The Girl with the Wrong Name by Barnabas Miller Mystery Psychological Suspense Thriller * * * Stars (Pretty good) Theodore (Theo) Lane has a new obsession – Andy Reese. She’s been watching him (and filming him for her documentary) for several days now at an NYC café, and when she finally gets up the courage to talk to him and hears his sad story, she can’t resist helping him. Andy has been waiting for a … Read more
The Dire King Jackaby #4 by William Ritter Mystery Supernatural Suspense Thriller * * * * Stars (Great!) Jackaby and his assistant Abigail Rook are facing the greatest challenge of their professional lives. The Dire King now has almost everything he needs to rip away the barrier between the Anwynn (Faerie) and the human world. In fact, looking back, now they can see his hand behind the troubles that have been brewing between their world … Read more
The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill Fantasy Graphic Novel * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) Greta is training to become a blacksmith and isn’t really seeing the value in producing something like swords, which no one really uses anymore. Then she finds a tiny green dragon – one of the tea dragons – whose caretaker introduces her to the care and keeping of these special creatures and it opens her mind to the … Read more
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll Graphic Novel Horror Short Stories Supernatural Suspense Thriller * * * * Stars (Great!) Emily Carroll shares 5 chilling tales in this short story, graphic novel collection. Murders, ghosts, voices in the dark, supernatural creatures, inexplicable happenings. Sharp reds bleed through black and grey pages, highlighting suspenseful and terrifying scenes. Corpses and blood and disturbing teeth permeate these pages, but scenes are not overly graphic. Those who enjoy the … Read more
Turtles All the Way Down John Green Realistic Fiction * * * * Stars (Great!) Aza, 16, has a lot of intrusive thoughts that she can’t escape – despite medication and the assistance of her therapist. For instance, she’s disturbed by the possibility that she’s not real, and terrified that she’ll become infected with C diff. (Clostridium difficile) – a potentially life-threatening bacteria – and in the middle of her first kiss she’s overcome with … Read more
The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan Realistic Fiction Suspense Thriller * * * * Stars (Great!) Amadou and his younger brother Seydou have been tricked into working on a small, remote, cacao plantation in the Ivory Coast. They are far away from their home in Mali, which they left 2 years ago in order to find work and make money to send back home. This “job,” however, doesn’t pay, and the brothers, along … Read more
Ms. Marvel comics written by G. Willow Wilson illustrated by Mirka Andolfo, Takeshi Miyazawa, & Francesco Gaston Comics Funny Supernatural * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) If you aren’t already reading Ms. Marvel, you should drop everything now and start. She’s a smart, funny, Muslim teenager who develops superpowers and must choose how to use them responsibly while maintaining her friendships and being part of her close-knit family. There are lots of timely topics … Read more
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Realistic Fiction * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) Starr Carter (16, black) lives in the neighborhood and works at her father’s store, but attends a mostly white school. She feels like she is two different people in each of these worlds and that she doesn’t quite fit in anywhere. When her friend, Kenya (sister of her half-brother Seven), invites her to a party in the neighborhood, Starr … Read more
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Vol. 1: BFF written by Amy Reeder & Brandon Montclare art by Natacha Bustos Comics/Graphic Novel Science Fiction Supernatural * * * * Stars (Great!) 9-year-old Lunella (Moon Girl) is frantically searching for the Omni-Wave Projector so that she can use it to reverse engineer a cure for humans who have been affected by the Terrigen cloud (those who have inhuman genes that change when exposed to this chemical). She’s … Read more
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon Books-into-Movies Realistic Fiction Romance * * * Stars (Pretty good) Japanese-African American teen Madeline Whittier has been confined to her house in a controlled, sterile environment for as long as she can remember due to SCID (severe combined immunodeficiency). “Basically,” she writes, “I’m allergic to the world.” She’s surprisingly well-adjusted, however, and has good relationships with her nurse, Carla, and her mom, and loves her online/homeschool classes. When new neighbors … Read more