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The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington , 264 pages.  Candlewick, 2018.  $18.  Language: PG (7 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (mentions of deaths and cruelty, nothing graphic) BUYING ADVISORY:  HS - OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE One moment Ella was walking home from school, the next she has been rounded up by the Nazis because of her yellow star and transported to the concentration camp  Birkenau, or Birchwood, as the author calls it. Luckily she is a superb seamstress and is able to get a job in the Upper Tailoring Studio where they makes clothing for the female officers and the wives of the camp overseers.  But life under Nazi rule is cheap – one little slip and anyone can be out on their ear in a heartbeat.  The girls of the Studio try to form a family, but the only person Ella really trusts is Rose – a former member of an upper class, who is now also only trying to survive.   I rated this optional only because the audience for it will be small.  Excellent writing, an

Tangled in Time: The Portal by Kathryn Lasky , 384 pages.  Harper Collins, March 2019.  $17 Language: PG (7 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content:G ; Violence: G BUYING ADVISORY:  EL, MS - OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW Rose’s life has been turned upside down by her mother’s death.  Now she is surviving the mean girls in her new sixth grade class who are jealous of her online fame as a fashion vlogger.  Her new guardian, her grandmother, is forgetful, except when the two of them are working in the greenhouse.  Something is strange, though, and one day Rose finds herself going back in time to the court of King Henry VIII, in the household of the princess Elizabeth.  Rose has no control over when she moves between one realm or the other, but she does have a goal – to find the father she has never met. Lasky knows everything about historical princesses and courts – its when Rose is in the past that the book really shines.  Magic, however, is not her strong suit.  Magic needs even a few simple ru

The Story of My Face by Leanne Baugh , 228 pages. Second Story Press, 2018. $13.95 Language: R (115 swears, 17 “f”); Mature Content: R; Violence: PG13 BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Abby had an accident last year that has left her scarred—inside and out. As she tries to go back to school for her senior year and figure out how to put back the pieces of her life, insurmountable obstacles seem to come around every corner. How can Abby move forward when she doesn’t even know which path is safe to walk? Aside from the crudeness that came up frequently through this book, I enjoyed reading the journey Abby takes and helps readers to take with her. Her story is about the struggle of knowing who you are amid the pressures of who you should be and who you want to be. Abby shows those readers who may also struggle with self-esteem and self-confidence—which is most of us—that there is help and support from different avenues waiting to cheer you on if you will look for the

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton , 368 pages. Delacorte Press (Random House Children’s Books), 2018. $18.99 Language: R (42 swears, 9 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13 BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Dayton put together a book made up of six stories of our possible future. With scientific advances and discoveries, some of Dayton’s ideas seem not to be very far off. However, extremist behavior may become our downfall. Some of the stories have a lot of sexual content, and some of the stories are really creepy, but all of them are intriguing. While most of these sci-fi stories are outlandish, I like the questions that Dayton poses through them—how far will we go to improve the human race? And what defines “human”? We get to choose what we do with our bodies and our lives. Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen LGBTQ+

The Three Rules of Everyday Magic by Amanda Rawson Hill , 190 pages. Boyds Mills Press (Highlights), 2018. $17.95 Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS – OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE For Kate, nothing has been right since Christmas—before her father left, before her Grammy stopped remembering things, and before friendships became complicated. With everything falling apart, Kate feels helpless. But then Grammy starts teaching her about everyday magic. Maybe, just maybe, everything will be okay. I love how Hill is able to capture the difficulty of life and the challenge of trying to figure out how to deal with everything that happens. Every challenge we face adds up, and sometimes it takes a while to know how to move forward. As Kate learns and teaches us, though, it is okay to hope and it is okay to change. Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Ship of Smoke and Steel by Djano Wexler , 368 pages.  Tor Teen, January 2019.  $18. Language: PG-13 (43 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13 (implied sex); Violence: R (much blood and fighting) BUYING ADVISORY:  HS - OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH Isoka only exists to protect her younger sister Tori – even if it means using her magic to beat and kill. Then she is captured by the Empire’s Immortals and thrown onto the Soliton – a ghost ship that requires magic wielders as tribute.  She has a year to take control of the ship of the Empire , then her sister will be ruined. But life on the ship is a dog eat dog existence – death is common, life is cheap.  Isoka’s clade is at the bottom of the pile and the Captain is unavailable. Isoka will do whatever it takes to claw her way to the top and save Tori. If your students love Lex Thomas’s Quarantine series, they will also love this.  The plot is a frame for bloody battles as Isoka claws her way to her answers.  Its billed as a YA fantasy no

People Like Us by Dana Mele, 375 pages. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2018.  $18.   Content: Language: R (101 swears; 12 “f”); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13.   BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL   AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW    One night Kay and her friends go to the pond by their school to skinny dip, but when they get to the pond, they see a dead schoolmate floating in the water.  As the investigation starts to unfold, Kay feels like she is a suspect for the murder.  And life gets even more complicated for Kay when she receives an e-mail from the dead girl.  The e-mail forces Kay to play a cruel game in which Kay has to reveal the secrets of all of her friends, otherwise Kay’s biggest secret will be reveled, a secret that would make her look guilty in the murder of the classmate.   This book sounds so good, but it is poorly executed.  Kay and her friends are bullies, making it impossible to like any of them or care what happens to them.  There are parts of the book that are bogged down with too

Nevertheless, We Persisted: 48 Voices of Defiance, Strength, and Courage by Amy Klobuchar , 275 pages. Alfred A. Knopf (Random House Children’s Books), 2018. $18.99 Language: R (12 swears, 4 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13 BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH The 48 contributors who have shared their stories have done so to help readers know that they are not alone, that they can overcome the obstacles in their paths, and that they can accomplish anything they want. These men and women have faced biases and bigotry, war and injury, divorce and disability, discouragement and more—and they have chosen to come out of all those hardships on top. They rally around their readers to help each of us know of our worth and fight to become the best we can be, in whatever form that looks like. In reading all the hardships that others have fought through and how a lot of these persisters have only arrived at where they are because of the hardships they faced, I feel like

The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History: The Story of the Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel , 368 pages. NON-FICTION. Scholastic Focus, January 2019.  $19. Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (some deaths, not descriptive) BUYING ADVISORY:  HS – OPTIONAL, ADULTS - ADVISABLE AUDIENCE APPEAL: HS – LOW; ADULTS – HIGH Near the end of World War II a special, though very small group of people worked frantically to find and save priceless art throughout Europe.  They not only needed to try to save it from damage, but also find the secret stashes that Nazi looters left all over. As an adult, I found this fascinating reading – I wish I had read it before my first trip to Europe so that I could even more appreciate the works of art I saw.  The writing is not great; Edsel tries so hard to keep things chronological that he jumps from person to person all over Europe – making things a bit confusing.  Only die hard WWII junkies will want to read this, though it has plenty of information to ac

Hull Metal Girls by Emily Skrutskie , 311 pages.  Delacorte (Random), 2018.  $18. 9781524770198 Language: R (44 swears, 24 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (implied sex); Violence: PG (some fighting) BUYING ADVISORY:  MS, HS - OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH Aisha is desperate to help her little brother – so desperate that she allows the government to transform her into a Scela – a humanoid mechanical charged with upholding order with the vast space-faring fleet that is all that’s left of the human race. Key on the other hand doesn’t remember her life before being transformed, which can be a huge problem when forming a bonding with a group.  Each group member, but especially Key and Aisha have secrets they are eager to keep from the others.  Then they stumble on a secret that the highest level of the Fleet will do anything to stop from being revealed. If you have a science fiction reading clientele, then you definitely need this.  I’d give this to anyone who has finished Ender’s Game or milita

Rebel With a Cupcake by Anna Mainwaring , 208 pages. KCP Loft (Kids Can Press), 2018. $11. 9781525300332. Language: PG-13(24 swears, 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: G BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Jesobel Jones loves food--cooking it and eating it and how it makes people happy. Her love of food aligns with her chubby body shape and she's never before had a problem with it--until a cute boy at school seems to notice her, and a perfect girl bully gets in her face, and she actually considers what it might be like to look more like her "perfect" sister, Cat. Thus begins a 3-week journey of dieting, exercise, crazy drama, and an end result she doesn't expect. Teenage novels focused on romance, friendship, and self-worth are fairly cliche and predictable. Mainwaring's book adds some fresh air to the genre while still not branching too far out. I enjoyed the author's voice through Jesobel Jones, and appreciated the stro

Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, 400 pages.  Freeform Books (Disney), 2018.  $18.   Content: Language: PG-13 (28 swears); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG.   BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – OPTIONAL   AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE    Sawyer Taft is used to taking care of herself because her mother has always been a bit distracted and Sawyer thought she had no other family who was interested in her life.  But at eighteen, Sawyer’s grandmother, Lillian, shows up in Sawyer’s life and offers her half a million dollars to come live at Lillian’s and participate in the debutante season.  Sawyer quickly gets thrust into a lifestyle that she had never dreamed existed with family, new friends and confusing enemies that have secrets Sawyer couldn’t even imagine.   This is one of those books that the story and the setting were intriguing, but the characters weren’t deep or endearing.  I liked trying to figure out the mystery and the twists and turns were entertaining.  My issue with the book wa

Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All by Various Authors , 386 pages.  Schwartz and Wade (Random House), 2018.   Content: Language: PG (5 swears); Mature Content: R; Violence: PG-13.   BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL   AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH    The six wives of Henry VIII are all given a voice in this fantastic historical fiction.  Katharine of Aragon was from Spain and out of seven childbirths, had only one living heir-Princess Mary.  Henry, in his desperation for a male heir and his lust for women other than his wife, moved onto Anne Boleyn whom he tired of quickly, but she did give him Princess Elizabeth.  After Anne Boleyn was beheaded, Henry fell in love with his proclaimed one true love, Jane Seymour.  After giving Henry a son, Jane died of a blood disease.  In an act to make alliances with Germany, Henry married Anne of Cleves, but was repulsed by her, so he divorced her.  His lecherous heart lead him to the young Catherine Howard, but she had her own lustful ways and wa

The Prophet Calls by Melanie Sumrow , 278 pages.  Yellow Jacket (Little Bee), 2018.  $17. Language: G; Mature Content: PG (polygamy); Violence: PG (some hitting) BUYING ADVISORY:  MS – OPTIONAL, HS - ADVISABLE AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Gentry,13, has lived in a polygamous community all her life, but as she gets older, she knows she doesn’t fit in the marrow mold her family and community have dictated for her.  Her father indulges her at home, but when she is caught by the elders, she is punished – and then her father is punished too. Gentry knows she must find a way to escape, especially when the Prophet calls from his jail cell and demands that she marry her tormentor.  I am dying to know if Sumrow is connected to a polygamous community or if her research focused on Warren Jeffs’ polygamist community, because being from Utah I felt like I was reading a book specifically about that particular group.  It’s hard to judge it through the lens of someone who is unfamiliar with the fringe gr

Infinite Pieces of Us by Rebekah Crane , 250 pages.  Skyscape, 2018.  $17. Language: R (83 swears, 2 ‘f’); Mature Content: R (lots of sexual innuendo and body words, some LGBT); Violence: G BUYING ADVISORY:  HS - OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Esther, 16, and her family have moved from Ohio to Truth and Consequences, New Mexico because of something Esther did.  But you’d better not tell anyone.  Both girls are being homeschooled in order to help hide the secret, but that doesn’t keep the girls from going to church, or running, or to the local coffee drive thru. Esther finds a small, tight group of friends who can help her through her own trauma in their wacky way, but will she be there when her sister is ready to dive straight into her own trouble? The lengths that people will go to avoid “embarrassment” just astounds me.  Esther and her sister are damaged by their mother and stepfather’s actions and they have to blindly grope towards healing, like too many teens today, when they n

Bah! Humbug! : A magical retelling of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Tony Ross , 192 pages. Walker Books Candlewick Press, 2017 $15.99. Language: PG (4 swears, 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.  BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Harry is starring in his middle school production of A Christmas Carol. He is well prepared and excited, but his dad, Ray, has his mind on work - all the time. So when Ray schedules a meeting during the production, he leaves the show to talk with "Mumbai", and starts his own private version of A Christmas Carol, seeing himself for what he has become - not the father he set out to be. Dickens's A Christmas Carol script is interspersed with this family story to give the reader perspective, however, the pages of dialogue from the play were a bit tedious. Is there an expectation that the reader already knows A Christmas Carol? I wish Ray had been a child or teenager. I&#

Slayer by Kiersten White , 416 pages.  Simon and Schuster, JAN 2019.  $19. Language: R (82 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G (some LGBT characters); Violence: PG-13 (lots of fighting) BUYING ADVISORY:  MS, HS - OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH Buffy may have broken the world and the rules of magic, but Nina (Athena) and her sister Artemis, the twin daughters of Buffy’s first watcher, and the rest of the members of the Council of Watchers are still watching.  Nina has never been allowed to train as a Watcher and Artemis failed the test. But then Nina is confronted by a demon and she and all of the rest around her realize that Nina was the last Chosen Slayer – given her powers before everything was broken.  So, Nina may be a Slayer, but she has no skills, no training, and her own mother is vehemently against her doing anything Slayer-y. Worse in Nina’s eyes – her secret Watcher is Leo, her childhood crush who has just reappeared after a long absence. Let the wild rumpus begin! OMG!  Anyon

The Hotel Between by Sean Easley , 352 pages. Simon Schuster, 2018. $16.99.  Language: G, Mature Content: G, Violence: G BUYING ADVISORY:  EL, MS – OPTIONAL. AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Walking home from school Cam happens upon a glamorous hotel in an otherwise empty strip mall. The emblem on the door matches the coin given to him by his father before disappearing many years ago. Cam knows there’s a connection between the hotel and his father’s disappearance. When Nico, the bellboy, invites him into the Hotel Between, Cam has no idea what awaits him. The hotel itself is an intricate layout of corridors and doors that enable guests to move between countries instantly. But the hotel is losing its magic and doors are disappearing. Cam wants to help, but he doesn’t know who he can trust. He must go with his gut and take a risk, if there’s any chance of finding his father. The book cover alone will make you want to read this book. It’s gorgeous and the first few chapters will capture your int

Charles Darwin’s On The Origin of Species: Young Reader Edition  adapted by Rebecca Stefoff, illustrated by Teagan White , 170 pages. NON-FICTION. Antheneum Books for Young Readers, 2018. $26 Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G. BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL   AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW The text of this long format book is an adaptation of Darwin’s writing, while the captions and notes in the columns are outside of Darwin’s voice and explain the concepts on that page. There are a lot of subheadings that break up the text and at least one illustration per spread.  I have not read the original text, so I may not be the best judge of this adaptation, but I found it very interesting and readable. The text is appropriate for a fifth grade reading level - there are not a lot of big words, but there are a lot of big concepts. My main concern with this book is its size. It will take some time and work for a young reader to get through this book, but unfortunately it is not ea

Like Never and Always by Ann Aguirre , 335 pages.  Tor Teen (Macmillian), 2018.  $18.   Content: Language: R (125+ swears); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13.   BUYING ADVISORY: HS- OPTIONAL   AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH    Liv and her best friend Morgan are in a serious car accident and when Liv wakes up she is inside Morgan’s body.  Liv’s own physical body is dead and Morgan is gone as well, so Liv has to figure out how to be Morgan.  Soon, Liv realizes that Morgan was keeping a lot of dark secrets as she was trying to solve the mystery of her mother’s death, so if Liv can’t keep ahead of the clues she doesn’t know what will become of her new life.   I couldn’t put this book down.  At first it’s a little weird that they traded bodies, but the author does a great job building this story.  I enjoyed Liv, the mystery, and the romance.  The content is a high swear count, heavy make-out sessions that border on rated R content, drunk driving, suicide and a creepy relationship between a you