“And then, Boom!” Lisa Fipps

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Random House). To be published May 7, 2024. 244 p.

Joe is in 6th grade with a mother who regularly disappears, leaving him with his grandmother. To understand the many changes in his life he uses comic book analogies, knowing change happens with “and then BOOM!” moments. Joe has had many of these, but the biggest came when his mother got arrested, his grandmother put her house up for bail money, but it had to be sold when his mom didn’t show up at court. Now homeless they lived in his grandmother’s car, struggling to find places to wash up and eat.

After a few weeks they found a rickety mobile home, but change came when his grandmother died. Joe’s mom returned but abandoned him. With no money or food, Joe ate the free breakfast and lunch at school plus his teacher’s snacks, but worried about the upcoming summer break. Two friends loaded him up with food before leaving for vacation, but it spoiled when the electricity was turned off. As days and weeks passed without eating, Joe was starving. Will he make it through the summer?

“And then BOOM!” is a heartbreaking story played out across this country, and the world, every day. In her foreword the author indicates Joe’s story is also her story, and she wrote it to let kids like Joe know they’re not alone. THIS is why books need to remain on shelves and not be banned. Every book has a reader who sees themselves, and that book could be the difference between life and death for them. This book would make an excellent middle school book club read, as students could discuss what each “and then BOOM!” moment meant to Joe as well as ways to help kids like him.

Highly recommended for ages 11-14.

“Heroes: A novel of Pearl Harbor” Alan Gratz

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Scholastic Press (Scholastic). 219 p. (Includes “The Arsenal of Democracy” comic, “Author’s note,” “About the story,” “Asian Americans in Comics”, and “The Legacy of Pearl Harbor.”) To be published February 6, 2024).

Thirteen-year-old Frank and his best friend Stanley shared a love for comic books, where they lived on the Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii where their dads worked. Frank was the writer, while Stanley made the storyline come alive with amazing drawings. At his father’s last posting Frank had a bad experience, which made him afraid of everything. Before he could do anything, he spent minutes thinking of things that could go wrong and forgot how to live his life. Fear coated everything he did.

Everything was peaceful until the morning of December 7, 1941, when hundreds of Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor. The boys had been on the Utah, visiting his sister’s boyfriend Brooks, when the attack began. The Utah was hit, and they had to abandon ship, but Frank was petrified with fear. Brooks had to shake him out of it and helped him escape, then disappeared. When he was found dead Frank blamed himself.

As he and Stanley frantically tried to reunite with their families Frank realized his best friend was now seen as the enemy because his mother was Japanese. Though Stanley was born in the United States everyone only saw his face and didn’t care that he was Japanese American. With America now at war, if Frank wanted to keep their friendship in the strange new world which they were both now part of, he would have to grow a backbone and overcome his fear of being afraid of everything.

Middle school readers will learn not only about the Pearl Harbor attack but what it was like to be Japanese American during a time of anti-Japanese sentiment in Hawaii and the rest of the country. Alan Gratz does an excellent job with his research and end notes to help his young readers learn more about this troubled period of history.

Highly recommended for ages 12 and older.

“Amil and the after” Veera Hiranandani

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Kokila (Penguin Random House). 244 p. (Includes “Glossary” and “Author’s note.”). To be published January 23, 2024.

In this sequel to “The night diary,” twelve-year-old Amil is having a hard time, as memories from the horrors of his family’s forced crossing from Pakistan to India threatens to overwhelm him. Though his family is both Hindu and Muslim, all Muslims were being forced to leave the place he’d called home for his entire life. Amil will never forget almost dying of thirst and the torturous voyage.

After their ordeal, his twin sister Nisha had been mute. Though she now speaks a little, she spends her time writing stories in her diary. For Amil, drawing seems to be the only thing that calms him so, whenever he has issues with his father, feels frustrated at school, or is lonely, he buries himself in illustrating his world and writing notes to his dead mother.

School is hard for Amil, as he finds it hard to concentrate. His two wishes are for a bicycle and for a best friend, but neither seem possible until he meets Vishal at school. Though thin and always hungry, Vishal is the first boy who wants to spend time with him. Amil is thrilled to have a friend but, when he finds out Vishal has been living in the street, is very sick, has no family members, and is posing as a Hindu to avoid violence aimed at Muslims, his eyes are opened to his own blessings. Amil finds ways to confront his own painful memories to make sure his friend lives to have his own.

Hiranandani’s descriptions of the 1947 partition of India and its effect on the previously tolerant population is eye-opening. Though Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus had gotten along well for over three hundred years, it was difficult to understand why people turn on each other in chillingly murderous ways.

Recommended for ages 14 and older.

“Artifice” Sharon Cameron

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Scholastic Press (Scholastic). 381 p. (Includes “Author’s note.”) To be published November 7, 2023.

The Nazi invasion ended the life Isa’s parents and artist friends enjoyed at their art gallery in Amsterdam. After her mother died her father lost his ability to think rationally, so she had to make sure they had food and a place to live. She needed money to pay taxes on the gallery, so headed to an auction house with her father’s imitation Rembrandt. Unfortunately Michel, a Nazi soldier, knew the painting she sold to Hitler’s agent was fake. He threatened to turn her in if she didn’t help him escape to Switzerland.

Truus worked for the Resistance and needed money to smuggle Jewish babies out of the city. Isa gave her the money she’d gotten for the Rembrandt, and decided Nazis should pay for their escape. She needed to figure out how to turn her father’s paintings of the masters into credible forgeries, and knew painter Hans van Meegeren would be her unsuspecting teacher because Michel told her he sold Hermann Goering’s agent a Vermeer. She knew it was forged because she had the real one hidden in her gallery. Isa didn’t know the Nazis were looking for a woman with red hair who worked for the Resistance and caused many Nazi deaths. She has red hair.

“Artifice” weaves Isa’s story between scenes from the lives of real-life characters like Hans van Meegeren, as well as Johan van Hulst and Henriette Pimentel who saved over 600 Jewish babies from being killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Readers also learn about Hannie Schaft, the red-haired woman who gave the Nazis angst, as well as many other brave Dutchmen and women. Details about them are in the Author’s Note.

Highly recommended for Adults.

“Beholder” Ryan La Sala

Rated 4 stars **** ARC. Push (Scholastic). 340 p. To be published October 3, 2023.

Athanasios’ parents died in a fire when he was six years old, so he grew up with his yiayia and her superstitions. His Greek grandmother spent her life whispering into a hand mirror, warning him about an evil eye coming after them. Though yiayia cautioned him against looking into mirrors he disobeyed, discovering they allow him to see into the past. Whenever he glances into a mirror he is mesmerized, as he feels something evil rushing towards him.

Years passed and Athan has become weary of his grandmother’s delusions. When he is accused of murder after everyone is killed at a party he attends and yiayia disappears, everything begins to unravel. Dom, a boy who hid him during the party and with whom he’s fallen in love, is the only one who can help him find her and make sense of what turned his life upside down. Can they stop a monster that has killed many over the years and is hungry for more blood?

Those of you who’ve read anything by La Sala know he has a very imaginative writing style that makes you leave all the lights on while reading at night. Prepare for a large electric bill with “Beholder.” Cue an evil laugh, eerie music, lightning flashes, and thunder rolls. Don’t say you weren’t warned…

Recommended for ages 17 and older.

“The brighter the light” Mary Ellen Taylor

Rated 5 stars ***** ebook. Montlake. 2022.

In 1938 Ruth was born in a bungalow at a seaside hotel. Since no one knew who had left her there, she was adopted by the owners. As the years passed Ruth resented how she had to work hard during tourist season to keep the hotel running. When she was twelve years old, beautiful Carlotta came to perform for two weeks that summer. Ruth admired her so much and was sure she was her birth mother. She didn’t know the summer of 1950 would lead to changes in her life she’d never tell anyone, even her daughter and granddaughter.

When Ivy was 17, she left everyone behind for a more exciting life in New York City. Though Ruth dearly missed her granddaughter she knew Ivy had to find her own way back. In 2022, after the hotel was destroyed in a hurricane, Ruth knew all she had left to give was her seafront home. Though Ivy had not been back home in 12 years, after her grandmother died, she returned to sell the house and leave again. However, as she began to sort through Ruth’s belongings, Ivy learned things she’d never known. As she faced her past and tried to figure out her future, she realized Ruth had climbed mountains for her just as her great-grandmother had done for Ruth. The grandmother who had raised her had secrets that were only now being revealed, and it was up to Ivy to honor her in the best way she knew.

In alternating voices from the past and present, Ruth and Ivy tell their stories of loss, love, hope, and redemption. I believe this book would be wonderful as a Hallmark movie, and hope producers will take the time to read it and put it on the big screen. I’ll be there with my tissues all ready.

Recommended for Adults.

“In the shadow of a queen” Heather B. Moore

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Shadow Mountain Publishing. 2022. (Includes “Family chart,” “Author’s note,” “Afterword,” “Chapter notes,” “Selected list of Princess Louise’s art,” “Notable contributions by Princess Louise,” “Notable titles of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne,” “Discussion questions,” and a “Selected bibliography.”)

Princess Louise (1848-1939) was the sixth of nine children in the royal family and was a beauty. Though princesses weren’t allowed to be involved in political issues she had a mind of her own. Despite her mother’s disapproval women’s suffrage, as well as the education of women and children, were causes dear to her heart. Her desire to be a sculptress was also unacceptable, but Queen Victoria eventually allowed her to take sculpting lessons. Throughout her life Louise followed a path that adhered to her mother’s wishes yet also showed her independent streak. “In the shadow of a queen” gives new life to a Victorian princess who may remind readers of Princess Diana.

Recommended for Adults.

I received a digital advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Finally seen” Kelly Yang

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. To be published February 28, 2023.

Lina Gao lived with her grandparents in China, mocked by fellow students, because her parents went to America with her little sister five years earlier and left her behind. When her time finally came to go to California, she was excited to finally get to experience the wonderful American life they had been writing about in their letters. Once there she found her poor English was embarrassing, her little sister was better than her at everything, and her father worked long hours as an underpaid farmer. They lived in a cramped apartment, and her mother was trying to start up a business because they desperately needed to raise thousands of dollars in back rent so they wouldn’t get evicted. This was not the American life she thought she’d find.

Starting fifth grade in a new school was hard enough but doing so with kids who laughed at her English was too much for Lina. After her bumbling words embarrassed her yet again, she decided to keep her mouth sewed tight and never speak again. However, with the help of her teachers, the school librarian, and the words in books, Lina learned that words hold power, and she has the power to make a difference with her own words.

I loved how Kelly Yang wove Rudine Sims Bishop’s philosophy of books as “mirrors” (to show readers their own experiences), and “sliding glass doors” (to show readers not in the mirror what others feel) into the storyline. Young readers will be sure to see “Finally seen” either as their own mirror or sliding glass door.

Highly recommended for ages 10-14.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

“Hands” Torrey Maldonado

5 stars ***** ARC. Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Random House). 136 p. To be published January 24, 2023.

When Trevor was ten years old his stepfather went to prison for hitting his mother, threatening revenge when he was released. Though he was a budding artist he stopped drawing and became obsessed with protecting her and hating his stepfather. Two years later he is worrying himself sick about the upcoming release date. Though Trevor knows his mother and all the adults in his life want a better future for him, he still wants to take care of the situation. He believes it’s the only way, but is it?

Maldonado’s short, energy filled, thought provoking chapters about a very believable inner-city character in very believable situations will draw in the most reluctant of readers.

Highly recommended for ages 11-15.

“The night burns bright” Ross Barkan

Rated 3 stars *** ARC. ebook. Lake Union Publishing. To be published February 1, 2022.

Lucien was a little over six years old when his mother brought him to the House of Earth founded by O.C. Leroux, an almost godlike figure. At the House of Earth, Lucien and others learned to take care of the earth, practicing sustainability and not eating meat. It was an innocent time, but things slowly began to change when he turned twelve.

Televisions and books were removed, and Lucien was forbidden from going to the town library where he had struck up conversations with a local girl. Rules of strict punishment for small infractions soon followed while children and their parents began to disappear. Lucien was curious but, when he discovered what was really happening at the House of Earth, his life would never be the same.

As I read this book I realized how easy it is for people to follow cult leaders. If O.C. decided everyone needed to drink the kool-aid, as was done in 1978 Jonestown, Barkan made it clear why they would mindlessly hold out cups for him to fill. Descriptions of our dying planet are true, but it seemed as if he was bludgeoning the reader with too many facts. My 3 star rating was due to this, and because the ending should have had more “oomph!” for Lucien after everything he’s been through.

Recommended for Adults.