he can discover “An antidote for parem.”
  • Nina, a member of the Dregs, comments that she could “masquerade as a jurda parem dealer” as a joke when going over Jesper’s role in a job. Later in the story, Nina thinks about the aftereffects of jurda parem on her body. “She’d still been trying to purge the parem from her body, caught in the haze of suffering that had begun on the voyage from Djerholm. She told herself to be grateful for the memory of that misery, every shaking, aching, vomiting minute of it.” Later, she remembers how she acted towards Matthias, her boyfriend, while dealing with the aftereffects. “The shame of Matthias witnessing it all, holding back her hair, dabbing her brow, restraining her as gently as he could as she argued, cajoled, screamed at him for more parem. She made herself remember every terrible thing she’d said, every wild pleasure offered, each insult or accusation she’d hurled at him.”
  • When trying to use her Grisha power, Nina remembers how her jurda parem addiction affected her. “She’d broken into a sweat from the effort, and as soon as the bruised color faded, the hunger for parem hit, a swift, hard kick to her chest. She’d bent double, clutching the sink, her mind filled with breakneck thoughts of how she could get away, who might have a supply, what she could trade.” Later on, when Nina asks Kuwei about whether the drug affects Grisha power, Kuwei responds, “I don’t know. You took the drug only once. You survived the withdrawal. You are a rarity.”
  • When sneaking into someone’s home, “Nina had suggested drugging the dog’s food.”

Language

  • Profanity is used frequently in the novel. Profanity includes words like: ass, hell, bastards, damn, bitch, and fuck.
  • When telling his team about his plan to con a man named Smeet, Kaz says, “So you all need to do everything you can to keep his ass firmly planted at that table.”
  • When debating with Matthias about whether one of their targets will invite Nina back to her room, Nina says, “Like hell he won’t.” When speaking to Wylan about the Smeet job, Kaz says, “We can’t be here when he gets back or the whole plan goes to hell.”
  • When Kaz is musing over a certain type of lock, he thinks, “They were complicated little bastards.”
  • When Jesper talks to Kuwei, he says, “You have that damn travel pack.” Soon after that Jesper says, “There’s only one way out of the tomb, and we’re on a damn island.”
  • When Nina is attacked by a group of thugs, one of them yells, “They’re coming for the Grisha bitch!”
  • When Nina demanded Matthias get her more jurda parem, she tells him, “Then break the fucking door down, you useless skiv.”

Supernatural

  • The Grisha, AKA the magic users, are an integral part of the world of Crooked Kingdom, just like in Six of Crows.
  • Like in the first book, the Grisha are categorized into groups based on their powers. The Corporalki, also known as the Order of the Living and the Dead, include Heartrenders and Healers. The Etherrealki, who are the Order of the Summoners, include Squallers, Inferni, and Tidemakers. The Materialki, who are the Order of Fabrikators, include Durasts and Alkemi. For instance, “A Corporalki could manipulate the human body, not inorganic matter.”
  • Many Grisha are brought into the city of Ketterdam to work “As a treasured Grisha indenture,” though this is more often than not just a masked form of Grisha slavery. Retvenko, a Squaller, thinks about how dangerous it is to be a Grisha. “But when you were a Grisha, even staying still could mean courting trouble.
  • Retvenko, a Squaller, thinks about how his powers will help his job. He thinks, “so the crew would rely on Retvenko to master the air currents and guide the ship calmly to whatever port they needed to reach.”
  • At one point in the past, there was an army of Grisha that fought for the nation of Ravka, called the Second Army. The “young king was said to be handing out pardons like penny candy, eager to rebuild the Second Army, the Grisha military that had been decimated by war.”
  • The Council of Tides, the ruling council of Grisha in Ketterdam, are a very mysterious group of people. “They were supposedly Grisha, but had they ever lifted a finger to help the other Grisha in the city?”
  • Kuwei, the son of the man who made the drug, jurda parem, says at one point, “My father was a Fabrikator. I am just an Inferni.” When Kuwei asks Kaz to get a Grisha to change his appearance, Kaz says, “The only Tailors powerful enough to make you look like someone else are in Ravka, unless Nina wants to take another dose of parem.”
  • Nina is a Corporalki Grisha. When thinking about her jurda parem addiction, she thinks, “They needed her to be a Corporalki, not an addict with the shakes who wore herself out with the barest bit of tailoring.” Later on, when she needs to use her power, she thinks, “Slow their pulses. Send them quietly into unconsciousness without ever letting an alarm sound.” Immediately after that, Nina’s power doesn’t work, “It was like stumbling blind through the dark…Dimly, she was aware of the suggestion of their frames, a trace of knowing, but that was all.”

Spiritual Content

  • Like in the first book, the most mentioned god in the novel is Ghezen, the God of Commerce in Ketterdam.
  • When Retvenko goes to a work assignment aboard a ship, the first mate says, “Ghezen, Retvenko. Have you been drinking?” When Kaz bumps into one of his targets accidentally, he pretends to be a humble young man saying, “Too kind, sir. Too kind. May Ghezen be as generous.” Later, Van Eck talks about his future fortune by saying, “When I leave this world, the greatest shipping empire ever known will remain, an engine of wealth, a tribute to Ghezen and a sign of his favor.”
  • When speaking about Van Eck’s illegal practices, Jesper says, “Isn’t not paying your taxes…I don’t know, sacrilegious? I thought he was all about serving Ghezen.”
  • Like in the first book, the Suli Saints are mentioned again. Inej thinks, when she’s still in the villain Van Eck’s custody, “Saints, what if she was in Van Eck’s mansion?” When Inej thinks about her sins, she muses, “Would her Saints sanction such a thing? Could forgiveness come if she killed not to survive but because she burned with a living, luminous hatred?” Just as she’s about to be tortured by Van Eck, Inej thinks, “Saints protect me. Saints protect me.”
  • The Church of Saint Hilde is a famous sight in Ketterdam. When Kaz tells Wylan where the latter can find his mother, he says, “Well, he’s been making donations to the Church of Saint Hilde for the last eight years. If you want to pay respects to your mother, that’s probably the place to start.”
  • On Black Veil, an island full of graves, some of the graves “bore the stamp of Ghezen’s Coins of Favor… A few were watched over by Ravkan Saints in flowing marble robes. There was no sign of Djel or his ash tree.”
  • Djel, the Fjerdan god, is also mentioned a few times in the novel. When Matthias is reflecting over his past actions, he comes to a revelation. “Now he was sure of nothing but his faith in Djel and the vow he’d made to Nina.”
  • Colm tells Kaz, “You haven’t been Alice long enough to rack up your share of sin.”

by Jonathan Planman

The Wishing Pearl

Princess Clarabel loves being a Rescue Princess. She and her friends are committed to saving animals in trouble wherever they may be!

When Clarabel finds an injured dolphin during Ampali Island’s Royal Regatta, she knows just who to call for help—her fellow Rescue Princesses! Her friends are brave, talented, and super smart. They’re so amazing in fact, she’s worried that she’ll fall behind, but Clarabel is about to discover that she has an incredible gift.

In the first book of the series, the princesses worked together to solve a mystery. However, in The Wishing Pearl, the princesses spend some of their time lurking around, trying to spy on a prince who is up to no good. At one point, they sneak into his room to look for clues. The princesses also try to avoid Queen Trudy because she wants the princesses to help prepare for an event. Instead, the princesses stay true to their desire to help injured animals by helping an injured dolphin.

Even though the vocabulary isn’t difficult, the story uses some complex sentence structures that are appropriate for strong readers. Cute black-and-white pictures appear every 2-7 pages. Many of the pictures are full-page and show the princesses in action. On the inside cover, the princesses are shown in full color and include characters of different ethnicities. However, in the black-and-white illustrations, the princesses look very similar to each other.

Readers will enjoy the interaction between the princesses and relate to Clarabel, who worries that she isn’t as good as the other princesses. Throughout the story, the princesses help each other and encourage each other. Even though the princesses find a lost treasure, they never consider keeping the treasure for themselves. Instead, they give it to the queen to use for her kingdom. The Wishing Pearl has positive princesses, action, and teaches about the importance of taking care of animals.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Each of the four princesses has a ring. “Even though they looked like ordinary rings, these magical jewels enable the princesses to call one another for help. Jaminta had invented them. . . By shaping jewels carefully, she could give them special powers.”
  • Jaminta has made several magical jewels including “emeralds that light up, diamonds that detect metal, and the rings that we use to call each other.”
  • Clarabel uses a pearl to heal a dolphin. “With her whole heart she said, ‘I wish he could be healthy again, I wish he could be healthy again. . .’ The pearl’s rainbow shine grew brighter. A fine white mist floated from the pearl to the dolphin. Under the haze, the dolphin seemed to fill with light.” The dolphin’s injury is completely healed.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Children of Blood and Bone

Children of Blood and Bone takes place in Orïsha, a rich fantasy landscape where magic users are born with white hair, signaling the powers they will inherit at thirteen. However, an evil king has wiped magic from the land in a genocide of all magic users and severed the people’s connection to the gods. The book alternates between the perspectives of the characters Zélie, Amari, and Inan.

Zélie is a seventeen-year-old girl from a small village, who has been called “maggot” most of her life because of her white hair. After her mother was killed in the slaughter of maji, survivors with white hair became second-class citizens. Bitter and stubborn, Zélie has been taking lessons to fight with a staff while trying to care for her ailing father.

Inan and Amari are the king’s children—the prince and princess of Orïsha. Amari sets off the story’s chain of events when she spies on her father, discovering a scroll that has the power to return magic to the land. Determined not to let it fall into her father’s hands, she runs away with it, and meets Zélie and her brother, Tzain. The three soon find themselves hunted by the king’s army, headed by Inan, who is haunted by an inner conflict over whether the king’s cause is just.

The majority of the narrative follows Zélie, Amari, and Tzain’s journey through Orïsha. While evading capture, they also embark on a quest to reunite the scroll with other ancient artifacts. Their goal is to perform a ritual that can restore the magical connection between the gods and the people of Orïsha.

Children of Blood and Bone includes unique worldbuilding and a magic system that proves central to the plot. Although the switches between narrators are almost dizzying, each character has a unique personality that comes alive on the page. Readers will find themselves sympathizing with the gentle Amari, the stubborn Zélie, and the conflicted Inan in equal measure.

The plot takes a few chapters to get off the ground, and the first act contains an unavoidable amount of worldbuilding. Still, it is packed with action, and the pacing will likely keep the attention of even easily bored readers. As the plot progresses, readers slowly get to see Orïshan’s magic firsthand. Each demonstration of magic will leave readers eager for more.

The story contains two central romances: Tzain and Amari, and Zélie and Inan. Both work rather well: their dynamics complement each other, and a decent amount of chemistry builds up between the two couples. In addition, readers will enjoy watching the friendship between Zélie and Amari develop from hatred into a deep mutual respect.

Fans of fantasy and magic will enjoy Children of Blood and Bone. Despite the fresh new look it gives to its magical land and teenage heroes, Children of Blood and Bone relies on the typical structure of a young adult fantasy. Seasoned readers of the genre will likely recognize the tropes of the “evil king,” the “chosen one,” and the “perilous quest.” These tropes are ubiquitous for a reason, though, and many readers won’t mind. The action, suspense, and intensity will make it irresistible.

Sexual Content

  • Amari’s complexion “makes the nobility gossip that [her mother] slept with a servant.”
  • Amari sees Tzain undress and lowers her eyes, thinking, “the last time I saw a boy’s bare body my nannies were giving Inan and me baths.”
  • Zélie and Tzain meet in a dream. Zélie thinks, “My gods, is he even wearing clothes? My eyes comb over his broad chest, the curves of each muscle. But before I catch sight of anything under the water, I jerk my eyes up.”
  • Tzain talks about Inan to Zélie, saying that he “doesn’t care about you, Zél. He just wants to get in between your legs.” A moment later, he calls her “the prince’s whore.”
  • Inan describes kissing Zélie. Inan’s “mouth presses against her neck. She gasps as I run my hands up her back. A small moan escapes her lips. . . Her fingers dig into my back, pulling me closer. Everything in me wants her. Wants this. All the time.”
  • Zélie and Inan kiss. “Inan presses his lips to mine and everything fades. His kiss is tender yet forceful, gently pushing into me. And his lips . . . soft . . . When he finally pulls away, my heart is beating so fast it feels like I’ve just finished a fight.” Before they are interrupted, they intend on going further. Zélie narrates, “I grab his head and force his lips back onto mine. Restraint can wait for tomorrow. Tonight I want him.”
  • Amari watches Zélie and Inan kiss. “The tender way he holds her, the way his hands roam, pulling her into him… an embrace like this is far too intimate to watch.”
  • Some drunken guards make a veiled insinuation that Zélie is a prostitute, and one “wraps his pudgy hands around [her] neck and presses [her] against the wooden wall.” Zélie remarks that it’s against the law for maji and non-magic users “to so much as kiss . . . but it doesn’t keep the guards from pawing at us like animals.” Zélie wants to fight back, but forces herself to remain calm until the guard unhands her.
  • Later Zélie says, “The guards grope me whenever they have a chance,” and refers to them as “rapists.”

Violence

  • During a childhood training session, Amari and Inan’s father (the king) commanded Inan to strike Amari. She still carries around the massive scar.
  • Amari watches her father kill her servant Binta, who was her best friend, after seeing her demonstrate magical ability. “One moment Binta stands. In the next, Father’s sword plunges through her chest.”
  • Zélie watches a man hit a boy with a cane that burns his skin. “The acrid smell of burning flesh hits me as the stocker presses the cane into the boy’s back. Smoke rises from his skin as he struggles to crawl to his knees.”
  • Zélie frequently fights with her staff. She hits a man in the head so hard he collapses. She kicks a man in the jaw. She smashes the bones in a boy’s hand. All of these actions are for survival or self-defense.
  • Inan destroys a village and watches a young child try to revive his dead father. “A small child hurls his body to the ground. His cries out through the night. It’s only then I discover the sand-covered corpse at his feet.”
  • A woman wearing sharp rings on her fingers smacks a servant, and “the rings cut into his skin.”
  • A man is stabbed in the chest, and “his eyes bulge and his mouth falls open. His staff drops from his hand. His blood splatters as it hits the ground.”
  • Zélie, Tzain, and Amari compete in a battle to the death. The arena is flooded, and thirty boats are launched out onto the water. A team cannot win until every other competitor has been killed. Zélie narrates, “Chaos surrounds me, pulsing through every breath and heartbeat. It sings as blood splatters through the air, screams as boats explode into oblivion… My insides lurch as a cannonball rips through the deck of another boat. Injured cries hit my ears like shattered glass. The stench of blood stains the air.”  The competition lasts for twelve pages.
  • Inan accidentally kills a military leader with his magic. “Kaea’s cries of agony grow. Her eyes turn red. Blood trickles from her ears, trailing down her neck . . . A shuddered gasp escapes her lips. Her eyes roll back.”
  • Amari beats someone up. Amari pulls “my fist back, twisting from my hips as my fist collides with her jaw. Her head snaps with a lurch. Her eyes roll before she blacks out.”
  • A mercenary explains the twenty-three scars on his arm. An unspecified enemy “killed one of my crew members in front of me, each time they carved a new one.”
  • When Zélie is captured, the king has the word “maggot” (a hateful slur) carved into her back with a knife.  In the same scene, a physician “cuts a shallow X into Zélie’s neck . . . and pushes a thick, hollowed-out needle into the exposed vein . . . removes a small vial of black liquid and prepares to pour the serum down the needle.”
  • A Burner (maji of fire) demonstrates his powers in battle. “A fire explodes from his skin. Smoldering embers rain from his body. Flames blaze around his form. The fire erupts from every limb, shooting out of his mouth, his arms, his legs.”
  • A Cancer (maji of disease) uses her power in battle. “She leaks dark green energy from her hands, trapping the men in a malignant cloud. The moment it touches the guards, they crumble, skin yellowing as disease rages through them.”
  • Zélie watches a young girl get shot with an arrow. “An arrow pierces through her gut… [she] looks down, small hands gripping the arrow’s shaft.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A mercenary takes “a long drag off a hand-rolled cigarette.”
  • When Zélie encounters a palace guard, “the pungent smell of alcohol wafts into the air with his unwelcome presence.”
  • The characters drink palm wine during a festival. Later, during an intimate moment with Inan, Zélie thinks, “His words make my head spin. His words or the alcohol.”

Language

  • Profanity is used infrequently. Profanity includes: damn and hell.
  • Royals and nobles say “Skies!” as an invective.
  • Characters say, “Gods” or “Oh my gods.”
  • Zélie thinks, “Dammit.”
  • Tzain says, “I don’t give a damn.”
  • Tzain says, “What the hell are you doing?”
  • Amari describes a place as a “hell.”
  • Tzain tells Zélie, “You’re always screwing everything up.”

Supernatural

  • This book tightly blends the supernatural and the spiritual. The magic system in Orïsha encompasses ideas like higher powers, gods, prayer, human souls, and the afterlife.
  • Magic in Orïsha is tied to the Sky Mother, a deity who reigns over all the gods.
  • While sleeping, Zélie and Inan use magic to meet in a “dreamscape.”
  • As a Reaper, Zélie can sense spirits of the dead, and she can summon them in physical form to do her bidding.

Spiritual Content

  • Zélie believes that the gods control her fate. “No matter how much I crave peace, the gods have other plans.”
  • Amari and Inan are from nobility and have different beliefs. Amari thinks, “Gods don’t exist. Everyone in the palace knows that.”
  • The beliefs held by the Orïshan people also play a bigger part in the plot. In one scene, Zélie enlists the help of mercenaries by telling them, “[the gods] have chosen you because they want your help.”
  • Orïshan legend speaks of an afterlife. After a fire in her village claims four lives, Zélie thinks, “If their spirits have ascended to the peace of alâfia, death would be almost a gift. But if they suffered too much before they died . . . If the trauma of their deaths was too much, their spirits won’t rise to the afterlife. They’ll stay in apâdi, an eternal hell, reliving the worst of their pain.”
  • Zélie’s narration often uses the word “pray” interchangeably with “wish” and “hope.”
  • Zélie can sense people’s souls leaving their bodies as they die.
  • Zélie remembers that after the raid, she “cursed the gods for making us this way.”
  • During the climax of the book, Zélie has a near-death experience and sees her dead mother’s spirit. Her mother says, “You are a sister of Oya [a goddess], my love. You know our spirits never die.”

by Caroline Galdi

A Wind in the Door

When six-year-old Charles Wallace tells his sister he’s found dragons in the pasture, Meg doesn’t want to believe him. But lo and behold, Meg and her friend Calvin discover the enormous creature with hundreds of wings and thousands of eyes. A giant man claiming to be their Teacher tells them the dragons—which are really one creature, a cherubim—is one of their classmates. They’ve been brought together because evil creatures called Echthroi are trying to destroy creation—from the largest stars down to the tiny mitochondria in Charles Wallace’s cells. With her brother’s life on the line, Meg must learn how to love even her enemies or the Echthroi will succeed in destroying her brother and perhaps all of creation.

What follows is a fantastical conflict between the forces of good and evil; a struggle of life and love against hatred and destruction. Meg, Calvin, and the cherubim must work together to save Charles Wallace’s mitochondria from the Echthroi that would destroy. They are transported into Charles Wallace’s cells and meet the farandolae that lives inside his mitochondria. The farandolae have been led astray by the Echthroi and are refusing to grow up, killing the mitochondria. Meg and her classmates have to show the farandolae a better way and rescue them from the Echthroi, before the misguided farandolae kill the mitochondria, Charles Wallace and themselves.

Once again Meg complains and resists the tasks that are given her, but she rises in the end and learns how to look for the good in people even if she doesn’t like them. A Wind in the Door is more complex than A Wrinkle in Time and may be confusing for younger readers as it deals with mitochondria and the relativity of space and size. Still, for readers able to grasps its more complex topics, A Wind in the Door is a fun read that imparts the importance of loving your enemies and looking for the good in everyone. While A Wind in the Door doesn’t discuss religion directly, its storyline and themes are allegorical. For instance, the cherubim and Teacher explain that there is a battle between life and darkness, and to save Charles Wallace the children must protect the ‘song of creation’ from evil forces that would disrupt it.

A Wind in the Door is not a science book, but it does combine quantum physicals and biology to show that people are galaxies unto themselves. In order to accomplish this, the main character is reduced to the molecular level, which is made believable through L’Engle’s use of imagery. Besides being an interesting story, the reader learns about the importance of compassion, friendship, and love. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the nature of human relationships should read A Wind in the Door.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • The farandolae don’t want to grow up so they suck the nutrients from adult farandolae, called fara, killing them in the process. “A group of farandolae whirled about a fara; fronds drooped; color drained. The dance was a scream of laughter, ugly laughter.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Meg has a run in with an Echthroi impersonating Mr. Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins, “rose up into the night like a great, flapping bird, flew, screaming across the sky, became a rent, an emptiness, a slash of nothingness.”
  • Meg meets a cherubim. “Wings, it seemed like hundreds of wings, spreading, folding, stretching—and eyes how many eyes can a drive of dragons have? and small jets of flame.”
  • Meg’s teacher is a “huge” man whose “long robe seemed chiseled out of granite.”
  • A large black garden snake acts strangely human, bowing to Meg’s new teacher. While the snake never speaks, it’s said that she too is a “Teacher.”
  • Meg is shown how the Echthroi destroy matter; how they turn it into nothingness. “Across the sky, where the stars were clustered as thickly as in the Milky Way, a crack shivered, slivered, became a line of nothing-ness.”
  • Meg learns how to kythe, a form of mind-to-mind communication. “It’s how cherubim talk. It’s talking without words, just the same way that I can be myself and not be enfleshed.”
  • Farandolae, things that live inside mitochondria, are depicted as “a small, silver-blue mouse…[that] spoke, but with neither a mouse’s squeak nor a human voice. The sound was like harp strings being plucked under water.” Meg and her friends are transported inside a mitochondria, to help the farandolae.

Spiritual Content

  • What Charles Wallace thought were dragons turns out to be a cherubim.
  • The cherubim tries to explain exactly what the Echthroi are. “I think your mythology would call them fallen angels. War and hate are their business, and one of their chief weapons is un-Naming—making people not know who they are. If someone knows who he is, really knows, then he doesn’t need to hate.”
  • When Meg tries to stop the Echthroi, she sings the song of creation, “Sing for the glory of the living and the loving the flaming of creation sing with us dance with us be with us Be! They were not her words only. They were the words of Senex, of the Deepening Sporos…the cherubim and seraphim, wind and fire, the words of the Glory.”

by Morgan Lynn

King & Kayla and the Case of the Mysterious Mouse

Kayla (a human) and King (a dog) are both detectives. One day, King and Kayla decide to play fetch with their friends, Jullian (a human) and Thor (a dog). When Jullian throws King’s ball too hard, it goes over the fence. Jullian goes to look for the ball, but she can’t find it. King and Kayla must put together the clues to find out where it went—and who had his ball.

Mystery fans will love Kayla and King who enjoy doing ordinary things like playing fetching, eating grilled cheese sandwiches, and following clues to solve a mystery. King’s enthusiasm is contagious and readers will enjoy King as he tries to find out who stole his ball. Thought bubbles appear over King’s head with cute pictures that explain what King is thinking. The illustrations add humor to the story. For example, when King thinks about his “stolen” ball, he pictures a cat thief wearing a mask.

As Kayla and King try to solve the mystery of the hidden ball, Kayla makes a list of “what we don’t know about this case” and a list of “everything we know about this case.” King causes a little havoc as he looks for the answer, but he also makes a new friend. In the end, King is surprised by the unexpected ball thief.

Young readers will love King who thinks that every new thing is his favorite thing. King, like many children, is upset when someone yells at him. The bright illustrations show each character’s emotion making it easy for young readers to understand what they feel. The illustrations often have unexpected details, like Thor making friends with a worm.

King & Kayla and the Case of the Mysterious Mouse is perfect for readers transitioning out of picture books and into chapter books. Each page has a large picture that allows the text to be spaced out so younger readers will not get discouraged by the amount of text. The simple, fun plot and interesting characters will keep readers engaged until the very end. Beginning readers who love animals will enjoy the King & Kayla series.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Then Everything Went Wrong

Hilo can’t remember his past, so he decides to go back to his home planet. But D.J. won’t let Hilo return to his home alone and jumps through the portal before anyone can stop him. In order to hide their disappearance, Izzy makes a fake Hilo and a fake D.J. robot. The two friends need time to explore Hilo’s home planet. Will D.J.’s parents figure out that D.J. is missing?

Hilo knows he is supposed to save everyone, but what happens if danger appears when he is gone. As Hilo discovers his past, the military is quickly narrowing their search for him. Will Hilo discover the answers he needs before it’s too late?

With Hilo and D.J. on another planet, Izzy and Gina are forced to take drastic measures to hide their missing friends. Gina creates a fake Hilo and a fake D.J., but it’s impossible for her to make them act “normal.” Even though Izzy and the robots are supposed to blend in, they keep getting into fights at school. Polly appears on earth, which adds to the comical conflict. Despite the fights and the misunderstanding, it is clear that the friends will do anything to keep each other safe.

Then Everything Went Wrong is full of humor and heart. Izzy and Polly clearly don’t understand earth’s customs, and their well-intentioned mistakes will keep readers giggling. Izzy keeps telling everyone that she “knows how all of the pieces fit,” but does she know what’s best for everyone?

Brightly colored illustrations will capture readers’ attention, but readers will want to keep turning the pages because of the engaging story and the likable characters. The detailed illustrations show exaggerated facial expressions which will help readers understand the characters’ changing emotions.   For maximum enjoyment, the stories should be read in order. Even though the first chapter recaps the events in the previous books, the story’s plots build on each other.

The story hits on themes of friendship, fitting in, and the dangers of war. The book ends with a shocking cliff-hanger that will leave readers in suspense. Even though Then Everything Went Wrong is the fifth installment of the series, the plot continues to build and keep readers engaged. Hilo is a boy robot that readers will love.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Hilo decides to go back to his home planet, and D.J. refuses to be left behind. D.J. puts on Hilo’s spacesuit and goes through a portal. Hilo follows. They see space pigs and D.J. almost gets eaten by a space frog.
  • When Hilo and D.J. find Dr. Horizon’s secret lab, Hilo hits a button that begins a self-destruct countdown. Hilo creates a shield around himself and D.J. that protects them from the blast.
  • When a boy calls Polly a weirdo, she hits him. The boy falls on the ground and Polly jumps on his back and pulls his arm back.
  • When a group of girls yells at Polly, Polly says, “I won’t be fighting anyone.” A girl pushes Polly and fake Hilo and fake D.J. jump in to protect Polly. The fight is not described.
  • A woman tells Hilo a story about Tamir, who said, “I was a creature of rage and greed. I sought only to hurt and to conquer and to rule my world. . . I was born enslaved, beaten, starved, abused, and forced to work until the day I was strong enough to fight back.” Tamir changed when he felt love.
  • When the army shows up and wants to take Hilo, Gina shoots a beam of light out of her wand. It hits a man in the stomach and knocks him down, but doesn’t seriously injure him.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • For show and tell, Izzy says, “So, when I armpit fart—it attacks pigeons. . . If I cup my hand too much, it sounds too high and the pigeons don’t come. . . When I do my right armpit I can call seagulls.”
  • In the space void, D.J. asks, “does this place always smell like a gorilla’s armpit?”
  • Gina waves her wand at the portal and two big dogs come through. The dogs chase Izzy and Gina.
  • Polly says that the Furback Clan was “forced to make weapons for those dirt-snaking vermin.” Then he calls them, “Lizard poop.”
  • A military man says, “Dang it” three times.
  • Polly, disguised as a human girl, tells the class about “hippopotamus bees” that “weigh three tons, and carry twenty gallons of nectar in their pouches which are attached to their rather gigantic butts.” Polly then points to her butt.
  • A boy calls Polly a weirdo.

Supernatural

  • Gina sends a communication spell across dimensions.
  • Polly uses a “masking spell. It’ll change my appearance. I’ll look human.”
  • When Tamir went through a dimensional portal, the creature said, “In my world we call a door like that magic. Here you call it science. It’s mostly the same.”
  • Robots “don’t have emotions . . .But they feel. They’re so afraid.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Double Team

Eleven-year-old Amar’e Stoudemire has always had fun playing basketball with his friends. Competing in tournaments with his two best friends, Deuce and Mike, has made Amar’e realize that his true passion is basketball.

Amar’e and his two best friends usually play as a team, but when the competition gets intense, Amar’e thinks that he is the only one capable of getting the ball into the net. Amare’s getting attention from older, better players. When Amar’e gets invited to a special invitation-only tournament, he wonders if ditching his friends is the right thing to do. Will Amar’e’s friends stand by him even if he leaves them behind on the basketball court? In order to keep his friends, will Amar’e need to turn down the opportunity to play in the special tournament?

Basketball fans will enjoy the play-by-play action Amar’e and his friends compete in a tournament. When Amar’e’s friends get angry that he is “hogging the ball,” Amar’e doesn’t try to see things from his friends’ point of view. Instead, he is overconfident and focuses on how his friends aren’t being fair. In the end, Amar’e talks to his mother and brother about the conflict, which allows him to solve the problem and keep his friends. Amar’e brother tells him, “You’ve got to do your thing, but you don’t want to hurt anyone along the way.”

Although Amar’e has positive interactions with his parents, the story focuses on the tournaments. Because the play-by-play action is told from Amar’e’s point of view, he comes off as arrogant. Amar’e is confident that he is the only reason the team wins so he cuts his teammates out of the action. In the end, Amar’e realizes that friendship is more important than winning.

Basketball fans will appreciate Double Team’s easy vocabulary and the black and white illustrations that are scattered throughout the story. Amar’s has positive interactions with his family and works hard. Younger sports fans with enjoy Double Team because of the relatable character and the realistic conflict. Readers who are looking for similar books should try the Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream Series by Hena Khan.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Holy Finger Roll” is used as an exclamation.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Don’t Disturb the Dinosaurs

Dr. Bunsen has undone it again when his time machine mistakenly beams the Data Set—Gabe, Laura, and Cesar—back to the prehistoric era. Before they can say, “Look out!”, Gabe, Laura, and Cesar find themselves dashing from flying pterosaurs, stegosaurus stampedes, and an Allosaurus on the hunt for an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Despite the dangers, the Data Set are determined to help a special friend while exploring ancient earth where dinosaurs roam the earth.

Don’t Disturb the Dinosaurs is an action-packed story that teaches facts about dinosaurs without overwhelming the reader with information. The Data Set works together to find a new home for Stego, who used to be a plastic toy. Readers will admire the friends’ willingness to go up against a hungry Allosaurus in order to help Stego. The diverse characters work together to fight danger. However, all of the danger is kid-friendly and won’t leave readers with nightmares.

The dinosaur danger comes to life through black and white illustrations that help create the story’s suspense. In addition, the large illustrations will help readers visualize the story’s events. With illustrations that appear on every page, large text, and easy vocabulary, Don’t Disturb the Dinosaurs is an excellent book for beginning readers.

Readers will enjoy reading about Gabe, Laura, and Cesar as they try to stay alive in Prehistoric times. Another lovable character, Dr. Bunsen, adds a little humor to the story. Even though Don’t Disturb the Dinosaurs is a part of a series, the books do not need to be read in order. The Data Set Series is a fun, imaginative series that also teaches readers. If your little reader can’t get enough of dinosaurs, they should add The Dino Files Series by Stacy McAnulty to their must-read list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A giant Pterosaur takes the baby dinosaur, Stego. “The giant Pterosaur from earlier suddenly swooped down, snatched up Stego, and flew off!”
  • An Allosaurus tries to snack on the kids, who climb a tree to safety. The Allosaurus “chomped widely, barely missing Cesar’s sneaker. . . The Allosaurus roared and banged against the tree trunk.” Eventually the Allosaurus leaves “in search of an easier meal.”
  • When the Pterosaur sees the kids with Stego, she tries to attack them. “Suddenly, Stego moved between the friends and the angry creature.” The Pterosaur gets distracted when its egg begins to hatch.
  • An Allosaurus tries to get the kids again. Cesar “grabbed a fiery stick from the pit and waved it at the dinosaur. . .A spark jumped and struck the Allosaurus on the nose! Scorched, the dinosaur howled.” The dinosaur runs away.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Dr. Bunsen’s “growth ray accidentally brought our toy animals to life. Then they started growing. And we had to sneak them into the zoo.” However, the dinosaur needs to be taken back in time to find a home.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Maybe This Time

One year. Nine events. Nine chances to . . . fall in love?

Weddings. Funerals. Barbecues. New Year’s Eve parties. Name the occasion, and Sophie Evans will be there. Well, she has to be there. Sophie works for the local florist, so she can be found at every big event in her small hometown, arranging bouquets and managing family drama.

Enter Andrew Hart. The son of the fancy new chef in town, Andrew is suddenly required to attend all the same events as Sophie. Andrew is entitled, arrogant, and preppy. Sophie just wants to get her job done and finish up her sketches so she can apply to design school. But every time she turns around, there’s Andrew, getting in her way and making her life more complicated. Until one day she wonders if maybe complicated isn’t so bad after all . . .

Told from Sofie’s point of view, the reader comes to understand why Sofie is focused on getting out of her small town. However, Sofie’s obsession with moving to New York has made her judgmental, snobbish, and self-centered. When Sofie meets Andrew, she automatically dislikes him and often says things just to irritate him. Sofie ends up falling in love with Andrew, which comes as no surprise. The change from dislike, to friendship, to love is very natural. Instead of instantly falling in love, the two slowly learn about each other, which allows their feelings to change.

Maybe This Time doesn’t just focus on the romance. The story also hits on difficulties with parents, misunderstandings with friends, and the dynamics of a small town. Even though Sofie often is snarky, her sweet side also comes out in unexpected places. Sofie’s little brother is one of the highlights of the story, and Sofie’s love for him is apparent.

Maybe This Time will give readers insight into small-town life. The story progresses at a steady pace and has many interesting characters. In the end, Sofie realizes that she actually loves her small town and even though she does plan to leave, she will always come back. The sweet romance touches on friendship, ambition, trust, and dreams without getting bogged down with a message. Readers looking for an easy-to-read romance will enjoy Maybe This Time.

Sexual Content

  • When Sofie hurts her foot, Andrew “squatted down, his hand brushing along my calf until it reached my ankle. Tingles spread up my leg all the way to my stomach. My cheeks went hot, and I leaned my head back against the mirror to try to keep that fact to myself. He wasn’t allowed to have this kind of effect on me.”
  • While walking by a car, Sofie sees a boy and a girl “in the passenger seat, and they were kissing.”
  • When Sofie and Andrew were arguing, Sofie’s “body seemed to be on autopilot. I leaned forward and pressed an angry kiss to his lips. . . Then all at once his free hand moved to the back of my neck. . . He tilted his head, deepening our kiss.” The kiss is described over ½ a page.
  • While serving at a dinner, a drunk man dropped a fork. When Sofie went to pick it up, she “felt a hand brush [her] leg. The man gave me a creepy smile and I stood. I pointed his own fork at him. ‘Please keep your hands to yourself.’”
  • Sofie doesn’t want to think about “a certain hot day by a certain shed kissing a certain boy whose mouth tasted like cherries.”
  • At a New Year’s party, Sofie’s friend says, “In fact, I’m going to find myself a boy to kiss at midnight tonight. I don’t care who.” Later Sofie’s friend says, “He was a midnight kiss. . . Don’t try to tie me down to someone I kissed at midnight.”
  • During a New Year’s party, Andrew kisses Sofie. Sofie thinks, “He tasted like heaven.”
  • Andrew and Sofie kiss several times. Once he tells Sofie, “You’re beautiful.” Then, “his lips brushed mine softly.”

Violence

  • Sofie’s brother is afraid of firecrackers because “Momma had a party in the backyard. . . Some guys started shooting their guns into the sky and my window got broke and a piece of glass hit my arm and I thought I was shot.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While Sofie was at a wedding, she stepped on the “amber colored glass of a broken beer bottle.”
  • During a eulogy, the pastor talked about how the man “had a problem with alcohol when he was younger.”
  • While serving at a dinner, some of the people drink wine.
  • At Thanksgiving dinner, Sofie’s mom says, “Point me to the wine.”

Language

  • Holy crap is used twice.
  • Crap is used five times.

Supernatural

  • Sofie had a short conversation about her belief in an afterlife. She says, “I believe in an afterlife . . . I’m not sure exactly what it will consist of, but I believe we all have a soul, something that makes us who we are. When my gran died, I remember looking at her body and knowing something was missing, that she was no longer her.”

We Set the Dark on Fire

We Set the Dark on Fire takes place on the fictional island of Medio, where a wall separates the poverty-stricken coast and the wealthy inland. Medio has rich mythology about a complicated love triangle between the Sun God, the Moon Goddess, and a human woman. The myth ends with the three entities marrying each other in a holy trifecta. Because of this myth, wealthy inland families customarily marry their sons off to two wives: a “Primera” and a “Segunda.” The Primera functions as a “political” wife who manages her husband’s social appearances and accompanies him at public functions. The Segunda is the mistress who is responsible for bearing and raising the husband’s children.

The story centers around Dani, a seventeen-year-old girl who is graduating from finishing school and is about to start her life as a wife. Despite graduating at the top of her class, Dani is worried about taking her place in the household. Political riots have made the police paranoid, and she is worried that the increased security will reveal that her identification papers are forged. Her parents are from the coast and have risked everything to put her in finishing school.

Dani is soon married off to a powerful political figure in one of the richest families in the Capital. She is the Primera and her school rival, Carmen, is the Segunda. She has little time to settle into household life before being approached by a rebel spy group, La Voz. The spies give her fresh papers so that she can pass a checkpoint, but in return, Dani is dragged into a world of political tensions and intrigue. Soon, she finds herself steeped too deep in her husband’s family’s corruption and is forced to confront ugly truths about the family she has married into. While dealing with espionage and lies, Dani must use all her wits to conceal her own secrets, which include her forged identity, her alliance with La Voz, and a budding romance with Carmen.

We Set the Dark on Fire is an original, well-written story. Mejia navigates a complicated political plot deftly. The story’s twists and turns may become confusing at times, but the narration avoids losing its thread. The prose is poetic and brings Dani’s character to life. The reader will soon be invested in the world of Medio’s aristocratic gender politics where Primeras are expected to show no emotion. Dani, who has been training for years to assume the role of Primera, is well-accustomed to showing no emotion. The layers of composure beneath that she hides add texture and detail to the narrative. She is excellently characterized.

The emotional core of the novel is formed from two main elements. The first is Dani’s relationship—and eventual romance—with Carmen. The tension and forbidden love between the two wives is excellently written, and readers will root for the couple as the stakes get higher and the lies get thicker. The second element is Dani’s love for her hometown. Although she was sent away to school at age twelve and never returned, Dani has a strong love for Polvo, the simple town where she spent her childhood. Upon entering the aristocracy, Dani discovers that she is disgusted by the excess and wealth that her new family can afford. Although she looks back fondly on her time in Polvo and wishes she could live there, she knows that Polvo is racked with poverty and that the police terrorize its citizens.

American readers may notice that the world of Medio draws certain parallels to events on the news. The island is divided by a wall meant to keep certain people out; the police are brutal towards the poor; the culture features Spanish words and foods. The narrative never makes the allegory overly obvious, but the book is deeply political. In one scene, Dani feels regret that she can have fun at all when so many people are suffering. Her guilt and class consciousness will strike a chord with many readers. While the book puts strong moral themes into conflict, the reader likely will not feel patronized or preached to; rather, they will simply want to know what happens next.

Sexual Content

  • Dani and Carmen’s new husband frequently looks at Carmen in suggestive ways, “raking his eyes over her body in a greedy way.”
  • Carmen wears revealing clothing. “Carmen was never underdressed—unless you counted too much bare skin. Today’s dress was plunging.”
  • A seamstress measures Dani and Carmen for new clothes, and Dani is nervous about undressing in front of another person. There are moments of uncomfortable sexual tension. “Carmen in clothes was ridiculous, but in nothing but her underwear she was, objectively, a work of art. She was all circles and curves, all dark amber and soft edges.”
  • In a lie to cover up her communication with La Voz, Dani tells Carmen that she fired a gardener. Dani says, “I heard him talking about you. About your figure in your dress and how he’d like to . . .  well, you get the point . . . I let him go for saying inappropriate things.”
  • In the shower, Dani fantasizes about Carmen. “There was a heat building deep within her. Deeper than her muscles or her bones or her pounding pulse. It was a primal, secret ache that she’d never allowed herself to feel before this moment. Her fingers knew where to find the source of that feeling, and when they went wandering, Dani didn’t stop them. . . In only a few moments, she was lost to the sensations.”
  • After being attracted to each other for a long time, Dani and Carmen finally kiss. “Their lips met like swords sometimes do, clashing and impatient and bent on destruction, and Dani thought her heart might burst if she didn’t stop, but it would surely burst if she did.”
  • Dani and Carmen’s husband are accused by his parents of having an affair. “If you’re going to have an affair, at least be discreet, for Sun’s sake. The years between marriage and moving your Segunda into your room are long, but . . .”
  • Dani and Carmen’s husband kisses Carmen “longer than he should have been allowed, especially when they weren’t alone.” Dani imagines “the places a kiss like this could lead. The places they would necessarily lead, if Dani was still here when it was time for them to produce a child. But would Mateo really wait that long?”
  • Dani and Carmen spend an intimate night together, and Dani is nervous about what Carmen expects. “She was a Segunda, of course; maybe kissing wasn’t enough. Dani tried not to balk at the thought of clothing coming off, of touching someone else the way she’d barely touched herself . . . she wasn’t ready. Not yet.” Carmen reassures her that she doesn’t expect anything sexual. “Don’t worry about that, okay? If we want to . . . when we’re ready . . . we’ll talk about it. But for now, I just want to do this until I get dizzy.” The narration skips over the rest of the night but implies that they continue making out until morning.
  • After their night together, Dani observes herself in the mirror. “She didn’t look like a Primera anymore. She looked like a girl who knew the taste of lips and tongues. A girl who had wondered what was next.”
  • Dani spies on two minor characters, José and Mama Garcia. “Whatever José had been about to say, it was swallowed by Mama Garcia as she claimed his mouth in a passionate kiss. One that clearly wasn’t a first between the two.”

Violence

  • The police use firearms and deadly force. During one chapter, Dani and Carmen have to navigate through a market where a confrontation is taking place between the police and La Voz. The police fire several times and create havoc, but the “long, shallow scratches on her neck were the least of Dani’s worries. There had been blood on the pavement as they’d left the marketplace…” Later, she learns that her main contact within La Voz was shot. “‘Just a scratch,’ he said, but a complicated web of bandages spread across his chest and down his left arm, telling a more sinister story.”
  • Members of La Voz gather in the market with torches to burn it down. Dani barely escapes in time and suffers severe burns. “The figure watched, mask expressionless, as she rolled on the stone stage, trying desperately to put out the fire that had taken over her every thought and feeling. When the flames finally died, the fabric of her expensive dress had become one with her skin, and when she tugged at it her vision went black in spots, coming back slowly to reveal an inferno where she had just been standing.”
  • A member of La Voz holds a knife to Dani’s throat and threatens her life. “The knife pressed harder against her throat, kissing her skin until it broke.”
  • Dani is pulled away from a car that explodes with people inside of it. “Carmen slammed into her from behind, knocking the wind out of her. She didn’t say a word as she scooped Dani up into her arms and flat-out ran back to the car. The whining was deafening now. Above them, the air seemed to grow thinner, the stars too bright. Carmen threw her painfully to the ground behind the hired car, barely covering Dani’s ears with her hands before the darkness exploded all around them.”
  • A member of La Voz holds a gun to Dani’s head, but then empties her clip into a burning car instead of shooting her.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Playing cards only come out “when the men at a party got too deep in their expensive liquor and one of them had something to prove.”
  • Dani recalls her school roommate “dizzy with drink from the Segundas’ legendary last-night party. She’d been loose and smiling, drunk on her own triumph as much as the rose wine.”
  • The women of the aristocracy frequently drink sangria together, though never to the point of impropriety.
  • When Dani’s husband catches her in his private study, he has her sit down and drink “a clear liquid that smelled like an open flame.” He is already drunk and slurring his words. Dani gets a “pleasant buzz” and stumbles a little while leaving.

Language

  • Occasionally, characters will swear on the Sun and Moon gods and say, “For Sun’s Sake.”

Supernatural

  • Dani recalls her mother’s proficiency in telling fortunes with a deck of cards. “Her mama told the women of the town of small illnesses that were coming: a jealous eye on a child; a husband growing too fond of the fermented pineapple rind most families brewed in the dirt patches beside their houses.”

Spiritual Content

  • Dani views the world through her own religion, which differs from the religion of the inner island. While the inner island focuses on “large gods,” such as the Sun God and Moon Goddess, Dani sees small gods everywhere.
  • For example, during a tense moment, “Dani closed her eyes and muttered a half-forgotten prayer to the god in the air, to the goddess in the flames. Keep calm, she beseeched them. No one around her would understand. Her parents’ gods weren’t in fashion—only the bearded visage of the Sun God, who ruled masculine ambitions and financial prosperity.”
  • These invocations of small, unnamed gods appear throughout the narration and often serve to illustrate what Dani is thinking or feeling.

by Caroline Galdi

 

 

Waking the Monsters

Mega robot monsters are popping up from the ground, and they’re too big for Hilo to battle on his own. Luckily, Gina can use her magic to help fight the battle. But the closer Hilo and Gina get to the secret behind the monsters, the closer they get to the secret of Hilo’s past. Do they really want to know what happened in the past?

Gina needs to help Hilo, but that means missing cheerleading practice and keeping her activities hidden from her mother. D.J. and Izzy are determined to keep their two friends safe, but every time a monster is powered down another one appears. With all of the unusual events, Hilo is now on the military’s radar. Can Hilo avoid being captured by the army? Is there any way that Hilo and his friend can stop the monster invasion?

The fourth installment of the Hilo Series has the same characters, but a host of new mechanical monsters that need to be defeated. Unlike the previous books, Waking the Monsters focuses on battle scenes. It takes Hilo and all of his friends working together to stop the creatures. Gina is allowed to shine by using her magical ability to help Hilo. Gina’s excitement at being Hilo’s “sidekick” brings humor to the fighting. During the battles, no one is seriously injured and the mechanical monsters are powered down instead of destroyed.

Hilo’s lost memory, the long battles, and the military joining the battle give Waking the Monsters a slightly darker tone than the previous books. However, Hilo’s desire to help others in creative ways will leave readers with a smile. The story has some humor based on farting and butts. For example, Izzy makes an owl that “farts roses” and she shows her friends how it works. Izzy also makes a chicken that speaks Portuguese and “when she gets mad, her butt falls off.”

Brightly colored illustrations will capture readers’ attention, but readers will want to keep turning the pages because of the engaging story and the likable characters. The detailed illustrations show exaggerated facial expressions which will help readers understand the characters’ changing emotions.  For maximum enjoyment, the stories should be read in order. Even though the first chapter recaps the events in the previous books, the story’s plots build on each other.

Readers will be endlessly curious about Hilo’s forgotten memory. The action-packed scenes, the friendships, and the mystery will keep readers turning the pages to the very end. If you’re looking for a story full of action and humor, the Hilo Series is a perfect choice.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Giant mechanical animals begin appearing from out of the ground. The first one, a giant turtle that breathes fire, is going to “smash a town.” Hilo and the turtle fight; Hilo blasts the turtle with an ice blast, and then the turtle hits Hilo who falls to the ground. The turtle then stomps on Hilo. Izzy does a “diagnostic scan” and figures out how to power down the turtle. The fight takes place over eight pages.
  • Over the next several days, other mechanical monsters pop up from the ground and Hilo fights them. One creature looks like an alligator. The fights take place over two pages.
  • A giant mechanical ape appears. The ape is able to detach his hand and grab Hilo. People run screaming as the ape gets closer to the town. Hilo’s suit is damaged and “his audio link in his helmet got bonked. He can’t hear [his friends].” A mechanical monkey and the army show up. Izzy makes a suit for Gina, who joins in the battle and she’s “fighting a giant robot monkey with magical wands.” The monkey learns how to “calibrate your blast and build up a resistance.” Gina uses magic to grow twine that wraps up the monkey. During the battle Hilo gets confused. Izzy is afraid that Hilo is “not in control and he might destroy the other robot.” Gina is able to create vines that go through the ape’s body; the vine takes down the ape by popping its arms off. The battle takes place over 21 pages.
  • While in a military institution, the scientist fixes the mechanical animal that then attacks. The scientist made the creature nine times stronger. Hilo shoots lasers at the creature’s head. Two army men shoot at the creature, but it deflects the shot and blows up the army men’s vehicle. Hilo saves the men and eventually takes the creature down with an ice blast. Hilo goes to sleep and falls to the ground. The scene takes place over eight pages.
  • While Hilo is injured a mechanical creature knocks over the military doctors and tries to communicate with Hilo. When the creature touches Hilo’s hand, it causes Hilo to remember the past. The creature shows Hilo’s home planet being destroyed and the creature says, “They made me into a weapon. They made me destroy my own kind. I asked them to let me stop. But they kept sending me back to destroy more. And more. And more. Just robots like you and me. Robots who were only doing what humans made them do.” Gina appears and uses magic against the creature. The scene takes place over two chapters.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Holy Mackerel” is used as an expression occasionally.

Supernatural

  • Polly is a magical warrior cat and an “apprentice sorceress third class.”

Spiritual Content

  • None
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