The summer before fifth grade turns out to be a “serious time, in general” for 10-year-old Emma Phineas Wilkey—known as Ferris because of her dramatic birth under a Ferris wheel—as she aids in her idiosyncratic family members’ antics and deals with the unfamiliar emotional terrain that accompanies these encounters. Ferris’s headstrong younger sister, an aspiring felon, is scheming to appear on a “Wanted” poster; Uncle Ted, who is attempting to paint a history of the world while living in Ferris’s basement, recruits Ferris to spy on his estranged wife; and Ferris’s beloved, hopeless romantic grandmother’s heart is failing. But her grandmother is more troubled by the appearance of a ghost that only she can see, so she enlists Ferris’s help in satisfying the specter’s quixotic request. Together with her soft-spoken, piano-playing best friend Billy Jackson, Ferris navigates her joyfully chaotic environment and heeds her grandmother’s wisdom: “Every good story is a love story.” Populated by offbeat, compelling characters with rich histories, this bustling and empathetic tale by DiCamillo (The Puppets of Spelhorst) ponders the courage it takes to love someone and the necessity of inconvenience in life through the eyes of one emotionally curious tween. Main characters read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink

This beguiling ark story, splendidly drafted in wordless spreads, stars a robot zookeeper who combines the spare-parts body of Wall-E with the gentle bearing of Amos McGee. The enormous robot dwarfs the toylike giraffes, pandas, tigers, and other charismatic megafauna that it cares for in a postapocalyptic landscape of half-submerged architectural gems, and it makes model sailboats after a long day of labor. When rain begins to fall and the sea rises further, the robot gathers the animals and executes a large-scale idea. Usable wreckage, the robot’s fascination with boatbuilding, and its own built-in tools produce a magnificent sloop capable of carrying the whole menagerie to safety—until a massive storm strikes at sea. While the place where the ship grounds is desolate, the unexpected appearance of a new friend changes everything. An epigraph from Jane Goodall makes the story’s conservation message clear, but Becker (The Tree and the River) avoids polemics in favor of worldbuilding that suggests the need for early action, underscores the power of practical measures, and holds out the promise of hope. Ages 5–9. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink

This upbeat problem-solving story starts as rain begins to fall in a neighborhood portrayed with colorblock buildings. Gómez (Very Good Hats) renders children of various skin tones in the windows of a yellow school bus, like wooden dolls gazing out at the downpour. Elsewhere, a child pedestrian with brown skin gazes into a gutter, where “oil and grime and mud” from the street wash into waterways, “clogging rivers, ponds, and lakes.” Is there a way to “lessen all this mess? YES!” reads a page showing a queue of schoolchildren alongside a rain-slickered adult. The kids roll a rain barrel to catch water from the school’s downspout (“Water saved for droughty days”), then engineer a stream for the overflow to run into a “spongy, pooling place.” The saucer of land is next planted with native varieties that have “tough, thick roots” and “filter out that grime and soil” as the rain percolates into the ground and attracts new wildlife. Schaub (Kindness is a Kite String) uses onomatopoeia (“Plink. Plip. Plop.”) and emphatic statements (“FLOOD!”) to convey the feel of water’s halt and flow in this low-tech guide to rain gardens. Further instructions conclude. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Lisa Amstutz, Storm Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink

“From a distance we all look the same—simply a large group of penguins,” writes Pfister (The Rainbow Fish), referencing a large cast of lightly anthropomorphized characters who inhabit a minimally detailed, blue-white Antarctic landscape. But as the pages introduce various members of the colony by name, readers encounter an assemblage of birds who represent a wide range of personalities and characteristics. Among them, there’s Timmy, who masks a deep inner sadness by being the colony clown; “cheerful and chirpy” Felix, whose “short wings make things more challenging”; detached-seeming Leon, who is actually “very observant and always on the alert”; and Lena, who is “head over heels” in love with Ida. The lack of a narrative arc gives the book a catalog feel, and some character descriptions feel outmoded, but the sympathetic accounting, which eschews employing labels for specific traits (“Sarah loves to draw more than talk. She notices sounds and smells and textures that others miss”), offers a real feel for the penguins’ individual yearnings to both be themselves and belong, and ends on a well-meaning connective phrase: “The main thing is that we’re all penguins. And we belong together.” Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink

Daisy “walks with her feet on the ground, and her head in the clouds,” a squiggly blue mass surrounding her head; it’s a fitting representation of the way she’s easily distracted and frequently caught up in her vivid imagination. Combining collage and printmaking textures to form shape-based illustrations, Goldfinger (Hello, My Name Is Tiger) shows pink-skinned Daisy immersed daily in an imaginative world of teeth-brushing rabbits, superhero exploits, and rocket journeys. When teacher Ms. Dill, portrayed with brown skin, announces that the best listener will be awarded the duty of line leader for an aquarium field trip, Daisy tries and fails to swat away the cloud long enough to verbally repeat the lesson, and misses out on an opportunity she’s longed for. But drawing the information communicates Daisy’s take on the material (stick figure octopodes are clearly labeled “8 arms 9 brains”), and Ms. Dill quickly appoints Daisy “our official artist at the aquarium.” Noting that this story is based on her own experience with ADHD, Goldfinger portrays with deep compassion how being fully seen and understood can open up new possibilities. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. Agent: Stephanie Fretwell-Hill, Red Fox Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink

This lively, thoughtful work in several parts by Dubuc (Bear and the Whisper of the Wind) follows four friends who, finding an egg in the forest, initially squabble over who gets to take it home. Much to everyone’s surprise, the egg pipes up: “EVERYONE GETS A TURN!” Simple line artwork in soft tints and clearly laid-out panels shows the snug interior of each house. At Mouse’s comforting place, the egg complains that it’s cold, and Mouse wraps it in a scarf and hat, then snips off part of a blanket to share. At Bear’s, something momentous happens: the egg cracks, and athletic Bear cuddles with newly hatched Little Bird (“Bravo little one!”). Hare’s pantry is crammed with different foods, allowing Little Bird to find out what she likes to eat, and Turtle’s artfully appointed house offers nourishment for the mind. Then Little Bird goes missing, and a section gives her space to choose a home and a name of her own. To survive, creatures need the essentials, but to thrive, this work suggests, they need comfort, activity, sustenance, artistic beauty, and, perhaps most important of all, autonomy—the power to choose for themselves. Ages 3–6. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink

A Vietnamese American teen at a romantic crossroads must decide whether it’s worth keeping her heart safe by giving up on love in this lightly fantastical, heartwarming graphic novel from Yang (American Born Chinese) and Pham (the Princess in Black series). Every year, Valentina Tran—accompanied by her cherubic imaginary friend Saint V—excitedly distributes valentines to her classmates and to her father, who remains heartbroken over her late mother. But Val’s world is shattered after she’s met with derision from the valentines’ recipients, and a visit from her grandmother reveals a devastating truth about her parents’ relationship. Saint V, now a ghoulish version of his former self, entices Val with a bargain: Val must find love within the year or give up her heart to Saint V, who will protect it from further pain. As Lunar New Year celebrations commence, Val reexamines her relationship with family, friends, and herself, and navigates her tumultuous feelings, hoping to believe in love again. Poignant moments amplified by evocatively colored digitally rendered panels address deep issues of parental abandonment and grief, while interjections of comic relief and a riveting subplot surrounding lion dancing result in a well-paced, well-balanced dual effort. Ages 14–up. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink

Deep in the heart of the Russian city of Novatrosk lies Number Nine Plaza, a shopping destination brimming with a plethora of things to see and do. For the first time in years, 11-year-old Zander Olinga—who lives in Pittsburgh and whose father is from Cameroon—travels to Russia to spend the summer with his grandmother, the current owner of the Nine. He quickly befriends white-cued Natasha Novikov, also 11, who works for his grandmother, and the pair bonds immediately over their shared love of sports and mutual appreciation for each other’s curious differences (Zander is afraid of heights and Natasha can juggle marbles). All is not perfect in the magical building, however; strange occurrences, old legends, and the arrival of a possibly demonic entity named Darkbloom put the Nine’s reputation—and very existence—at risk. Juxtaposing Zander’s sophisticated voice with Natasha’s effervescent—and occasionally reckless—ways, Guterson (Winterhouse) dives headlong into adventure, employing flights of fancy and imagination and humorous situations to instantly charm readers. A large, multiethnic cast of secondary adult characters balances the tweens’ youthful exuberance with caring, patient instruction, while Kister (Baby Unicorns) brings the grandiose setting to life, imbuing it with a wonder reminiscent of department stores of yesteryear. Ages 9–12. Agent: Rena Rossner, Deborah Harris Literary. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink

Winston (Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution) delivers a nuanced telling about a Black family in crisis via this harrowing, compassionate read. After having been placed in separate foster homes, “all because Mama went out one night and decided not to come back for nine days,” 12-year-old Sharkita has just been reunited with her five-year-old sister, Lillieana, and her eight-year-old brother, Lamara, who was born with fetal alcohol poisoning. Though her mother promises things will be different this time, Sharkita—whose classmates bully her for her “shark teeth,” or hyperdontia—is prepared to single-handedly care for her siblings like she always does. Surprisingly, however, Mama allows her to join her school’s newly founded majorette squad, instead of requiring Sharkita to return home immediately after school to tend to her siblings like she used to. Joining the majorettes sparks a flicker of normalcy, but Sharkita still contends with anxiety stemming from her mother’s neglect that feels like a shark swallowing her whole (“I didn’t know which was worse—a life with her or one without”). Driven by an emotionally intelligent and complex protagonist, this courageous story about strength in the face of neglect, and the bravery to demand what is best for one’s family and oneself, is potent and powerful. Ages 9–11. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink

Thirteen-year-old Chinese American seventh grader Freya June Sun plays the viola in memory of her father, who died suddenly eight months ago. Having bonded with him over Chinese superstitions, Freya looks for signs—such as the two red birds she’s constantly seeing—whenever she doubts her desire or ability to continue playing. After being partnered with Korean American schoolmate Gus Choi, whom Freya dubs “the most annoying kid on the planet,” for a Cooking & Careers class project, Freya discovers an unexplored comfort in baking and, as she grows closer to Gus, makes a new and compassionate friend. As quiet and sensitive Freya struggles to manage increasingly frequent anxiety attacks, she also gains a deeper understanding of her newly single mother and finds an unlikely supporter and trusted confidant in her older sister. With endearing narration and quick pacing, this gentle meditation on grief and healing by Shen (The Comeback) carefully balances heavier moments of fraught emotion and high-stress situations with Freya’s sweet memories of her father and her growing appreciation for her new life without him. Includes recipes. Ages 10–14. Agent: Marietta Zacker, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink