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Jim! Six True Stories About One Great Artist: James Marshall

Jerrold Connors. Dial, $20.99 (80p) ISBN 978-0-5938-5934-6

Nodding to the expressive, loose linework and gleefully direct prose of creator James Marshall (1942–1992), Connors, making his traditionally published picture book debut, chronicles six pivotal moments in the life of a children’s literature legend. Digitally enhanced ink and watercolor artwork, peppered with Easter eggs from the subject’s books, portray “Jim” as a red fox leading a cast of anthropomorphized animals. The short chapters include his collaborating with pal Harry, a gator, on Miss Nelson Is Missing!; finding love with cat Billy; forging joyful friendships with fellow literary mischief-makers (pig Arnold and bulldog Maurice); and experiencing final days in the hospital. In one sequence, Marshall bristles at having his work labeled “cute” or “zany,” and candidly tells schoolchildren that he based Viola Swamp on a second grade teacher who said he’d never be an artist (“You can bet she knows I’m an artist now!” he declares to a group of cheering kids). In short, the figure emerges as poignantly, comically human—just like the beloved characters he created and the generations of readers who have embraced his stories. An author’s note provides more context, including around Marshall’s death from AIDS. Ages 5–8. (May)

Reviewed on 02/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

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Elsa’s Chessboard

Jenny Andrus, illus. by Julie Downing. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-8234-5408-2

Andrus’s debut kicks off in 1906 Vienna, where young Elsa, dressed in a white pinafore and blue hair ribbon, watches her brothers play chess. Though two dismiss her, a third teaches her the rules, and she proves quite skillful. When Elsa begins to think constantly about the game, her brothers give her a wooden chess set, and she’s launched as a player. She meets her librarian husband while searching for a book on the game, and after their first child is born, “they set Elsa’s chessboard next to the table, softly rocking their daughter to sleep as they considered their next moves.” When Europe becomes a “giant chessboard” of its own in the 1930s, the Jewish family immigrates to San Francisco, where Elsa teaches chess to fellow factory workers. Warm, naturalistic watercolor and colored pencil spreads by Downing (Night in the City) alternate between intimate family scenes and wide vistas, including the family’s first view of San Francisco’s sweeping skyline. Instead of building to a sharp climax, this heart-tugging story considers the way a treasured object—and pastime—offers meaning across lifetimes and generations. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

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You and Me on Repeat

Mary Shyne. Holt, $25.99 hardcover (224p); $17.99 paper ISBN 978-1-250-85185-7; ISBN 978-1-250-85184-0

After entering a strange rainbow portal at a big-box store, estranged childhood friends Chris O’Brien and Alicia Ochoa find themselves stuck in a time loop of their graduation day. At first, Chris assumes that the only way to break the loop is to achieve the perfect first kiss with his girlfriend at their classmates’ graduation party—which keeps getting busted. Upon realizing the seeming futility of the situation, he joins dutiful valedictorian Alicia in using the loops to enjoy some well-earned fun, finally free from social and familial expectations. Looping also allows Chris to rectify the mistake that cost him and Alicia their friendship, and, once reconciled, the two shyly flirt toward romance while hypothesizing how to break the loop. Shyne pairs flat linework and monochromatic coloring—each loop has its own hue—with dynamic perspectives and compositions, evoking a playful tone that never undermines the novel’s poignant moments. A secondary plot involving Chris’s late swim coach and her physicist husband provides just enough deus ex machina and emotional heft for this time-bending rom-com to land both mechanically and sentimentally. It’s a cleverly executed graphic novel debut that successfully innovates the time loop meta. Ages 14–up. (May)

Reviewed on 02/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

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Carousel Summer

Kathleen Gros. Quill Tree, $24.99 hardcover (304p); $15.99 paper ISBN 978-0-06-305769-2; ISBN 978-0-0630-5768-5

When her best friend heads to summer camp, 12-year-old Lucy is left to her own devices in a small town called Milford. As the season progresses, she navigates a budding romance with confident bisexual visitor Anaïs and comes to understand more about who she is and who she wants to be. Lucy’s acts of self-assertion become points of tension in her relationship with her single father, who is facing his own alienation by the community. Digital illustrations feature clean linework and a warm palette that evokes a nostalgic summer atmosphere; colors shift to more muted tones during Lucy’s private moments of self-reflection. Expressive character designs and clever visual metaphors—such as Milford’s carousel restoration symbolizing renewal—enhance the story’s emotional resonance, and quiet, intimate moments, as when Lucy bikes with Anaïs or reads on the beach, balance the narrative’s weightier themes with heartfelt authenticity. By blending queer joy with thoughtful ruminations on change and tradition, and interweaving classic coming-of-age angst with broader social themes, Gros (I Hated You in High School, for adults) celebrates self-discovery and resilience, making for a richly textured graphic novel. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

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How to Talk to Your Succulent

Zoe Persico. Tundra, $21.99 hardcover (224p); $13.99 paper ISBN 978-1-77488-312-9; ISBN 978-1-7748-8312-9

During Thanksgiving break, 11-year-old Adara and her father move from California to Michigan to live with her grandmother. Adara misses her late mother, who could communicate with plants, and tries talking to her mother’s plants herself, but it doesn’t feel the same. Despite her grief and loneliness, she soon befriends classmate Winnie, an artist, whom she meets after following a mysterious creature into nearby woods. When her dad takes her to get a plant, Adara chooses a pink succulent, which she names Perle, and her own latent ability to converse with plants awakens. Perle provides her with new avenues through which Adara develops friendships and processes her feelings. But her experience taking care of her mother’s houseplants doesn’t translate as well to caring for Perle. As Adara advocates for her needs, she also learns how to show up for the people—and plants—she loves. Persico (Georgia’s Terrific, Colorific Experiment) pairs bold colors, lively botanicals, and visual allegories for grief and disillusionment with swift dialogue and Adara’s introspective first-person narration, resulting in a gentle graphic novel about loss and connection. Characters are depicted with varying skin tones. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

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The Payback Girls

Alex Travis. Sourcebooks Fire, $12.99 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-4642-1771-5

After Black high school senior Meghan Landry discovers her popular, self-described biracial basketball star boyfriend Nate Walker has been secretly cheating on her with field hockey captain Robin Ellison and student government president Bria Kelly—the only two other Black girls in their grade—the three team up to teach him a lesson. But the trio become prime suspects when a vicious attack in the boys’ locker room leaves Nate bloodied and unconscious in the hospital. Then an anonymous social media account starts spilling the girls’ secrets. As more about Nate’s checkered romantic history comes to light, Meghan, Robin, and Bria must find a way to put aside their differences and trust one another if they want to find his attacker and clear their names. In this edgy thriller riff on John Tucker Must Die, Travis (The Only Black Girl in the Room, for adults) briefly touches on themes of racism, economic inequality, queerness, intimate partner violence, and PTSD. Despite surface-level characterization and somewhat implausible plot twists, the dramatic tragicomedy’s soapy atmosphere and the execution of Meghan and Robin’s developing romance prove entertaining. Ages 14–up. Agent: Dorian Maffei, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

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Wake the Wild Creatures

Nova Ren Suma. Little, Brown, $18.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-61620-672-7

A teen recovered from an off-grid Catskills commune of female fugitives struggles to adapt to society in this evocative and empowering novel from Suma (A Room Away from the Wolves). After committing murder and arson to avenge her own rape, Pola Lasker takes her infant Talia and decamps to the Neves, an abandoned mountaintop hotel that she transforms into a secret haven for those seeking to escape cruel men. There, Talia thrives in the care of found family, believing the forested refuge offers mystical protection from outside harm. When Talia turns 13, authorities apprehend Pola and send Talia to live in the Hudson Valley with Pola’s estranged sister. Having received instructions from a Neves resident to stay put until further notice, a forlorn Talia spends three years awaiting a signal. But when it finally comes, the road home isn’t what she expected. Suma’s fiercely feminist offering unfolds from Talia’s somewhat alien-feeling perspective, her first-person narrative snaking along a nonlinear timeline to add context and resonance. Intersec- tionally diverse, insightfully rendered characters and their complex, continuously evolving relationships ground the tale, while a surreal setting and sensate prose impart an otherworldly air. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (May)

Reviewed on 02/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

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This Thing of Ours

Frederick Joseph. Candlewick, $18.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-5362-3346-9

When a career-ending injury jeopardizes his college prospects, a teenage athlete rethinks his future. Arriving back at Braxton Academy for senior year, Ossie Brown—formerly “the six-five basketball star” of his school—is now “just another Black kid” from south Yonkers, ghosted by his teammates and dumped by his girlfriend for his on-court nemesis. Lacking the grades to secure college financial aid, Ossie joins a competitive creative writing program led by passionate Ms. Hunt, whose curriculum embraces “diverse perspectives.” The assignments allow Ossie to cultivate relationships with classmates Luis, who is gay, and Naima, who might be more than just a friend. After Ms. Hunt is fired following accusations of using “reverse racism” to promote a “woke agenda,” and Luis and Naima’s safety is jeopardized, Ossie must choose whether to fight back by finding his own voice, no matter the cost—or do nothing and let his world crumble. Both heartening and heartbreaking, this richly layered, sensitive YA fiction debut from Joseph (Better Than We Found It) unflinchingly confronts systemic racism, classism, and homophobia via a powerful story of self-discovery and social justice that aims, shoots, and scores. Ages 14–up. (May)

Reviewed on 02/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

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On Again, Awkward Again

Erin Entrada Kelly and Kwame Mbalia. Amulet, $19.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-4197-7563-5

Kelly (The First State of Being) and Mbalia (Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek) tackle the ups, downs, and awkward in-betweens of young love in this wholesome rom-com collaboration. When high schoolers Pacy Mercado and Cecil Holloway spot each other during freshman orientation, they feel that they suddenly understand the meaning of love at first sight. But life gets in the way and their meet-cute is interrupted. They’re resigned to never acting on their feelings—until they’re appointed to the same event committee for their freshman dance. Yet even as Pacy and Cecil grow closer, they struggle to believe that a shot at love is worth enduring the challenges both internal and external that seem determined to keep them apart. Via the teens’ earnest dual POVs, Kelly and Mbalia redefine established romance concepts such as soulmates and instalove. Humorous conversational dialogue and occasional early-2000s pop culture references balance the protagonists’ cringe-worthy moments and provide an approachable window into the heartwarming center of this seemingly doomed-from-the-start love story. Pacy is of Filipino descent; Cecil is Black. Ages 13–up. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

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These Vengeful Gods

Gabe Cole Novoa. Random House, $19.99 (432p) ISBN 978-0-593-89812-3

In the 10 years since the Godcouncil enacted a purge of the children of Death, 16-year-old Crow has been forced to hide his powers and status as a Deathchild, eking out a living as a talented underground pit fighter in the Shallows, the grimy undercity of Escal. When his uncles are arrested for harboring Deathchildren, Crow accepts a sponsorship from Chaos, an 18-year-old minor god of Discord, to fight in the biannual Tournament of the Gods for a chance to win his uncles’ freedom. Forming close-knit relationships with Chaos and fellow competitors Maddox and Lark, Crow faces grueling combat trials and an even more harrowing media circuit. Their mission draws them into an investigation regarding the Shallows and the purge of the Deathchildren, and Crow becomes increasingly infuriated by the blatant wealth inequality and callous disregard shown toward Shallows residents, and manufactured by Escal’s elite. Novoa (The Diablo’s Curse) equally emphasizes propulsive action sequences and sincere found-family scenes to spin a cathartic revenge story crackling with rage against systemic discrimination, set in a contemporary fantasy dystopia with an extensive and inventive magic system. Characters are described as having varying skin tones. Ages 12–up. Agent: Louise Fury, Fury Agency. (May)

Reviewed on 02/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

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