Month: September 2025

Wake Your Friday Brain Cells – Sept 19 Edition

| Tasha

BOOK AWARDS

2025 Washington State Book Awards Winners Announced – Seattle Mag

Victoria Book Prizes announce nominees, new category for 2025 awards – Times Colonist

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

15 Picture Books That Celebrate Hispanic & Latine Heritage – Brightly

2026 Newbery/Caldecott Fall Prediction Edition – Fuse #8

Are You Ready for a POUT POUT FISH Animated Movie? – 100 Scope Notes

The best children’s fantasy novels, according to Katherine Rundell – iNews

The Best Middle Grade Podcasts and What You Get From Them – From the Mixed-Up Files

How To Raise a Reader in an Age of Digital Distraction – Lit Hub

My Favorite Back to School Middle Grade Novels – ALSC

Top 5 children’s books to inspire awe for our universe, chosen by Chloe Savage – Big Issue

LIBRARIES

I’m a Librarian, Therapist, Personal Assistant, and First Responder. Moments Like This Make It All Worth It. – Slate

Librarians Are Being Asked to Find AI-Hallucinated Books – 404 Media

Libraries Can Be Democracy’s Living Room – Next City

‘They said I should be purged and killed’: The librarians who stood up for free speech – The Telegraph

YA LIT

7 New YA Horror Novels to Pop on Your Fall TBR Right Now – Book Riot

85 Scary (And Not-So-Scary) 2025 Young Adult Books To Get Readers In The Halloween Spirit – Pop Goes the Reader

This One’s for the Fans: The Rise of the YA Novella – Publishers Weekly

The Monster in the Lake by Leo Timmers – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

The Monster in the Lake by Leo Timmers (9798765670507)

When one of the ducks wants to go to the lake, Eric asks about the monster that lives there. The other ducks assure him that that’s just a story and there are only fish and frogs in the lake, so he follows them reluctantly. When he peeks his head below the surface, he sees the huge horned monster there. When he shouts to the other ducks, they think he is joking and keep on swimming. Eric soon finds himself face-to-face with the monster, but it’s not quite what he expected.

Timmers builds wonderful suspense here as he fills the page mostly with green lake water with the ducks way at the top. The fish and frogs float past and the reveal of the monster is great fun and deftly paced for maximum impact. Though this is a book with a monster, there is a merriment that keeps the feelings light, plus the monster itself helps with that since it’s quite charming. A great combination of building story line and brilliant use of the page, this would make a great read aloud for older children. 

A monstrously great book to sink into. Appropriate for age 4-7.

Reviewed from copy provided by Gecko Press.

If We Were Dogs by Sophie Blackall – Book Recommendation

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If We Were Dogs by Sophie Blackall (9780316581721)

A merry look at two children playing together where one decides that they should be dogs. They will be the big dog and the other the little dog. They can wag tails, drink from water bowls, fetch big sticks and much more. Somehow though, the little dog keeps on not having much fun while the big dog is merrily playing. When even more dogs join them, the little dog has had enough! A clever look at how playing together means incorporating others’ ideas into imaginary scenarios. As always the illustrations by Blackall are charming. In particular, the little dog’s face captures his worry, doubt and how put-upon he feels.

A delightful doggy romp. Appropriate for ages 3-5. 

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Hachette Book Group.

The House That Floated by Guojing – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

The House That Floated by Guojing (9780593709054)

In a tiny red house on the edge of a cliff above the sea lives a little family. They spend their days fishing and rescuing dolphins from nets at sea and then carving fish figures at home. When a huge storm comes, the water almost reaches the house! The family work together to get the small house onto a handmade raft and leave their beloved space behind. They reach an even higher cliffside and the house is hoisted up to a new green-filled space where they can now live.

This wordless picture book takes its time to show the closeness of the family unit, how they spend their quiet days together. Because of that, the storm’s arrival is jarring in the best possible way, shaking the reader out of the bliss that was their home. The book stays fantastical in some ways with the house on the raft and the lifting of it to a new site, but there is also a definite tie to our world facing climate change and dangerous weather that move people to new places where we hope they will feel welcomed and safe.

Wordless and profound. Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Random House Studio.

I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This by Eugene Yelchin – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This by Eugene Yelchin (9781536215533)

This incredible sequel to The Genius Under the Table continues Yelchin’s biographical story in graphic format. Yevgeny is living in Leningrad with his mother and grandmother in the same tiny apartment. He is now older, working on his art and doing scenery and design for theater. At an illegal art show, he first meets Lizzy, an American college student working on social justice issues. As the war in Afghanistan begins, Yevgeny is threatened with being drafted, escaping only by heading to Siberia to do theater design there. But there he finds himself institutionalized and abused. 

A grim look at Soviet Russia with a first-hand account of the atrocities that happened at the hands of the KGB and in the name of Mother Russia. Yelchin’s black and white graphic format focuses on faces and characters while Russia forms an often blurred background. It gives the feeling of an old TV with a tightly focused camera. The effect is incredibly personal and offers no way for readers to look away.

One of the best graphic memoirs for teens, this is a must read and can be read as a stand alone. Appropriate for ages 13-18.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Candlewick. 

Wake Your Friday Brain Cells – Sept 12 Edition

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CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Check Out These Lovely Children’s Books by Palestinian Creators – Book Riot

Children’s literature professor fired by Texas university over ‘gender’ content – The Guardian

Donald Trump accuses Australian author Scott Stuart’s children’s book of ‘radical gender ideology’ – The Guardian

Happy 75th birthday to Henry Huggins, Ramona Quimby’s big-kid neighbor – NPR

New and Noteworthy Children’s and YA Books: September 2025 – Publishers Weekly

LIBRARIES

Court Victory Inspires Hope But Creates No Immediate Change in Florida School Libraries – SLJ

How Getting a Library Card Is a Salute to Democracy – Nonprofit Quarterly

Libraries are public health hubs – WBUR

Why Would a County Evict Its Public Library Over $1?: Behind The Push to Decimate A Josephine County (OR) Library – Book Riot

YA LIT

Most Anticipated Young Adult SFF/H for September & October 2025 – Reactor

New teen thriller ‘Sisters in the Wind’ finds drama in hidden identities – NPR

The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell (9780593809907)

Return to the world of Impossible Creatures with this second book in the series. Christopher is delighted to be called back to help the Archipelago again, this time to save the dragons. It takes a lot to kill dragons, and they only trust Christopher to speak to them and rescue them. As Christopher travels to the magical world, he meets Anya, a girl with a special connection to royal birds and who has lost people to the poison being used to kill the dragons. Now they have a shared quest, to find an antidote and save Anya’s father from being accused of killing the king, her grandfather. 

Readers’ hearts will soar along with Christopher’s in delight at returning to the Archipelago. Second books in series are particularly challenging and Rundell carries this off with grace and style. She gives readers exactly what they were yearning for, a grand adventure with beloved characters as well as new characters to connect with. Anya is a great foil for Christopher in the tale, which is less a tour of the magical land and more focused on a specific quest, yet feels incredibly expansive too. Don’t forget to say some of Rundell’s gorgeous language aloud, particularly her character names for the creatures, they are great fun!

A great sequel in a marvelous series. When does the third come out? Appropriate for ages 10+.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Knopf Books for Young Readers.

September/October 2025 Kids Indie List

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This bi-monthly list features the top picks from independent booksellers across the country of books for children and teens releasing these months. Here are the selected books:

#1 PICK

Whodonut?: A Holiday Mystery by Josh Funk, illustrated by Brendan Kearney

PICTURE BOOKS

Aggie and the Ghost by Matthew Forsythe

Bob the Vampire Snail by Andrea Zuill

Buffalo Fluffalo and Puffalo by Bess Kalb and Erin Kraan

Cat Nap by Brian Lies

Everything Grows in Jiddo’s Garden by Jenan Matari, illustrated by Aya Ghanameh

Fox and the Mystery Letter by Alex G. Griffiths

If We Were Dogs by Sophie Blackall

Seven Ways Through the Woods by Jenn Reese, illustrated by Devin Elle Kurtz

A Snow Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead

Zombie and Brain Are Friends by Stephie V.W. Lucianovic, illustrated by Laan Cham

MIDDLE GRADE

Cabin Head and Tree Head by Scott Campbell

Ghost Circus by Adrienne Kress and Jade Zhang

The Last Resort by Erin Entrada Kelly

The Library of Unruly Treasures by Jeanne Birdsall

Lost on Doll Island by Cassandra Ramos-Gomez

The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser

Scarlet Morning by N.D. Stevenson

Troubling Tonsils by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown

Witchycakes: Sweet Magic by Kara LaReau, illustrated by Ariane Moreira

Zeyna Lost and Found by Shafaq Khan

YOUNG ADULT

All the Tomorrows After by Joanne Yi

Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis

The Dead of Summer by Ryan La Sala

An Embroidery of Souls by Ruby Martinez

The Executioners Tree by Susan Dennard

Legendary Frybread Drive-In edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Morgana and Oz, Vol. 3 by Miyuli

Reasons to Hate Me by Susan Metallo

Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley

A Spell to Wake the Dead by Nicole Lesperance

Seven Ways Through the Woods by Jenn Reese – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

Seven Ways Through the Woods by Jenn Reese, illustrated by Devin Elle Kurtz (9780063356269)

When you come to a dark forest, you have several ways to enter it. First, you can simply follow the path where others have walked before you. It’s not exciting, but it’s an option. There are six other choices that are a lot more fun. Perhaps riding a griffin? Or taking the sprite tunnels? Or finding a portal flower. The seventh way is only for the bravest explorers. That way is to leave the path and stay in the magical forest, not seeing it as an obstacle but a destination. 

I didn’t know much about this picture book when I started reading that thought that it might be focused on nature and hiking. I was overjoyed to find that it took a magical turn into sprites, moss giants, griffins and more. The text keeps the tone of a guide narrator, much like a regular hiking book, which adds to the charm. The illustrations from the beginning are rich and colorful, using the digital format to create saturated tones that glow. 

Pure forest magic. Appropriate for ages 4-7. 

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Greenwillow.