Book Reviews

Troubled Waters: A River’s Journey Toward Justice by Carole Boston Weatherford – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

Troubled Waters: A River’s Journey Toward Justice by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Bryan Collier

  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
  • Publication Date: January 20, 2026
  • Reviewed from copy sent by publisher
  • ISBN: 9781681198187

Told from the perspective of the Alabama River, this picture book shares the account of Black American history as seen by the river. From the creation of Selma to the Trail of Tears. From enslaved people to battles during the Civil War. From sharecropping to bridges across the river. All is witnessed by the river itself. But nothing was quite like 1965 when resistance flowed across the bridge at Selma and freedom flowed but not without bloodshed and brutality.There were more rivers to cross, more agreements to be made, but history and change were made that day.

The Young People’s Poet Laureate has created a picture book that looks deeply at the dark history of slavery, sharecropping, lynching and more before turning to the hope of change inherent in the protests at Selma. The writing is beautiful, unflinching and honest about the history of racism that our country was built upon. Collier’s illustrations are a rich mix of acrylic, watercolor and collage. They include a gatefold that works to pause the reader, linger at a pivotal moment rather than rushing on past. 

Powerful witness to our shared history. Appropriate for ages 8-12.

2 New Picture Books about Wild and Wonderful Girls

| Tasha

Magick Hoodoo Child by Amber McBride, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación

  • Publisher: HarperCollins
  • Publication Date: January 20, 2026
  • Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
  • ISBN: 9780063395404

At school, she is bullied, called names. Luckily, in the summer she can journey to her grandmother’s home. She brings empty mason jars collected through the year and flip-flops though she will be barefoot all summer. When they arrive, she announces to her grandmother that they have to fix her mojo bag. Her grandmother is thrilled. As they have lunch, her grandmother tells her about magick and how hoodoo came from Africa through the enslaved people. The two work together all summer, doing rootwork together, making mojo bags stuffed with herbs, working in the garden, going for long walks. At the end of the summer, the mason jars are full and her mojo bag is replenished stronger than before. 

This is award-winning McBride’s first picture book and it’s lovely. Working within the restraint required for picture books, she manages to create an entire world of hoodoo and magick that celebrates ancestral knowledge and connection with nature. Her text is inviting and powerful and at the end of the book she offers small ways that readers can connect with nature themselves. The illustrations are dynamic and beautiful, celebrating connection just as much as the text does with closeness, pages filled with plants, and familial love.

A magickal book indeed. Appropriate for ages 5-9.

The Wildest Thing by Emily Winfield Martin

  • Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
  • Publication Date: January 6, 2026
  • Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
  • ISBN: 9798217023981

Eleanor loves wild things, all sorts of animals and plants. One night when she goes to bed, she awakens to discover that the wildness has entered her house. Amid the animals, she continues to live her regular life. She has breakfast from her favorite bowl has squirrels and rabbits fill the kitchen. She eats at the couch, which is actually a slumbering bear. She draws on the walls and floor, filling the blankness with butterflies, flowers and more. With her new friends, they play together until Eleanor sees herself as a wild thing too. 

There is such a gentleness to this picture book with its fine-lined illustrations that show a small girl letting herself be as wild as she wants to be. The connection with nature is palpable as Eleanor spends time outside. When that is brought into the house it is merry and often silly, giving space to that sort of wildness in indoor life too. In what might be a dream of wildness, the book embraces nature and animals and how being with them can be inspiring too. 

A dreamy look at letting loose and connecting with nature. Appropriate for ages 3-6.

The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller

  • Publisher: Philomel Books
  • Publication Date: January 13, 2026
  • Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
  • ISBN: 9780593624555

Luna’s life is pretty normal as she starts seventh grade. She is best friends with Scott, a friend she’s had since she was very small. She loves writings and discovers a love of zines. At school, her quiet kindness leads to her being seen as the book doctor, a person who can refer just the right book to a reader to help them out. She helps one classmate with self-esteem and then everyone seems to want her help. Luna begins to create zines to help people too with Scott’s art in them and her words. Soon she gets the attention of one of the more popular girls in class and starts to hang out with that popular girl group. But what will that mean for her friendship with Scott? And how much is she willing to change to fit in?

The Newbery-Honor winning author returns with a new middle school book. She captures so tangibly the push and pull of middle school, the anxiety about the changes that inevitably come, and how you can get lost in it all. The depiction of the hierarchy of popular girls doesn’t take it too far, staying entirely relatable and realistic in their cruelty. At times joyously unique and independent and other times suffocating in its conformity, this book is middle school between two covers. Just the zine about getting your period is enough to recommend this book.

A triumph of a book about writing, middle school and staying yourself. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

2 New Children’s Nonfiction Books about Scientists

| Tasha

Foote Was First!: How One Curious Woman Connected Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Amy June Bates

  • Publisher: Quill Tree Books
  • Publication Date: January 13, 2026
  • Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
  • ISBN: 9780062957061

Though an Englishman is credited with discovering that carbon dioxide traps heat, it was actually an American woman, Eunice Newton Foote, who did it first in 1856. Eunice grew up on her family farm and asked lots of questions. At age 17, she was sent to a girls school where she was taught science and able to use a laboratory. She grew up, married and had children and stayed curious. Never a professional scientist, she did science at home, learning about various gasses and their capabilities. When she wasn’t allowed to present her findings since she was a woman, a friend presented them on her behalf. She was the first to tie carbon dioxide to global warming, a foundational learning for our times. 

Offering just the right amount of information for young readers, this nonfiction picture book focuses on Foote’s curious mind and scientific studies. The illustrations are particularly striking with Foote in her wide hoopskirts engaged in long walks, scientific experiments and discoveries. They demonstrate how rarely we see women of this period engaged in scientific work. 

Inspiring and engaging. Appropriate for ages 7-10.

How to Have a Thought: A Walk with Charles Darwin by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Hadley Hooper

  • Publisher: Neal Porter Books
  • Publication Date: January 13, 2026
  • Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
  • ISBN: 9780823458509

Take a walk like Charles Darwin in this nonfiction picture book that reveals both Darwin’s thinking process and also his scientific discoveries. First find a rock or two, then a walking stick and then find a loop to walk. It could be a loop around the block or a loop around the world, like the one Darwin made on his ship. That’s when he discovered the fossil of a giant sloth, the variety of beaks on finches that lived on the Galapagos Islands, and the bones and skin of a rhea, a bird he’s been seeking but had been served for a meal. Then came the thinking. The why of it all. The walking in loops. The stacking of rocks to count the loops. What will you think of when you take your own walk?

The combination of encouragement to get outside, walk and think with the historical and biographical information on Charles Darwin creates an unexpected treat of a book. The book ends with the author explaining that walks that are celebrated tend to be extraordinary, full of vistas and beauty. That is not the sort of walk we are talking about. These are thinking walks, going the same way every time. And just look at the result. The illustrations play with the dichotomy of the book, sharing historical elements with paintings and offering a light-hearted feel. 

A real thinker of a book. Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Publication Date: January 6, 2026
  • Reviewed from copy provided by publisher
  • ISBN: 9781665988698

When Beth is found dead near the March family home in Concord, Massachusetts, her family is devastated. Their father is gone, having left the country months earlier due to the negative reaction to his book about his daughters. In that same book, Beth dies at the end. As the sisters grieve and start to work out the mystery of her death, there are many suspects and suspicious situations that led up to the night of her death. Each of the sisters have times when they think that their own actions caused Beth’s death, but the truth is far more sinister.

This modern mystery takes the Little Women cast and manages with great skill to maintain their unique characters. Readers who love the original book will enjoy seeing Jo navigate social media fame, Amy struggle to find attention for her artistic talent, and Meg make choices about how to keep up with her more wealthy friends at Harvard. Bernet never loses sight of the original book while still creating something new and fresh, even allowing Beth’s voice to be heard through flashbacks. Readers who don’t know the original characters will find a great mystery here filled with sisters you never want to leave.

A grand mystery done with great skill and a real fondness for the original.

The Last Ember by Lily Berlin Dodd – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

The Last Ember by Lily Berlin Dodd

  • Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
  • Publication Date: November 18, 2025
  • Reviewed from library copy
  • ISBN: 9780374393120

This first book in a new series starts with a fiery, war-torn tale of a city filled with wealth and poverty. Eva is a 12-year-old chemist attending a prestigious scientific school for girls. When her father gifts her the choice of anything in the jewelry store for her birthday, she selects a silvery ball that she believes is a rare element, rubibium. Meanwhile, Dusty has grown up as a foundling at St. Ichabod’s where he is now the oldest boy and headed into the military when he turns 14 from which he knows he won’t return. Dusty has become part of the Thieves Union at night and is now asked to steal that silvery ball from Eva in her dorm room. Soon Dusty and Eva find themselves of interest to the Director of Kingdom Secrets, who will stop at nothing to get his hands on what Eva has found. Could it actually be an egg from an extinct dragon-like species of lore? Fire and time will tell.

Dodd’s writing is incredibly engaging, allowing readers to understand the society and world she has built fully. Her interludes of information serve more as a friend offering insight rather than information loading. In Eva and Dusty she has created two great hero figures who are complex and interesting to spend time with. Even her secondary characters, including Eva’s roommate and Dusty’s best friend, are fully drawn and fascinating. Add in a potential dragon and you have a rollicking book filled with scientist girls, thieving boys and a dangerous government.

A great series opener, this middle-school fantasy novel is an exuberant experience. Appropriate for ages 8-12.

The Dream Builder’s Blueprint by Alice Faye Duncan – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

The Dream Builder’s Blueprint: Dr. King’s Message to Young People by Alice Faye Duncan, illustrated by E. B. Lewis 

  • Publisher: Calkins Creek
  • Publication Date: January 6, 2026
  • Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
  • ISBN: 9781662680311

Based on Dr. King’s rare presentation to a group of middle schoolers in South Philadelphia, this book uses erasure poetry to take his speech and turn it into verse. Using short but powerful sentences, the poem focuses on what your life’s blueprint should be. It’s about feeling your worth, knowing you are Black and beautiful. It’s about achieving things with your life and doing your jobs well. It’s about being the best you can be. And the poem shows the incredible people who came before and created the light to follow. Don’t stop in the hard parts and the darkness, keep going!

Duncan removed a large percentage of Dr. King’s original speech to create her poem. Yet the power of his words carries on the page, a clarion call for change and action. Though she erased much, somehow his voice still booms on the page, thanks to her skill with words. The illustrations are wonderfully abstract, supporting the poem and allowing the words to soar. 

A tribute to Dr. King and his legacy. Appropriate for ages 8-12.

More Than a Million by Grace Farris – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

More Than a Million by Grace Farris

  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
  • Publication Date: January 6, 2026
  • Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher
  • ISBN: 9781547617913

This picture book is sure to capture every family’s good and bad moments and how much we continue to love one another through it all. From very early mornings with bad dreams to spilled food to extra hugs when leaving and notes in lunch boxes. From beloved hobbies and collections to broken bones and picky eaters, this merry and funny picture book captures all the small moments that test us while displaying the beauty of family love. 

A debut picture book from a well-known Instagram account, this picture book has simple illustrations with a modern vibe. In fact, the entire picture book feels current thanks to its great examples of loving moments and its brisk pacing that matches that of a busy family. 

Funny and relatable. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen 

Publisher: Random House 

Publication Date: October 7, 2025

Reviewed from library copy

ISBN: 9780593125472

Angelica is burned out after trying to do too much. So when she gets an internship at the Log House Theater in town, she decides to focus all her attention on that. Oh, and perhaps also on texting with an account that seems to be related to the theater’s famous Per the Bear. As Angelica gets closer to Per, she is losing connections with her mother and her best friend. Meanwhile, Gable has returned to town and is living with his grandmother after his grandfather died. All of them are involved in the theater too. Gable had been best friends with Angelica before moving away, and now he happens to be the person behind Per the Bear in the costume and on the account. 

What could have been just a frothy fun romance based on the fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon becomes something much deeper in the hands of Nguyen. He deftly incorporates queerness into the tale as well as offering a story of loss, grief and community that resonates throughout the book. Beautifully designed and filled with lovely moments of connection and humor, this is a graphic novel worth sharing with your own Per.

Fun, deep and delightful. Appropriate for ages 12+.