Category Archives: Uncategorized

Food and Family: Scrumptious books for the season to come

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If you too are ready to move from spooky tales to warm and cozy stories, do I have some suggestions for you. Brand new (2025) books of family, friends, and food just in time for the season of abundance. Enjoy these reads with your best book buddy, an extra cozy blanket, and your favorite stretchy pants.

PICTURE BOOKS:

Family Feast!
Written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Frank Morrison
Random House Children’s Books
Age 4-8
September 23, 2025

When this multi-generational family gathers for a party, no one will leave without a full belly and a full heart. “Tastes like home when family meets; bond so warm, so strong, so sweet.” This hug of a refrain anchors a poetic picture of a joyful day of food, family, connection and home. Vibrant colors and bold strokes of oil paint perfectly capture the action and emotion of a large and loving (and loud if they’re like mine!) extended family.

Owl’s Fall Feast Fiasco
Written by Kristen Rememar and illustrated by Matt Faulkner
Charlesbridge
Age 3-7
September 5, 2025

Menu planning for a party is stressful! Especially as Owl attempts to impress his favorite didgeridoo musician and learns that he doesn’t really even understand the tastes of his closest friends. By asking questions and accepting their different palates, Owl learns that gathering with friends is the most important part of a feast. The combination of speech bubbles, graphic-like panels, and full-page spreads allow unique animal personalities to eclipse stereotypes in this ode to a forest Friendsgiving.

MIDDLE GRADE:

Witchycakes: Sweet Magic
Written by Kara LaRue and Illustrated by Ariane Moreira
Random House Children’s Books
Age 6-9
August 19, 2025

“In a magical bakery by the sea, live a witch and a witch-to-be…” Blue and their mama bake up tasty treats with a little magic and a lot of love. While making the deliveries, Blue gets to practice different bits of magic as they try to help their friends and neighbors. This delightful early chapter book blends themes of independence and community spirit with the gentle lesson of learning from our mistakes. Whimsical, candy-colored illustrations complement the story and showcase a diverse and vibrant community full of heart.

The Secret of Honeycake
Written by Kimberly Newton Fusco
Knopf
Age 8-12
January 21, 2025

In the midst of the Great Depression, a young girl named Hurricane is forced by family tragedy to move in with an intimidating great aunt and her kind-hearted servant. Through her insecurity and grief, she learns about the ways of caregiving, the importance of using her voice, and the magic that can come from sharing food cooked with love.

NONFICTION:

Sweet and Salty! King Arthur Company’s Cookbook for Young Bakers
Written by King Arthur Baking with Jessica Battilana and Yekaterina Boytsova
Photography by Rick Holbrook and illustrated by Jordan Sondler
Simon & Schuster
Age 8-12
September 30, 2025

For anyone new to baking—no matter the age—King Arthur’s new title is just the guide for those looking to share love through food this holiday season. Full of tips for getting started, skills tutorials like how to “just fold it in!” (a photo guide titled “What is folding and how do you do it?”), equipment lists, and plenty of recipes for sweet and savory treats. Mouthwatering photography, fun and funny graphics, and easy to follow instructions are blended into the most delicious book for all aspiring bakers.

When Alexander Graced the Table
Written by Alexander Smalls and Denene Millner and illustrated by Frank Morrison
Simon and Schuster
Age 4-8
January 7, 2025

Inspired by family and food, this is the origin story of a young boy who would grow to be a James Beard Award-winning chef. Always enamored of Sunday dinners with his family, Alexander Smalls used his new kitchen skills to make a sweet surprise for his father and family to enjoy. Morrison’s oils capture both the thoughtful and ambitious boy and the emotions that inspired him. This would make a lovely non-fiction companion to Family Feast.

YOUNG ADULT:

Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories
Edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith
HarperCollins Publishers/Heartdrum
August 26, 2025
12+

Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In is everywhere and nowhere all at once. Each piece of this anthology takes place against the backdrop of the drive-in, as teenagers from Alaska to Hawai’i enjoy traditional foods, comfort snacks, and a little bit of magic to provide just what they need when they need it. As they deal with hallmark challenges of young adulthood—grief, love, jealousy, friendship, and family—they make connections within, beyond, and between Indigenous cultures.

Love Craves Cardamom
Written by Aashna Avachat
Random House Children’s Books/Joy Revolution
Age 13+
May 20, 2025

Archi is an American Desi HS student studying abroad in Jaipur and hoping for a “boy-free semester.” Shiv is a mysterious boy who wants to show her the city in all its delicious vibrancy, even when he’s not ready to show his true self. This lighthearted YA rom-com is a story of growth, culture, self-awareness, agency, and the way that food can nurture us—body, heart, and soul.

Here’s to a delicious season of thankfulness for you and yours. May your hearts, bellies, and bookshelves be full!

Let Freedom Read Day-What can you do to defend the freedom to read?

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This Banned Books Week, reading advocates around the country are fighting harder than ever against book challenges. And they need your help! You might ask what actions you can take, what can just one person do to make an difference? Well, our friends at Banned Books Week and the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom have put together this helpful advocacy guide for making your voice heard through actions big and small.

Book banning not only limits our choices, but it limits our worldview by silencing marginalized voices, sanitizing our history, and confining our critical thinking skills and intellectual growth.

Saturday, October 11 is Let Freedom Read Day. What will you to to defend books and readers?

Butler Bookshelf

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For this week’s Butler Bookshelf, we’re taking a look at some of the young adult romances in our collection. From supernatural to sci-fi to contemporary, there’s a love story to fit anyone’s tastes in this list. Our feature pick is Soulmatch by Rebecca Danzenbaker. In post World War 3 America, each 18-year-old goes through a process which identifies their soul, matching them with their past lives and, potentially, their soulmate. Sivon is terrified of the possibility of being identified as a “bad soul,” something that can mean being saddled with prison time for past crimes. The result she ends up with shocks everyone, including her, and catapults her into a life she’s totally unprepared for. On top of it all, her childhood celebrity crush is suddenly looking her way, while Sivon finds herself pining for a man who is completely, 100%, without a doubt, off limits.

Check out more YA romances below!

Love at Full Tilt
Jenny L. Howe
Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Romance
Available now!

My Return to the Walter Boys
Ali Novak
Sourcebooks/Sourcebooks Fire
Available now!

Soulmatch
Rebecca Danzenbaker
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Available now!

This Could be Forever
Ebony LaDelle
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Available now!

Till Death
Kellan McDaniel
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Entertainment Books
Available now!

Weaving Together the Past and Present: A Review of Braided Roots 

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Braided Roots: The Interweaving of History, Family, and a Father’s Love 
Written by Pasha Westbrook 
Illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight 
Published by Scholastic/Orchard Books 
Ages 4-8 
Available November 4, 2025 

A young girl sits still for her father so he can braid her hair before school. As he braids, he tells her all about their mixed family history and culture. Their ancestors were Freedmen and Native Americans who walked along the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma, and her father impresses upon her that their hair is their history. This prompts the young girl to look at photographs of her relatives, reflecting on how she is connected to past generations through her braided hair. When her father finishes her braid, they celebrate their heritage with a twirl, leaving the young girl feeling like she can change the world. 

In this charming picture book, Pasha Westbrook creates a charming tale that celebrates fatherly love and blended cultural traditions. Her poetic prose artfully conveys the deep connection the young narrator and her father have with their family, comparing their braids to DNA that links them to their ancestors. Westbrook also takes care to show how close the father and daughter are; in the afterword, she writes that she modeled their relationship after her relationship with her own father, creating a heartwarming and personal element. Madelyn Goodnight’s digital illustrations are in full color, utilizing a warm-toned palette and her signature realistic style to portray the sweet, thoughtful mood of the story. Goodnight shows the main character’s passion for her history, and her illustrations incorporate Westbrook’s DNA metaphor into many pages. A touching story about familial connection going back generations, this touching scene between a father and daughter is a wonderful way for young readers to learn about Native American history, culture, and connection.  

Butler Bookshelf

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For this week’s Butler Bookshelf, we’re going old school. Really old school. From the American Revolution to the Regency Era, we’re looking back at the past through some of the historical fiction in our collection. Our feature pick is Kill the Lax Bro by Charlotte Lillie Balogh. What do a jock, a nerd, a Harvard-bound overachiever, and a drug dealing skater have in common? They all hate the captain of the Hancock High lacrosse team. When he turns up dead during the school’s annual lock in, the unlikely group team up to solve his murder themselves before the suspicion falls to them. But there’s more to the story than meets the eye — and an entire semester’s worth of bad blood. This 90’s thriller is chock-full of drama, intrigue, and high school stereotypes, topped off with a sprinkling of AOL messages.

Check out more historical fiction below!

Death in the Dark
Bryce Moore
Sourcebooks/Sourcebooks Fire
Available now!

Exquisite Things
Abdi Nazemian
HarperCollins Publishers/Harper
Available September 23rd, 2025

Kill the Lax Bro
Charlotte Lillie Balogh
Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press
Available now!

Lady Knight
Amalie Howard
Random House Children’s Books/Joy Revolution
Available now!

Rebellion 1776
Laurie Halse Anderson
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Atheneum
Available now!

Search for the Truth: A Review of Through Our Teeth 

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Through Our Teeth 
Written by Pamela N. Harris 
Published by Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins Publishers 
Ages 16-18 
Available September 16, 2025 

High school senior Liv Porter has been numbly floating through life since her best friend, Hope Jackson, died six months ago. The police ruled her death as a suicide, but Liv suspects that she was murdered by her boyfriend, Brendan. Struggling with anxiety since Hope’s death, Liv is determined to find out what really happened to her. One night, she lures Brendan to one of her mom’s empty properties to exact revenge and uncover the truth. But the plan goes awry when two of his friends show up—and then utter disaster strikes when people in their group start dying, one by one. Determined to survive the night and get justice for Hope, Liv exposes the lies of those she was closest to. 

Pamela N. Harris creates a twisty page-turner that explores themes of mental health, domestic violence, and cyberbullying. The action in this locked-room thriller starts immediately, gripping readers until the last page. Harris also utilizes flashback scenes every few chapters to provide more context to Liv’s relationships and slowly reveal what happened the night Hope died. The combination of past and present scenes results in each characters’ secrets being revealed in a dramatic way that hearkens back to Pretty Little Liars, mounting suspense as the reader gets closer to the truth. Mental illness is an important theme, and the novel explores anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder through multiple characters. The conversations surrounding mental illness and its treatment in the Black community can be used as a good starting point for deeper conversations with teens. Both suspenseful and insightful, Through Our Teeth allows readers the chance to explore important topics within a thrilling mystery. 

Fall Semester Fun with BCLC

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Welcome back to the academic year, BCLC friends. As we all switch gears from zingy beach reads to cozy fall titles, it’s time to start marking your calendar for what we, and the greater kid lit community, have planned for fall.

September is World Kit Lit Month:

Check out all the amazing celebration suggestions from ALSC or share your own with us in the comments. You can also visit the BCLC to explore world literature with us!

Did you know that the Butler Center is home to an international children’s literature collection? Curated by years of SOIS students attending the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (see below) and some generous donors, the BCLC collection includes titles published in their original (non-English) language, international titles translated to English, as well as North American books translated into many other world languages.

Each spring, DU’s SOIS runs LIS 796: International Book Fair. The course focuses on children’s literature from around the world, the similarities and differences to books published for a US audience, how those titles make it (or don’t) into our local libraries, and how we can best share them here. The course culminates in a trip to Italy for the Bologna Children’s Book Fair for exploration, education, and celebration of the best in kidlit from across the globe. Interested in the course, watch for the fall info session in October.

Writers in Community:

Watch for News on More Bookish Fall Fun:

Dominican University’s Rebecca Crown Library will once again host a 2-week Lit Fest (visit the linked RCL site for the event promo video) October 6-17. Stay tuned to BCLC and other DU socials for details on dates, times, and specific events–including workshops, watch parties, writing sessions, and more.

Save the Date for the Butler Book Sale:

   

BCLC Fall Open Hours:

The Butler Center space and collections are open for students, library and education professional, writers, and book reviewers to explore new titles or conduct research in any of our collections. Drop in hours are Monday and Friday 9am-5pm, Tuesday and Thursday 9am-1pm, and Wednesday by appointment.
Questions about how you can use BCLC resources? Contact us at butler@dom.edu.

Stories of Survival: A Review of Refugee: The Graphic Novel

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Refugee: The Graphic Novel
Alan Gratz
Illustrated by Syd Fini
Ages 11+
Available October 7, 2025

In 1939, Josef and his family flee persecution in Nazi Germany. In 1994, Isabel climbs onto a homemade boat on the shores of Cuba. In 2015, Mahmoud tries to protect his siblings as they depart Syria with their parents. Each of them hopes for a better life in a new country, unable to stay in their homes any longer. An adaptation of Gratz’s novel Refugee, this graphic novel tells three stories of children seeking refuge based on real moments in history.

Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud each have their own stories, but each focuses on the same themes of bravery, hope, and family. Interspersed with each other, readers follow all three children at the same time, which allows for parallels to form between the tales. Gratz draws all three together, revealing ties between the characters and their stories, and providing for a satisfying ending. Fini’s illustration is packed with emotion, giving readers insight into not just the young narrators, but also their families and the people they encounter on their journeys.

Refugee: The Graphic Novel is unapologetic in its depiction of suffering and trauma. Although none of the pictures are overly explicit, characters die on and off screen, are held and gunpoint and threatened, and discuss the realities of the situations they are fleeing, including concentration camps and bombings. Young readers who pick up this book should be prepared to deal with topics that are heavy and sometimes uncomfortable, and adults who give it to them should be prepared for questions about its content. Gratz provides additional information at the back of the book about the historical context surrounding the stories, making it ideal for classroom discussions.

Butler Bookshelf

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Biographies are a great way to learn about the world and all its diversity. The experiences of other people can be informative, intriguing, and inspiring. This week, the Butler Center is sharing some of these fascinating stories, like William Kamkwamba (Little People, BIG DREAMS) by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara and illustrated by Kirsti Beautyman. William Kamkwamba grew up in Malawi, Africa, on a corn farm. He loved school, but for a while he had to stop when his family couldn’t afford the fees because droughts had affected their farm. After visiting the library, William thought of a way to help his family’s farm: build a windmill to pump water to the corn fields! William’s windmill was a great success, and after a few years, he started telling his story to the world. After college, he started Moving Windmills, a foundation that supports problem-solvers and encourages them to use their education and creativity to improve their communities and the world. Vegara’s text is simple and informative, aptly portraying William and his compassion and care for his community and the environment. She includes a two-page detailed biography about William at the end of the book, as well as recommended further reading. Beautyman’s quaint, full-color illustrations pair well with the text, bringing William’s world to life and showcasing his creativity. William’s story is both heartwarming and interesting, and will be sure to inspire young readers to think outside the box for their communities.

Check out more biographies below!

Bob Marley (Little People, BIG DREAMS)
Written by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara
Illustrated by Subi Bosa
Published by The Quarto Group/Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Available now

Messi Mania: The Ultimate Story of the World’s Greatest Soccer Star
Written by Luis Miguel Echegaray
Published by The Quarto Group/Holler
Available now

The Totally Awesome World of Steph Curry: Learn All There Is To Know About Your Favorite MVP
Written by Neal E. Fischer
Published by The Quarto Group/becker & meyer
Available now

William Kamkwamba (Little People, BIG DREAMS)
Written by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara
Illustrated by Kirsti Beautyman
Published by The Quarto Group/Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Available now

Yves Saint Laurent (Little People, BIG DREAMS)
Written by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara
Illustrated by Klas Fahlén
Published by The Quarto Group/Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Available now

Below the Surface: A Review of Dive 

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Dive 
Written by John David Anderson 
Published by Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins Publishers 
Ages 9-13 
Available August 19, 2025 

Thirteen-year-old Kass feels frustrated with her life. She and her best friend are drifting apart, and her parents’ marriage is strained by money problems. Even Kass’s safe space in the pool as a competitive diver causes her stress as she struggles to master a dive that her teammate, Amber, could perform in her sleep. Disheartened, Kass’s life changes when she finds Miles, a seventeen-year-old high school dropout, dumpster diving near her bus stop. Intrigued, Kass starts taking “lessons” from him on how to scavenge, looking for the value in discarded objects. Along the way, Kass learns the importance of looking past her assumptions to find the deeper story. 

John David Anderson delivers a heartwarming story about looking past appearances to find deeper connections with the people and places around you. Through Kass’s character arc, Anderson explores what it means to test boundaries and make mistakes as a way toward self-discovery. Miles and Amber further propel Kass’s development as they teach her that her assumptions of others aren’t always true. Anderson utilizes cheeky teenage humor to bring levity to the emotional, serious situations that Kass finds herself in, like the effects of her parents’ struggling marriage. The novel is fast-paced, covering only a couple of weeks of Kass’s life, but its impression is long-lasting. Both moving and thought-provoking, Dive by John David Anderson is a mirror for many tweens and young teens trying to figure out where they land in the world.