Reading Level: Elementary

The Bletchley Riddle

Summer, 1940. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister Lizzie share a love of riddles and puzzles. And now they’re living inside of one. The quarrelsome siblings find themselves amidst one of the greatest secrets of World War II—Britain’s eccentric codebreaking factory at Bletchley Park. As Jakob joins Bletchley’s top minds to crack the Nazi’s Enigma cipher, fourteen-year-old Lizzie embarks on a mission to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother.

The Battle of Britain rages and Hitler’s invasion creeps closer. And at the same time, baffling messages and codes arrive on their doorstep while a menacing inspector lurks outside the gates of the Bletchley mansion. Are the messages truly for them, or are they a trap? Could the riddles of Enigma and their mother’s disappearance be somehow connected? Jakob and Lizzie must find a way to work together as they race to decipher clues that unravel a shocking puzzle that presents the ultimate challenge: How long must a secret be kept? 

The Bletchley Riddle alternates between the perspectives of two engaging siblings, Lizzie and Jakob. Fourteen-year-old Lizzie is reminiscent of Enola Holmes—spunky, intelligent, independent, and resourceful. Readers will quickly fall in love with this “half-American” character who approaches problems with refreshing directness. Determined to find her mother, Lizzie enlists the help of two loyal friends, Colin and Marion. Together, the trio embarks on fact-finding adventures that lead them into surprising situations filled with suspense and excitement.  

Jakob, meanwhile, is an awkward mathematician who resorts to terrible jokes when under stress. This serious young man is determined to help defeat the Germans through his code-breaking abilities, but cracking the Enigma machine proves more challenging than anticipated. Complications arise when a mysterious figure appears, intent on proving that both Jakob and his mother are enemy spies. Focused on his crucial work, Jakob becomes frustrated by Lizzie’s unwavering insistence that their mother remains alive. Though Jakob rarely ventures beyond Bletchley Park’s boundaries, he experiences his own share of adventures. 

The Bletchley Riddle contains all the elements of compelling fiction: well-developed characters with distinct voices, an intriguing mystery, and high stakes throughout. The story features memorable individuals with realistic flaws and antagonists who pose genuine threats to the siblings. However, the primary danger stems from the ongoing war with Germany, which Jakob and his fellow Bletchley Park colleagues are determined to help win. The various plot threads converge satisfyingly in the conclusion, and while the story doesn’t end with Germany’s defeat, readers will finish with a sense of satisfaction.  

As historical fiction, the novel incorporates fascinating details about Bletchley Park and the vital work of codebreakers during World War II. Six pages of black-and-white photographs showcase code-breaking machinery, wartime scenes, and newspaper headlines. Unfortunately, these photographs lack captions, leaving readers to interpret their significance independently. Nevertheless, readers will absorb numerous interesting facts about the war, codebreaking techniques, and the individuals who played crucial roles in the Allied effort. Readers interested in learning more about Bletchley Park should also consider reading The Enigma Girls by Candace Fleming. 

The Bletchley Riddle appeals to more than just history enthusiasts. The captivating narrative will keep readers engaged as the they attempt to solve the mystery surrounding Lizzie and Jakob’s mother’s disappearance while following the characters’ efforts to crack the Enigma code. The novel effectively highlights the courage and intelligence of the British people who refused to capitulate to German forces.  

Sexual Content  

  • As Lizzie delivers messages at Bletchley Park, she sees, “Couples kissing behind trees.” 
  • Lizzie tells the commander, “Well, the light in the ladies’ loo isn’t broken. The light bulb is intentionally unscrewed, as that location is a preferred spot for snogging. . . That is to say, kissing.” 
  • Collin admits to having a crush on Lizzie. He says, “I just knew that every time I was around you, I felt so odd.” When Lizzie admits to having a crush on Collin, she asks, “What happens now?” Collin replies, “I imagine we’ll just be better friends now.” They decide to hold hands.  

Violence  

  • Lizzie’s mother, Willa, is missing. She was “killed in a bomb blast. . . A falsity I refuse to accept.” Lizzie was told, “Willa went to Poland, the Germans attacked, and she was killed.” 
  • Later, Lizzie learns that Willa “stuck to her post, even as German bombers targeted the train. . . The station was destroyed. The Poles thought she was probably killed.” However, Willa is not dead. 
  • A newspaper article describes the Luftwaffe air raid. “[The Germans] hit factories and airfields up and down the coast. And some nearby houses as well.”  
  • Collin’s brother, a pilot, “was shot down over the Channel. He hasn’t been found.” Collin’s brother is presumed dead. Pilots had a life expectancy of four weeks. 
  • Lizzie and her brother are in London when the Germans attack. “Jakob grabs my hand as pulverized stone and glass rain down upon us. . . Flames rise in the distance, licking the sides of buildings.” They hide in an air raid shelter where, “the stairs rumble with tremors beneath our feet as we make it to the bottom.” 
  • When it’s safe to go outside, Lizzie and her brother see a changed London. “The morning air is sharp with the tang of burning wood, rubber, paint, sugar—whatever was in those warehouses along the river.” A German plane has crashed on the street, “or pieces of a plane, hunks of metal wreckage scattered along the road and sidewalk.” The pilot survived. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Lizzie knows that “Mr. Fleetwood enjoys too many nips of Old Schenley.” 
  • Lizzie’s grandmother tells her, “Nicknames such as ‘Lizzie’ are reserved for barmaids and axe murderers, of which you are neither.”  
  • A mysterious man Lizzie sees several times smokes cigarettes. 
  • While at a theater, someone buys Lizzie a “fizzy drink,” not realizing it was a gin and tonic. 
  • At an embassy party, champagne is served. 
  • As part of her plan not to go to America, Lizzie and her friends get Mr. Fleetwood “well oiled.”  

Language  

  • None

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

The Memory Thief

Rosie Oaks loves her stories, almost as much as she loves her best friend, Germ. Together, they dream of magical witches, feathered beasts, and haunting ghost stories. Rosie doesn’t know what she would do without her best friend, especially since Rosie’s mother is missing whatever it is that makes mothers love their daughters. Rosie tries to focus on happier things, but one night, she starts hearing voices. Frightened, she goes to her mother, who doesn’t understand Rosie. The next evening, Rosie recruits Germ to help her with the investigation. That night, Rosie’s house comes alive with ghosts and decade-old secrets.  

Reasonably scared, Rosie and Germ run from the ghosts, almost making it out. They come face-to-face with a thirteen-year-old ghost named Ebb. He explains that Rosie did something to activate her sight, which is how she’s finally able to see the ghosts who have been haunting her house all this time.  

Regarding the witches, Rosie comes from a long line of witch-hunters, one of whom managed to kill one of the thirteen witches successfully. The other twelve have been plaguing Rosie’s family for decades. One of the witches, the Memory Thief, can steal memories. On the night of Rosie’s birth, the witch stole her mother’s memories. To save her mother, Rosie must find a way to defeat the Memory Thief. With the help of the ghosts and her human friends, Rosie enters the world of the supernatural, armed with only a sharp tongue and Ebb’s reassurance that her witch-hunting abilities will strengthen in time.  

The protagonist, Rosie, is a role model on a quest to save her mother. She relies on the power of friendship and quick thinking. Rosie has a wonderful best friend, Germ, who sticks with her through thick and thin, providing great emotional support. Her new ghost friend, Ebb, gives plenty of great advice and teaches Rosie how to stand up to bullies like the Memory Thief. Rosie demonstrates how to ask for help, as well as how to be independent and rely on your instincts. She’s deeply afraid of losing her mother and her town to the witches, but she won’t let that stop her from saving everyone.  

Like many fantasy books, The Memory Thief features supernatural elements and a complex magic system that gradually unfolds as Rosie navigates this new world alongside the reader. Despite being populated with witches, ghosts, and other magical creatures, the story maintains a relatively tame tone—even the spectral characters become Rosie’s allies in her witch-hunting quest rather than sources of fear. That said, the magic system suffers from inconsistencies and rules that don’t quite hold together. The book also leaves several threads dangling, though these unanswered questions appear intentional, setting up the sequel, The Sea of Always. 

Readers will love the powerful witches, ghostly magic system, and small band of heroes in The Memory Thief. Rosie navigates a world filled with supernatural creatures—from memory-stealing moths to cloud shepherds and ghosts—all of which complicate her quest to fix what the witches have broken. She’s an inspiring character who grows when challenged, leading by example and standing by her own moral principles. Overall, this is a beautiful story with moments of sweet friendship, powerful bravery, and dramatic losses and victories. 

Sexual Content  

  • None  

Violence  

  • When Rosie describes her best friend, Germ, she mentions a scar on her hand “where—at [Rosie’s] request—[they] both cut [them]selves when [they] decided to be blood sisters when [they] were eight.” 
  • After Rosie removes her mother’s necklace and Rosie’s magical abilities awaken, one of the witches comes after her. She threatens Rosie, “‘Watch for me at the dark moon, child,’ [the witch] calls over her shoulder. ‘At the dark moon, I’ll end you.’” 
  • To get answers about her family, Rosie goes to the ghost who haunts the hospital where she was born. The ghost explains, “‘[Rosie’s] mother only had time to hide one of [her children]. [One] was crying; [the other wasn’t]. [The witches] never knew there were two.’ His shoulders sag as if in release, or surrender, or both. And then he says the only thing that really matters. ‘Twins.’” He insinuates that the witches killed the brother Rosie never knew about. “They took him. Dropped him in the ocean.” 
  • When one of the witches again tries to snatch Rosie, one of the house ghosts, Crafty Agatha, comes to her rescue. But “with a howl of rage [the witch] reaches out for the figure nearest her—Crafty Agatha. A cluster of moths swarms Agatha as she screams. A moment later, the moths fly apart—and Agatha is gone.” Agatha’s spirit dissolves.  
  • To escape from one of the witches, Rosie summons her magical pet bird. “[Rosie’s bird] soars at the witch, opens her beak, and devours [the witch].” The witch dies. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None  

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural  

  • This book follows Rosie, a descendant of witch-hunters, as she tries to break a curse on her mother and fight witches with the help of ghosts. The story is full of supernatural creatures and magical events. Since supernatural elements are on nearly every page, not every example is documented below. 
  • The book opens, “In a stone courtyard at the edge of the woods, a ghost with glowing red eyes floats back and forth past the windows of Saint Ignatius Hospital, waiting for a baby to be born.” The ghost watches as a witch curses Rosie’s mother. “Moths fluttering out of [the witch’s] sleeves as she speaks.” 
  • Rosie’s ghost friend, Ebb, is described as “shimmery and glowing bright blue, frowning at me, his eyebrows low. He floats at least a foot off the ground.” After Rosie meets Ebb, she goes downstairs to her kitchen, finding even more ghosts. “A woman stands in the parlor staring at us, a ball of yarn in her hands. A man is just behind her wearing a yellow rain slicker, sopping wet and pale, starfishes stuck to his arms. There is another woman by the couch, very old, all in white. And closest—just inches from us—is a boy with floppy brown hair and a dour expression, like he’s just tasted something rotten. He’s a dreadful sight: maybe thirteen or fourteen, wide brown eyes, a furrowed forehead, pale, his dark hair plastered wetly down around his ears, bluish skin. He glows with a bluish light that casts a dim glow onto the wall behind him.” 
  • Rosie’s mother kept a witch-hunter journal, with instructions and descriptions of witch-hunting magic and tactics. For example, the journal lists qualities of the Memory Thief: “Familiars: Her moths are her weapons and her spies. They spread out all over the world at night and steal from her victims. They can be distinguished by the shifting, sparkling patterns on their wings, which are actually the shifting dust of the memories they have stolen. Victims: A person cursed by the Memory Thief may appear normal, go about their normal lives, but they’ve lost memories of the past, of the people they are close to, even how to love others. At times, entire towns have lost their histories to this terrible witch.” 
  • As Rosie trains to fight witches, she tries to use her mother’s witch-hunting bow and arrow. “But as [the arrow is] flying, something miraculous happens. A shimmer—a puff of something—appears, filmy and delicate but unmistakable, like the trail of exhaust you might see from an airplane. Only this is in a wave of colors and small, diaphanous shapes so exquisitely beautiful, so full of light, so warm and clear and sparkling that just looking at it makes something feel better inside you. The shapes are the shapes my mom has painted on the arrows; the colors are my mom’s colors come to life—as real and unreal, at the same time, as ghosts. They shimmer in the air for a moment, then disappear.” The instrument doesn’t work for Rosie; it only emits magical colors.  
  • As Rosie fights one of the witches, she is aided by magical creatures called “cloud shepherds”. As “the moths are knocked back, the wind is whipping. Patches of fog blow toward the trees. It’s unmistakable: shapes loom in and out of the fog, though I can’t make them out. The Memory Thief takes several stumbling steps backward. And just as the clouds part far above to reveal the last sliver of moon in the sky, it dawns on me: The cloud shepherds are helping.” 
  • Rosie describes the cloud shepherd: “[She] see[s] a face loom out of it, made of mist—a round face that disintegrates and rearranges into a long and thin face, then into a bushy-browed face, and then it has no eyebrows at all. But every face appears to be a kind one. It smiles at [Rosie] gently again and again as it changes. And then a sound weaves through the mist, as if several threads of voices are joining together at once.” 
  • After Crafty Agatha dies, Rosie describes many of the ghosts, having settled their earthly business, leaving for the “Beyond.” “And a moment later, something strange begins to happen all around us. Tiny, glowing spirits of bugs that were killed in the fray, crushed by falling walls and pummeled against trees—fireflies and dragonflies and crickets and ants—begin to float up from the ground, all tiny luminous ghosts rising and surrounded by sparkling pink dust.” 
  • While saving her mother, Rosie discovers her magic witch-hunter power. She is able to summon a magical bird with a flashlight. “As soon as [Rosie] take[s] hold of it, the bright, breathtaking bluebird appears—and then wreaks havoc. She circles the room, tearing down the chandelier above the overturned dining room table, knocks over the one vase that was still standing, and nearly eats Fred the spider as he sits on [Rosie’s] knee.” 
  • When the Memory Thief kidnaps Rosie, she steals some of her memories. Rosie describes it as, “so many memories, all beginning to blur and fade away. [She] feel[s] tears running down [her] cheeks as [she] watch[es] these visions turn to iridescent dust and fall through the air, gathered on the wings of the moths that flutter all around [her]. And then [she] can’t remember why [she’s] crying.” 
  • After Rosie defeats the Memory Thief, memories return to people around the world. “Everywhere, strange, subtle things have happened—stories [Rosie] see[s] on the news: Grandparents who’ve forgotten names and faces suddenly smiling at their grandchildren. Amnesiacs showing up in their families’ backyards. Towns publicly reflecting on histories long forgotten. Even if people don’t see the invisible moths in the sky, dropping dust on them like snow, maybe they feel it. Even the reporters look happy as they relate these stories.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

by Kate Schuyler

The Pod and The Bog

Zoey has a special doorbell. Whenever it rings, a magical animal is waiting for help! This time, the visitor is Pip, a friendly frog who was saved by Zoey’s mom when she was Zoey’s age. Pip brings a mysterious, colorful seedpod, which comes from a magical, endangered plant. Pip needs Zoey’s help in identifying the plant from which the seedpod comes and the conditions that allow the plant to thrive. With the help of her mom, her cat Sassafras, and Pip, Zoey uses science —and plenty of trial and error—to learn more about the seeds and help them grow.   

Zoey is a curious character with constant questions. When she first sees the seedpod, she immediately asks, “What is it? Where did you find it?” She writes these questions and her other ideas in her science journal. When Zoey writes in her journal, the words appear on the page in a font resembling a young kid’s writing. This detail will help draw readers into Zoey’s world, as they will feel as though they are watching her jot down the questions and notes. Young readers will be inspired by Zoey’s eagerness to experiment and feel encouraged to ask questions when they don’t know the answer.  

While Zoey’s curiosity helps drive the plot, her mom’s encouraging nature allows Zoey to thrive. As the only other person who can see the magical creatures that arrive at Zoey’s door, she guides Zoey by nudging her towards solutions, rather than solving problems for her. Additionally, when experiments go wrong, Zoey’s mom is the first character to offer Zoey a hug and remind her that mistakes are just chances to learn. This warm, supportive dynamic will remind young audiences that it is okay to falter when experimenting with something new.  

The Pod and The Bog is an excellent choice for young readers interested in science. Zoey conducts experiments with the seeds. At one point, she gives each seed a different amount of water to determine which amount of water helps the plants grow the fastest. Zoey speaks through her thought process as she partakes in these experiments. When she writes notes in her journal, she tells Pip, “Next is our hypothesis. So here is where we make a guess.” Vocabulary words, such as “hypothesis,” are featured throughout the story and presented in a way that allows young readers to understand their meanings. 

Though the majority of the pages only include words, many pages also feature black and white illustrations that break up larger blocks of text. The illustrations add another level of engagement by showing Zoey conducting experiments alongside her magical friends. These drawings make this book perfect for children transitioning from picture books to chapter books, offering visual support while introducing them to longer sentences and more complex storytelling. 

The book also includes a helpful glossary that defines six key terms used throughout the story, such as “bog” and “pollinator.” This feature encourages children to look up unfamiliar words, making the content accessible to readers with varying vocabulary levels. 

The Pod and The Bog blends magic, science, and encouragement to remind young readers that persistence pays off, even when things don’t go as planned. Through Zoey’s curiosity and resilience, children learn that every mistake offers an opportunity for discovery. Her journey inspires young readers to ask questions, embrace experimentation, and find joy in the learning process. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language    

  • None 

Supernatural  

  • Only Zoey and her mom can see the magic animals that ring their doorbell.  

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

by Madeline Hettrick 

Return of the Padawan

Roan Novachez returns for his second year at Jedi Academy, eager to finally begin his starfighter pilot training. At first, things are going well. He reunites with his friends and even takes a field trip to the ice planet Hoth. Soon, trouble arises as his star pilot training class proves to be more challenging than he had anticipated. To make matters worse, Roan’s closest friends, Pasha and Gaiana, start ignoring him, leading him to wonder what he did wrong.  

In a similar format to the first book, Return of the Padawan is told through Jeffrey Brown’s illustrations. Roan’s diary entries, sketches, comics, newspapers, and poster clippings fill every page, and are just as charming as in Jedi Academy. The book is mostly split between Roan’s journal entries and his comic strips, the former featuring more words per page than the latter. Roan’s doodles continue to be humorous, relatable, and full of heart. The scrapbook style helps bring the characters to life and engages reluctant readers.  

Return of the Padawan is an excellent example of how problems can arise from simple misunderstandings. During gym class, Roan accidentally hits Gaiana in the face with a ball. Later, when Roan is unable to find her during the school dance, Gaiana assumes that he is ignoring her. From that point, Gaiana starts ignoring Roan. Roan’s friendship with Pasha also takes a tense turn. During a visit to Pasha’s home planet, Roan accidentally rips a museum’s ancient text, angering both Pasha and his family. The tension deepens when Roan sees Gaiana and Pasha holding hands in the hallway, making him feel even more isolated than before. 

Roan discovers Gaiana has been ignoring him because her father is sick. Afterward, Roan makes the effort to speak with her, owning up to his rude and selfish behavior, and asking about her father’s health. Gaiana is thankful for the gesture. He showcases his growth further during the lightsaber fencing tournament, when bullies Cyrus and Cronah give him the opportunity to cheat, but he ultimately chooses not to. Pasha asks him about this after the tournament, to which Roan replies, “It would’ve been cheating. Cyrus and Cronah were the ones who blinded you. . . when it came down to it, I didn’t want to be like them.” Roan’s actions highlight the value of integrity over a hollow victory.  

Overall, Return of the Padawan is a worthy sequel to Jedi Academy, offering a compelling continuation of Roan’s journey to become a Jedi Knight. Middle-school readers will find Roan’s story to be especially relatable regarding their own friendships. And much like the first book, you don’t have to be a Star Wars fan to enjoy this heartfelt adventure. 

Sexual Content 

  • None 

Violence 

  • During gym class, Roan accidentally hits Gaiana in the face with a ball. An illustration of Gaiana getting hit, as well as sporting a black eye, is included. 
  • There are lightsaber training and fencing sequences with minimal violence (i.e., clashing sabers). No one is hurt in these sequences, though Pasha is noticeably more aggressive with his swings during his duel with Roan, leading Roan to wonder, “Is he trying to hurt me?” Moments later, bullies Cyrus and Cronah use a light to blind Pasha, helping Roan cheat. They tell Roan to “strike [Pasha] down.” Roan instead allows Pasha a few moments to recover before continuing their duel, which Pasha ultimately wins.  

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • None 

Language 

  • While there is no overtly rude language, the characters Cronah and Cyrus are known for their verbal insults. Roan explains, “Every time I post on Holobook, it seems like Cronah and Cyrus have to say something mean to me. . . They’re jerks to pretty much everyone on Holobook, but if you say anything, they notice you and write even MORE mean stuff.” 
  • For instance, Cronah and Cyrus leave mean comments such as, “You couldn’t smell them because of how bad YOU stink, Roan,” “You’re a horrible pilot, so you can use more training for sure,” and “I think Roan was bit by a krayt dragon, and it made him stupid.” 
  • Characters use words like “stupid” and “jerk.” 

Supernatural Content 

  • The Force can be interpreted as a supernatural entity, allowing the user, among other abilities, to lift things with their mind. For example, an article in the school newspaper, The Padawan Observer, reads “Master Yoda was pleased with his class, except that ‘lifting things with the Force all the time, too many students were.’” 

Spiritual Content 

  • None 

by Nicholas Paragano 

The Blizzard Challenge

Olly isn’t enjoying camp. His rucksack is trying to kill him, and building a shelter gives him splinters. Why should he bother building shelters or foraging for food with his teammates? He’d rather be at home playing video games. 

But that night, a mysterious compass transports him to a high mountain range, where he must learn to survive on a glacier. There, he meets survival expert Bear Grylls. The only way home is to trek across frozen lakes and through deep snow drifts—and Bear can see a blizzard coming. Will Olly learn that trying your best can make all the difference, or will the challenge be too much? 

When Olly is first transported to the Arctic, he doesn’t want help, but he has no choice. Bear says, “We divide the effort, and we work hard. Together we will be stronger, and that gives us the best chance at staying alive.” Initially, Olly reluctantly helps and doesn’t always listen to Bear’s advice. However, Olly becomes more confident in his abilities, and eventually his attitude changes. For example, while making a shelter, Olly thinks, “His feet were still cold, but he would soon change his socks. At first, his arms ached more and more as they dug, but then suddenly they felt fine. . . And for the first time in his life, Olly felt proud of what he was making. Really proud.” 

Many readers will relate to Olly, who would rather play video games than build shelters. However, Olly’s change from a selfish, lazy boy to someone willing to work hard and care about others is admirable. Since the change is gradual and Olly makes mistakes along the way, his transformation is realistic and encouraging. With Bear’s help, Olly learns the importance of teamwork and perseverance. He also discovers that doing things properly matters. The story’s conclusion suggests that Olly will utilize his newfound skills at camp and throughout his life. 

The Blizzard Challenge has large text and illustrations that will appeal to readers and help them visualize the story’s events. Because the book is written in the UK, some terms will be unfamiliar. For example, instead of wasting time, Olly is “gassing.” Measurements are also expressed in kilometers, and some glacier-related terms may be new to readers. However, context clues make it easy to understand unfamiliar words. 

The Bear Grylls Adventure Series books can be read as standalones and do not need to be read in order. Each book focuses on a different child at the outdoor activity camp. Once the camper receives the magical compass, they meet the adventurer, Bear, in an amazing place and learn new skills and facts they can take back to their real life. Each book aligns with Common Core Standards, making it suitable for educational purposes. The book is also printed “in a reader-friendly font and design” to help those with dyslexia. Three pages of additional information about glaciers are included at the end of the book. 

The Blizzard Challenge is an entertaining book with a relatable protagonist, useful life lessons, and a positive message about teamwork. With Bear’s help, Olly realizes that “a strong team, good preparation, and a bit of effort, and you can manage almost anything.” During the adventure, Bear discusses Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to the South Pole, which may spark readers’ interest in the explorer. Readers can learn more about Shackleton’s expedition by reading Race to the South Pole by Kate Messner, Ice Wreck by Lucille Recht Penner, and Survival Tails: Endurance in Antarctica by Katrina Charman. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • Olly overhears another camper call him a loser. 

Supernatural 

  • Olly is in his tent, looking at the compass, when a fifth direction suddenly appears. When Olly leaves the tent, he isn’t at camp. Instead, he is “standing on rocky ground covered with bright white snow, surrounded by giant mountains.” 
  • When Olly returns to camp, no one misses him because “everything with Bear had happened all in one night. Without the other two [tent mates] noticing.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Diana and the Underworld Odyssey

Princess Diana has finally proved her worth to her mother and is approved to start Amazon warrior training. As the Chará festival winds down, Diana is sad to say goodbye to her best friend, Sakina, but excited to begin preparing for the real world. Then, a mysterious alien intruder kidnaps Sakina. As Diana tries to rally the Amazons to save Sakina, their impossible-to-find island is attacked by extra-terrestrial enemies hell-bent on capturing Diana too.  

The Amazons eventually force the alien ship to flee from the island, but Diana’s mom, Queen Hippolyta, is worried for her daughter’s safety, so she sends Diana to the island of the gods with Diana’s protector, the goddess Artemis, and Diana’s new friend, the dragon Liara. Yet, as Diana begs the gods for help, they ignore her insights and version of events, trusting Hades even though he is clearly working with the aliens and their boss, Zumius. Frustrated, Diana leaves the room and meets Imani, another superpowered kid being hunted by these aliens. When Imani is soon kidnapped, Diana decides that only she can save her friends.  

Undaunted and determined, Diana is a powerful, curious protagonist who fights to save her loved ones, no matter the challenge. With the help of the goddess, Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, Diana obtains the tools that allow her to reach the Underworld and escape intact. The journey is treacherous, full of untrustworthy beings and monsters attempting to lure her off her path, but pure-hearted Diana is unwavering. On the way, she also makes new friends and allies who strongly oppose kidnapping children and thus choose to go against their king, Hades, and follow Diana’s leadership. Diana knows that the gods won’t choose Diana over Hades. She knows she’s the only hope the kids have of escaping the Underworld, so she faces every monster with a brave face and a need to expose the truth of Hades’s misdeeds.  

While Diana’s character growth is well-developed, several other elements of this book fell a little short. Namely, Hades is an obvious and flat villain—he doesn’t have a motive or any substantial explanation of his actions. Diana identifies him as the one behind the kidnappings right away, and it doesn’t feel plausible that no one would listen to her or guess that it could have been him. That said, the magical landscapes are wonderfully described, and the problems Diana faces challenge her to think outside the box and adapt to her surroundings—a skill that every kid needs to learn sooner or later. Overall, the novel is worth reading, especially considering the strength of Diana’s character.  

Readers who enjoy powerful female superheroes, Greek mythology, and cleverly independent kids will love the fun battles, magical relics, and beautiful landscapes of Diana and the Underworld Odyssey. Diana encounters all sorts of magical creatures on her journey into the Underworld, from sirens to skeletons to three-headed dogs, all making for creative entertainment. Diana is a fierce and kind character who grows when challenged, leads by example, and stands by her own moral principles. Overall, Diana and the Underworld Odyssey is a sweet story with an inspiring message: stand up for what you believe in, even if no one hears you. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • When Diana’s best friend, Sakina, is kidnapped, Diana spots the kidnapper escaping out the window. Diana attacks the intruder. “Diana angled her sword and attacked square at its midsection. But then her stomach dropped. Though the sword had speared straight through the fabric cloak, it was as if she’d sliced thin air.” She eventually lassos the intruder with her Lasso of Truth, but they escape, and Diana is unharmed. The scene is approximately five pages.  
  • As Zumius’s minions try to kidnap Diana again, the Amazons attack the ship. Their assaults fails so Diana shoots a cannon at Zumius’s airship. “Diana pushed down on the lever. Instantly the cannon deployed. The force of the recoil sent Diana tumbling to the ground. The metal ball shot into the air, glinting in the sunlight. Diana watched nervously as the cannonball struck the underbelly of the airship with a clang before falling into the sea. Diana’s heart skipped a beat. There was an enormous dent in the airship. The vessel was swaying in midair!” They fired multiple times, and eventually the ship left.  
  • While Diana is on the gods’s island, she makes a new friend, Imani. Imani is being hunted, like Diana, and during a walk in the woods, the two friends are attacked by the same kidnapper who took Sakina. Diana fights the person off with a makeshift vine lasso. “But before she could take a step, the [kidnapper] had kicked off the vine. Wielding it like a whip, [their opponent] lashed out at Imani and struck her in the stomach. Imani wheezed and lurched forward. The attacker dashed toward her and grabbed her elbow. Hoisting her over its shoulder, it fled with astonishing speed toward the boat.” Diana is uninjured. The scene is approximately six pages.  
  • During her voyage into the Underworld, Diana encounters a Hydra that attacks her. “With a flick of its tail, the Hydra hurtled the boat hundreds of feet into the sky. Diana spun through the air and began to fall. She hit the surface of the water hard and plunged into the ocean. Her body stung from the force of impact; her face burned as salt water filled her mouth and nose.” She is uninjured. 
  • During the Underworld voyage, Diana also meets a Siren who tries to kidnap her. Diana’s dragon friend, Liara, fights the Siren. “Before Diana could do anything, Liara bit the Siren’s hand. The woman’s smug smile faded instantly. ‘Get off me!’ [the Siren] screamed. She waved her hand feverishly to shake Liara off, but the dragon had clamped down with all her might.” Diana escapes unharmed. 
  • When Diana finds Sakina and Imani, she rescues them from their cage, but the guards interrupt them. The guards attack and try to force all three of them into the cage. “One of them raised a hand and swiped its sword in Diana’s direction. Diana ducked as a burst of cold wind shot at her. It hit the stalagmites next to her and froze them into icicles. The three girls instantly fell to the ground, thick shards of ice missing them by mere inches. Diana shakily stood as another attack launched. Before she could leap out of the way, it hit her square in the chest.” The three friends escape unharmed. The whole scene is approximately ten pages. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • On her journey into the Underworld, Diana encounters a Hydra. “As [the Hydra’s] enormous heads grew near, practically surrounding Diana, she held her breath. One whiff of its poisonous fumes would kill her.” She escapes the Hydra before it can drug her.

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural  

  • Every page of this novel exhibits some kind of supernatural content. However, the magic is primarily wielded by Greek gods without spoken spells, just the wave of a hand. Magic is also present in the landscape, such as the magical island of Themyscira, which is hidden from the eyes of men. The monsters encountered include talking skeletons, Sirens, Hydras, mer-people, dragons, sentient stone creatures, and the gods.  
  • Diana is a superhero, complete with superpowers and magical relics, like the Lasso of Truth. She fights monsters and gods.  
  • Magical landscapes appear many times, including the Underworld, Themyscira, and the island of the gods. An example is when Diana is in the Underworld, and she watches as a cage magically transports everything inside of it to Hades himself. “The cage began glimmering and shaking. It vibrated faster and faster. Diana flinched as something shook in her satchel. The bar fragments were trembling and glowing. The cage shook for a full minute and then fell silent.” 
  • While Diana is fighting her kidnapper, they throw some kind of magical powder at her. “Instantly, the figure shot a hand up as a whirring sound bellowed from deep within its cloaked body. Before Diana could react, a burst of metallic-gold powder sprang from one of its sleeves. The powder coated the book [Diana had thrown at her attacker], which froze in midair and then burst into flames. Within seconds it fell to the floor, transformed into ashes.” 
  • Hades is helping an alien kidnap superpowered kids to create an army. When Diana meets Artemis, the goddess explains that many kids have already been taken. “Aristaeus can wield the wind with his hands and control bees. Lumierna can break metal as easily as they can snap a twig. They’re not as strong as their father yet, but quite capable for a child. Only two children have managed to outmaneuver the [aliens]: Diana and a child named Imani.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • Princess Diana grew up among the Amazons, a community of warrior women who worship the Greek gods. She meets, fights, and even collaborates with many of them. The Greek gods or references to them appear on nearly every page. For example, Diana describes how “the sun shone brightly upon the beaches of Themyscira, the golden glow shimmering as though Zeus himself had struck the island with a lightning bolt.” 
  • An example of Diana’s interactions with the gods is when Diana meets the council of the gods while trying to find a sanctuary from her kidnapper. “When Diana turned in her seat, she shuddered. The figure standing in the doorway was broad-shouldered and tall, practically as tall as Zeus himself. He wore a green toga. A monocle sat on his left eye, his right hand grasped an iron staff, and his face was twisted into a scowl. It was Hades, god of the Underworld.” 

by Kate Schuyler 

The Bicycle Spy

Marcel loves riding his bicycle, whether he’s racing through the streets of his small town in France or making bread deliveries for his parents’ bakery. He dreams of someday competing in the Tour de France, the greatest bicycle race. But ever since Germany’s occupation of France began two years ago, in 1940, the race has been canceled. Now there are soldiers everywhere, interrupting Marcel’s rides with checkpoints and questioning.  

Then Marcel learns two big secrets, and he realizes there are worse things about the war than a canceled race. When he later discovers that his friend’s entire family is in imminent danger, Marcel knows he can help — but it will involve taking a risky bicycle ride to pass along covert information. And when nothing ends up going according to plan, it’s up to him to keep pedaling and think quickly. . . because his friend, her family, and his own future hang in the balance. 

Told from Marcel’s point of view, The Bicycle Spy shows the effect of World War II by focusing on Marcel’s parents and classmates. Marcel’s love of the Tour de France gives the story a unique perspective and allows him to become friends with Delphine, who shares his passion for the event. Marcel and Delphine also connect because they both have a secret: Delphine is Jewish, and Marcel’s parents are part of the French Resistance. When Delphine’s true identity is revealed, Marcel and his family show bravery and don’t hesitate to help Delphine’s family escape France.  

Marcel is an extremely likable protagonist who worries about everyday things, such as completing his homework, winning a bike race against his friends, and avoiding trouble at school. When he discovers that his parents are helping the French Resistance, Marcel is determined to help the cause. However, he often feels pangs of guilt when he has to lie, even though he realizes that dishonesty is the only way to keep people safe from the Germans. Even though Marcel fears the German soldiers, he doesn’t let this stop him from delivering messages for the Resistance.  

When Delphine’s family is in danger, Marcel is trusted to deliver a message that will help them escape. Even though this means riding his bike a long distance in freezing weather, Marcel is determined to save his friend. “The ride to Porte-Vendres was punishing. He was exhausted, and very, very cold. But then he thought of the riders in the Tour de France. Surely they got tired, hungry, and cold, too.” Marcel gains the strength to continue by thinking about the men who have competed in the Tour de France, as well as the danger that Delphine’s family faces. Marcel’s journey is full of danger and suspense, which makes the book difficult to put down. 

The Bicycle Spy shows how ordinary people helped the Jews escape Hitler’s clutches. Since the story is told from Marcel’s point of view, readers gain insight from a child’s perspective. This allows readers to understand Marcel’s fears and concerns without having graphic descriptions of violence. Reading The Bicycle Spy will encourage children to do the right thing, whether it’s standing up to a bully, helping a friend, or supporting their family.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • The German soldiers appear in Marcel’s classroom. “Two officers had come into the room, their shiny black boots heavy on the floorboards, their armbands with the thick black swastikas threatening. Even more threatening were the enormous black guns they carried so casually looped over their shoulders.” An officer talks to the teacher, who shows him the list of students in the class. Then the men leave. 
  • When Marcel encounters German soldiers, he wonders, “What would they do if they knew about his parents being in the Resistance? Drag them from the bakery? Force them to answer questions? Shoot them?” 
  • One of Marcel’s classmates, Thierry, dumped the contents of Delphine’s satchel. When she went to pick up her pen, “Thierry’s big foot got there first. There was an ugly crunch as he ground it under his heel.” Thierry saw a picture of Delphine and her brother and said, “You’re a Jew. . .  A dirty, stinking Jew!” Delphine is so upset that she leaves school and never comes back. 
  • Thierry accuses Marcel of helping “‘a Jew hide. Or maybe even escape and you know what that means.’ He made his hand into the shape of a pistol and pointed it to [Marcel’s] head.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Marcel saw a German soldier who “pulled out a cigarette and lit it.” 
  • When Marcel goes into town, he sees a man at a café smoking a cigarette. 

Language  

  • Some of the kids call each other names, such as shrimp, loser, jerk, idiot, dope, and liar. 
  • Marcel is riding a bike when a cat runs in front of him. Marcel exclaims, “zut alors,” which means “damn then.”  
  • When Delphine moves to town, one of her classmates asks, “Is your family rich or something? Like all those Jews who are wrecking the country?” Marcel didn’t understand why the comment upset Delphine. 
  • Marcel’s classmate, Thierry, calls Delphine a “dirty Jew” several times. 
  • Marcel’s mother refers to the Germans as “devils.” Later, Marcel’s father refers to Hitler as the devil. 
  • When returning home after a “punishing” bike ride, Marcel “races like the devil.” 

Supernatural 

  • None

Spiritual Content  

  • When Marcel learns that Delphine is Jewish, he thinks, “Everyone he knew was Catholic and went to the church of St. Vincent de Paul on Sundays and saints’ days, or holidays like Easter and Christmas.” 
  • Delphine and her parents pretend to be Protestants because her father “thought that would be easier” than pretending to be Catholic. 
  • Marcel needs to take a hidden note to someone working for the Resistance. He prays, “no one had spotted him and wondered where he was going and why.” 
  • The school closes so the town can celebrate Saint Francois-Xavier. “Everyone would be in church” to honor the saint. 
  • After Delphine and her family flee, Marcel’s mom says, “I am praying that they are [safe].” 
  • When Marcel’s father doesn’t come home, Marcel goes to search for him. Marcel’s mother says, “Go with God.” 

Wild River

Daniel Redmayne is fast asleep on the first night of a white water rafting trip, when he’s awoken by screams. The dam has failed. The river is surging, and their camp will be under water in a matter of moments. As the shrieking roar of the river rushes closer, the kids scramble to higher ground. They make it; their counselors do not. 

Now they’re on their own, with barely any food or supplies, in the middle of the Montana wilderness. Do Daniel and his four classmates have what it takes to stay alive until they can get rescued? Alone in the wild, they forge powerful bonds—but develop dangerous disagreements. If nature doesn’t break them, they might just destroy each other. 

Wild River doesn’t waste any words building the characters’ backstories. Instead, it quickly thrusts the five teens into the dangerous wilderness with little knowledge to help them survive. The kids quickly form two groups—Daniel, Imani, and Mia form one group while Tony and Deke go off on their own. Each group is determined to take the one backpack that contains food and other supplies. However, readers will quickly find Tony and Deke to be short-sighted, reckless, and mean, which makes it easy to dislike them. And since the story is told from Daniel’s point of view, readers will empathize with him and his two friends, who know the importance of working together.  

The story’s short chapters often end in cliffhangers that propel the narrative forward. The teens’ fight to survive includes encounters with dangerous animals, unforgiving terrain, and each other. Since each new danger is suspenseful and realistic, readers will have difficulty putting the book down. Plus, there are enough surprises to keep readers guessing what will happen next.  

Early on, Daniel, Imani, and Mia are pitted against Deke and Tony. Deke bullies others and doesn’t care about anyone else’s survival. At one point, Daniel says, “I’m wondering about bullies. Who they are and why they act so mean. Have they been bullied, too, or do they just enjoy it? Can they change?” The book’s only flaw is the conclusion. In the end, the kids forgive Deke for his horrible behavior, and they all become lifelong friends. This is unrealistic, and readers will wonder whether Deke will become a better person or whether his bad behavior will return once they reach safety.  

As the kids become friends, they each reveal a secret about themselves. Daniel reluctantly shares his father’s struggle with bipolar disorder. After a brief discussion, Imani and Mia show their support in a non-judgmental manner. Throughout the book, Daniel thinks about how being bipolar affects his father, but the topic is not explored in detail. Despite this, the book emphasizes that there is no shame in having a mental illness.  

Wild River is perfect for fans of survival stories such as Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. The story focuses on the action and danger associated with being stranded in the wilderness, giving it a fast pace that will appeal to even the most reluctant readers. Daniel, Imani, and Mia show the value of teamwork and perseverance; they wouldn’t have survived without working together. Surviving the wilderness allows the kids to form an unbreakable, lifelong bond that will help them navigate any future struggles they face. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • When a dam fails, the two adult supervisors help the kids get to safety, but the adults are “both gone.” 
  • One of the boys worries about getting too hungry. He says, “The Donner party ate each other, that’s how hungry they were. . . A wagon train of settlers heading west. They got stuck in the mountains, snowed in for the winter with not enough food. So they improvised.”  
  • Mia refuses to give the pack containing food to Deke. Suddenly, “Deke charges like a linebacker attacking a dummy. And I’m the dummy, slammed to the ground so hard it knocks the wind out of me. . . Tony pushes Mia down and snatches up the backpack.”  
  • After getting the backpack, Tony is gloating when “he loses his balance, he drops the pack, and tries to regain his footing, but it’s too late. Tony falls over the edge. He screams all the way down. . . Tony lies at the bottom of the ravine, twisted and broken between two boulders.” 
  • Afraid Deke will attack and try to take the food again, the girls tie Deke to a tree. 
  • When the kids cross a bear’s path, the bear gets agitated. “This bear comes at Deke like it’s been shot from a cannon. It crashes into Deke’s legs, sending him head over heels to the ground.” The bear flees, leaving Deke “down on the ground, with both hands around the lower part of his right leg. Holding tight as blood gushes from between his fingers.” Imani bandages Deke’s leg.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Daniel’s father has bipolar disorder. “Mostly his medication helps keep him on the level, but not always.” 

Language  

  • Occasionally, bad language is used, such as freaking. 
  • There is some name-calling, such as jerk and loser. 
  • Imani calls Deke a “stupid fool.” 
  • Deke gets angry and yells at Daniel. Deke says, “Are you mentally ill? That’s it! That’s the only explanation. You’re a mental defective, like your wacky dad.” 

Supernatural 

  • None

Spiritual Content  

  • After Tony dies, Daniel says a prayer. “God, if you hear this, please welcome Tony.” 
  • Daniel covers Tony’s body with rocks. Before leaving the area, the group bows their heads as Imani says a prayer. “God, we want you to know that Anthony Meeks wasn’t bad, not in his heart. He did stupid things sometimes, but please forgive him. We do. We forgive him. Amen.” 

Zane and the Hurricane

I never thought a mutt like Bandit could get me in so much trouble. Don’t get me wrong, he’s the best dog in the world, what happened wasn’t his fault, even if it nearly got me killed. Bandit didn’t cause the hurricane, okay? And it wasn’t his idea for us to go all the way from our home in New Hampshire to the heat and smells of New Orleans. 

It was supposed to be a vacation, a chance to meet family in a city I’d barely heard of. And then disaster struck. The world turned upside down and inside out—and that was before the flood. 

I need to warn you right now, there’s some really gross stuff in this book, stuff so awful it made a dog hide his nose. And things so terrible I wanted to close my eyes. But we saw it all, me and Bandy. The good and the bad, the dark and the light. Acts of astonishing courage. Acts of cowardice and cruelty, of generosity and greed. Acts of terror and tragedy, tears and laughter.  

My name is Zane Dupree, and this is my story. 

Zane’s story focuses on the effects of Hurricane Katrina, but it is also a story about family. When Zane travels to meet his grandmother for the first time, he doesn’t think it’s important for him to learn about his father, who died before Zane was born. However, as his grandmother shares stories, Zane comes to realize that knowing your family history is important. When the hurricane separates Zane and his grandmother, Zane meets other people who talk about Zane’s father when he was a teenager. While Zane’s story highlights the importance of family and community connections, the hurricane overshadows this theme. 

While traveling away from the hurricane, Bandy jumps out of the car, and Zane follows him. This leaves Zane alone when the hurricane hits. Afterward, Zane is rescued by Tru, an African American man, and Malvina, a young Black girl. The three canoe through New Orleans’ wreckage and along the way, they face danger from a drug boss as well as the security for a rich area of town. These dangers reveal the discrimination and hardships that Black people faced during Hurricane Katrina. The story examines the disparities between the poor and the wealthy, as well as the differences between people of color and white individuals.   

Zane and the Hurricane lacks a cohesive story. Instead, Zane’s travels through New Orleans give quick flashes of how different people were affected by the destruction. However, each person has such short scenes that readers will be unable to connect with them. Likewise, when Zane discovers his father’s secret, the moment is anticlimactic because the father’s personality is never developed. The lack of character development and numerous dull moments make Zane and the Hurricane a story best suited for readers interested in Hurricane Katrina. Although the story is fictional, it incorporates many facts and ends with four pages of “interesting facts about New Orleans and the Great Flood.” Readers interested in the destructive nature of hurricanes can be swept away in the pages of Hurricane Rescue by Jennifer Li Shotz and Carrie and The Great Storm by Jessica Gunderson. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • Zane never met his father before he died. Zane is upset that “he did something stupid like get himself run over by some old gumby before [he was] born.” 
  • Tru, an African American man, and Malvina, a young Black girl, rescue Zane from a flooded house. They canoe to a rich part of town that isn’t flooded. Men with guns swarm them. “The guns swing in our direction, until all you can see is the black holes at the end of the barrels.” When Tru doesn’t get down fast enough, “one of the shotgun men plants a shiny black combat boot on his chest and shoves him to the ground.” 
  • Malvina screams at the man and grabs him. “He pulls her off the way you’d flick at a bothersome bug, and hands her to me. I can feel her heart slamming in her chest, and the tightness of her anger.” 
  • Before questioning Zane, the man with the gun “smiles an evil kind of smile, touches the end of the shotgun barrel to my chin, and says, very softly, ‘Bang. You lied.’” 
  • Zane and Malvina are pushing the injured Tru on an office chair. They come to an overpass where police officers are telling everyone to turn back. “Malvina keeps going. . . with the dog following close behind. . . And then cops in armored vests swarm from behind one of the cars, taking aim. . . Malvina shoves the chair forward, as if she’s trying to ram through the barricade. . .” 
  • Zane’s dog, Bandit or Bandy for short, jumps at “the men with guns as if he’s a big bad wolf instead of a twenty-pound mutt. A shotgun explodes. . . And then Bandy is slammed to the pavement like he’s been hit by a shovel, and he isn’t moving. Because they shot him, there on the bridge.” A vet takes the group, including Bandy, to her house. Everyone survives. 
  • A woman who knew Zane’s father, Gerald, tells Zane a story. Gerald’s brother James “found a paper bag on the playground, and inside the paper bag was a gun. Stashed there by a drug dealer. . . James showed off the gun to his big brother, fooling around.” Gerald takes the gun and accidentally kills his brother, James. 
  • Dylan, a “drug boss,” is “killed by one of the underage kids who worked for him selling drugs.” When Zane’s grandmother finds out, she says, “The wages of sin is when people do unta you wahat yoa did unta them.”

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Dylan, a known “drug boss,” tries to kidnap Malvina so she can sell drugs for him. Dylan says Malvina’s mom owes him. Tru says, “He done Malvina’s momma a few favors, if givin’ her drugs is a favor.” 
  • Dylan wants to add Malvina to his crew. Dylan “own[s] a bunch of fourteen-year-old boys, dealing his dope on the corners.” 
  • After Bandy is shot, a vet gives Bandy a sedative so she can clean his wounds. 
  • The vet also gives Tru antibiotics. “The medicine is for large dogs, but she says it will work just as well on humans.” 

Language  

  • Various characters rarely call others names, including fool, stupid, hellion, and jerk. 
  • Several times, Zane calls himself names, including moron, crud bucket, rotten crud, and dumb-butt dipstick doodlebrain. 
  • Bandy jumps out of the car, and Zane follows him into the path of the hurricane. Zane berates himself, thinking, “There’s no way to stop my brain from going over it again and again, every mistake, every stupid thing I’ve ever done or said.” His brain says, “Zane Dupree you are a fool, you are the dumbest human being on Planet Earth. . . [you] ran away to save your stupid dog.” 
  • Zane’s grandmother uses “Lawd have mercy” and “Oh my Lawdy” as exclamations once. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • When Zane meets his grandmother for the first time, she says, “The Good Lawd has given me a great gift. Thank you Lawrd! Praise be!” 
  • When Zane asks his grandmother how old she is, she says, “I’m zactly older than dirt.” Then she tells Zane, “It’s bad luck to brag about her age because the Good Lawd might be listening and have cause to remember that she’s long past her sell-by date.” 
  • The news says that a hurricane might be heading for New Orleans. Zane’s grandmother says, “We can’t know that, child. Nobody knows but the Lawrd, and He’s not sayin’. . . Here’s what we gone do. Tomorrow morning we go to church and see what da Lawd provide.” The next day, they go to New Mission Zion Baptist Church. 
  • While at church, the pastor says the Lord’s Prayer and then he says, “I pray we will be in attendance next Sunday, and that the sun will be shining and that no harm will have come to us, or this ward, or our little church. . .” Then the congregation prays. The church scene is described over one page.  
  • A young girl sings “Jesus loves me.” 
  • Tru is injured and has a fever, but they can’t find help. A cop gives him a bottle of water and tells Zane and Malvina, “Might better pray.”  

Lucy Lancaster and the Stormy Day

Inquisitive second-grader Lucy Lancaster is bursting with excitement. Today is the day that she and her two best friends, Heidi and Bruce, are visiting the Discovery Museum. All three of them received mysterious invitations to the museum, and all three were elated to participate in its hands-on science activities. But just when Lucy is planning to leave to pick up her friends, Heidi calls Lucy’s house with awful news. She has the sniffles, and she cannot join Lucy on her museum trip. 

Overcome with sadness, Lucy lets out a magical hiccup. Suddenly, it begins to rain outside. Lucy isn’t surprised. Her magical witch hiccups have been occurring for some time. She hiccups again, and the rainstorm turns into a thunderstorm. Lucy decides to go to the museum despite the bad weather, but when she arrives at Bruce’s house, he tells her that he cannot leave his frightened dog, Frankie, who is afraid of thunder. Lucy must go to the Discovery Museum alone. 

The museum has many wonders, but Lucy cannot help but be in a bad mood. She misses her friends. Nothing feels as fun without them. The museum has a three-person bicycle that can power an ice cream maker, but Lucy is unable to power it alone. Her parents try to cheer her up, telling her that she has the power to brighten her own day. Then Lucy remembers—she’s a witch! In secret, she asks her spellbook for a spell that can bring Heidi and Bruce to the museum, but the book only gives her an incantation to improve the weather. Lucy is disheartened once again. 

Lucy makes her way through the museum’s laser maze, determined to get a good score despite her loneliness. There, she meets a boy named Jackson, and the two quickly become friends after participating in more museum activities together. Jackson tells Lucy that he cannot help her with the ice cream bicycle because he only eats ice cream on sunny days. Luckily for him, Lucy has her secret spellbook! She casts the weather-changing spell, and the two successfully make strawberry ice cream. 

After the museum trip, Lucy visits Bruce and Heidi. Frankie the dog is feeling much better. Realizing that Heidi had a worse day, Lucy gifts Heidi the butterfly keychain from the museum. Lucy’s stormy day ended up being fun after all. 

This third-person story follows a day in the life of young witch Lucy Lancaster as she navigates a series of disappointments. The narration is written in the voice of an eight-year-old, using simple words and descriptions. Lucy’s thought processes are consistent with someone her age, and her worries will be relatable to young readers. She struggles with disappointment, loneliness, and frustration, and her magical mishaps parallel her feelings. In the end, Lucy makes her day better through determination and unwavering kindness, and she manages to make new friends while missing her old ones. Lucy learns that she has the power to turn even the stormiest days into sunny ones. Since this lesson was first imparted by Lucy’s parents, Lucy Lancaster and the Stormy Day teaches that a combination of parental guidance and self-reliance leads to good problem-solving. 

Lucy Lancaster and the Stormy Day is a fun book suitable for independent readers. Large black-and-white illustrations appear on almost every page. The illustrations are charming and highly expressive, effectively highlighting the key details of every scene and visually conveying the emotions of various characters. The instructions and incantation for Lucy’s “Sunny-Day Spell” are included in their entirety as they would appear in Lucy’s spellbook. Each chapter begins with a full-page illustration that seamlessly transitions readers into the next section, picking up where the previous chapter left off. The Lucy Lancaster Series can be read in any order because each book focuses on a new adventure. 

Stormy Day mixes interesting real-life science with fantastical magic. Young readers interested in STEM studies will enjoy Lucy’s enthusiasm toward the museum and the various exhibits she sees. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language    

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • After learning that Heidi is too sick to visit the museum, Lucy starts to hiccup. Lucy’s magic hiccups cause it to start raining outside. “The sky darkened outside the kitchen window. Raindrops began pelting against the window, and a strong wind whooshed through the branches.” 
  • Lucy reflects on the other magical things that her hiccups have caused in the past, “like magically tidying up her room. Or totally turning her room upside down.” 
  • Running into the coat closet, Lucy’s toes begin tingling, and she lets out another hiccup. This time, she sees “sparks of magic” in the air that cause the rain to turn into a thunderstorm. She also notices that her magic hiccup caused her raincoat and rain boots to appear on her body. 
  • In the museum, as soon as Lucy remembers that she has a magic spellbook, it appears in her hands. 
  • Lucy wants her spell book to give her a spell that will bring Heidi and Bruce to the museum. Lucy opens to a random page in the book, and she sees that “The Sunny-Day Spell” has magically appeared, an incantation that would stop the rainstorm. Angry with the book, Lucy hiccups again, and her Book of Spells suddenly flies out of her hands in a gust of wind. The wind also blows Lucy into the museum’s laser maze. 
  • When Lucy’s new museum friend Jackson tells her that he cannot eat ice cream on a rainy day, Lucy once again summons the spellbook (in secret). She chants The Sunny-Day Spell. More sparks of magic emerge and fly away in the wind, and the thunderstorm turns into a perfectly sunny day. “The clouds parted, and the sun started shining. It was incredible!” 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

by Gabrielle Barke 

Star Wars: Jedi Academy

All his life, Roan Novachez has dreamed of being a starfighter pilot, following in both his father’s and older brother’s footsteps. After finishing primary school on his home planet Tatooine, Roan is crestfallen when he receives a rejection letter from Pilot Academy Middle School. Fearing his only option is to attend Tatooine Agricultural Academy, an unexpected opportunity presents itself: Roan receives an invitation to attend the prestigious Jedi Academy on Coruscant. Though it’s not what he wanted, Roan’s family accepts the offer to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi. 

Star Wars: Jedi Academy is a charming, lighthearted adventure that can best be described as Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets a galaxy far, far away. Much like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jedi Academy is told through diary entries, comic strips, notes, and sketches, which cover every page and are drawn by Roan himself. Jeffrey Brown’s combination of humorous doodles and writing makes Jedi Academy charmingly relatable, showcasing Roan’s emotions and bringing life to the many diverse supporting characters, making the text more engaging for reluctant readers. Along the way, Roan faces many challenges and experiences that middle school students can relate to—making friends, dealing with bullies, crushes, and finding his place in a new environment, all with a Star Wars twist.   

Roan’s primary challenge is his Force training, as he initially struggles to lift even the smallest of objects, a skill that his classmates mastered years ago. Despite his internal anxiety, Roan has many people at the Academy who support him: his friends Pasha, Bill, and Gaiana, and his teacher, Master Yoda, who is a constant source of wisdom and encouragement. Roan’s many mistakes teach readers that making mistakes is paramount to growth. This makes the end of the story, where Roan can lift several large boulders at once, even more triumphant.  

Overall, Star Wars: Jedi Academy is an incredibly fun, humorous, and surprisingly genuine book despite its fantastic setting. Young readers will find Roan Novachez’s story to be relatable and informative to their own middle school experiences, even with all the lightsabers, starships, and aliens present. With plenty of clever references to the movies, Star Wars fans will be especially entertained, but you don’t have to be a Star Wars fan to appreciate Roan’s journey, which feels anything but alien.  

Sexual Content  

  • Not long after arriving at Jedi Academy, Roan develops a crush on one of his classmates, a girl named Gaiana. Before leaving for summer vacation, Gaiana gives Roan a kiss on the cheek. 

Violence 

  • There is minimal violence in the lightsaber training and fencing sequences of the book. No one is hurt. 

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • None

Language 

  • None 

Supernatural Content 

  • The Force can be interpreted as a supernatural phenomenon. As defined in the Jedi Academy’s brochure, “The Force is an invisible energy field created by all living things. The Force gives a Jedi his power, allowing him to do extraordinary things like moving objects with his mind.” 

Spiritual Content 

  • None 

by Nicholas Paragano 

The Samurai’s Assassin

Trapped in their great-grandfather’s museum and visited by restless ghosts of the past, Arthur and Finn must travel back in time and rewrite history to set the ghosts free. Travel back in time with brothers Arthur and Finn to prevent Tatsushi, a brave Samurai warrior, from making a fatal mistake. After warlord Kenji Kuroda kills Tatsushi’s father, Tatsushi is determined to get revenge. Will the boys convince Tatsushi to choose a different path in life and escape the clutches of the deadly tyrant Kuroda in time to make it back to the present?   

In this installment of the Warrior Heroes Series, Finn and Arthur meet the siblings Mayuko and Tatsushi. After witnessing his father’s murder and his sister’s kidnapping, Tatsushi vows to save his sister and kill Lord Kuroda. The three boys follow the enemy samurai on a perilous journey. Along the way, they are joined by a mysterious monk. The monk, Finn, and Arthur are determined to keep Tatsushi from reacting in anger. Tatsushi is reminded often: “We should only kill them if it will help us achieve what we are here for. . . You may desire revenge but you must never act on it.”   

The Samurai’s Assassin is an action-packed adventure that teaches about the samurai’s ways. Most of the book focuses on the journey to Lord Kuroda’s castle. As they travel, the group faces numerous dangers, making the story fast-paced. However, there is very little character development. Instead, the focus is on Tatsushi’s desire for revenge and everyone’s desire to keep Tatsushi’s anger under control.   

Even though The Samurai’s Assassin is part of a series, the books do not have to be read in order because each book focuses on Arthur and Finn going back to a different time period and wraps up the storyline. Each book in the series follows a familiar pattern, but there are enough differences to make each story unique and exciting.  

The historical facts of The Samurai Assassin highlight the samurai’s hope to solve problems peacefully and dispel any falsehoods portrayed in modern media. The brothers face dangers but engage in battle only when necessary. The appearance of a monk adds a mysterious element to the story. However, the monk often takes over, leaving the boys to follow his lead; this makes the victory hollow. In addition, Arthur and Finn do little to help Tatsushi other than shoot arrows at the enemy. Given the brothers’ insignificant role, readers may wonder whether their presence was necessary. 

Even though the character development is lacking, readers will still enjoy stepping into the world of the samurai. Readers will appreciate Finn’s role in helping Tatsushi as well as his knowledge of the samurai’s ways. The story emphasizes the importance of avoiding hasty decisions made out of anger, as well as the value of using nonlethal force when possible. Even though Lord Kuroda is killed, his men are allowed to retreat without the threat of retaliation. The Samurai’s Assassin delivers an entertaining story that reflects the samurai’s beliefs and culture. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • Samurai believed ritual suicide was honorable. “They’d slit their own bellies open rather than face dishonor.”  
  • During a ritual suicide, “you sit down in front of a crowd, take a dagger, grit your teeth and cut your own belly open. . . If it hurts too much the samurai has someone standing behind them ready to chop off their head and put them out of their misery.” 
  • The samurai Hanzo Uchida died an unjust death. His son “wanted to avenge [his] death, but he acted rashly,” causing the villagers to be massacred. Hanzo Uchida wants Finn and Arthur to go back in time and keep his son from killing in anger. 
  • Finn befriends Mayuko and Tatsushi, two Japanese teens. When the three friends get to the village, they find Mayuko and Tatsushi’s father dead. “Face down in the mud lay a simply-dressed samurai, his long hair streaking out into a growing pool of blood.” 
  • Samurai used many weapons, including a sword, spear, bow, and kusari-fundo. The book explains the weapons and their use. For example, “you can use the weight on one of the ends of the [kusari-fundo] chain to crush your enemy’s skull.”  
  • Mayuko is kidnapped. Finn, Arthur, and Tatsushi follow the enemy. Tatsushi frees Mayuko. Afterwards, “at Tatsushi’s feet lay two bodies.”  
  • The enemies attack the four friends. “Two of [the enemy samurai] fell as they ran, Finn and Arthur both finding their mark. The larger mob of Kuroda. . . bellowed in rage and began running towards them, brandishing swords and spears. . .” The four friends run as “spears hissed into the ground around them.” The teens escape without injury.  
  • The four teens, a servant named Ryu, and a monk are traveling when Ryu sat bolt upright. His eyes rolled up in his head and he fell forward to reveal the shaft of an arrow thrusting up from his back.” The teens hide, but Ryu is dead. 
  • The monk confronts the men who killed Ryu. “Then in a flash of impossibly quick motion he crouched down, grabbed the end of his staff and drove the other end up in the air to connect with one of the horsemen’s faces. . . He gave two more swift thrusts and all three men toppled to the ground.” The men are knocked unconscious.   
  • While scaling a castle wall, a man looks out the window. The monk “brought his staff down off the roof and jabbed the tip down. It connected with the base of the man’s neck, and the immediate danger was over.” 
  • Finn and five others scale the castle. When they reach the top, a man comes out of a roof hatch. Tatsushi “sprinted across the roof towards the guard, parrying the man’s vicious spear-thrust and charging into his chest. The guard stumbled backwards, tripping. . . and with a terrified shriek, toppled sideways over the edge of the castle.” 
  • Another man comes out of the roof hatch. “Finn’s arrow was lodged in his chest before he could move any further.” 
  • The enemy, Lord Kuroda, agrees to fight the monk, Akira. Akira “crouched, twisted his staff to vertical and thrust powerfully upwards into Kuroda’s chest. The warlord grunted, his eyes wide with shock as he was propelled backwards through the air, and with a final roar of rage, soared over the edge of the roof and down into the darkness below.” Lord Kuroda’s men flee.  
  • One page describes the clever ways an enemy would be killed if they attacked a castle. For example, “pouring hot sand out of windows onto your attackers.”

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Mayuko and Tatsushi’s father, Lord Kuruyama, was killed by poison.  
  • While outside a village, Finn and his companions hear “raucous laughter of drunk men.” 

Language  

  • None

Supernatural 

  • Arthur and Finn’s grandfather created a museum about warriors throughout history. The museum is haunted, and when the grandfather died, “he started haunting the place too. He felt guilty about the trapped ghost warriors and vowed he would not rest in peace until all the other ghosts were laid to rest first.” 
  • When one of the ghost warriors touches the boys, we get transported to the time and place where the ghost lived and died. And we can’t get back until we’ve fixed whatever it is that keeps the ghost from resting in peace.”

Spiritual Content  

  • When Finn time-travels, he ends up in the ocean. He prays “he would see some way out of this nightmare that he had swapped for the Professor’s study.”  
  • While talking about avenging the death of Tatsushi’s father, Finn “prayed that his brother had something that would keep their friend in check.” 
  • When Tatsushi frees is sister, five men give chase. Finn and Arthur prepare to help. Finn prays “that their enemies would have all eyes on Tatsushi’s band.” 
  • While Finn is scaling a castle wall, a man looks out the window. Finn “looked up at the roof above, praying that one of the others would see the predicament he was in.”  

Savvy

When a child in Mibs Beaumont’s family turns thirteen, they gain a savvy, an inherited superpower that can range from mundane to magnificent, such as her mother embodying effortless perfection or her brother creating life-threatening hurricanes. With no idea what her savvy will be, Mibs needs all the support she can get, but just two days before her thirteenth birthday, a car crash changes everything.  

Suddenly, Mibs’ dad is in a coma, and her mom is out of state watching over him, leaving Mibs without parental support on her big day. But in her darkest moment, Mibs’ thirteenth birthday brings the solution to all her problems. Her savvy is to wake people up. Convinced only she can save her dad, Mibs will do anything to reach him as soon as possible. Mibs becomes a secret stowaway in the back of a delivery driver’s van, along with her brothers, Fish and Samson, and her neighbors, Bobbi and Will Junior.  

But as she travels across the country, Mibs realizes she may be in over her head, and her savvy may be another power entirely. While her father’s health may be out of her control, the journey teaches Mibs more about herself and her personal relationships with others. She feels like an outsider in her small town, but maybe she is just looking for belonging in the wrong place.  

Mibs is a brave and headstrong young girl, determined to save her dad no matter what obstacle stands in her way. However, in pursuit of her goals, she occasionally makes dangerous and ill-conceived choices. For example, Mibs hitchhikes a ride in the back of a stranger’s van without telling any adults. While the driver, Lester, turns out to be a good person, Mibs did not know that at the time. Readers may disapprove of her reckless decision-making, as her actions could have endangered not just herself, but also her brothers and neighbors. However, considering the stress of her situation and her naiveté at such a young age, Mibs remains a deeply sympathetic character that is easy to root for. 

Will is a year older than Mibs and serves as her love interest. In contrast to Mibs’ classmates, who often tease and isolate her, Will does not make Mibs feel strange and “freakish.” Instead, he makes her feel rather special and gifted. He is kind and clearly has romantic feelings for Mibs. Even when she feels too young to reciprocate, Will accepts the rejection in stride and remains positive and supportive, teaching readers the importance of accepting others’ boundaries.  

Will’s older sister, Bobbi, fills a somewhat antagonistic role. She is a stereotypical angry teen, prone to lashing out at others without justification. For example, she makes fun of Mibs’ birthday dress and kicks Fish. While her antics may annoy some readers, Bobbi has occasional moments of vulnerability, such as thinking about her loneliness, that make her rebellious nature come off as insecurity rather than genuine meanness. Readers will learn to not judge someone by their appearance because they may be going through hidden struggles.   

Savvy is told from Mibs’ point of view. She acts like an authentic thirteen-year-old, who occasionally makes misjudgments that the reader will know are wrong long before Mib catches up. For example, Mibs hears Bobbi’s thoughts, and it becomes clear her savvy is not “waking others” but mind reading. Yet, for a significant chunk of the book, Mibs ignores the evidence in favor of what she wants to believe. Despite her good intentions, Mibs ends up accomplishing the opposite of her goal – to protect her family. The desire to help a loved one clouds her judgment, ironically putting more loved ones (her brother and friends) in danger. 

While Mibs’ personal relationships are the heart of the book and keep the reader emotionally invested in the story, they are not the main focus. Savvy is a journey of self-discovery. Mibs learns what her power is, both in terms of her savvy and her independence. For a book about superpowers, the stakes are relatively low. Instead, the conflict derives from a much more intimate, personal scale, allowing the reader to understand Savvy’s characters better. Savvy feels like a realistic, grounded portrayal of how a family would handle superpowers. They go about their daily lives, occasionally receiving assistance and experiencing societal ostracization along the way, but they are mostly normal people.  

This book has won the Newbery Honor and was a runner-up for the Indian Paintbrush Book Award, with its success extending to two spin-off books. Although this book was published in 2010, it remains relevant today due to its timeless story. Through a flawed yet compassionate protagonist, Savvy tackles mature themes, such as the loss of a parent. He demonstrates a girl growing into herself while avoiding the pitfalls of growing up too quickly.  

Sexual Content    

  • Will Junior has a crush on Mibs, as seen through his attentiveness. For example, Mibs observes that “Will always seemed to be walking on our heels or watching us when he was supposed to be praying. One time he even gave me his own cup of juice.”  
  • Likewise, Mibs has a crush on Will Junior, as seen through her jealousy. Mibs states that she doesn’t “like the way Ashley kept staring at Will, or the way her staring at him bothered” her.  Ashley is Mibs’ mean classmate.  
  • In a pool, Will Junior kisses Mibs, then her brother asks Will to stop. Mibs describes, “Then [Will Junior] moved forward and his lips touched mine, quick and awkward with the taste of chlorine and salt, like maybe he’d just slipped and bumped his face into mine accidentally.”  
  • Mibs later tells Will Junior that she likes him, too, but is unwilling to be in a relationship due to their age. He supports her decision and decides to wait for her.  
  • Will Junior was born out of wedlock and then secretly raised by his grandparents. Mibs describes, “I might have been wrong in believing that Will Junior was Bobbi’s brother. Will had a secret. Now I knew his secret.”  

Violence    

  • After drawing on Will Junior’s hand, Mibs discovers that when ink touches a person’s skin, she can read their mind. Mibs panics, so Fish attacks Will Junior. Fish “spun him around, clocking him hard and fast in the eye with his fist. . . Bobbi joined the scuffle, climbing over the seats and throwing herself at Fish, scratching his cheek with her fingernails.” The fight ends when Fish finally understands why Mibs is scared and spits “a big, thick wad of juicy spit right into Will Junior’s hand. ‘Eww, man!’ Will hollered out in disgust.” The comedically chaotic fight lasts three pages, with no characters getting injured aside from scrapes and bruises. 
  • The group takes a detour at a restaurant, where they encounter the manager, Ozzie, being rude to one of the waitresses. After Ozzie fires the waitress and throws her final paycheck across the ground, Samson “leaned forward from his hidey-hole behind the counter and bit The Great and Powerful Ozzie hard on the leg.” The extent of Ozzie’s injuries is unknown, as the group immediately flees the scene. However, Samson’s mouth is not bloody, so readers can assume they were superficial.  

  Drugs and Alcohol    

  • None 

Language   

  •  None   

Supernatural   

  • Mibs and her family have supernatural abilities. For example, Mibs can read minds and Fish can create storms. Mibs once reads Will Junior’s mind, where he hints at having a secret.   

Spiritual Content    

  • The van driver, Lester, delivers Bibles, and Will Junior’s grandfather is a pastor.   
  • Overwhelmed with her new savvy, Mibs begs God to take it away. “I tried making a deal with God. I vowed that I would eat my green beans without complaint. . . If only I could stop hearing voices when someone nearby had ink on their skin.”   

by Kerry Lum   

I Escaped the California Camp Fire

When 14-year-old Troy’s parents leave him in charge overnight, he has no idea his life in Paradise is about to change. Unaware of any danger, Troy and his kid sister dive into a huge junk-food-feast and watch movies until 2 a.m. 

When Troy’s dog, Rascal, jerks him awake at 9 a.m., he’s alarmed to see that it’s black as night outside. How can that be? Then, he gets a bunch of panicked texts from his best friend, “I see flames. Get out of town.” 

Terror slingshots down Troy’s spine. He sprints to the neighbor’s house, only to have Mrs. Jones tell him to stay put. Wildfires happen all the time. But Troy can see flames rushing toward their home. Unable to reach his parents, and with a kid sister, a dog, and a cat to protect, he knows he has to act. How can he get them all to safety? They’ll never be able to outrun the fire on foot. He has to make a decision, fast. Does he have what it takes to escape? 

Readers will empathize with Troy, who is forced to make adult decisions that could have dire consequences. At first, Troy wants to rely on adults to make decisions for him, but many of them do not think they need to evacuate. But Troy knows that to survive, he must leave Paradise. Despite his terror and uncertainty, Troy takes action. Troy’s quick thinking and courage are admirable, making him a very likable character. 

I Escaped the California Camp Fire is a fast-paced story that incorporates facts about the Camp Fire. Troy’s experiences highlight the unique situation that the people of Paradise faced, such as having only one road in and out of town. Reading the book will help readers understand how the fire affected people and why eighty-six people lost their lives. To enhance readers’ understanding, the backmatter provides additional information about the Camp Fire, a timeline, and a list of additional books about fires.  

Similar to the I Survived Series by Lauren Tarshis, I Escaped the California Camp Fire explores a natural disaster without using graphic descriptions. However, Troy’s experiences will cause the readers’ hearts to race as he fights for survival. The story’s short, suspenseful chapters will appeal to even the most reluctant of readers. The likable protagonist and high-interest topic will appeal to any reader who enjoys a good survival story.  

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • The majority of the book focuses on Troy and his sister’s attempts to escape the fire. For example, Troy’s neighborhood is engulfed in flames. “Another series of explosions boomed, sounding like a giant’s machine gun mowing down the enemy. . . More patches of fire spots erupted in the distance.” 
  • Unsure what to do, Troy watches as “a propane tank exploded into a massive firebomb. The bright fireball lit the neighborhood. Flowing debris flew as if tossed by a fire god, casting destruction into the wind.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • Troy tells his sister, “Don’t be a brat.” 
  • Troy’s sister calls him stupid. 
  • Troy thinks the town he lives in is a “H-E-double-hockey-sticks kind of place.” 
  • When Troy falls, he exclaims, “Banana boogers.” 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • At first, Troy says he doesn’t believe in God. Later, he says, “Maybe there is a God.” 
  • Troy’s neighbor refuses to leave because, “I was born here and if it’s God’s will, I’ll die here.” It is implied that the woman dies. 
  • A woman tells Troy that her husband is not in town. She says, “Thank the Lord I don’t have to worry about him out in this inferno.” 
  • While talking to his parents on the phone, Troy’s mom says, “Let’s pray. Dear Lord in heaven, like Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego, give my babies safe passage through the flames, amen.” 
  • A neighbor tells Troy not to leave town. As Troy drives away, “he prays she was wrong because there is no turning back.” 
  • Several times, Troy prays. For example, “God, if you’re real. Let us outrun this fire.” 

Saving Animals After Earthquakes

On January 12, 2010, a massive earthquake rocked the island-nation of Haiti, destroying almost 300,000 homes and taking the lives of more than 200,000 people. Overshadowed by the terrible humanitarian crisis that followed was the fact that tens of thousands of helpless animals were left to fend for themselves among the rubble, many of them injured and without food. Would anyone rescue these animals after disaster struck? In Saving Animals After Earthquakes, kids will read the inspiring stories of organizations such as Best Friends Animal Society, which deployed a rapid response team to Haiti to rescue and treat injured animals in the debris-clogged streets. Readers will also meet animals such as Bells and Dieter, two pet dogs that were pulled out alive from the rubble in Haiti—less than five years after they were rescued in New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.  

Saving Animals After Earthquakes takes readers into the heart of disaster zones, showcasing the extraordinary people who risk everything to save animals in crisis. Through powerful photographs, the book reveals the devastating aftermath of natural disasters: buildings reduced to rubble with pets and people trapped inside, and flooded New Orleans streets following Hurricane Katrina’s destruction. 

The book features a diverse range of animals affected by disasters, from common pets like dogs and cats to farm animals, including donkeys and pigs, as well as endangered species such as the giant panda. While some images are difficult to witness, the stories of dedicated volunteers who leap into action to help these animals offer genuine inspiration and hope. 

The book’s accessible format draws readers in immediately. Each page features a large, eye-catching photograph accompanied by a text box containing a bold title and a concise paragraph. Every image includes both a descriptive caption and a purple circle highlighting fascinating facts. For instance, readers learn that “There are only about 1,600 giant pandas living in the wild. They live high in the mountains in central China. No one knows for sure how many wild pandas the earthquake affected.” 

The book concludes with a list of animals at risk from earthquakes, as well as famous earthquakes and rescues. There is also a helpful one-page glossary. Important terms appear in bold throughout the text, making vocabulary easy to identify and understand. 

Saving Animals After Earthquakes will captivate any animal-loving reader, but its true strength lies in the inspiring stories of rescue workers’ heroic efforts. The book successfully educates readers about the aftermath of an earthquake while building vocabulary with terms like dislodge, epicenter, and habitats. Most importantly, it presents complex information in manageable portions that inform without overwhelming.  

The book highlights two remarkable tools in disaster response. Specially trained rescue dogs use their exceptional senses of smell and hearing to locate both human survivors and lost pets trapped beneath debris. Meanwhile, social media platforms like Facebook have revolutionized pet reunification efforts. After the devastating 2011 Alabama tornadoes, an animal rescue center posted photographs of rescued animals on Facebook, successfully reuniting over 100 families with their beloved pets. 

Any reader seeking to understand natural disasters and their impact on both animals and the people who protect them should read Saving Animals After Earthquakes. Readers who want to learn more about natural disasters should read the fiction book series Disaster Squad by Rekha S. Rajan. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • The book includes pictures of the rubble after an earthquake in Haiti. “More than 200,000 lost their lives during the earthquake in Haiti.”
  • After an earthquake hit China, many pandas “were shaking with fear.” Many had injuries, but “a nine-year-old panda named Mao Mao was crushed to death by falling debris inside her pen. Another adult panda died from his injuries shortly after he was rescued from the quake.” 
  • The earthquake in China also hurt other animals. A rescue worker, Chen, “found many survivors, including one dog dragging his crushed back legs through the dust and debris.” The dog was given care at a shelter. 
  • One woman was trapped “under a collapsed building. For more than eight days, the dogs remained with her. . . When rescuers finally reached the woman, the dogs barked loudly so that the rescuers could find her and pull her to safety.”  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Diana and the Journey to the Unknown

Diana cannot rest until every kid is saved from Zumius, the alien boss who has kidnapped many children. After her voyage into the Underworld, Diana feels guilty that she couldn’t save every superpowered kid that Hades kidnapped. So, while the Amazons debate how to keep her safe, Diana decides to confront her enemies by herself. Determined to help, no matter the cost, Diana transports herself to a strange facility. 

After being drugged and thrown in a cage, Diana escapes outside, looking up to find three moons in the sky and no way home. However, nothing can stop Diana. She befriends some of the planet’s native inhabitants, but when the monsters tracking her threaten her new friends, Diana sacrifices herself by surrendering to protect them. This time, the guards take her to Zumius’s lair in the mortal world.  

When Zumius sends guards after Imani, the last superpowered child, Diana escapes once more. She emerges in an unfamiliar city filled with advanced technology and oddly dressed inhabitants. Despite facing extraordinary challenges for a twelve-year-old, Diana overcomes them with impressive resilience. Diana saves Imani and reactivates Imani’s powers. Then, Diana and Imani put themselves in danger to save the rest of the kids. With the power of the gods failing, no adults to help, and a skyscraper filled with guards in their way, Diana and Imani are bravely undaunted. Along the way, Diana discovers that, while she does have secret superpowers she never knew about, her real superpower is love—love for her family, friends, and people that push her to perform acts of wonder. 

Diana and the Journey to the Unknown serves as a perfect conclusion to the trilogy, although the sequence of events is somewhat overcomplicated. There are only a few implausible moments, such as guards repeatedly underestimating Diana, but these don’t overshadow the power of Diana’s character and the magic of this world. The Amazons are a great example of women empowering one another, and the kids Diana rescues will be an inspiration to kids everywhere. The rest of the story is well-constructed, using simple language and an easy plot that will engage the average reader.  

Readers who enjoy out-of-this-world adventures, Greek mythology, and amazing independent kids will love the world-jumping, new superpowers, and the brutish villains of Diana and the Journey to the Unknown. Diana travels to multiple worlds to save others, complete with monstrous aliens, magical poisons, and plenty of guards for Diana to outwit, all making for creative entertainment. Diana proves again that she’s a powerful character, accomplishing what even the gods could not by defeating Zumius. Overall, this is an inspiring story with a wonderful message: there’s always a way to adapt to the situation, no matter how hopeless it may seem. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • After Diana escapes from the alien facility, she encounters an alien called a Targuni in the woods. Assuming the Targuni has come to imprison her, she attacks them. “With a swoop, she lassoed the creature with a final flourish. The Targuni rose unsteadily to their feet. They tugged at the rope encircling their shoulders, pulling frantically, struggling to break free. Diana tightened her grip.” The Targuni eventually tells Diana that they mean Diana no harm, and Diana lets them go.  
  • When Diana gets recaptured, she breaks the bars on her cage and interrogates a nearby guard for her friend Imani’s whereabouts. “Diana didn’t have time to negotiate. [The other guard] could be back any second, and it would be much harder to fight two. Swinging her lasso, she hurled it toward [the guard]. It launched into the air and wrapped itself around him. He pressed his arms against the lasso as though he could burst it with sheer force. His cheeks turned bright red. A few seconds later, as she expected, his shoulders drooped in defeat. His head hung low.” She gets the information from him and lets him go.  
  • The second guard comes back, and Diana attacks him. “Before [the other guard] could finish his sentence, Diana struck her sword out, upending the food in his hands and splattering the cheeseburger against his face. Then she shoved him as hard as she could. He fell backward onto the carpeted floor with a loud groan.” She runs past him and escapes.  
  • Once she finds the rest of the kids, she fights the guard so they can escape. “Diana crouched, waiting for [the guard] to approach. He was almost there. His hands inches from her wrist. She sliced the air with her sword; it skimmed his arm.” It’s a small wound, and while there are a couple more punches thrown, no one is grievously injured.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • After grasping the cage fragments and teleporting somewhere new, Diana is surprised by two scientists who are walking into the room. They see her and assume that she is in an altered state because of a gas triggered when someone teleports into that room. One of the doctors says, “Be that as it may, she’s under twice the usual dose, and she’s definitely not one of [the superpowered] kids. There’s a protocol to prepare for their arrival. Some sort of glitch must have occurred. It’s not the first time.” This implies they have drugged the other kids into submission. However, Diana is unaffected by the drug and pretends to be unconscious to buy time. 
  • While trying to rescue the kids from Zumius, Diana discovers that they’re being drugged by a substance that induces the feeling of hopelessness, ensuring the kids’ compliance. Diana’s friend Augustus says, “The kids won’t do anything. I can’t be absolutely certain what it is he’s given them to cause their apathy, but based on the scent when he administers it, I believe he’s using a pazzo bean. It instills hopelessness in whoever imbibes it.” Diana is briefly drugged by this substance but manages to ignore the effects. 

Language  

  • Language is tame. Words like stupid, idiot, and imbecile appear frequently

Supernatural  

  • Diana is a superhero, complete with superpowers and magical relics, like the Lasso of Truth. She fights monsters, aliens, and gods. Every page of this novel exhibits some kind of supernatural content. However, the magic is primarily wielded by kids with superpowers without spoken spells, just the wave of a hand. Magic is also present in the landscape, such as the magical island of Themyscira, hidden from the eyes of men. The monsters encountered are mostly aliens, and, while fantastically described, they do not have supernatural powers.  
  • The kids Diana is trying to rescue are described by two scientists trying to figure out how to contain Diana. “‘I’m just saying. If she’s one of those kids, her size doesn’t matter. You’ve seen them,’ [one scientist] replied defensively. ‘The metal bender nearly ripped the door apart when the charm wore off a smidge. And [another superpowered kid] had my arms go soft like jelly without even touching me before we got the second dose on her.’” 
  • Diana’s powers are described after she saves a kid from falling off a play structure.  “[A girl] held up her device [for Diana to see]. [In the video] there was a shifting of green grass—a blur—and then there was Diana; she swooped in, grabbing Fiona before she hit the ground. Someone had captured the moment. How is this possible? Diana stared at the image as it played and replayed. She wanted to wave it away as a trick of the eyes, except it was her. The blur in the image was Diana. She’d known she could run fast, but seeing herself doing it. . . it was far faster than she’d realized. In this video, she was. . . impossibly fast.” 
  • While Diana is trying to rescue the kids, she climbs up a building and falls, discovering a new superpower. “Diana hadn’t fallen. She was levitating in midair; her hands were up and swimming frantically inches from the edge of the beam she’d slipped from. Diana gritted her teeth and, reaching up, she grasped onto a ledge. Hastily, she scrambled atop it and climbed onto the balcony.” 
  • After defeating Zumius, the kids need to figure out how to escape the skyscraper. A new friend, Aristaeus, can control insects and the wind. While escaping, bees flew through the open window and “propelled Aristaeus in the air. Diana shivered. They held him much like the [aliens] had held Diana up not so long ago [to capture her]. But this time was different. These creatures promised safety. Imani tapped her hands against the bees and closed her eyes—and within seconds, they flew invisibly through the air. As the kids let the bees sweep them up, Imani guided them to her home.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • Princess Diana grew up among the Amazons, a community of warrior women who worship the Greek gods. In Diana and Journey to the Unknown, she meets, fights, and even collaborates with a couple of them. The Greek gods or references to them appear on nearly every page of this novel. For example, when Diana confronts Zumius, claiming the gods will come to her rescue, Zumius replies, “The gods! They’re frazzled as can be, aren’t they? Hades was dishing out the yummiest gossip before they neutralized him. But the fact of the matter is it’s too late for any of your gods to actually do anything at this point.” 
  • Diana’s friend Imani is a demigod and the child of Zeus. Diana mentions this when trying to get Imani to activate her abilities. “Zeus—your father—said you could stay in our world and learn more about your powers and who you were. He said returning to this world—the mortal world—with your memories and powers intact compromised your ability to live a normal life. You chose to forget. That is why none of what I’m telling you rings a bell. But it’s all true. Every last word.” 
  • Once the kids find their way back to Imani’s house, Zeus appears at the end to congratulate the kids on saving the day. “Lightning crackled in the distance. The home rumbled gently beneath their feet before a white burst of light appeared in the room. Diana blinked. It was Zeus. He wore a white tunic and a gold crown and held an enormous staff in his hands.” 

by Kate Schuyler 

The Secret of Locker 24

One morning before classes start, Emily Turner sees something in her school’s hallway that brings her to a dead stop — Locker 24 is open. That locker has been shut for over two decades, and no one is allowed to talk about it or ask about it. . . and certainly not touch it. But Emily’s heard the rumors. She knows she should report it immediately. As a straight-A student and yearbook editor, Emily always does the right thing. But this time she just can’t. Instead, she finds herself unable to resist looking in the forbidden locker — and begins a journey that will change her life forever. 

As the yearbook editor, Emily believes it is her responsibility to create a yearbook that accurately reflects the perfection of her junior high. At first, Emily is so busy with schoolwork and other extracurricular activities that she doesn’t notice anything outside of herself. This all changes when she looks into Locker 24. For some reason, the locker’s past owner, Adriana, is trying to communicate with Emily. Even though Emily doesn’t want anything to do with Locker 24, her curiosity leads her to research Adriana. The mystery behind the locker propels the plot forward, and the actions of the past are connected to events currently unfolding at Emily’s middle school, allowing the reader to see that bullying has been and continues to be an often-overlooked problem.  

Emily is portrayed as a typical popular kid who is perfect and always wants to do the right thing. Despite this, Emily is neither judgmental nor arrogant. However, when she begins to research Locker 24, Emily realizes that she has a major flaw—she is completely focused on herself and her desire to portray junior high in a positive light. With Adriana’s help, Emily notices Hailey, who doesn’t have friends. Emily eventually steps in to protect Hailey from a group of bullies. However, Emily doesn’t stop there; the conclusion hints that Emily and Hailey will become friends, something that Hailey desperately needs. 

The Secret of Locker 24 is a compelling mystery that highlights the lasting impact of bullying. Both Adriana and Hailey give readers an understanding that being kind to others isn’t enough. Emily points out, “Okay, maybe I’m not actually doing the bullying myself. But that doesn’t mean I’m totally blameless. I still saw it. I still heard about it. And I did nothing. Nothing.” In the end, Emily steps up and stops Hailey from being bullied, demonstrating both compassion and courage. But more importantly, Emily befriends Hailey. This suggests that Hailey’s life will significantly improve because Emily took the time to notice what was going on around her. 

As part of the West 44 collection, The Secret of Locker 24 features a straightforward plot that employs simple language, appealing to students who may be overwhelmed by challenging vocabulary and complex sentences. The book enables students to explore bullying in a safe and age-appropriate manner, facilitating meaningful discussions. The hi-lo format makes the West 44 collection perfect for struggling readers.  

The Secret of Locker 24 is a fast-paced and suspenseful book that has many positive life lessons. Emily’s life seems a little too perfect—she’s a straight-A student, has two loving and supportive parents, and is liked by her peers. Despite this, Emily is a likable character who shows character growth. Emily’s eyes are opened to the problem of bullying, and she realizes that “asking for what you need isn’t a sign of weakness.” Readers who enjoy The Secret of Locker 24 should also read Haze by Erin Thomas. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • Emily’s mom remembers Adriana, a girl she knew from middle school. Emily’s mom said, “She met some of the other kids from school at the mall. Some real jerks. It was all a setup. I don’t know what happened, exactly, but I heard she was never the same after that.” 
  • Adriana was not only bullied by some of the kids in school, but some of the teachers were mean to her as well. “The kids said mean things to her or threw things at her. . . And the people who worked at the school would be nasty to her, too.” 
  • When Adriana was walking down the hallway, a teacher said, “Where do you buy your clothes, Adriana? From the mall on Mars?. . . Is that how you wanted to wear your hair today? Or did a crow get stuck in it?”

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • Emily’s mom talks about a person she knew in middle school. Emily’s mom says, “Truthfully, most kids thought she was a freak.” 

Supernatural 

  • One day at school, Emily notices that Locker 24 is open. Because of the rumors regarding the locker, Emily closes it. But then, the next day, it is open again. Emily realizes that the locker had only been open when Emily was alone in the hallway. Emily discovers that Adriana, the last person who used the locker, died “the same day. . . that [Emily] found the locker open.” 
  • Emily starts talking to the locker. “Then, just as Emily was about to walk away, the door began to open further. . . the door moved by itself.” As Emily looks at the contents of the locker, she sees a movie ticket stub. As Emily reads the ticket, the locker closes by itself, “the lock firmly back in place.” 
  • Emily helps Hailey, a girl who was being bullied. Afterward, “the heart sticker that had been on the inside of Adriana’s locker door was now on [Emily’s]. And the single word that was printed on it seemed more important than ever—love.”

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

The Jumbies

Young Corinne La Mer isn’t afraid of anything, especially things that go bump in the night. While all the other kids in her small island village are scared of the creatures in the forest, Corinne lives on its edge and has seen nothing to validate her friends’ fears. After her mother passed, Corinne refused to be afraid of anything anymore.  

A practical and shrewd protagonist, Corinne is suspicious of a new woman who arrives on market day. The other children avoid her like the plague, whispering that she reeks of the forest, and their murmurs intensify when she approaches the witch’s table. Yet this mysterious figure intrigues Corinne. When the stranger stops at Corinne’s fruit stand, Corinne greets her politely. The woman, who introduces herself as Severine, raves about the oranges and insists they possess an almost magical quality. Soon, Severine seems to be everywhere in Corinne’s life—seducing her father and attempting to mother her. The longer Severine stays, the more strange phenomena occur.  

Strange incidents begin plaguing the village: Corinne’s friend Bouki nearly drowns while playing by the river, the local witch grows increasingly on edge with ominous warnings about Corinne’s family, and an unnatural stench fills Corinne’s house whenever Severine attempts to cook. As an accomplished cook herself, Corinne refuses to let her father eat anything Severine prepares. But one evening, she returns home late to find her father in a strange trance, staring at a bowl of Severine’s soup. 

Severine then reveals her true nature as a jumbie—a supernatural, hideous forest creature who claims to be Corinne’s aunt. She insists that Corinne is half jumbie herself, which explains her extraordinary talent for growing divine fruit. Severine demands that Corinne join her in reclaiming the village and island for the jumbies. When loyal, honest Corinne refuses, Severine uses magic to banish her from her own home and begins controlling the villagers one by one, starting with her father. 

Left with no resources and shaken by questions about her origins, Corinne recruits several friends to defeat Severine and protect their village—because failure means none of them will have a home to return to. 

The Jumbies is a wonderfully macabre story with a straightforward plot and accessible language, perfect for younger readers. However, readers averse to horror may want to avoid it due to some heavy, scary elements. The adult characters, aside from the witch, play disappointingly weak roles—Corinne’s father succumbs to Severine’s influence with little resistance, which feels somewhat lazy. Despite this flaw, the novel proves inspiring and creative, expertly weaving Caribbean folklore themes into well-crafted worldbuilding that remains descriptive without becoming overly complicated. 

The Jumbies offers a creepy atmosphere, imaginative monsters, and youthful wit that will captivate readers. The book features supernatural creatures ranging from evil to good, and Corinne discovers that many are simply seeking a better home in a world that has banished them to the forest. While some use horrifying methods to reclaim their territory, Corinne proves to be a kind and intelligent protagonist who recognizes that monsters like Severine don’t represent all of her kind. Ultimately, this beautiful story delivers a sweet message: blood doesn’t define family, and home can always be found elsewhere. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • When Corinne first meets brothers Bouki and Malik, they steal her necklace, tie it to an animal, and giggle as Corinne runs into the forest to retrieve it. When she returns with her necklace, she finds one of them “[holding] a small frog in his hands over the top of the well. It was struggling, but he held it firmly. Their next victim, Corinne thought. Corinne let [her necklace] dangle from her fingers. Its smooth surface gleamed. The smile slid off the boy’s face.” The boys run away, though they later become friends with her. 
  • When Corinne sets up her food stand, a woman insists that Corinne stole her spot. “‘Go somewhere else, darling,’ the seller said. Her lips smiled, but her eyes were as hard as pebbles.” Corinne decides it isn’t worth fighting and sets up elsewhere.  
  • To get back at Bouki and Malik, Corinne sets a trap for them, making them fall into a pit of scorpions. Bouki “barely noticed the small insect that scrambled up the rope and out of the well. Soon there was another and another. Bouki jumped back. ‘Scorpions!’ he cried out. Malik dropped the rope and ran to his brother. There was a scorpion hanging onto Bouki’s tattered shirt.” Nobody is hurt, and this settles the score between Corinne and the brothers. 
  • While Corinne swims in the river with her friends, Severine attacks them. The witch notices Severine trying to drown Bouki and dives in after Severine. “[The witch] knocked [Severine] away from the children. The jumbie turned and dug her bony fingers into the witch’s flesh. She bore down hard. The witch raised her right arm and struck mightily at the jumbie’s chest. At the same time, she felt a sharp pain as her other arm snapped in two.” The children are fine, but the witch loses her arm. The scene is one page.  
  • After Corinne kicks Severine out of her house, Severine storms into the forest. In her anger, she kills an animal. “[Severine’s] hand shot out and grabbed a small furry creature by the neck. It wriggled as Severine squeezed tighter and tighter with her thumb and forefinger until the small bones snapped and the creature became still.” 
  • When Severine cooks a trance-inducing dinner for Corinne and her father, Corinne refuses to eat it. “Severine pushed the bowl of stew toward Corinne. Corinne jerked away, causing Severine to slop stew onto the floor. Severine grabbed Corinne’s wrist and shoved her to the ground, right into the foul-smelling stew. ‘You can’t resist me!’ Severine shrieked.” The stew burns Corinne. 
  • There is a brief mention of slavery as Severine recounts her history with her sister. “I had a sister. She pitied people. She went inside the ships and saw that some of the people were chained below. She helped them escape and swim to the island while I dealt with the others. Some of the people [on the ship had] chained up others and left them to rot in the bottoms of their ships. My sister felt sorry for them. I never did.” 
  • Corinne tries to escape from Severine with her father, Pierre. “Corinne grabbed her papa around the waist and tried to hoist him out of the chair. He was much too large and heavy and they both fell on the floor. She got up and began to pull him away, but Severine grabbed his other hand and pulled Pierre back into his chair. Then she picked Corinne up by the neck. Corinne struggled and kicked at the air as Severine’s fingers began to squeeze tighter and tighter around her throat.” Corinne escapes with minimal bruising. 
  • Frustrated with Corinne, Severine decides to call all the monstrous creatures of the forest to her aid. One of them, a soucouyant, attacks Bouki and Malik. “As they crawled back toward the fighting, they picked up several stones and shoved them into their pockets. When they were finally at the side of the road, they loaded up their slingshots and started to shoot. The soucouyant backed up at first, but then it barreled toward them in a blur of flame. Just as it was about to engulf the boys, an oar smacked it to the ground.” The boys and Hugo, the baker who saves them with the oar, are unharmed. 
  • In the aftermath of the creatures attacking their village, Corinne describes the bloody scene. “Every now and then, the children stepped over gory tracks where the wounded had been dragged off into the woods. Whether the victims were human or jumbie, they could not tell. The island had never been so quiet.” This is the only part of the battle described.  
  • However, the jumbies soon come back for Bouki and Malik, kidnapping them and dragging them to the forest. “A little jumbie man was right behind Malik. Bouki grabbed Malik’s arm quickly, but the [jumbie] caught Malik’s other arm and Bouki’s leg in a vicious grip. It dragged the brothers back between the trees. The fighting adults never noticed. In seconds, all that was left of the brothers was one fake coconut husk foot and the small straw hat.” The boys are recovered unharmed.  
  • Corinne’s friend Dru has to fend off a jumbie alone when she gets separated from her friends. She sets her attacker on fire. “The smell of burning fur filled the air. The lagahoo rushed forward and fell against the bush that had entangled Dru. The force of the crash freed Dru. Only torn bits of her shirt and a few strands of hair were left behind.” Dru is unharmed; however, she loses most of her hair. 
  • When Corinne confronts Severine, Corinne’s father is under Severine’s control and restrains Corinne. “Pierre put his hands over Corinne’s mouth. She stamped on his feet and struggled to get free but it was no use. Fishing out on the sea had made her father a strong man, and now that Severine had changed him, he was even stronger. Corinne looked at the fallen oranges. She brought her foot down on a large one and turned her face away as the juice flew right up into Pierre’s face. He howled again and loosened his grip long enough for Corinne to pull away. Corinne grabbed another orange and threw it right at her father’s face.” Corinne’s father gains control of himself, and no one is harmed.  
  • After Pierre frees himself, Severine accidentally falls off a cliff. “Severine flailed and managed to grab onto the rock face, but her green cloth snagged in the branches of the tree. She tugged at the cloth. The tree tipped again and tore away from the cliff. A branch swept her hand off the rock, and Severine spiraled down, down, down with the tree toward the sea far below.” There is no description of her beyond this, and the story implies that Severine is dead.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • The story features magical potions, though characters only reference them rather than actually drinking them. While advising Corinne, the witch explains that “everybody wants a fast, easy solution. Maybe if you took care of your skin, you wouldn’t have gotten the boil in the first place. Maybe if you worked harder, you would make more money. Maybe that person isn’t the right one for you. Maybe if you found a better way to farm, your crop would come up better. But nobody wants to hear those things. They want a bottle. Instant success! Something to drink, or sprinkle, or spill on the ground. They want magic from nothing.” 
  • In an effort to kidnap Corinne, Severine drugs Pierre. “Severine leaned in to make sure every single drop went in. She watched him intently as the liquid went down his throat, and something in his eyes began to change. They became cloudy, as if a storm was swirling right in his eyes. She watched Pierre scoop more of the stew into his mouth. Then he dropped the spoon and attacked the bowl like a greedy animal.” 

Language  

  • Language is tame, but words like stupid, idiot, and hell appear frequently. 

Supernatural  

  • This novel uses Caribbean folklore and references to the supernatural on nearly every page. Corinne and her friends have many interactions with magic, mostly through magical creatures called jumbies and potions, though Corinne does have abilities of her own.  
  • For example, Severine is a jumbie. Before obtaining human form, Severine cries about her missing sister, and as her tears hit the ground, “they turned into centipedes that scattered over the graves.”  
  • The villagers have many stories about jumbies. Corinne explains that the villagers talk about “creatures with backward feet, and women who could shed their skin, and women with hooves for feet. Even though her papa told her these stories were not true, there must have been a reason no one ever came this far into the forest.” 
  • While saving Bouki from drowning, the witch notices Severine “turn herself invisible.” 
  • When Corinne figures out that Severine is a jumbie, Severine lets her façade fade. “Severine came closer. As she did, her body shrank down a little. Corinne could see insects were crawling up and around Severine’s body. Hundreds of millipedes and centipedes, cockroaches, and beetles crawled in and out of the crags of her body. They dashed in and out of the fine fur and bored their way through her chest, so that Corinne could see straight through it like an old rotten tree.” 
  • Severine studies Corinne’s necklace and notes that “it was Forming Magic, an ancient power that was created at the same time that the very earth was made. It was bigger and more powerful than she herself — more powerful than anything she had ever known.” This is why Corinne can grow oranges unnaturally well.  
  • When Bouki and Malik defeat the soucouyant, they describe her. “She was a soucouyant — a malicious fireball that would suck the lifeblood out of anyone, even a baby. Her skin pooled around her, leaving Bouki holding the empty shell of her hand. He shuddered and let it fall with a slap against the rest of the discarded skin while the flame-body gathered up into a ball and hovered a few feet above the ground.” 
  • Standing a ways away from where the jumbies are attacking her village, Corinne spots a jumbie who has clearly broken away from the fight. “When Corinne looked up, the woman smiled, then shed her skin and burst into yellow flames.” 
  • In her final confrontation with Severine, Corinne cries out of hopelessness. However, “The tears that streamed down Corinne’s cheeks had formed a tiny, muddy pool around [a] seed. The seed trembled. Then it split open at the bottom and a tiny shoot of the palest green emerged from it and rooted itself into the ground. Corinne blinked. This was not the witch’s magic. It was her own.” The tree grows and tempts Severine to climb it.  
  • In the aftermath of Severine, Corinne and the witch heal the village by planting new orange seeds. “‘Grow,’ [Corinne and the witch] said together. The seeds began to sprout. A few people in the crowd gasped. The orange trees curved upward. They hardened and turned brown as they grew into each other and formed a solid wall that reached far into the sky. The trees looked beautiful, but more than that, they smelled delicious. The people in the village couldn’t resist picking the fruit and eating it on the spot.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • The book begins on All Hallows’ Eve. While walking with her father, Corinne overhears villagers talking about how “the spirits are out tonight,” and the children whisper about wanting to stay inside for fear of jumbies and the spirits.  

by Kate Schuyler

Can We Keep a Bigfoot?

When the Creepy Critter Keepers find a baby Bigfoot inside their clubhouse, they want to keep her as a pet. But then the Boggy Brothers come to town on a hunt to find Bigfoot themselves. The kids know they need to get their new buddy back to her mother soon. Can they take their furry friend home in time? Or will the Boggy Brothers catch up with them first? 

Anyone who has ever dreamed of meeting a mythological creature will love reading Can We Keep a Bigfoot? Right from the start, the kids know they must keep the Boggy Brothers, two comical villains, from finding Baby Bigfoot. The Creepy Critter Keepers disguise Baby Bigfoot, and readers will giggle at the illustration of Baby Bigfoot dressed up in one of the kids’ mothers’ clothes and makeup. However, as the kids search for Mama Bigfoot, they must protect the baby from both the Boggy Brothers and a teenager who dreams of being on TV. The author employs both humor and suspense to craft an engaging story that portrays Bigfoot as a loving, caring animal who looks out for one another. 

Can We Keep a Bigfoot? will entertain independent readers who are ready for longer texts and more complex storylines. To aid in comprehension, black and white illustrations appear every two to four pages. Many of the pictures show the characters, who are a diverse group. The books in the Creepy Critters Keepers Series can be read in any order because each book focuses on a different “creepy” critter. The book begins with a “Fact File” on Baby Bigfoot, which includes basic information such as abilities, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes.   

The four friends in Can We Keep a Bigfoot? are each unique and have different interests, but they all believe that protecting the Bigfoot is more important than money or fame. While much of the book is silly, it also shows that “there’s so much mystery in the world.” Instead of being fearful of Bigfoot, the kids show curiosity and compassion toward him. However, in the conclusion, Mama Bigfoot uses magic to give each kid a magical gift. The magic is a little off-putting because it is the only magic in the book. Additionally, it detracts from the kids’ kindness because it implies that a gift should only be given to someone who has helped. 

Can We Keep a Bigfoot? is an imaginative book that gives readers a picture of what Bigfoot might be like. With relatable characters, a comedic villain, and an adorable baby Bigfoot, the story is sure to delight readers. Readers who enjoy humor and monsters should also read The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids Series and the Notebook of Doom Series.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • After the kids help Mama Bigfoot reunite with her baby, Mama Bigfoot gives each kid a gift. To do this, Mama uses magic. Mama Bigfoot takes Mia’s hairbrush. Mama Bigfoot “rubbed the brush against her belly. Her wrists went in a circle. As she moved the hairbrush, it disappeared!” When Mama opens her hand, the hairbrush has changed to a “thick paintbrush. It held a faint glow. . . She swirled it over a page in her notebook. As she did, sparkling colors appeared on the sheet.” 
  • Mama Bigfoot changes a stone into a “silvery frog.” 
  • Mama Bigfoot changes a piece of tree bark. “Mama Bigfoot spun the bark around. When her magic was done, she showed Pablo his present. It was a small carved figure of a Bigfoot.”  
  • Mama Bigfoot takes Mia’s favorite pencil. “Mama Bigfoot stared at the pencil. As her round eyes gazed into the woods, it began to split. Pieces of the pencil turned into stems. Gold and silver flowers bloomed and burst forward. They sent showering sparks into the air.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Heidi Heckelbeck Has a Secret

Heidi is not excited to go to school for the first time. While her 5-year-old little brother, Henry, is thrilled to be transitioning from homeschooling to Brewster Elementary, Heidi is terrified to be entering second grade in a public school. What if the teacher is mean to her? What if her classmates are gross? Heidi spends her morning in a very grumpy mood, thinking about how much she wants to stay home with her mother. 

Heidi remains grumpy when she gets to school and enters Mrs. Wellington’s second-grade classroom. A girl sitting next to her, named Melanie, makes fun of Heidi for being smelly, and it makes Heidi feel even more like an “alien” outcast. Still, Heidi’s day improves when her classmate Lucy Lancaster is nice to her and sits next to her at lunch. The two quickly become friends. Later, though, Melanie puts Heidi in an even worse mood by ruining Heidi’s self-portrait in art class. The bully ends up going to the principal’s office, but Heidi is left feeling miserable. 

Melanie returns to class when Mrs. Wellington’s second-graders are in the auditorium rehearsing for The Wizard of Oz. Heidi would rather not participate in the play, but much to her dismay, Melanie (who plays Dorothy) tells the drama teacher that Heidi should play the part of the “scary apple tree.” When the teacher agrees, Heidi is furious. As the school day comes to a close, Heidi thinks of ways to get back at Melanie. At home, Heidi gets an idea. Melanie might be a bully, but Heidi is something better. Heidi is a secret witch! Back in her room, Heidi pulls out her favorite book, her Book of Spells. She finds a spell for memory loss, gleefully planning her wicked scheme against Melanie. 

Heidi Heckelbeck Has a Secret is told through third-person narration and follows 8-year-old Heidi’s first day of public school. Heidi’s “secret” remains a secret for the audience until the very end, adding a minor twist that sets up the fantastical elements of the next books. This installment focuses less on Heidi’s life as a witch and more on slice-of-life issues that children could face, such as bullying and isolation. 

Despite Heidi’s grumpy mood, she is a very compelling protagonist. She is very smart and ahead of her class, but she doesn’t come across as a know-it-all. Melanie’s harsh treatment of Heidi is inexplicably cruel, and readers will feel empathy for Heidi. Heidi’s feelings of anger, sadness, fear, and confusion are depicted realistically, and children of all ages can relate to her struggles. 

Heidi Heckelbeck Has a Secret is ideal for children navigating life changes or those who feel different from their peers. It teaches that, while things may be difficult at first, there are always friends to be made. Heidi’s method of dealing with Melanie’s bullying is retaliation (through painting Melanie’s smock, planning to throw apples at her in the play, and planning to cast a spell on her). The implicit lesson is one of self-reliant retribution, but the book does depict multiple adults intervening on Heidi’s behalf. School administration, however, is unable to effectively stop Melanie’s teasing. 

Heidi Heckelbeck Has a Secret features a large, spaced-out font, making it an ideal early chapter book for children to read independently. The book also includes illustrations on every page that are both aesthetically pleasing and helpful in understanding the story. Illustrator Priscilla Burris effectively conveys the characters’ emotions and actions, as well as the various settings and objects, through her simple yet effective drawings.

Children who enjoy reading about Heidi Heckelbeck may also enjoy the Lucy Lancaster Series, another magical series set in Heidi’s world. Between homework assignments and elementary school bullies, a little bit of witchcraft can go a long way. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • When Melanie paints a zig-zag over Heidi’s self-portrait in art class, Heidi retaliates by wiping her paintbrush “across Melanie’s smock.” Melanie tries to do the same to Heidi, but the art teacher, Mr. Doodlebee, grabs Melanie’s arm before she can get paint on Heidi. 
  • Melanie is playing Dorothy in the school play, The Wizard of Oz, and Heidi is playing the evil apple tree. Heidi imagines throwing apples at Melanie, and the scene is illustrated. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • Heidi’s favorite “growly word” is “merg,” and she says it every time she feels annoyed. She even writes it on the car window on the way to school. 
  • Heidi thinks that a “winter wonderland mural” in her school’s hallway looks “dumb.” 
  • Melanie is cruel to Heidi, calling her “smelly” in front of the whole class. 
  • Heidi and her classmates practice writing homophones, and Heidi writes: “School is a big, fat bore. Melanie is a mean, nasty boar.” 
  • Heidi teases her little brother Henry, calling him “a total Froot Loop.” 

Supernatural 

  • Throughout the day at school, Heidi feels like an alien compared to the other children. In art class, Heidi is told to draw a self-portrait, and she thinks, “Should I draw my alien self or my regular self?” 
  • Heidi’s secret is that she is a witch. After her rocky first day of school, Heidi pulls her Book of Spells out from a keepsake box in her room. In the book are the signatures of “The Witches of Westwick.” She opens a page that says, “How to Make Someone Forget,” and plots to use it against Melanie during the play to make her forget her lines. The spell is not cast in this book. 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

by Gabrielle Barke 

Class President

It’s time to pick a class president, and Mindy really wants to win—and she’s basing her entire campaign on snacks and being kind, so how could she NOT be chosen?

But there is one big thing that Mindy is not sure she can do—make a speech to her class about why she would be the best pick for president. Can Mindy face her fears and show the class—and herself—that she can be the best class president ever? 

The story’s protagonist, Mindy Kim, is a realistic and kind third grader with a relatable conflict—speaking in front of the entire class. Mindy’s fear is described in kid-friendly language that leaves readers empathizing with Mindy’s fear of public speaking. For example, when Mindy tries to give her speech to her babysitter, Mindy’s, “face felt really hot like I had a fever. I was holding the speech-planning sheet, but my hands were shaking so much that I couldn’t read what it said.” Mindy has a supportive network of people who advise her on overcoming her fear. For example, before giving her speech to anyone, Mindy practices speaking to her stuffed animals.  

Mindy’s struggle with public speaking highlights the importance of preparing and practicing before a big event. Even though Mindy didn’t win the vote to be class president, she is happy for the winner and doesn’t complain. Plus, Mindy’s father is proud of her for trying. Her father says, “I think you still deserve a prize for working so hard on your speech. You improved so much, and that’s a really big accomplishment!” 

After Mindy loses the election, her father reminds her that “the things that you promised in your speech—being everyone’s friend, being nice to everyone, and giving out snacks—those are all things you can do on a day-to-day basis. You don’t have to be class president to do all three!” Mindy’s story encourages readers to be kind, even when it’s difficult. Parents will want their children to emulate Mindy’s positive behavior and kindness.   

Class President is intended for readers who are ready to read chapter books. The story has fourteen short chapters, easy vocabulary, and illustrations approximately every four pages. The pages have oversized text and some complicated sentence structure. The black-and-white illustrations will help readers visualize the characters and understand the plot. Even though Class President is the fourth book in the Mindy Kim Series, the book focuses on one event that is concluded at the end of the book, allowing readers unfamiliar with the series to enjoy Class President as a stand-alone book.   

Class President introduces readers to the voting process, gives advice on overcoming the fear of public speaking, and includes fun Halloween scenes. The mixture of home and school life blends into an entertaining story that will help readers navigate through their own conflicts and disappointments. Readers who want to learn more about running for class president should also read Jada Jones Class Act by Kelly Starling Lyons. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • Mindy’s friend, Sally, calls a mean boy a jerk. Later, Sally says, “He’s such a big baby!” 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None

Crocodile Encounters!: And More True Stories of Adventures with Animals

Crocodile Encounters follows National Geographic explorer Dr. Brady Barr as he comes face to face with crocodiles and learns more about their behavior. Crocodile Encounters has four short stories, each broken into three short chapters.  

“Undercover Crock”: To catch a crocodile, Dr. Barr usually snares it with a rope, wrestles with it, jumps on its back, and then ties its mouth and legs. It’s difficult and dangerous. While visiting a school, a student asked, “Dr. Brady, why don’t you dress up as a crocodile and join the club?” So, Dr. Barr did just that. Scientists and artists made a strong crocodile that Dr. Barr could climb into. When Dr. Barr used the suit, he got an eye-to-eye view of a crocodile. 

“Toy Story”: While visiting a school, Dr. Barr asked students for ideas on how to catch a crocodile. One student suggested using a remote-controlled toy car with a camera attached. Dr. Barr thought the idea was great. He waited until the crocodiles were basking in the sun and drove the toy car into the area where the crocodiles were sunning. Unexpectedly, a big old crocodile jumped out of the water and ate the toy car. Months later, another scientist found the toy car and the camera. The camera had recorded the crocodile’s stomach.  

“Deep Dark Den”: In Costa Rica, 13 big crocodiles lived in a lake near humans. Dr. Barr was hired to move the crocodiles to a safer place, but first, he had to catch them. Since finding crocodiles in a lake is difficult, Dr. Barr drained the lake. When the lake was empty, the crocodiles had disappeared. Another scientist found a large hole. When Dr. Barr climbed into the hole, he heard a hiss. When he turned on his flashlight, crocodile eyes stared back at him! 

“Croc in a Box”: A very large and very smart crocodile lived close to a village in Uganda. The crocodile had to be moved. Dr. Barr wanted to move the crocodile to a zoo in the United States, but first, he had to catch it and find an airliner to fly it to the U.S. Dr. Barr caught the croc and put it in a large box. Dr. Barr didn’t think the crocodile would escape, but it did! Luckily, that was before it was put on an airplane. 

Crocodile Encounters takes a deep dive into the world of crocodiles from Dr. Barr’s point of view. Readers will be amazed as they learn facts about crocodiles and how to keep them safe from humans.  

Based on the hit feature in National Geographic Kids magazine, National Geographic Chapter Series features true stories that are divided into three short chapters. The book is packed with full-color photography, lists, and infographics. Some pages also include orange boxes that contain additional facts about the animals. For example, “Humans only have two sets of teeth, but crocs lose teeth and grow new ones throughout their lifetime.”   

Readers who are fascinated by crocodiles will find Crocodile Encounters entertaining and educational. The pictures will help readers understand how crocodiles see at night and other interesting facts. Dr. Barr’s love of crocodiles comes through on every page, but readers who don’t already love crocodiles will quickly become bored. Crocodile Encounters is an excellent book to use for crocodile research. If you love crocodiles, you may also want to read the Ancient Animals Series by Sarah L. Thomson. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • In Costa Rica, crocodiles in a lake were labeled problem crocs. “They were upsetting human neighbors by attacking dogs, cats, and even cows!”  
  • In most countries, when crocodiles are labeled problems, they are killed.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • Darn is used once. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Pokémon Adventures: X•Y Vol. 1

Pokémon trainer X was once a child prodigy but now stays locked in his house to avoid the paparazzi. His friend and fellow trainer Y tries to get X out of his shell. But when an evil organization called Team Flare and two legendary Pokémon destroy their hometown, X, Y, and their friends Tierno, Shauna, and Trevor must journey into the region of Kalos to defeat Team Flare. 

In this volume, X begins to discover the secrets of Mega Evolution, while Y tries her best to protect her friends from being attacked by Team Flare. Both X and Y realize they need to become stronger in the face of the mysterious, sinister team. As the volume progresses, X slowly comes out of his shell, and Y dedicates more time to developing her skills as a Pokémon trainer, each for the purpose of protecting the friends they love.  

This book is a manga series, which is a Japanese form of comic book. It is read right to left instead of left to right. All of the illustrations are in black and white, with clear font and endearing manga-style art. The drawings of the characters are cartoonish and stylized, featuring large eyes, and the panels are often slanted or irregularly shaped to create a bombastic reading experience. Onomatopoeia is often used, and the speech bubbles are designed for the Japanese language, which is read up and down, so occasionally the text can get a little cramped. 

The characters of Pokémon Adventures: X•Y are sympathetic, but sometimes a bit frustrating. X is dealing with increased anxiety after his many run-ins with invasive paparazzi, but as a result, he refuses to emerge from a mobile tent when his friends are traveling. He often is cold or quiet, and he forces one of his friends to take care of his Pokémon during his absence. That being said, these flaws are deliberate, and X is meant to be a hard person to like due to his traumatic experiences. Furthermore, X begins to learn that even though he feels alone due to his trauma, he has a network of people who care about him. 

In contrast, Y is incredibly bubbly and joyful and always keeps her energy up. Sometimes she irritates her friends, such as Shauna, and she may even irritate the readers. However, she chooses to be energetic to try to encourage her friends, particularly X, as she recognizes that everyone is going through a scary and difficult time. Y’s confidence, initiative, and charisma come together to make her an effective leader of the group.  

Pokémon Adventures: X•Y is an exciting, action-packed manga with plenty of subplots about friendship and bond-building. Any fan of the Pokémon games Pokémon: X and Pokémon: Y will enjoy seeing the game characters recreated in manga form, as well as dialogue from the game being used in the manga itself. However, readers who have fully played through the original games will still find enough new content and major plot differences in the manga to be entertained and genuinely surprised. Furthermore, readers who are unfamiliar with Pokémon or have not played the games will still find this volume gripping and fun. However, they might be slightly confused by some of the details of Pokémon’s lore.  

Pokémon Adventures: X•Y is a fantastic introduction to the series. Each character clearly explains their backstories and motivations for journeying through Kalos, and the side characters are well-developed and sympathetic. The world of Pokémon is vibrant and thrilling as it is recreated in the manga, with the illustrations elevating the narrative by making each experience visceral through visual stimulus. Readers will not only learn important lessons about stranger danger, but also about supporting friends through tough times. This fast and entertaining read effectively sets up the main characters and world. It is sure to get any reader hooked on the full series.  

Sexual Content  

  • A member of Team Flare notices that Y is coming to protect X, and wonders who Y is. She says, “Maybe she’s his girlfriend. Or just a friend. A friend that’s a girl.” 

Violence  

  • Pokémon battles are a very common phenomenon. Two or more Pokémon are pitted against each other to battle using their “moves,” which are sometimes physical and other times magical. The loser of a battle usually faints and can be revived at a Pokémon Center. The battles can sometimes endanger the Pokémon trainers (the people who own the Pokémon), but the Pokémon are never in danger of dying. 
  • Two large, powerful Pokémon of legend destroy X and Y’s hometown as they fight each other. “Aaaaah! The hill! It’s been blown away!. . . What is that? A Pokémon? Whatever it is, we’d better run for it!” yell two bystanders. 
  • Team Flare burns down X’s house in order to get an important tool called the Mega Ring. “We’ll break down the door and get in before those legendary Pokémon destroy the house.”  
  • Team Flare’s Houndoom (a dog-like Pokémon) bites Y instead of one of Y’s Pokémon. The team Flare member cries, “Whoever she is, she’s in our way . . . Houndoom!”  
  • A lion-esque Pokémon called Pyroar drags X by his collar. The Team Flare trainer says, “Bring him to us, Pyroar!”  
  • A Team Flare trainer threatens her Pokémon, implying that she might physically hurt it if it does not perform to her standards in battle. The Team Flare trainer says, “Give it your biggest punch! Or else . . . you know what’ll happen . . . ” Unfortunately, the Pokémon performs poorly. They are not harmed, but the trainer implies they will be later saying, “I’ll have to teach him a lesson, then.”  
  • A Team Flare Pokémon named Sliggoo fires acid at Y’s head, endangering her. “If you don’t hurry, your friend’s head . . . is going to melt into sludge with Sliggoo’s slime,” declares a Team Flare member. Fortunately, everyone avoids bodily harm. This battle spans over six pages. 
  • In a flashback, two paparazzi manhandle X’s Pokémon, including Kangaskhan, who are already tired from their previous battle. This worries X. “Come out, come out, little baby Kangaskhan!” exclaims one of the journalists. 
  • When hypnotized, Shauna tries to attack Y with a sword. Another character named Viola jumps in the way but gets knocked out. “Stealing the stone . . . and getting rid of the gym leader . . . it was all simple after that,” says the Team Flare member by way of explanation. No one else is injured. This battle spans over four pages. 
  • When Trevor refuses to show a sinister man named Lysandre a photo, Lysandre brings out his powerful Pokémon and surrounds Trevor and his friends, threatening them. He says to the Pokémon in a sinister manner, “Lunchtime! What would you like to eat?” Though he is threatening, there is no battle, since another master trainer named Dianthe comes in and tells Lysandre to stop. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language    

  • None 

Supernatural  

  • In this world, strange beasts called Pokémon exist. They are animal-like creatures that often have special powers, whether that is incredible strength and physically attack, or the power to harness the elements and make magical attacks.  
  • Shauna is hypnotized into believing she is trimming a Pokémon’s fur. The Pokémon Aegislash uses its hypnotic power to do this. “She’s being controlled by that sword thingie!” Y exclaims. 
  • A Pokémon named Lucario emits a psychic aura that protects the characters from Aegislash’s hypnotic power. “I see . . . the aura rising from Lucario is protecting those brats,” the Team Flare trainer realizes. 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

by Mia LaBianca 

Wildfire

Flames race toward Sam Castine’s summer camp as evacuation buses are loading, but Sam runs back to get his phone. Suddenly, a flash of heat blasts him as pine trees explode. Now a wall of fire separates Sam from his bus, and there’s only one thing to do: Run for his life. Run or die. 

Lungs burning, Sam’s only goal is to keep moving. Drought has made the forest a tinderbox, and Sam struggles to remember survival tricks he learned from his late father. Then, when he least expects it, he encounters Delphy, an older girl who is also lost. Their unlikely friendship grows as they join forces to find civilization. 

The pace never slows, and eventually flames surround Sam and Delphy on all sides. A powerful bond is forged that can only grow out of true hardship—as two true friends beat all odds and outwit one of the deadliest fires ever. 

In the first chapter, fire surrounds Sam, threatening his survival. At first, Sam is alone in the wilderness, giving readers a close look at Sam’s personal struggles. Not only is he grieving the loss of his father, but he is also worried about his mother, who is in rehab for opioid addiction. While Sam is trying to find his way through the wilderness, he often reflects on his parents, which gives him the strength to persevere. Additionally, his father’s wisdom and teachings enable Sam to make informed decisions and stay safe. 

When Delphy suddenly appears, lost and injured, Sam doesn’t think twice about helping her. Even though both want to survive, they don’t always agree. This, as well as their secrets, builds suspense. Both Delphy and Sam are likable characters, whom readers will connect with. Although the main conflict is surviving the fire, each character faces personal problems that middle grade readers will relate to. For example, Delphy believes that others won’t like her because she’s not pretty enough.  

Wildfire is a fast-paced story that draws readers in from the first page. Told from Sam’s point of view, the story is action-packed while allowing Sam’s character to be fully developed. The short chapters and straightforward plot make Wildfire an engaging, easy read. At the end of the novel, information about wildfires and practical safety tips enhances the reader’s understanding of one of the world’s most devastating natural disasters. Readers who enjoy Wildfire should also read I Survived the Great Chicago Fire by Lauren Tarshis and Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • The wildfire “quickly engulfed hundreds of acres, cutting off power to his corner of the country.” The fire was caused by arson. A radio announcer says, “Hard to believe there’s someone out there angry enough, or evil enough, or stupid enough, to deliberately start a fire in a tinder-dry forest.”  
  • During the fire, a “team of volunteer firefighters from Belfast. . .died trying to evacuate” people. 
  • Two brothers started the fires. Delphy and Sam are sleeping in a cabin when they see the brothers. “They’ve discovered the lanterns and are scattering oil and lighting the place on fire. . . the flames spread quickly.”  
  • Delphy and Sam try to sneak away without being seen, but the brothers spot them. The two friends get in a jeep and speed off, but the brothers follow them on bikes. “When the first biker catches up and starts screaming . . . she suddenly leaps up, swings her stick, and wham! slams him so hard he flies off his bike, and rolls along the trail like a rag doll.”  
  • The other brother continues to pursue Delphy and Sam. “The remaining rider edges in, gets a gloved hand on the side of the Jeep. . . Delphy grabs a gallon jug of water, and in one smooth motion, slams it upside his head. He goes over backward, landing hard in the dirt. . .” The kids escape. The brothers are not seriously injured.    
  • Sam thinks about when his father was killed. “The Hummer hit his truck in Afghanistan. How the gasoline tanker he was driving rolled off the shoulder of the road, turning the rig upside down. How he was trapped in the cab as the gas poured out and then exploded.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • After a car accident, Sam’s mother was prescribed “meds for the pain.” She quickly gets addicted to them.  
  • Sam came home from school and “found [his mom] passed out on the floor, barely breathing.” Sam called 911, and “they took her to the hospital and pumped her stomach and tested her blood for opioids.”  
  • Sam’s mom is in rehab. Sam is afraid that “my mother is going to die of an overdose.” 

Language  

  • Several times, Sam calls himself an idiot. 
  • Two boys intentionally set fires. Delphy calls them creeps and jerks. 
  • Delphy calls Sam a dummy. 
  • Sam has pledged not to swear, so when he’s upset, he says, “Double darn rat puke.” 
  • The radio announcer says he made a “bonehead move” by not leaving the area.

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • Sam prays that his mom stays in rehab. “No more pills, no more pills, no more pills. Pray for no more pills.” 
  • After the fire breaks out, a radio announcer says, “So we’re praying for rain! We’re dancing for rain!” 
  • Sam prays “that the wind will change and blow the fire out like a candle on a birthday cake.” When Delphy and Sam appear out of nowhere, the radio announcer says, “Oh my Lord! You sent me two angels in a jeep!” 
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