Best Books of 2023

This is my tenth Best of the Year list, but it didn’t even occur to me to observe that milestone by doing anything differently this year. So this list is going to work exactly the same way as the previous nine: I’ve categorized all of the children’s and YA books I’ve read this year into seven sections (I sometimes do eight, but I’m not including any novels in verse this year) and picked 3-7 of my personal favorites from each category. I’ve also included seven runners-up for the picture book category. Since I previously reviewed a couple of the books that ended up on this list, those titles are hyperlinked to my earlier post, which will be a significantly longer review. Of course, as always, this list is just my personal opinion and there are certainly many excellent books that came out in 2023 that I didn’t especially enjoy myself, or that I never even read. In particular, there were a few graphic novels I had planned to read that I just couldn’t acquire in time for them to make the list. As a final disclaimer, for what it’s worth, I am aware of the results of ALA’s Youth Media Awards earlier this week, but I had already compiled this list and written each of my blurbs prior to that, so, for better or for worse, none of the following thoughts and opinions were in any way influenced by the awards. 

Picture Books:

The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker

This wordless picture book is a perfect example of the fact that picture books are not just for little kids. With a series of pictures from the exact same vantage point, it follows the history of a community in an alternate world. But, as the title implies, the river and the tree are there the whole time. First, we see a small farming settlement develop into a walled city. As technology advances, the city takes on a steampunk-inspired aesthetic that gradually becomes more futuristic until it devolves into a dystopian landscape. Then, just as the tree is about to die, it sheds an acorn that grows into a new little tree. And who knows? The final picture features two people, indicating the possibility that a new community will grow in the same spot. Without a single written word, this book raises thought-provoking questions about whether history is linear or cyclical and about the relationship between the natural world and society.

Night in the City by Julie Downing

It takes a lot of work from a lot of people to keep a city running, and some of those people work night shifts. This beautiful picture book shows several different night-shift workers in several different job fields as they get ready for work, say goodbye to their families, commute to their workplaces, perform various essential tasks, and return home in the early morning. The second-person narration addresses the reader directly to contrast this nocturnal work schedule with the child’s cozy night at home, but since the nighttime workers all appear happy and seem to enjoy their jobs, the message comes across as positive and uplifting. Especially heartwarming is the hospital scene where a baby is welcomed into the world in the middle of the night. Many young readers will be fascinated by the pages that use cross-sections of buildings to show numerous people awake and busy at the same time. The color palette is mostly yellow and dark blue, which beautifully emphasizes the contrast between awake and asleep, between busy people and resting people.

Mine! By Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann

Several different animals discover a red apple just about to fall from the tree. They each declare it their own and lie in wait for its descent. None of them is willing to consider sharing, so who will end up getting to eat the apple? The rhyming text is full of fun onomatopoeias and technically-made-up words that are perfectly understandable in the context. The overall effect is humorous and excellent for building early literacy skills in toddlers and preschoolers. Each animal’s expectations are illustrated in a thought bubble, which adds additional educational value for very young readers. Adults can use this book to introduce cognitive concepts by asking leading questions such as, “What does Deer think is going to happen next? What does Bear think is going to happen next? Who do you think is going to be right?” Rohmann’s illustrations were created by relief printmaking on stained paper; the result is simple but distinctive pictures that have texture and thick black outlines. 

Dear Stray by Kirsten Hubbard, illustrated by Susan Gal

This story begins when a young girl picks out a “sticky, scratchy, spiky” kitten from a shelter. Her family doesn’t understand why she would choose that cat over the more fluffy, soft, and docile options, but the girl knows that she and this aggressive stray kitten need each other. Later, on one particular “spiky” day when everything seems to be going wrong, the kitten disappears, but (spoiler) the kitten later comes home and all is right in the end. This simple but poignant story describes the bond between a child and a pet, especially when they’re both a little too wild for their surroundings. The second person narrative voice and the repetition of the salutation “dear stray” give this story a poetic tone. The text is brief enough for older toddlers and younger preschoolers, but this book will probably be most appreciated by early-school-age children who are learning to read independently. 

Street Monsters by Barbara Joose, illustrated by Kevin M. Barry

Don’t judge this book by its cover; the silly street sign on the cover doesn’t do justice to the detailed, atmospheric illustrations inside the book. On a snowy night in the city, a young boy is kept awake by the scary sounds of monsters outside. Together with his father, he identifies each of the “street monsters”, including snow plows, delivery vehicles, and buses. The boy assures his father that the monsters are “helping monsters” and goes back to bed. Toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy the rhyming text, the monster imagery, and the juxtaposition of the imagined monster with the real vehicle. Slightly older children will also appreciate the comedic element of the child projecting his fears onto the adult. The book concludes with informational blurbs about the various city vehicles depicted in the story, describing their purpose and why they make the noises they do. 

Just Like Grandma by Kim Rogers, illustrated by Julie Flett

A young Wichita girl named Becca wants to be just like her grandmother, who is accomplished at beadwork, dancing, and painting. Meanwhile, Grandma admires Becca’s basketball skills and is proud to celebrate Becca’s success at tryouts. The text follows a pattern; each time Becca joins Grandma in one of these activities, they work together until Grandpa calls them in for a meal he has prepared. The exception is Becca’s basketball tryout, when they go out for pizza. This simple but beautiful story about familial bonds concludes by pointing out that Becca and Grandma both have their wish because they really are just like each other. This book includes a glossary as well as an author’s note, some information about beadwork, and a letter from author Cynthia Leitich Smith about the value of role models.

How to Count to 1: (And Don’t Even THINK About Bigger Numbers!) by Caspar Salmon, illustrated by Matt Hunt

Originally published in the UK last year, this is a hilarious spoof of a counting book that is sure to be widely enjoyed. It begins simply, with an image of a single apple and then a single elephant for the reader to count. As the book progresses, the illustrations get more complex, but the instructions stay the same: the specific thing we’re told to count is never pictured more than once. (Although it is later hinted that maybe we are allowed to count the additional items after all, and just maybe they all add up to a nice big number like a hundred.) The preschool-level humor is perfectly complemented by colorful, cartoonish artwork. Despite the goofy concept, this book will actually be very helpful in helping young readers master the rules of one-to-one correspondence and cardinality, which will set the groundwork for later math skills. For that reason, I would recommend this for younger toddlers as well as older preschoolers who already know how to count.

Other Picture Books:

In the Night Garden by Carin Berger

Big by Vashti Harrison

It’s Fall by Renee Kurilla

Scroll by Hui Li

This Little Kitty by Karen Obuhanych

Hello, Mister Blue by Daria Peoples

Pick a Perfect Egg by Patricia Toht, illustrated by Jarvis

Readers:

See the Ghost: Three Stories About Things You Cannot See by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka

Just like the previous books in this series, See the Cat from 2020 and See the Dog from 2021, this early reader relies on interaction between the text and the picture to tell a much funnier story than what would otherwise be possible with such a controlled vocabulary. The humor is perfectly geared for kindergarten-aged readers. For example, in the first of the three short stories, a ghost scares itself by looking in a mirror. The two other stories introduce the wind as an anthropomorphic (but invisible) character and a fairy who is likewise invisible. I highly recommend this book for children who are new to reading full sentences. With that being said, this book includes slightly more complex sentence structures and more multi-syllable words than its predecessors, so I recommend introducing the books in this series one at a time, in the order of their publication dates.

I See a Bat by Paul Meisel

A dog stares out the window and sees a bat, the stars, and the moon, before realizing that his food bowl is empty and he must wait until morning for his boy to refill it. This would be a perfect first book for a child who is just barely ready for full sentences. (Especially a child who loves dogs and/or bats!) It has only one sentence per double-page spread and each of those sentences contains only three or four mono-syllable words. The entire story is told using only ten distinct words, eleven if you count “bat” and “bats” as two different words. Children who are early in the learning-to-read process will appreciate that this book technically has a plot, but a very simple one that doesn’t require them to remember details while they are focusing on sounding out individual words.

How to Go Hiking by Jean Reagan, illustrated by Lee Wildish

From the creators of the popular 2012 picture book How to Babysit a Grandpa, this simple story shows a boy going on a hiking trip with his uncle. The book briefly describes what they do to prepare, what they see on their hike, and the blister that the uncle’s new hiking boots give him. Most sentences are in the four- to- seven words range and the text includes quite a few multi-syllable words, but none that will be unfamiliar to the average kindergartener or first grader. Large font and colorful, full-page illustrations will make this book feel accessible even to young readers who haven’t previously read books at this reading level. Recommended for beginner readers who have an interest in outdoor activities.

Fox Has a Problem by Corey R. Tabor

When Fox tries to use a giant fan to blow his lost kites down from the trees, he ends up creating bigger problems for the other forest animals. First, the fan blows all the leaves into Bear’s den, and then, when Fox tries to solve that problem with a vacuum cleaner, the vacuum cleaner’s bag blocks the opening to Rabbit’s burrow. In order to solve problems without creating a domino effect of new problems, Fox must learn a lesson about teamwork and listening to others’ suggestions. Like the other readers on this list, this book uses the illustrations to convey some of the plot points in order to stick to a controlled vocabulary suitable for new readers. Most pages have a single sentence and none of the sentences are very long or complex, although there are quite a few multi-syllable words. The woodland animal theme and autumnal color scheme may add an additional appeal factor for some readers.

Chapter Books:

The Princess in Black and the Prince in Pink by Shannon & Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

The Princess in Black is back for the tenth installment of her monster-fighting adventures. Like all nine of the previous books, which have made it onto my best-of-the-year lists every single year, this book is a perfect middle ground between early readers and chapter books. Although it is longer than most early readers with a more detailed plot and several “big” words, it also features colorful full-page illustrations, large font, and slapstick comedy including a climactic battle scene. In this particular case, the monsters are a herd of angry flightless birds (an emu and two ostriches) and the Princess in Black’s battle tactics are dancing and decorating, with the help of a mysterious new male co-star. 

Trim Helps Out by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Kristy Caldwell

Trim is new to his job as a ship’s cat and he’s not entirely sure what his responsibilities are. The ship’s parrot Jack gives him some instructions and information, but Trim is quickly sent on a new, “more important” job by a gray-furred, long-tailed stranger he probably shouldn’t have trusted. This is the second book in a new series, based on the real historical ship’s cat who sailed with British Explorer Matthew Flinders from 1801 to 1803. I haven’t read the first book myself, but this one introduces its lovable feline protagonist adequately to function as a stand-alone book. Although this book looks like an early reader because of its dimensions, I have chosen to categorize it as a chapter book. Not only is it divided into five chapters, but the historical fiction context, vocabulary, sentence structure, and amount of text all put it at about a second-grade reading level. However, the full-color pictures on every page and the comical animal characters make it suitable for young readers who lack confidence and don’t fully realize that they are ready for chapter books. 

Rhinos at Recess by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by AG Ford

I’m aware that the chapter book section of my best-of-the-year list looks pretty similar every year because, in addition to the newest Princess in Black book, it almost always includes at least one Magic Tree House book. I stand by that; I have loved this series since the late ‘90s when I was a tween borrowing the books from my little brother, and all these years later, I still think that the Magic Tree House books are some of the most well-written and educational books at this reading level, even if they do feel pretty formulaic now that there are 66 of them. (The numbering starts over after the first 28, so Rhinos at Recess counts as #37) To be honest, I’ve only read one of the two new titles in the series, so by default, this is the one that makes the list. In this book, Jack and Annie travel to the African grassland to save a mother and baby rhinoceros from poachers. Recommended for kids who are reading at a 2nd-3rd grade level and are already familiar with the series. For those who are not already familiar with Jack and Annie, it would be better to start with the first 28 books.

Graphic Novels:

Alphabuddies: G is First! By Beth Bacon and Karen Kane, illustrated by Eric Barclay

The letter G would like to have a turn being first in the alphabet, but A says G can never be first. If the order of the alphabet is changed, no one will ever be able to learn how to read, and reading will be destroyed. Or will it? Although this book’s shape, size, and reading level are consistent with the classification of “picture book”, I’ve chosen to categorize it as a graphic novel for the sake of this list because each page is divided into several panels and the text is contained entirely in word bubbles, that is, the dialogue between the anthropomorphized letters. This page layout makes it more suited for independent reading than for an adult to read aloud to a child. The humor is likewise geared towards children in the five-to-eight-year-old range. 

Squished by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter

Eleven-year-old Avery Lee needs something to change. She doesn’t really mind that her family of seven kids is loud and chaotic and she’s the default babysitter for the five “little kids”. But she could really use some privacy and quality sleep. Just when she’s ready to show her parents her plan for how they can rearrange the bedrooms to give her her own room, they say that they’ve decided to move another sibling into her room to give her older brother his own room. Now Avery is in charge of problem-solving her toddler brother’s resistance to sleep. Avery’s next idea is remodeling the basement to add a bedroom, but her family can’t afford it and none of her fundraising ideas work out. Then Avery’s world turns upside down when she learns that her parents are considering moving. Predictably, this crisis ends up being the solution to Avery’s bedroom dilemma. Her sibling problems and her epiphany about how much she loves her family are a little cliche, but heartwarming nonetheless, and the graphic novel format is perfect for simultaneously depicting the chaos and the affection in Avery’s family. This book will appeal to anyone who enjoys the numerous other realistic, tween-girl-oriented graphic novels that have been so popular over the last 13ish years.

Big Tree by Brian Selznick

In Selznick’s characteristic style, this book blurs the line between graphic novels and a traditional novel format, using a combination of full-page pencil illustrations and standard prose to tell the story of two sycamore seeds trying to find their purpose in the world. Another interesting and distinctive aspect of this book is that it features no human characters and very few animals. In fact, the plants, fungi, and single-cell organisms are only anthropomorphized insofar that they speak to each other. Big Tree is set in the cretaceous period and will appeal to kids with an interest in natural history or botany. The reading level is best suited for upper elementary or middle school. 

Middle Grade:

No One Leaves the Castle by Christopher Healy

Murder mystery, fantasy, and absurdist comedy all rolled into one, this book follows the debut adventure of the Lilac, a fourteen-year-old aspiring bounty hunter. Originally, she and her bard sidekick are told that their mission is to apprehend the wizard Runar the Unknowable, who has absconded with the Baron’s prized possession. The Lilac surprises everyone by succeeding, but not only is Runar innocent, he becomes the murder victim at the Castle Angbar later that evening. Before his death, he casts a spell, surrounding the castle in a bubble that keeps all the suspects trapped together. The Lilac must now solve the mystery by interviewing each of the residents, guests, and staff members in the castle. As she does so, she uncovers dark and complicated secrets about each of the numerous other characters. With its intricate plot and distinctive characters, this book fully lives up to its endorsement from Adam Gidwitz, describing it as “if Agatha Christie wrote the funniest D&D campaign in the world.”

The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

It’s 2020 and thirteen-year-old Matthew has had his life turned upside down by the COVID lockdown. His family has to be extra careful about avoiding exposure since his centenarian great-grandmother, who Matthew calls GG, has moved in with them. Even worse, his journalist father is stuck overseas until travel is safer. Mom doesn’t want Matthew sitting around playing on his Nintendo Switch all the time, so she assigns him to help GG organize her things. Initially, GG doesn’t want to talk about the old pictures and documents that they find in her boxes, but eventually, she opens up about her family history and the famine that her family experienced in Soviet Ukraine. Told through three overlapping narrative perspectives from two different time periods, this book is an immersive description of a historic event that is rarely mentioned in literature or in history books. In addition to depicting the horrors of an oppressive government, a preventable famine, and censorship due to biased journalism, this book also shows great sympathy for the ways in which the COVID pandemic affected the lives of contemporary children. Marsh does an incredible job of tackling all of these intellectual topics within an engaging and suspenseful storyline with a big surprise ending.

The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary Schmidt

Since twelve-year-old Hercules Beal’s parents died in an accident, he and his adult brother Achilles have been living together and running the family business, a farm and nursery on Cape Cod. At the beginning of the book, Achilles has just decided to send Hercules to a private school for the environmental sciences. Hercules’ new teacher is an eccentric former marine who gives each student in the class a different, year-long assignment that has something to do with Greek mythology. Hercules is, of course, given an assignment based on his namesake. He is supposed to find opportunities to recreate the twelve labors of Hercules and write a series of essays describing his real-life labors and what he has learned from them. Over the course of the school year, Hercules does indeed succeed in numerous large accomplishments that correspond to the twelve labors of Hercules, many of them benefitting his community, his family business, and the school. Along the way, he makes progress in healing from the loss of his parents and he learns that he doesn’t always have to accomplish his labors alone. Full of local color and comical repetition of Hercules’ idiosyncratic expressions, this book does a beautiful job of adding some depth to the common middle-grade trope of kids learning life lessons from unique school assignments. 

YA:

Someone Is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong

Blythe Warren has been part of a close-knit group of friends for her entire life, largely because the research lab where all of their parents work pays for them to go to the same small private school. Blythe is the quintessential good girl of the friend group, dutiful to a fault and overprotective of her sister Sydney. Her friend Tucker is charismatic but a troublemaker, while his sister Tanya is the mean one, and Gabi is sweet and sensitive. But then Gabi suddenly has some kind of mental breakdown. When she stays at school late to check on her friend, Blythe witnesses a horrible bloody scene, but later she remembers nothing. She’s told that she’s had a head injury, the assistant principal committed suicide, and Gabi is in a private hospital recovering from her breakdown. Later, Gabi escapes and attacks Blythe’s sister before going completely missing. As Blythe and her friends attempt to piece together what happened to Gabi and how they can help her, they find out that their families have been hiding far bigger secrets from them all. This suspenseful YA thriller is a darker, more mature take on some of the same plot points and philosophical questions as Gordon Korman’s Masterminds series. 

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

Mallory Greenleaf used to love chess, but she hasn’t played for years. Her dad is gone, her mom is struggling with chronic illness, and her two younger sisters are dependent on her income. But then Mallory’s friend Easton talks her into a charity chess competition, where Mallory beats world champion Nolan Sawyer and inadvertently puts her name on the radar of everyone in the chess world. This relatively light-hearted teen romance follows Mallory’s meteoric rise to the top of the competitive chess world while her relationship with Nolan shifts from rivalry to camaraderie to romance. Although I typically don’t like the trope in which a character tries something new and is immediately great at it, this particular book partially explains that away: Mallory did have excellent chess training as a child, she just didn’t play in official tournaments. I was on the fence about whether this book was quite good enough to make my list, but I’ve decided to include it for the sole reason that it made me nostalgic for my chess-and-scrabble phase. (I was better at Scrabble but spent a lot more time working on my chess) While this book may not be quite up to the same literary standard as some of the other books on this list, it was a fun read that made its subject matter very appealing. Parents may want to be forewarned that this book does contain some sexual content. 

Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier

In this dark fantasy, seventeen-year-old Kit Starling and her mother visit the small picturesque town of Rosemont to spend time with Agatha, the grandmother that Kit had thought was long dead. Kit is surprised to discover that her family is highly respected in the community and that she is treated as a guest of honor. After a series of disturbing events, Kit learns that her distant ancestor made a pact with a monster. He keeps the town safe and prosperous, but in return, every woman in the Starling family belongs to him. Kit is supposed to officially give herself to the monster at the upcoming local festival. Now she’s on a tight timeline to figure out how to extricate herself from a promise she never made. The gradual shift from an atmospheric but realistic setting to full-blown dark fantasy is so perfectly paced that the story maintains an aura of suspense even though most of the plot twists are predictable. 

Nonfiction:

The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Brett Helquist

On August 21, 1911, a man walked out of the Louvre art museum in Paris with a painting hidden under his coat. Despite the fact that this was the time and birthplace of forensic science, law enforcement had few clues and no suspects. It took over two years for the Mona Lisa to return to the Louvre, and in that time, it became the most famous painting in the world. Interspersed with the story of the high-profile investigation, this book describes the life and times of Leonardo da Vinci and the sequence of events that led to him painting the Mona Lisa. This well-researched YA-oriented nonfiction book provides readers with a wealth of information not only on one historical event and the contextual information about two different eras, but also on the history of detective fiction, forensic science, and some aspects of art history. Thanks to its short chapters, its humorous tone that frequently addresses the readers directly, and its illustrations, this book feels like a much lighter read than it actually is. Recommended for middle-schoolers, high-schoolers, and adults alike. 

The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music by Roberta Flack with Tonya Bolden, illustrated by Hayden Goodman

In this autobiographical picture book, singer/songwriter Roberta Flack describes her early childhood experiences with music. Although her family wasn’t rich, both her parents had musical talent and introduced her to the piano at a young age. Young Roberta dreamed of having her own piano, and one day when she was nine years old, her father found an “old, ratty, beat-up, weather-worn, faded” piano in a junkyard. He brought it home, cleaned it up, tuned it, and painted it green. Roberta grew up to be a talented singer and songwriter with a few number one hits and Grammy awards to her name, and she largely credits that green piano for her later success. Her story, told in lyrical text and cheerful, brown and pastel-toned illustrations, reminds readers how much can be accomplished with some creative problem solving and lots of practice. 

Why Do Elephants Have Big Ears? Questions– and Surprising Answers– About Animals by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

This nonfiction picture book is the kind of book that could easily get lost in the mix, the kind of book that could go months or even years without getting checked out from the children’s nonfiction section of the library because it’s so general that it gets shelved in the beginning of the animal section instead of being shelved under a specific animal’s call number. Kids are much more likely to ask “Where are the books about elephants?” than “Where can I find a question-and-answer book with fun facts about a variety of different animals?” But it deserves attention for its breadth of information, its visually appealing and child-friendly format, and its unique illustrative style, which somehow succeeds in creating realistic pictures via collage. Recommended for kids anywhere in the elementary-school age range, although children younger than about eight will likely need help with some of the vocabulary. 

How Birds Sleep by Sarah Pedry and by David Obuchowski

We all know that everyone sleeps, even animals, but have you ever seen a bird sleep? Even ornithologists find it difficult to study birds’ sleep habits. The authors of this beautiful nonfiction picture book have gathered facts on where and how various types of birds sleep. The Vernal Hanging Parrot of Thailand hangs upside down to sleep, the Black-Legged Kittiwake sleeps afloat on the surface of the North Atlantic waves, and the Sooty Tern native to the Caribbean can sleep while flying. The full-page illustrations depict a variety of habitats at nighttime. Succinct enough for a toddler but informative enough for school-age readers, this book could be used in a library storytime, in an educational context, or as a cozy family bedtime story.

Starlings

Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier, 2023

Recommended for grades 9 and up

Fantasy, horror

Brief Review

After her father’s suicide, seventeen-year-old Katherine “Kit” Starling and her mother go to visit Agatha, the grandmother she’d thought died long ago. Despite her grief, Kit enjoys the quaint town of Rosemont, where her grandmother is treated like a local celebrity and she herself is a guest of honor. But a series of disturbing events, culminating in the disappearance of Kit’s mother and the death of a local teenager, lead Kit to realize that Rosemont has a dark, sinister history and that the woman in her family have had a central role in it. She eventually learns that her distant ancestor Franny Starling made a pact with a monster. He keeps the town safe and prosperous, but in return, every female in the Starling family belongs to him. Kit is supposed to officially give herself to him at the upcoming festival. Now she’s on a tight timeline to figure out how to extricate herself from a promise she never made. With a dark and disturbing plot not-quite-hidden beneath its seemingly cozy and romantic setting, this YA novel falls somewhere between genres and is perfect for readers who like stories about mysterious family secrets. Some readers may choose to interpret the ongoing sacrifice of the Starling women as being a metaphor for generational trauma associated with domestic abuse. Kit’s eventual victory, which seems surprisingly simple after all her efforts to piece together cryptic clues, could be read as a message about consent. Or maybe, the Starling women’s pact is simply an example of the magically-binding-contract trope so common in dark fantasy.

Longer Review

It’s a few days before Christmas, and seventeen-year-old Katherine “Kit” Starling is on her way to her recently deceased father’s hometown of Rosemont, along with her mother. The book’s intriguing opening line, “She was supposed to be dead,” refers to Kit’s paternal grandmother, Agatha Starling. Kit is hoping that this trip will give her some insight into her family history and as to why her father has always lied to her about it. She quickly finds out that the Starling family is very important in the small, quaint, picturesque town of Rosemont. Her father’s childhood home is now a museum, the townspeople talk to Agatha as if they owe her a debt of gratitude, and everywhere Kit goes, people treat her like a guest of honor. 

Almost immediately upon her arrival, Kit meets a cute boy named Bear. Like her and her father, Bear is a writer, and Kit quickly bonds with him. Both Agatha and Bear are eager to show Kit around town. Agatha tells Kit about the local festival that will be happening shortly after Kit and her mother leave, and she decides to include Kit by commissioning a special dress for her. She also takes her to Starling House and tells about their distant ancestor Franny Starling, who saved Rosemont from starvation early in its history. Bear shows Kit the famous eternal roses of Rosemont. Despite Kit’s grief at the loss of her father, she is enjoying the ambiance of Rosemont and the company of her newfound grandmother and new friends.

But then one morning, Kit wakes up and finds her mother gone. Mom has texted Kit that she “need[s] some space” and will “be in touch”, but Kit knows her mother wouldn’t just leave. Neither Agatha nor the sheriff feel that Mom is in danger, so Kit takes it upon herself to investigate her mother’s disappearance. But that’s not the only disturbing thing happening in Rosemont. A local girl, just a year younger than Kit, has been found dead in the river that runs through the woods at the edge of town. When Kit goes to search those same woods for her mother, she sees a strange, otherworldly girl trapped in the ground, bound by tree roots. She leads the sheriff to the scene, but the girl isn’t there anymore.

Rosemont no longer seems like a cozy place to spend Christmas. There’s something dark and sinister going on in the town, and Kit realizes that it has something to do with her own family history. Agatha acknowledges this fact and promises to tell Kit the whole story, but that conversation keeps getting delayed. With the help of Bear, Kit breaks into Starling house to look for any clues. At first they don’t find much, but after a dramatic kissing scene in the family portrait gallery, Bear notices some papers hidden in the fireplace. They are journal entries written by the eighteenth-century matriarch Franny Starling herself.

Bear also tells Kit some dark details of the town’s history that she hadn’t previously heard, and between those, Franny’s writings, and Agatha’s story which she finally tells Kit the next day, Kit learns exactly how Franny saved Rosemont. The Starling family has made a pact with a monster. He keeps the town safe and prosperous, but in return, every female in the Starling family belongs to him. Kit is supposed to officially give herself to him at the upcoming festival; the disappearance of her mother was orchestrated to keep her in Rosemont until then. But he has already been interacting with her in ways she couldn’t have guessed. Now Kit is on a tight timeline to figure out how to extricate herself from a promise she never made.

With a dark and disturbing plot not-quite-hidden beneath its seemingly cozy and romantic setting, this YA novel falls somewhere between genres and is perfect for readers who like stories about mysterious family secrets. Some of the plot twists are a little predictable, and the ending felt a little anticlimactic. (Despite the implication that Kit’s predicament could only be solved by painstakingly piecing together clues left behind by her ancestors, the resolution turned out to be completely straightforward) But these potential flaws are easy to overlook because the book is so well-written. The gradual shift from a realistic but vaguely unsettling ambiance to full-blown dark fantasy is so perfectly paced that the story maintains its aura of suspense even without any truly surprising twists and turns.

Although there’s an undertone of sexual connotations in the relationship between the Starling women and Rosemont’s monster, and it is specified that Kit is bisexual, there’s no explicitly sexual content in this book. (At one point, Agatha assures Kit that she isn’t going to have to actually sleep with the monster) Some readers may choose to interpret the ongoing sacrifice of the Starling women as being a metaphor for generational trauma associated with domestic abuse, or for the dangers of equating feminine strength of character with the willingness to make sacrifices rather than the ability to make wise decisions. Kit’s eventual victory over the dark forces that have controlled her family for centuries could be read as an allegory reminding young women that they have the right to refuse sexual advances, or perhaps telling them not to feel compelled to prioritize their family’s expectations over their own hopes and plans. Or maybe, since Kit is shown enjoying books about “the dangerous world of fae”, Franny Starling’s pact is nothing more than an example of the magically-binding-contract trope so common in dark fantasy.

The Mona Lisa Vanishes

The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Brett Helquist, 2023

Recommended for grades 6-12

Non-fiction, Mystery

On August 21, 1911, a man walked out of the Louvre art museum in Paris with a painting hidden under his coat. Despite the fact that this was the time and birthplace of forensic science, law enforcement had few clues and no suspects. It took over two years for the Mona Lisa to return to the Louvre, and in that time, it became the most famous painting in the world. Interspersed with the story of the high-profile investigation, this book describes the life and times of Leonardo da Vinci and the sequence of events that led to him painting the Mona Lisa. It also relates the limited biographical information we have of Lisa Gherardini, the subject of the painting. Da Vinci is described as a genius with a serious procrastination problem and an inability to follow through with his commitments. The appraisal is historically accurate, but the author’s choice of words is humorous, as is his frequent reiteration that “Michelangelo was a jerk.” (His contemporaries and art historians are all in agreement on that fact)

This well-researched YA-oriented nonfiction book provides readers with a wealth of information not only on one historical event and the contextual information about two different eras, but also on the history of detective fiction, forensic science, and some aspects of art history. It also makes some interesting philosophical points by contrasting da Vinci’s unique perspective and thought process with that of the brilliant investigators who failed to solve the theft of the Mona Lisa centuries later. Thanks to short chapters, light-hearted prose that frequently addresses the reader directly, and lots of illustrations, this book feels like a much lighter read than it actually is. Recommended for adults as well as for teens and tweens.

No One Leaves the Castle

No One Leaves the Castle by Christopher Healy, 2023

Recommended for grades 4-8

Fantasy, Mystery

Brief Review

The Lilac, a fourteen-year-old aspiring bounty hunter, has just landed her first contract with the help of her partner, a rookie bard who goes by Dulcinetta the Dulcet-Toned, or Netta for short. Her job is to apprehend the wizard Runar the Unknowable, who has “absconded with the Emerald Axe of Angbar.” Except he didn’t do it. The baron has accused him due to an elitist prejudice against magicians. Later that evening, Runar is murdered at Castle Angbar. The Lilac finds herself in the role of detective, investigating both the theft of the axe and the wizard’s murder. Just before his death, Runar cast a spell, surrounding the castle in a bubble that keeps all the suspects trapped together inside. As the Lilac and Netta interview the Baron, his wife and two children, their four staff members, and their guest, Baron Garridan, she uncovers dark secrets about each of them, but she seems to be making little progress in solving the double mystery or figuring out how to dispel Runar’s bubble, which now threatens to crush the castle. Each of the characters has a distinctive personality and complex backstory, and the continual silly banter will appeal to a preteen reader’s sense of humor without distracting from the elaborate plot and atmospheric medieval-fantasy setting. Strongly recommended for most middle grade readers and potentially teens and adults also.

Longer Review

The Emerald Axe of Angbar has been stolen, and the baron’s butler, Gribbinsnood Flornt, has been sent to procure a bounty hunter. This task is outside of his comfort zone, so he follows the first recommendation he hears. Based on a song performed by the young bard Dulcinetta the Dulcet-Toned, he hires a bounty hunter known as the Lilac. Only after signing the contract does Flornt discover that the Lilac is, in fact, a fourteen-year-old girl who is just starting her career, and that she and the bard, who generally goes by the nickname Netta, are business partners.

Surprisingly, the Lilac quickly succeeds at apprehending the suspect, the wizard Runar the Unknowable. (Despite his name, Runar is not unknowable; he’s actually very famous) But Runar does not have the Emerald Axe in his possession. He tells his captors that the Baron Angbar hates magicians and especially hates him, since he is tutoring the Baron’s son. For the purpose of fulfilling her first bounty hunting contract, the Lilac and Netta travel with Flornt back to Castle Angbar to turn in the suspect. But when they arrive, it turns out that the Emerald Axe is in its display case. The contract specifies that the Lilac was to catch “the individual who absconded with the Emerald Axe of Angbar,” and since Runar did not steal the axe, the baron concludes that he doesn’t owe the Lilac any payment.

For the sake of etiquette, Baroness Hecatina invites the Lilac and Netta to stay for dinner. They are already hosting Baron Garridan. Along the way, the girls have also met the Baron’s children Araminta and Kade, as well as Chef Penumbra, the children’s etiquette teacher Madame Hofflig, and the guard, an ogre named Grymus. During the dinner party, Flornt discovers that the Emerald Axe has gone missing for real. Runar is accused again, and he decides it’s time to “[put] an end to this.” He casts a spell that surrounds the castle in a bubble, trapping the twelve characters inside together. Since he has come to respect the Lilac’s skill as a bounty hunter, he assigns her to solve the mystery.

The mystery quickly thickens. After the Lilac sends each suspect to separate rooms and begins the process of interrogating everyone individually, Runar is found dead. As the Lilac continues questioning everyone and investigating both the theft and the mystery, she uncovers secrets about every single resident, staff member, and guest in the castle. And she has her own secret, which some of her new acquaintances are figuring out at the same time. Meanwhile, Runar’s magical bubble around the castle is slowly closing in. In order to undo the spell, the Lilac must locate a page that was torn from Runar’s spellbook. 

An endorsement from author Adam Gidwitz describes this book as “if Agatha Christie ran the funniest D&D campaign in the world,” and I think that’s an apt description. Each of the characters is as complex and distinctive as if he or she had been created by a different D&D player, and the continual silly banter will appeal to a preteen reader’s sense of humor without detracting from the elaborate plot, full of surprising revelations about each character’s shady backstory. Recommended for most middle grade readers and potentially teens and adults also, because this story will appeal to anyone who likes fantasy medieval settings, complex mysteries, or comedic dialogue. I highly recommend reading this book in a relatively short time frame since there are so many small details that end up being important later in the story.

Turtles of the Midnight Moon

Turtles of the Midnight Moon by Maria Jose Fitzgerald, 2023

Recommended for grades 4-8

Magical Realism, Mystery

When Abby Duron travels with her father to his small costal hometown in Honduras, neither she nor her hostess’s granddaughter Barana are very enthusiastic about their families’ expectation that Barana will be Abby’s tour guide and “babysitter”. Barana wants to focus on protecting sea turtle eggs from poachers, and Abby is an aspiring wildlife photographer who would rather explore unhindered. And after all, both girls are almost thirteen, so why should Abby need Barana’s supervision? Within a couple days, though, the girls end up liking each other more than they had expected. Abby is fascinated by the turtles that Barana loves so much, and by Barana’s special connection to Luna, a turtle with a crescent-moon-shaped scar that matches a scar on Barana’s back. Despite being warned to stay away from the beach at night, the two girls team up to catch the poachers. Their new friendship hits a snag when Abby suspects Barana’s older brother Tulu. Told through alternating perspectives, this book includes themes of friendship, family ties, and the value of various kinds of art, including Barana’s poetry and sketches and Abby’s photography. The vivid descriptions of Honduras’s beautiful scenery and wildlife render this mystery novel somewhat slow-paced for its genre, but they add emotional depth and educational value. A hint of the supernatural sets this book apart from the plethora of other middle grade novels about protecting wildlife, especially since many of the pivotal scenes occur at night and there are frequent mentions of the local cemetery. Recommended for middle grade readers who enjoy dual perspectives in literature and stories about wildlife preservation.

Big Tree

Big Tree by Brian Selznick, 2023

Recommended for grades 4 and Up

Adventure, Historical Fiction

Two sycamore seeds are on their own after their mother tree is knocked down. Set in the cretaceous period, this story follow the seeds, Louise and Mervin, on their journey to find someplace safe to put down roots. Mervin thinks they’re supposed to find their way towards the Beautiful Mountain, but Louise senses that some external force is warning her of danger. Like Selznick’s other books, including 2008 Caldecott award winner The Invention of Hugo Cabret, this book alternates text passages with sequences of full-page pencil illustrations. Despite being over 500 pages long, it’s a quick read. It includes quite a few scientific tidbits, not only in terms of the life cycle of trees and the mention of dinosaurs and other prehistoric critters, but also highlights the communication between fungi and forest plants by describing mushrooms as “ambassadors” and has an underwater scene that describes the nearly-microscopic Foraminifera as Scientists because they have served as a source of data about their environment. Recommended for middle grade readers (as well as teens and maybe even adults) with an interest in botany, natural history, or environmentalism. 

This Is Not a Personal Statement

This is Not a Personal Statement by Tracy Badua, 2023

Recommended for grades 9 and Up

Realistic Fiction

Brief Review

Overachiever “Perfect Perlie Perez” is about to graduate from the prestigious Monte Verde High at only sixteen years old, and she has big plans for the future that hinge on her academic career at Delmont University. But those plans suddenly fall apart when she doesn’t get accepted to Delmont. Unable to face her parents’ disappointment, Perlie fakes an acceptance letter. By graduation, Perlie’s lies have spiraled out of control. Her new plan is to move onto Delmont University’s campus and pose as a student while she resubmits her application and gets accepted for the spring term. Perlie succeeds in moving into a vacant dorm room without raising her parents suspicions, blending into the incoming freshman student body, and even making some friends. But she struggles to pay for food without a student ID and to get in and out of the dorm without getting caught by campus security or the RA. And her new friends and experiences are leading her to question some of the values that have driven all of her decisions so far. Is academic achievement really the most important thing in life? Does she really want to go to med school, or is it for a good reason that the interactive entertainment major sounds so appealing? Despite the predictability of plot points near the end and some repetitive stream-of-consciousness passages, this novel has an intriguing premise that will keep readers curious and that will offer some validation and comedic relief to anyone struggling with the same pressures Perlie feels.

Longer Review

Perla Perez, better known as Perfect Perlie Perez, is used to being known as an overachiever. For Perlie, graduating from the prestigious Monte Verde High at only sixteen years old isn’t enough; she and her parents have spent years finessing Perlie’s Academic Plan, which specifies that Perlie will go to Delmont University and then med school. Her Filipino American parents and grandparents have sacrificed a lot to get Perlie to where she’s about to be. But that plan suddenly falls apart when Perlie doesn’t get accepted to Delmont. Unable to face her parents’ disappointment, Perlie fakes an acceptance letter. Unfortunately, Perlie’s Academic Plan didn’t involve applying to any safety schools. When graduation comes around, Perlie is still lying to her family and pretending that she’s on her way to Delmont. In the meantime, she has come up with a plan: she’s going to have her parents move her onto Delmont University’s campus and pose as a student while she resubmits her application and gets accepted for the spring term. Inspired by the Albert Einstein quotation, “Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible”, Perlie organizes a seven-part plan to make her Delmont dream a reality in spite of the setback.

At first, things go according to plan. Perlie takes advantage of inattentive move-in volunteers to sneak into a vacant dorm room and she has little trouble blending into the incoming freshman student body. The seven-part plan specifies that Perlie needs to “make a friend, but not a close one”, in order to gather information about the admission criteria and to make her presence on campus less suspicious. Although Monte Verde Perlie was always socially awkward and a bit of a loner, the new Delmont Perla quickly befriends a real Delmont student named Tessa. She also discovers that her high school classmate and academic rival, Camilla Kang-Jansen, is attending Delmont despite having been waitlisted and previously intending to go elsewhere.

Despite her initial success, it isn’t easy hiding in plain sight on a college campus. Perlie has to be very careful about entering and exiting her dorm room, and she has to come up with plausible lies on the spot whenever she crosses paths with the RA. After avoiding a couple close calls, Perlie returns one day to discover that campus security has removed her belongings from the room and removed the tape she uses to keep the door unlocked. And since Perlie told her parents she was given a “generous grants package”, she can’t count on them for much financial help. Within a few weeks, Perlie is sleeping in a storage room and has had to add a credit card and part-time job at a coffee shop to her plan. On the plus side, she has attracted the attention of a cute boy named Brand who invites her to gaming club meetings. And the only person who has figured out her secret is Camilla.

Although Perlie is on track to submit a new application with a stellar personal statement, she gradually comes to question whether Perlie’s Academic Plan is truly her dream or just her parents’ dream. Over a couple months, numerous conversations with Camilla, Tessa, Brand, and her coworker Jackson lead her to question the values and opinions that have driven all of her decisions so far. Is academic achievement really the most important thing in life? Is it actually true that students at “top schools” are superior to community college students, and are doctors superior to coffee shop owners? Does she really want to go to med school, or is it for a good reason that the interactive entertainment major sounds so appealing? Would Camilla have been a friend all along if Perlie hadn’t been so focused on competing with her? The old Perfect Perlie Perez and the new Delmont Perla are two completely different people, but since Delmont Perla is just a lie, who is the real Perla Perez and what does she intend to do next?

Just as Perlie is about to make some difficult decisions, a noise violation brings all of her plans and lies to a sudden end. The conclusion of Perlie’s story is predictable and more realistic than most of the events that led up to it, although it doesn’t follow Perlie far enough to assure the reader that she still has a bright future ahead of her, as I had expected. Some readers may not especially enjoy this book due to the necessity of suspending disbelief in some of Perlie’s misadventures, some clunky phrasing especially near the beginning of the book, and the repetitive nature of the passages focusing on Perlie’s internal monologue. But for readers who are dealing with stress similar to the crushing academic pressure that Perlie faces at the beginning of the book, this novel will offer validation, perspective, and maybe even some comedic relief. And even readers who are just looking for a light read are likely to be engrossed in seeing just how far Perlie manages to take her scheme.

The Superteacher Project

The Superteacher Project by Gordon Korman, 2023

Recommended for grades 4-8

Realistic Fiction, Science Fiction

Brief Review

Seventh-grader Oliver Zahn, the “number one rule-wrecker” of Brightling Middle School, knows that something’s weird about the new teacher Mr. Aidact ever since he foils Oliver’s much-anticipated first spitball of the school year. Told from multiple perspectives including four students and the principal, this story follows Mr. Aidact’s rise to popularity despite (or perhaps because of) his many quirks. Only the teachers know who Mr. Aidact really is: an Artificially Intelligent Designated Android Classroom Teacher sent by the Department of Education as a secret experiment. By the time the student body learns about the AIDACT project, their new teacher’s AI has picked up mannerisms, the appearance of emotions, and interests that have endeared him to the majority of the students. This book can boast of many of the same appeal factors of Gordon Korman’s numerous other books. For example, several of the main characters have humorous narrative voices, and like many of Korman’s most popular books, it starts with a seemingly realistic setting before introducing a plot twist that switches the story to an entirely different genre. As an added bonus, this book’s discussion of AI technology is sure to spark discussion about whether the AIDACT project may actually be plausible in real life. Finally, the frequent mention of field hockey and the role of the championship game in the climactic scene will make this book appeal to fans of the sports-story subgenre. 

Longer Review

The new teacher at Brightling Middle School is a little weird. The first person to have a problem with Mr. Aidact is seventh-grader Oliver Zahn, the “number one rule-wrecker” and best spitball-shooter in the school. Oliver has meticulously planned out the first spitball of the school year, but Mr. Aidact somehow manages to catch it midair. It’s also a little weird how Mr. Aidact keeps addressing his students as “pupils”, how many different subjects he teaches, and how nobody ever sees him smile or laugh. Besides that, his student teacher Mr. Perkins is significantly older than him and the two are never seen apart, no matter how many after-school activities Mr. Aidact adds to his workload.

At first, Mr. Aidact isn’t even a very good teacher. He explains things in the same confusing way every time. But then he starts to change his methods and win over students. Oliver’s friend Nathan has never understood ratios until Mr. Aidact rips slats out of a window blind to use as a visual. Unlike everyone else at Brightling Middle School, Mr. Aidact knows the etymology of Steinke Newhouse’s name and doesn’t call him Stinky. He knows the lyrics to all of Steinke’s favorite rap songs, and he turns detention into a trivia club. He even ends up coaching the girls’ field hockey team, which is the pride of the school because it won the state championship in 1974, back when Principal Candiotti was a student.

Told from multiple perspectives including four students and the principal, this story follows Mr. Aidact’s rise to popularity despite (or perhaps because of) his many quirks. Only Principal Candiotti and the other teachers know who Mr. Aidact really is. He is, in fact, a robot who has been designed by the government to function as a teacher, and his student Mr. Perkins is in fact a government engineer who has been assigned to monitor this experimental project and perform maintenance on the robot. Mr. Aidact can access any information available on the internet, which is why he knows every song lyric and every field hockey strategy. And thanks to advanced AI technology, he is able to adapt his behavior to give every appearance of having emotions. But since he is surrounded by middle school students, he eventually also starts to pick up adolescent attitudes and mannerisms. 

Oliver and Nathan are the first students to discover Mr. Aidact’s true identity. They start investigating him after he is able to implicate them in a “fool-proof” prank but doesn’t realize that they are responsible for the disappearance of Principal Candiotti’s prized field hockey trophy, despite both incidents happening on the same evening in the same hallway. Although they try to keep the secret, it doesn’t take long for Rosalie Arnette, an academic overachiever and a rising star on the field hockey team, to discover the same thing. And once Rosalie’s mother hears the news, everyone knows. Suddenly, the students and their parents have all turned against their recently-favorite teacher and the project has been declared a failure. But once everyone has had a little time to adjust to the news, the kids decide that they still like Mr. Aidact and they absolutely aren’t okay with the idea of sending him back to the Department of Education to be scrapped for parts. Mr. Aidact feels no need to save himself, so it’s up to the kids to concoct a daring escape plan and convince him to go along with it.

This book can boast of many of the same appeal factors of Gordon Korman’s numerous other books. For example, it includes multiple perspectives and several of the main characters have humorous narrative voices. (Although the characters in this book are not as memorable as, for example, the protagonists of Korman’s Masterminds series) And like many of Korman’s most popular books, it starts with a seemingly realistic setting before introducing a plot twist that switches the story to an entirely different genre. As an added bonus, this book’s discussion of AI technology is sure to spark discussion about whether it maybe is already plausible for a robot like Mr. Aidact to temporarily pass as a human being, and whether that would be a bad or good thing. Finally, the frequent mention of field hockey and the role of the championship game in the climactic scene will make this book appeal to fans of the sports-story subgenre. 

The School for Whatnots

The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddix, 2022

Recommended for grades 4-8; Science fiction

Brief Review

When Max was born, his wealthy family decided to protect him from other children’s greed by paying for him to grow up surrounded by “whatnots”. Instead of real human children, Max’s school will be populated by androids. As per the protocol laid out by the Whatnot Corporation, Max won’t find out that his classmates aren’t real until he’s in middle school. On the first day of Kindergarten, he befriends a “bouncy girl” named Josie, and for the next several years, they are inseparable best friends. But then at Max’s end-of-fifth-grade party, Josie makes some cryptic remarks about “whatnot rules” and not being allowed to go to the same middle school as Max. She also leaves a note: “No matter what anyone tells you, I’m real.” After Max tries in vain to contact Josie and starts investigating her disappearance, his parents tell him about whatnots and the Whatnot Corporation slightly ahead of schedule. But Max refuses to believe that Josie isn’t real. And he’s right. Josie is actually a real child from a poor family who was given the opportunity to pose as a whatnot in order to get a quality education. And as Max and Josie both soon find out, Josie isn’t the only fake whatnot. The Whatnot Corporation has even more secrets than anyone knew. Full of memorable characters, suspenseful plot twists, and interesting questions about the nature of friendship and how it is (or isn’t) affected by privilege, this soft science fiction story will appeal to many middle grade readers.

Longer Review

Maximilian J. Sterling was born eleven years ago into a family that could afford to give him everything that money can buy. But there are some things that money can’t buy. It can’t buy genuine friendships, ensuring that a child grows up surrounded by love instead of greed. It can’t buy the experiences that allow a child to learn that “his own soul is more valuable than money.” Or can it? Mrs. Sterling makes the decision to pay for whatnots. Instead of growing up alongside other real children, Maximilian’s school will be populated by androids who look completely human but who always behave perfectly and who will be completely unaffected by the Sterling family’s wealth. And since Maximilian won’t find out that his classmates aren’t real until he’s in sixth or seventh grade, as per the protocol laid out by the Whatnot Corporation, his social development will not be affected by the lack of real peers in his life.

On the first day of Kindergarten, Maximilian immediately befriends a bouncy girl named Josie. She shortens his name to Max, and from that moment on, Max and Josie are inseparable best friends. Years later, at Max’s party for the end of fifth grade, Josie makes some cryptic remarks about “whatnot rules” and not being allowed to go to the same middle school as Max. And then she leaves a note: “No matter what anyone tells you, I’m real.” Max has no idea what she might mean.

When Max repeatedly tries to contact Josie and even sneaks out to go to the house where he believes she lives, his parents tell him about whatnots and the Whatnot Corporation slightly ahead of schedule according to official protocol. But Max refuses to believe that Josie isn’t real. And he’s right. Josie is actually a real child from a poor family who was given the opportunity to pose as a whatnot in order to get a high quality education. And as Max and Josie both soon find out, Josie isn’t the only one. The Whatnot Corporation has even more secrets than anyone knew. 

Haddix is the author of numerous other middle grade novels spanning approximately three decades, and like most of her books, this is a suspenseful soft sci-fi story with numerous plot twists that gradually reveal that the world works completely differently than everyone thought. This story raises questions and offers answers about the nature of friendship, but also about the much more specific topics of the relationship between humans and technology and the degree to which socioeconomic status affects childhood experiences and friendships. It also features a variety of memorable and likable characters, including Max, Josie, their classmate Ivy and her sister Lucinda, Max’s Nurse Beverly, an android named Lola, and Frances Miranda Gonzagaga, the reclusive and enigmatic founder of the Whatnot Corporation.

In my opinion, The School for Whatnots gets a little corny near the end, mainly because the discussion of friendship gets a little too vague and nebulous despite being identified as the driving force behind all of the characters’ decisions and motivations. I also felt that the pacing was inconsistent and that some of the surprises occurred too early in the story, while the climactic scene taking place in a labyrinth full of androids ends up taking up nearly half the book. But my overall impression of this book is that its appeal factors far outweigh these quibbles and that it will be very popular with its target audience. Strongly recommended for any middle grade readers with an affinity for stories with plot twists.

Best Books of 2022

This is the ninth year that I’ve put together a list of my favorite children’s and YA books from the previous year, and to be honest, this is going to be my shortest and least comprehensive “Best of the Year” list yet. The following paragraph describes what I’ve done a little differently this year in order to adjust for my lower volume of reading this year. But I’m guessing that anyone reading this list is more interested in the books themselves than in my process for making the list, so you might as well skip ahead to the part(s) that interest you.

In the past, my formula has been to pick 3-7 of my favorite books from each of seven categories, and then to list 7 runners-up for the picture book and middle grade categories since those are the ones I typically read most. But this year, I’m only listing 2-7 books per category and eliminating the runner-up category altogether. I’m also including the titles of the 4 books that I put on my wish list and received for Christmas but haven’t yet read. In all four of those cases, I am relatively sure that the book would have made this list because I’ve enjoyed the author’s previous books and the synopsis was interesting. Finally, I have removed the graphic novel and verse categories for this year only because I never did find any 2022 books in those genres that I thought were exceptionally good. As in past years, any books that I’ve previously reviewed on this blog are hyperlinked to the original post. In order to save myself a little time and effort, in some cases, I’ve simply copied and pasted my original post.

Picture Books:

Bake Infinite Pie with X+Y by Eugenia Cheng, illustrated by Amber Ren

In this brilliant picture book, siblings X and Y learn a variety of mathematical concepts while baking pies with their Aunt Z. The picture book format and bright, simple illustrations make this book look easy-to-read, and the reading level is somewhere between first grade and third grade depending upon whether you’re looking at length, sentence structure, or vocabulary, but the mathematical concepts described include infinity, fractals, exponents, and even convergence to zero, which is essentially an introduction to calculus. Still, thanks to its narrative format with lots of dialogue, this book will have plenty of appeal for young readers, even those who think they hate math. The pie theme helps, too! At the very end, this book includes a recipe for banana butterscotch pie. Strongly recommended for mathematically-minded elementary-school-age kids or for homeschool families, especially those with students at a variety of ages.

Also by E.B. Goodale

Sometimes, a sentimental picture book has greater appeal for adult readers than for the children. But that’s not a bad thing; in fact, when I was a children’s librarian who regularly planned storytimes, I often liked to finish with a short book that I knew the parents would find sweet and touching. This is exactly that kind of book. It depicts a single moment in eight ways. Each of the four characters (child, mother, grandmother, and the cat) experiences the moment from a different perspective, but also, each of the four is reminded of a different moment from their own childhood. With minimal text, this simple story tells us how precious childhood memories are, especially memories that include the people we love, and reminds us that good memories allow us to be “here… and also there” at the same time.

Fiona the Fruit Bat by Dan Riskin, illustrated by Rachel Qiugi

It’s time for Fiona to learn how to fly, but she’s too scared because she doesn’t know how to find her way in the dark. Over the course of the book, she discovers the marvel of echolocation for herself. This story would be a great classroom read-aloud to teach early-elementary-school-aged students about bats or about sound and echoes. Its articulation of Fiona’s emotions will also resonate with children who have anxieties about the independence and responsibility that come with their growing skill sets. Due to the amount of text, I would primarily recommend this book for readers between the ages of four and six, but younger children may enjoy it if they are animal lovers.

Brown is Warm, Black is Bright by Sarah L. Thomson, illustrated by Keith Mallett

Despite the brevity and abstract nature of the text, this book conveys several messages and themes. In the tradition of countless other children’s books about colors, this book associates black and brown with a variety of adjectives, traits, and images from the protagonist’s day. The artwork depicts an African American girl playing in the forest and spending a cozy evening at home. The significance of the two titular colors is multi-faceted; race is obviously a central focus as emphasized by the subject matter of the books the protagonist is reading at one point in the middle of the story, but the first few pages focus on the role of brown and black in the beauty of the natural world, and the final few pages show the cozy, calm darkness of nighttime. The affection between the protagonist and her father is made clear in both the words and the pictures. The realistic artwork features an autumnal color palette, except for the last few pages which switch to a more bedtime-themed blue/purple color scheme.

Cats Can by Roseanne Greenfield Thong, illustrated by Ebony Glenn

Perfect for reading aloud, either one-on-one or as part of a storytime, this rhyming picture book conveys a combination of affection and exasperation (but mostly affection) for the antics and mannerisms of cats. The bright, two-dimensional artwork features four characters, two human and two feline. Older readers may notice that much of the text describes the kids as well as the cats. The human children seem to be biracial Black/Asian siblings, although the text does not specify either their relationship or their race. The cheerful-looking fluffy orange tabby and green-eyed black cat will make this book a great choice for cat lovers, and the full-page illustrations have bright, solid-colored backgrounds that will appeal to even very young readers, as confirmed by my ten-month-old daughter.

Hello, Moon by Evan Turk

This book succinctly introduces the concept of the phases of the moon by depicting a mother and child greeting the moon at various times of the lunar cycle. The child addresses the moon directly, talking about its beauty when it shines and reassuring it when it’s “hiding its face” during the New Moon. This degree of anthropomorphization allows the story to impart a positive message about shyness and solitude. The marbled style of the gouache and ink artwork, along with the black/blue/white color palette and the characters’ winter clothes, give this book a beautifully calm tone.

The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael Lopez

Woodson’s concise, lyrical text and Lopez’s vibrant, two-dimensional illustrations may seem simple and preschooler-friendly, but they pack an incredible amount of ideas, themes, and topics into a single picture book. The story depicts a brother and sister following their grandmother’s advice to overcome boredom, anger, loneliness, and fear through the power of their imaginations. It explores not only the common children’s-book themes of emotions and imagination, but also alludes to African American history, specifically slavery, and talks about adversity and resilience without using big words. Observant young readers will note that the narrator ends up internalizing her grandmother’s wisdom to the extent that the grandmother disappears from the story and the protagonist takes on her role in the narrative structure. 

Readers:

Get On The Ice, Mo by David A. Adler, illustrated by Sam Ricks

Mo Jackson, the protagonist in this Geisel-Award-winning series, is an aspiring athlete who initially struggles with each of the sports he tries. This time, it’s hockey. Mo can’t skate without crashing, but with the encouragement of his dad, a teammate named Amy, and his coach, he eventually succeeds in scoring the winning goal. Like the other books in this early reader series, this book has several sentences per page and numerous multi-syllable words, but also uses simple sentence structures and an easy-to-follow plot. Recommended for sports fans at a first- or second- grade reading level. 

Biscuit and the Great Fall Day by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Pat Schories

The Biscuit books have been popular for almost 27 years, and for good reason. The reading level is low enough for a kindergartener who is only just beginning to read full sentences, and for that demographic, it’s necessary for stories to be simple enough that the child can comprehend the plot without devoting much brainpower to remembering details. But it’s difficult for a story to be interesting without requiring reading comprehension skills. By featuring a lovable yellow puppy, this series more than makes up for the lack of plot. Biscuit’s realistic puppy antics provide lots of humor with minimal text. This particular book describes a day of apple-picking and is very similar to some of the previous books in the series, including Biscuit and Friends Visit the Community Garden from earlier in 2022, but the autumnal theme sets it apart.

It’s a Sign! by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey

This book is part of the Elephant and Piggie Like Reading series, a spinoff of Mo Willems’ beloved Elephant and Piggie early readers. Like Willem’s original series, this book’s text consists entirely of dialogue, making it non-intimidating for even a very young reader, despite having some non-phonetic words. It features four characters who start a club for writing words on signs but who struggle to come up with a fitting name for their club. As some reviews have pointed out, this book has a weaker plot than some of the other books in the series, but in my opinion, the target audience is likely to be won over by the humor and by the inherent appeal of stories about starting clubs. 

Chapter Books:

The Princess in Black #9: The Princess in Black and the Mermaid Princess by Shannon & Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

This series has been one of my favorite beginning-chapter-book series since the first one came out in 2014. But when the previous book came out at the end of 2020, I wrote that it was a little disappointing because the cast of characters is continually growing and has gotten to the point where it detracts from the plot. I guess I wasn’t the only person who felt that way because the problem has been resolved in this new book. This time, the Princess in Black is on a ship with just two of her hero friends. On their trip, they meet a mermaid princess who needs their help. She is about to fail at the most important job of a princess: protecting her kingdom. So the Princess in Black and her friends go to the mermaid kingdom to fight the kraken. But it turns out that, even though the mermaid kingdom is facing the exact same challenges as the land kingdoms, the Princess in Black’s monster-fighting abilities don’t work underwater. The mermaid princess must learn to fight her own monster, and along the way, she learns a few other things about managing a kingdom. Unlike previous books in the series, this newest title doesn’t depict Princess Magnolia (the Princess in Black’s non-monster-fighting alter ego) at all, but in all other regards, it maintains the tone and style of the rest of the series. 

Teeny Houdini #1: The Disappearing Act by Katrina Moore, illustrated by Zoe Si

First-grader Bessie Lee may be teeny, but she has a huge personality. When her teacher announces a talent show next week, Bessie is determined to use this opportunity to show that she has a huge talent, too. At first, Bessie isn’t sure what her talent is, but that problem is solved when her older sister Bailey calls her “Houdini” because of her interest in magic tricks. Bessie hadn’t known that magic is a talent that can make someone famous. Armed with this information, Bessie is now full of big ideas to show off her talent and attract attention. But Bessie’s classmates are skeptical of her powers, and Bessie’s attempts to prove herself keep going disastrously wrong. Although Bessie’s character feels like a rehash of Junie B. Jones, (but with diversity points for having a Chinese grandmother and an Arabic neighbor) this new series shows a lot of potential. Based on the series title, I assume that the magic-trick aspect will always play a role in the plot, which makes this series just niched enough to be interesting but not too niched for appeal to a large target audience. The reading level is perfect for advanced first graders and most second-to-third graders.

Magic Tree House #36: Sunlight on the Snow Leopard by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by AG Ford

The Magic Tree House series turns 30 years old this year and it’s still growing. In each book, siblings Jack and Annie take a trip in a magic tree house belonging to Morgan le Fay (of the Arthurian legends) to a different time and/or place, allowing them to explore and learn about history, geography, or wildlife. The series is interesting, educational, and usually full of feel-good messages. It’s one of my favorite chapter book series, mostly because Osborne does such a good job of telling an engaging story full of likable characters and fun facts despite the relatively easy reading level. In Sunlight on the Snow Leopard, Jack and Annie travel to Nepal, evidently either in the modern day or recent history. As in other books in the series, Morgan has left a cryptic rhyming note to tell them what their mission is; this time, they are looking for “the gray ghost” and must learn its secret. Although this book is numbered #36, that doesn’t count the 27 Merlin Missions, which come between #28 and #29 of the main series, nor does it count the one and only “super edition” or the 44 nonfiction companion books. 

Middle Grade Novels:

Wildoak by C.C. Harrington

Maggie Stephens is an eleven-year-old with a stutter in 1963 England, a time and place where children are often institutionalized for speech impediments. Maggie’s harsh and angry father wants to send her away for “treatment”, but her mother manages to negotiate a compromise that involves sending Maggie to stay with her grandfather in rural Cornwall instead. Meanwhile, Rumpus is a snow leopard cub who was separated from his sister to be kept as an exotic pet. When his new owner discovers that snow leopards are a little more destructive than kittens, he is abandoned in the same Cornwall forest where Maggie has been sent. When the two protagonists cross paths, Rumpus is stuck in an animal trap and needs Maggie’s help. Unbeknownst to him, he will continue to need her help due to the threat of deforestation. Maggie must find the courage to speak up for him despite her stutter. This novel is perfect for middle-grade animal lovers, especially those who enjoy survival stories or who relate to Maggie’s struggles with communication.

Yonder by Ali Standish

It’s June 1943 in the small Appalachian town of Foggy Gap and twelve-year-old Danny Timmons doesn’t know where his friend Jack Bailey is. Jack, an older boy who has been hailed as a local hero since he saved a couple children during the flood of 1940, is like a brother to Danny. Jack has been an especially valuable family friend now that Danny’s father has gone to war and Danny lives alone with his pregnant mother. The local police don’t seem concerned about Jack’s disappearance, so along with his longtime best friend Lou, Danny takes it upon himself to figure out what happened. Initially Danny suspects Jack’s abusive father of foul play, but when he finds the word “Yonder” carved into a tree, he wonders if Jack has gone off in search of the utopian village that Mrs. Bailey used to talk about before she died. The narrative of Danny’s search for Jack is interspersed with flashbacks from the past couple years, including details of Jack’s troubled home life and the sad story of a neighboring family who was driven away by racial prejudice. This atmospheric and introspective coming-of-age story covers a wide range of themes and motifs, most of which are articulated most clearly by Danny’s mother, but it especially focuses on the nature of courage and heroism. 

Other Middle Grade/Early YA Novels on my to-read list:

Sisterhood of Sleuths by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

The Patron Thief of Bread by Lindsay Eagar

The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Those Kids From Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly

YA Novels:

Riley’s Ghost by John David Anderson

This atmospheric novel stands on the line between middle grade and YA literature and also bridges the gap between realistic fiction and horror. After seventh-grader Riley Flynn tattles on a classmate for pranking her, a group of stereotypical mean girls including Riley’s ex-best-friend retaliate by locking her in the science room’s supply closet at the end of the day. By the time Riley escapes from the closet, the school is deserted. But as she explores the school, looking for a way out and trying to figure out why the doors won’t open from the inside, she realizes she’s not alone. One of the dissection frogs has become animated with the spirit of a former student named Max Trotter. And there’s another ghost, someone more sinister and powerful. Riley realizes that, in order to escape, she needs to find out who that ghost is and what it wants. This story takes place in a single day, but it’s interspersed with flashbacks and introspective passages allowing the reader to get to know Riley intimately with all of her flaws, past mistakes, and fears. Although Riley’s parents never make a direct appearance in the story, their relationship with Riley plays a significant role. In particular, her father’s ghost stories are alluded to constantly, mostly in the context of analyzing different kinds of fear. 

Summer’s Edge by Dana Mele

Just like every other summer, Chelsea is meeting her friends Kennedy, Ryan, and Chase (plus “the new girl”, Mila) at Kennedy’s family’s summer home. But this year is different. Last year’s vacation ended in a tragic fire that killed Emily. Chelsea’s memories of the incident are a little unclear and she spent most of the year in a psychiatric hospital, but now that they’re back together in the summer house, Chelsea starts to feel as if someone is leaving spooky, supernatural hints about what really happened. Later chapters from Kennedy’s perspective give some additional details about the drama and conflicts that occurred in previous summers, and it gradually becomes clear that no one is innocent and everyone has suppressed their memories of what really happened during the last two summers. The first half of the book leaves quite a bit to be desired in terms of characterization and pace of exposition; despite the small cast of characters, it’s a little hard to keep track of which personality traits and which backstories have been attributed to whom, and many of the allusions to past events are awkwardly placed and slow down the storyline too much. But the spooky twists and turns later in the book are well worth the wait, and the story culminates with the kind of satisfying surprise ending that feels as if it should have been obvious all along.

Nonfiction:

Building by Henry Cole

Illustrated mostly with black micropen and just a little bit of color, this nonfiction picture book describes the activities of two beavers over the course of a year. They start chewing and gnawing trees to build a dam in the late winter, which creates a pond where the beavers can build a lodge. Inside the lodge, the female beaver births and raises baby beavers. Although this there are only one to five sentences per page and no difficult vocabulary, (the most challenging words in this book are “gnawing” and “lodge”) the informational content will be valuable to the entire elementary-school age range and the artistic style is best suited for readers on the older side of that range. Recommended as independent reading for wildlife lovers or to supplement curricular materials on beavers or pond ecosystems. 

The Tide Pool Waits by Candance Fleming, illustrated by Amy Hevron

This nonfiction picture book describes Pacific marine wildlife and the repetitive change of the tides by zooming in on a single tide pool. The title emphasizes the cyclical nature of the change of the tides because it comes from both the beginning and the end of the book. In fact, the title page is cleverly incorporated into the narrative. Three pages of back matter include further information about each of the marine creatures depicted in the book, a diagram depicting the different tidal zones, and a few webpages where readers can find videos and virtual simulations of tide pool exploration. I would recommend this book for a young independent reader with an interest in marine biology, or, if you skip the informational back matter, as part of an ocean- or beach-themed preschool storytime.