Tag Archives: book review

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.  

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. 

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. 

Math and Mooncakes: A Review of Luna and the Case of the Missing Mooncakes (Storytelling Math)

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Luna and the Case of the Missing Mooncakes (Storytelling Math) 
Written by Natasha Yim  
Illustrated by Violet Kim 
Published by Charlesbridge 
Ages 3-6 
Available August 12, 2025 

It’s time to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Luna is excited to celebrate with her family! When her favorite cousin, Mina, comes to Luna’s house, they’re both looking forward to eating the delicious mooncakes that Mina’s mom brought for dessert. While they wait for dinner to cook, the girls play detectives and quickly discover a real-life mystery to solve: someone is stealing the mooncakes one by one! Luna and Mina follow each clue, including handprints, a blue thread, and a lost shoe, to find the thief, ruling out suspects as they go. When they discover Mina’s little brother, Bei-Bei, is the thief, they’re proud that they solved the mystery and can continue celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. 

Natasha Yim’s newest installment in the Storytelling Math series creates a fun, intriguing story that showcases an important Chinese holiday. Yim’s interactive mystery encourages readers to consider clues alongside the girls to solve the case. At the same time, she showcases the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday and how it can be celebrated. Yim explains more in the backmatter, where she tells readers when the festival happens and why, as well as how the reasoning skills in this story are important in math. She suggests other reasoning activities, like figuring out how the eight remaining mooncakes can be shared amongst 10 people. Violet Kim uses gouache, crayon, and colored pencil to create modern cartoon-style illustrations. Their bright, full-color palette brings the mystery and celebration to life. Her illustrations support the text in encouraging paying attention to detail by showing visual hints, like who is wearing blue clothes. Both entertaining and educational, Luna and the Case of the Missing Mooncakes is great for supporting the development of critical thinking and reasoning skills.

Story of Survival: A Review of The Rebel Girls of Rome

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The Rebel Girls of Rome 
Written by Jordyn Taylor 
Published by HarperCollins Publishers/Harper 
Ages 14-18 
Available July 8, 2025  

Nineteen-year-old Lilah just finished her first year of college and is still trying to figure out how to survive after her mother’s death. When she receives a mysterious message about a lost family heirloom, she feels excited about the idea of learning more about her family’s history. Lilah grew up thinking that her grandfather, Ralph, was the only member of his family who survived when the Nazis invaded Rome. Now, Lilah has an opportunity to discover if his sister, Bruna, might have survived, too. Despite Ralph’s refusal to speak about his family and childhood, Lilah convinces him to travel to Italy with the hope of discovering what happened to Bruna. Alternating chapters between Lilah’s perspective in the present day and Bruna’s in the 1940s, this story of rebellion and resistance highlights the strength necessary for survival and the importance of telling your story. 

Jordyn Taylor seamlessly weaves together two perspectives separated by 80 years and two generations to create an emotional and touching story of survival and forgiveness. She explores themes of grief, guilt, and generational trauma through Lilah’s grief for her mother and the survivor’s guilt that Ralph and Bruna struggle with for their whole lives. Bruna’s story is compelling and heartbreaking, detailing the reality of living in occupied Rome. Taylor adds an uplifting layer through Ralph and Bruna’s heartfelt reunion and Lilah’s relationship with her grandfather deepening as she learns more about him. She also incorporates aspects of LGBTQ+ history and women’s history in Italy, both showcasing the multi-layered oppression Bruna faced and commenting on the progress that still needs to be made today. In the author’s note, Taylor explains how much of the novel is based on facts, like the missions carried out by resistance groups, and how much is fiction. Both captivating and touching, The Rebel Girls of Rome showcases the power that love has to help people survive and bring people back together, even after 80 years. 

Journey From Africa to the Amazon: A Review of A Gift of Dust: How Saharan Plumes Feed the Planet 

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A Gift of Dust: How Saharan Plumes Feed the Planet 
Written by Martha Brockenbrough 
Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal 
Published by Random House Children’s Books/Alfred A. Knopf 
Ages 4-8 
Available May 27, 2025 

What do the Sahara Desert, Atlantic Ocean, and Amazon Rainforest have in common? Vital, life-sustaining dust! Thousands of years ago, there was a huge lake in the African country Chad. As it dried up, the animals that died in it and became fossils have now turned into dust that moves in a giant cloud across the world. As the dust cloud moves west over the Atlantic Ocean, it helps the ocean make oxygen and softens the impact of hurricanes. Over the Amazon Rainforest, it restores the phosphorus that is washed away by the rain, allowing the forest’s plants to grow and support the ecosystem. At its peak in the spring and summer, the dust cloud can be as heavy as “almost 262 billion basketballs” (23). This dust cloud is incredibly important to the global ecosystem. 

Martha Brockenbrough uses poetic, expressive text that easily gives readers an idea of how the dust cloud works; the trout that eventually becomes dust is “gulping plankton” (5), the dust “soars across West Africa” and “paints the sky” (10). Even though there is little text on each page—nine lines at most—Brockenbrough accurately and clearly describes where and how the dust plume travels and why it is so important to the world’s many ecosystems. By doing this, she emphasizes how the natural world is connected across oceans and continents. Brockenbrough also includes detailed backmatter that explains more about how the dust is created and its impact. Juana Martinez-Neal’s stunning mixed-media drawings bring the Saharan dust plume to life. She uses a combination of realistic illustrations and specks of color that demonstrates the harmony between the dust and the life it supports. The bright, vibrant colors of her illustrations beautifully show the world’s natural diversity. A fascinating book about the importance of dust, A Gift of Dust will make a wonderful addition to lessons and programs about ecology and environmental science. 

Road Trip to Love: A Review of Amelia, If Only 

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Amelia, If Only 
Written by Becky Albertalli 
Published by HarperCollins Publishers/Harper 
Ages 14-18 
Available June 10, 2025 

Amelia can’t believe her luck when she finds out that her favorite YouTuber, Walter Holland, is hosting a meet and greet just a few hours away from her hometown. Eager to spend one last weekend with her best friends, Zora, Natalie, and Mark, before graduation, Amelia plans a road trip to meet Walter and distract Natalie from her toxic ex-girlfriend, who dumped her at prom. When they get to the meet and greet and become friends with Walter, Amelia is beyond excited. Her parasocial crush on Walter often leaves butterflies in her stomach, but after developing a genuine friendship with him, Amelia begins to wonder if she’s misjudging her feelings for Walter…and for Natalie.    

Becky Albertalli combines her hallmark wit and humor with tender emotion to create a fast-paced story with an endearing cast of characters. Amelia’s adventurous spirit mixes well with her more grounded friends, resulting in a fun road trip comedy. Albertalli deepens the story by thoughtfully discussing the journey of self-discovery when it comes to queer identity by showing different coming out stories; for example, Amelia questioned her sexuality for years before coming out, whereas Zora and Natalie knew early on in life that they were lesbians. This nuanced conversation brings realistic and well-developed queer representation to Amelia’s story. Albertalli also uses Walter’s character and his own queer identity to introduce young readers to the concept of parasocial relationships and the role that queer celebrities play as a space of comfort and representation online. By incorporating Internet posts from Walter and his fans, she develops his character enough to allow readers to instantly connect with him when he becomes friends with Amelia. At once funny and heartwarming, Amelia, If Only will provide valuable queer representation to teen collections across public and classroom libraries. 

How To Release Your Grumbles: A Review of Grumble Boats 

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Grumble Boats 
Written by Susannah McFarlane 
Illustrated by Tamsin Ainslie 
Published by Charlesbridge 
Ages 3-6 
Available April 15, 2025 

Who helps you release your grumpy feelings? Emma doesn’t know how to release her grumbles when her parents don’t let her go to the pirate party with her brother. After Emma is dropped off at her grandma’s house, Grandma sees how upset Emma is and quickly comes up with a solution. Together, they walk to the beach, draw their grumbly and grumpy feelings, and watch them sail away after folding them into paper boats. After they say goodbye to their grumbles, Emma feels much better and is ready for a fun day of playing and eating grilled cheese with Grandma. 

Susannah McFarlane presents readers with a simple yet well-written story about a young girl coping with her grumpy feelings. With straightforward text, she shows why Emma is upset and the effort that Grandma puts into cheering her up. Through Grandma’s character, McFarlane writes about an easy way to release your feelings: by drawing them out and releasing them to sea. She thoughtfully shows Grandma helping Emma move on from her grumpiness without invalidating her feelings by reassuring her that she would have been an excellent pirate as they watch their grumbles float away. There are also instructions at the end that show readers how to make their own grumble boats so they can participate in this practice in mindfulness. Ainslie’s watercolor and pencil illustrations pair well with the text to bring Emma’s world to life, illustrating Emma’s grumpy facial expressions especially well. The illustrations are detailed, and Ainslie utilizes a muted full-color palette, which has the same calming effect that Grandma’s grumble boats have on Emma’s feelings. Grumble Boats is a lovely addition to any classroom library or program to give young readers a chance to learn about healthy emotional regulation. 

Dare To Follow Your Joy: A Review of The Queen Bees of Tybee County 

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The Queen Bees of Tybee County 
Written by Kyle Casey Chu 
Published by Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins Publishers 
Ages 8-13 
Available April 15, 2025 

Talented middle school point guard Derrick Chan has the perfect summer plan: go to basketball camp and practice every day so he and his best friend, JJ, can make the varsity team next year. His plan is upended when his dad can’t afford the tuition, so instead, Derrick is sent to his grandma Claudia’s in boring Heritage, GA. There, Derrick befriends roller skater Ro and queer photographer Giles. When he has an opportunity to help out with the town pageant, Derrick volunteers out of curiosity and is soon faced with an opportunity to be daring and authentically express himself to the world.  

The Queen Bees of Tybee County is an emotional and heartwarming story of one middle school boy’s journey to self-discovery. Every reader will be able to understand Derrick’s confusion and anxiety, and they’ll find comfort in the safe space that his loved ones give him to be himself. Simultaneously, Chu expertly makes Derrick’s experience specific to his queer Chinese American identity. He demonstrates the diversity of expression in the LGBTQ+ community by showing the different ways Derrick and Giles express their queerness, as well as the ways that racism has affected Derrick’s family members chasing their own dreams. All told from Derrick’s perspective, his sweet and genuine personality makes the story compelling. Community is the heart of this novel, and Chu creates a comfortable safe space in Giles, Ro, and Claudia for Derrick to explore his feelings before feeling safe to come out to JJ and his dad. Although the resolution is fairytale-esque, Chu doesn’t shy away from the reality of being queer and Chinese American by showing resistance from some townspeople when Derrick competes in the pageant. This touching story of self-love and acceptance is sure to inspire upper-elementary and middle schoolers everywhere to be proud of who they are. 

What Makes Me Special?: A Review of I’m a Dumbo Octopus!: A Graphic Guide to Cephalopods 

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I’m a Dumbo Octopus!: A Graphic Guide to Cephalopods 
Written and illustrated by Anne Lambelet 
Published by Lerner Publishing Group/Graphic Universe 
Ages 8-12 
Available March 4, 2025 

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have nine brains or be able to shoot ink to escape dire situations? In this graphic guide, Grimpy, short for Grimpoteuthis, the scientific name for dumbo octopuses, teaches readers about his cephalopod friends and shows all the things that make them different. He introduces individual species within the cephalopod class, such as cuttlefish and coconut octopuses, showing off their fascinating characteristics and abilities, like using color to communicate and making tools out of the environment. Meanwhile, Grimpy becomes increasingly disheartened when he can’t figure out what makes dumbo octopuses special. In the end, his friends come together to share cool facts about dumbo octopuses that make them unique. Grimpy realizes that he is just as unique as his other cephalopod friends.  

By creating an amusing “tour guide” with Grimpy the dumbo octopus, Anne Lambelet successfully creates a fun and personable way to learn about cephalopods in this graphic nonfiction book. Jam-packed with interesting facts, readers will gain a thorough understanding of this class of animals without feeling overwhelmed with information. Lambelet also adds a touching storyline of celebrating each other’s differences through Grimpy and the other cephalopods sharing their unique skills. At the end, Lambelet includes a glossary with illustrations reviewing each important term introduced in the book, as well as a photograph of a dumbo octopus. Although Lambelet doesn’t have a background in marine biology or ocean science, she includes a selected bibliography of her research and a reading list for readers who want to learn more about cephalopods. Lambelet’s cartoon-style illustrations balance her informative text by bringing more humorous personality to the facts she shares. However, the red, pink, and blue color palette limits her depiction of some of the more colorful capabilities of cephalopods, like camouflage and communication. A charming adventure through the fascinating animal class of cephalopods, I’m a Dumbo Octopus! is an entertaining addition to ocean-themed lessons or programs.