Review by Sara Francoeur
When someone you love is struggling with a big problem, all you want to do is help. But what if they don’t want your help? In Parked by Danielle Svetcov, two 12-year-olds develop an unlikely friendship while tackling hardships that would challenge most adults. … More Parked by Danielle Svetcov
Review by Claudine Yip
Have you ever gotten in trouble with a parent or teacher for drifting off into your own world? The disapproving look that follows is an expression eleven-year-old Ware is more than familiar with. … More Here in the Real World by Sara Pennypacker
Review by Sara Francoeur
After the sudden death of their missionary parents, the four McCready sisters between the ages of eight and fourteen are sent from their home in Borneo to faraway west-coast Canada to live in a seaside village on fictional Pine Island. Upon arrival, they find themselves on their own again. … More Pine Island Home by Polly Horvath
Review by Lisa Matthewson
Did you think having to practice the piano was bad? Twelve-year-old Sora has to practice hiding her father in a hole in the ground. If she makes a mistake, he will be captured by the North Korean military. … More Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee
Review by Natasha Zippan
Me and Banksy is the sort of book that I wish existed when I was younger, because I was as precocious as its protagonist. This middle-grade novel is smart, sophisticated, sardonic, and filled with modern art, social justice, and friendship.
… More Me and Banksy by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Review by Micah Killjoy
Oh, to be a thirteen-year-old saving my brother from child traffickers on a foggy San Francisco day in 1849. Thanks to the novel Gold Rush Girl, I got to imagine living just such a life. … More Gold Rush Girl by Avi
Review by Shalon Sims
Bloom, the first book in Kenneth Oppel’s new Overthrow series, is a breakneck thriller and a real page-turner set on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada. … More Bloom by Kenneth Oppel
Review by Ciara Javier
After losing his best friend Eddie in an accident, Tristan Strong is sent to his grandparents’ home in Alabama to heal from the loss. But on his first night there, Tristan encounters a sticky doll who attempts to steal Eddie’s journal, which contains folklores from both their grandmothers, and is Tristan’s last remaining connection to Eddie. … More Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
Review by Micah Killjoy
What would it be like to be eight-years-old during a massive societal upheaval? In Da Chen’s memoir for young readers, Girl Under a Red Moon, he tells the story of when China’s Cultural Revolution came to his home village, changing the lives of his family in surprising and horrifying ways. … More Girl Under a Red Moon by Da Chen
Review by Hira Peracha
Everyone lies. Or so it seems. Zoe’s biological father, whom she has never met, is in prison for the murder of a university peer and no one will tell Zoe the truth about what happened. … More From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
YOUNG ADULTING 