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To echo Guatemalan Archbishop Gerardi’s words, “Knowing the truth is painful, but liberating. Without it, the scars will never heal.”
An inspiring story and a powerful look at what is happening not just to Yuli but in real-life classrooms all around our country. A good addition to high school collections.
My upcoming novel, If Looks Could Kill, pits a modern yet mythical Medusa against the real-life, true-crime, name-unknown murderer we call Jack the Ripper.
PREMIUM
Pizza Witch
Kiki’s Delivery Service with a sauced-up hero’s journey; a funny adventure story for young teens and graphic novel fans.
This powerful tale of race and American culture and history seamlessly weaves a popular middle grade topic, football, with crucial lessons about justice and humanity for tween and younger teens. This is Barnes at his best and is a required purchase for middle school libraries.
PREMIUM
Enchanted Night Before Christmas
While cozy in tone, the story follows a well-worn holiday arc grounded in magic, loss, and wish fulfillment.
Lovers of historical fiction will thoroughly enjoy this novel, which is recommended for all junior high and high school collections.
PREMIUM
Dear Jackie
A realistic read that will make readers want to know what happens next. Give this to fans of Terri Libenson’s “Emmie & Friends” series and Maria Scrivan’s “Nat Enough” books. Highly recommended.
With extensive information and illustrations about relationships in nature, this is an excellent purchase for elementary where poetry and nature books are popular.
PREMIUM
My BIG Playbook: Christmas
A visually appealing introduction to winter and Christmas, perfect for adults to share with toddlers and early school-aged children.
Colloquialisms will primarily appeal to readers in upper-elementary and middle school, but teens breaking into crafting zines will benefit from ingesting the story arc and the author’s endnotes. A must-purchase.
PREMIUM
The Witch Who Stormed the Palace
A rollicking good tale with all the magic, dragons, and talking cats to recommend to any young fantasy reader who enjoyed the first installment.
PREMIUM
The Ghost of Wreckers Cove
Endearing illustrations combined with a heartfelt mystery make this an easy recommendation for fans of suspense, ghost stories, or both.
PREMIUM
Dinos Love Valentines
This solid addition to most holiday board book collections will be an extra hit with the youngest dinosaur fans.
PREMIUM
Tiny Bear’s Christmas Prayer
A well-fit addition to any Christmas holiday literature collection.
PREMIUM
The Winter of the Dollhouse
This is an elegant novel that offers an authentic view of family and community life.
This fun, Spanish-language search-and-find is sure to provide enjoyable moments, especially during the holidays. A great addition to picture book collections.
PREMIUM
Folk Remedy
A compelling fantasy with cultural roots and strong emotional arcs, this is an excellent addition for libraries serving preteens and teens looking for adventure, folklore, and a heroine they can cheer for.
PREMIUM
Ruff Day
A fun, accessible addition to any library serving young readers who enjoy quick, engaging graphic novels.
PREMIUM
Tonight Is Krampus Night!
Sullivan and Persico make these friendly monsters heartwarming; readers will enjoy welcoming them to their holiday storytimes.
In creating these Take Five posts, I'm seeing so many books I wish I had read, so the TBR tower grows!
A big thanks to the publisher for letting me dig into these 8 books.
Apologies to everyone in my life is going to be so sick of me asking if they've heard of Tambora and the climate shock that followed. Tambora might be my whole personality now.
Recommended for general purchase in a holiday board book collection.
A perfect book to include in any young adult holiday display year round.
Not an essential buy for libraries, but may be useful if additional holiday craft and family activities are needed.
Festive and educational, this title is an excellent choice for expanding holiday collections and introducing young readers to the traditions and spirit of Hanukkah.
PREMIUM
My Two Christmas Trees
This sensitive book addresses family change during an emotional time of year. A recommended purchase for social-emotional collections.
PREMIUM
Isabel’s Birthday Surprise
A sweet, realistic story of family, culture, and emotional resilience.
This book about an ambitious Nepali girl detective will capture readers’ attention before the first chapter is done; recommended.
A middle grade must-read highly recommended for fans science fiction and books like A Wrinkle in Time.
PREMIUM
Three Blue Hearts
This heartfelt story takes readers through one boy’s coming of age, and the joy of rescuing an animal mixed with the heartbreak of loving it enough to let it go. Highly recommended for youth fiction collections.
A skillful tale of family lost and found, one that skillfully weaves discussion of heavier and relevant topics into a comedic plot.
PREMIUM
Jane Stays Dreaming
An adventurous novel about family, friendship, love and self-discovery that will be enjoyed by older tweens who find themselves at a crossroads of who they are and who they wish to become.
International in scope, this book provides an opportunity for educators to examine previously held thoughts about the limits of children’s literature. Recommended for researchers.
Purchase this resonant and relevant work for all middle grade nonfiction, Spanish-language collections.
PREMIUM
Todos los besos del mundo
An excellent choice for Spanish-speaking communities and libraries.
PREMIUM
Cuando sepas nadar
A breathtaking picture book about the beauty of the water and the magic of swimming, perfect for Spanish-language collections for children.
A deeply human, absolutely riveting, and expansively inclusive marine biology nightmare.
PREMIUM
A Curious Kind of Magic
A whimsical novel for readers who enjoy more character-driven work. Consider as an additional purchase.
PREMIUM
Mercy
While this story has an interesting conceptual premise around generational trauma, it lacks the thrills many mystery readers crave and an accurate representation of the groups it seeks to portray.
PREMIUM
Last Chance Live!
A serious commentary on the obstacles, institutions, and society that teens face, offering a mirror and important issues. To be recommended with caution.
PREMIUM
Truth Is
Give this to readers struggling with changing friend dynamics and those starting to ask questions that too often are answered with opinions rather than fact.
PREMIUM
If Looks Could Kill
This book will appeal to readers looking for a Christian faith-based historical crime thriller with fantastical elements.
PREMIUM
Canada: We Are the Story
Complex, beautiful, and thought-provoking. The eternal presence and voices of the Old Ones will be a spiritual paean to some and a ghost story to others.
When an author bears witness to the experience of adolescence through a real, living, breathing, complicated, messy protagonist caught in a web of complicated, messy relationships, readers notice.
Join me in the Not-So-Way-Back Machine to catch up on a few May titles!
Chuseok is a Korean harvest festival on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. This year, it falls on October 6. Share these two books with little ones to teach them about Chuseok and celebrate the holiday.
In eighth grade, I was scared of the world finding out the truth about me. But I think, even scarier, was admitting that truth to myself.
Gibson single-voicedly transforms an already electrifying read into a polyphonic marvel.
PREMIUM
Fine Young People
Clearer distinctions between Frankie’s narration and the 18-year-old interstitials of what happened then would have elevated Powers’s performance.
PREMIUM
Another
De Campo expertly captures Tremblay’s creepfest, adroitly building momentum as Casey’s alarm—and Morel’s transformation
Van Ness gloriously elevates these pages into empowering, enlightening entertainment.
Author and narrator jointly honor an extraordinary American hero.
PREMIUM
Hermana pegajosa
This Spanish-language picture book is a fun and humorous demonstration of the realities of sisterhood and a first purchase for all libraries.
PREMIUM
No quiero ir a la escuela
A great purchase for libraries serving Spanish-speaking communities or with bilingual programs.
This work is another wonderful addition to Spanish-language collections for children.
PREMIUM
Baby Beluga/Bebé beluga
Perfect for bilingual households, early language learners, or any family wanting to share a beloved song across cultures, this edition is a joyful celebration of nature, music, and connection.
A must-purchase for Spanish-language YA collections, this first volume in a planned trilogy will draw readers in from the start.
This vibrant Spanish-language picture book is an excellent choice for children’s collections.
PREMIUM
La vuelta a un año
A beautiful addition to Spanish-language collections for children, with a compelling view of the passage of time.
PREMIUM
Tate Tuber, Space Spud
A fun pick for the early reader section. Readers will enjoy Tate and his offspring’s zaniness and the passion they apply to everything they do.
Exuberant storytelling through the endearing voice of a headstrong heroine continues the playful legacy of this thoughtful series; returning and new readers will be enchanted by this latest addition.
A standout among early readers. Every library should have a copy of this one on the shelves.
Song’s standalone adventure is a recommended purchase and will delight readers who are ready to move on from easier graphic fare like “Pizza and Taco” and “Pea, Bee, & Jay.”
PREMIUM
Don’t Eat Eustace
A vibrantly illustrated tale of finding friendship through creativity, this book is a strong addition to picture book collections and story hour shelves.
PREMIUM
I Can Help in the Neighborhood
This charming board book features a helpful group of familiar animals with an engaging story that will make for an enjoyable read for an audience just learning to help others.
PREMIUM
The Lighthouse Keeper
Touching upon the importance of a lighthouse keeper, this picture book is a good choice for children’s collections and for those in search of this compelling, but little-mentioned, occupation.
PREMIUM
Bath Time for the Crayons
The crayons and their art are delightful, rustic, and interesting enough to keep children not only entertained but constantly looking for playfulness on every page. An aquatic amusement that lands across a range of grades.
PREMIUM
Searching for Mr. Johnson’s Song
A powerful tale that demonstrates the connective power of music and memory, as well as an appreciation for the strength of tradition passed through generations.
Recommended for lower elementary grades where fearless books on difficult topics, here masterfully captured in wordless form, are collected and lauded as required viewing.
PREMIUM
Cats on Cats on Cats
An appealing way to teach an important life lesson in communication, and great fun for the SEL shelves.
PREMIUM
Gray Squirrel Loses It!
An exciting and humorous opportunity to open discussions about the concept of seeds turning into plants, the food chain, and forest life, or just to read for fun.
PREMIUM
The Coziest Place on the Moon
A reflective social-emotional story that celebrates solitude and affirms that being alone does not mean being lonely. A thoughtful addition to collections exploring emotional intelligence and mindfulness.
PREMIUM
Little Red and Big, Bad Fred
A sweet and silly twist on a classic tale, with preschool-friendly pacing and a heartwarming bond at its center. A whimsically absurd love letter to childhood imagination and animal companionship.
PREMIUM
The Everything Trail
This love letter to the great outdoors is one that every library should have in their collection.
An immensely engrossing historical story, perfect for introducing elementary readers to past visionaries and locations.
PREMIUM
Love Finds a Way
A sweet and engaging exploration of love, friendship, and emotional growth that will resonate with young readers.
PREMIUM
Help Me Find My Hamster!
An enjoyable opportunity for interactive reading with a group or as a lapsit.
PREMIUM
Factology: Greek Myths
Highly recommended for elementary and middle grade nonfiction collections, especially in libraries serving readers who enjoy mythology, the Percy Jackson series, and visually engaging informational texts.
A worthwhile text to add to any collection of animal facts and photographs.
While full of facts to engage reluctant readers, this book will leave many readers wanting more.
PREMIUM
A Compendium of Curious Contraptions: A Guessing Game About History’s Most Unusual Artifacts
A must-purchase text for history sleuths as well as for general use in schools or in classroom library reference collection.
Catnip for elementary school soccer enthusiasts looking to bulk up their trivia knowledge.
PREMIUM
Refugee: The Graphic Novel
The original Refugee remains an important and timely book; this graphic novel adaptation brings the moving stories of Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud to life for a new generation of readers. A good choice for where the original is popular.
A sweet story that uses fantasy elements to explore neurodivergence and learning differences.
A solid purchase, this story will resonate with middle schoolers who have endured similar shifting family structures.
PREMIUM
My Sister the Werebeast
Filled with familial love and high adventure that will leave readers with the warm fuzzies, this is a wonderful addition to middle grade graphic novel collections.
PREMIUM
Millie of the Manor
A comforting, fun, low-stakes middle grade mystery that gains depth in the thoughtful portrayal of Amy’s anxiety.
PREMIUM
The Picasso Curse
Readers will eagerly join Edwin in this twisty, action-packed story that throws in a dollop of financial literacy and art history for good measure.
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