Sage’s entire life changed on her thirteenth birthday. It was the day her best friend was killed by a drunk driver as she walked to Sage’s house. Now Sage is lost in her grief and ashamed of the way she treated her friend on the day she died. Sage has joined a counseling group at school with other girls who have experienced recent deaths of loved ones. As Sage and the other girls process their grief together, there are moments of sadness, anger and somehow friendship manages to grow too.
This is one of the best and most piercing depictions of grief for teens that I have ever read. I appreciate that that book moves beyond blame, shame and anger to also show healing and good things happening. Newbery Honor winning author, Watson, has written this book in a dynamic mixture of prose and verse, allowing real feelings to be shown bare and honest on the page. All of the processing of grief and healing feels organic and true as readers see the various shades of blue that grief entails.
One of the best teen novels about grief, get this one in your collection. Appropriate for ages 12+.
Rowan is learning to be a ranger, taking care of the land and its people with the help of a flying horse. But when Rowan tries to show off their skill and doesn’t listen to cautions, their horse is injured. Stuck now walking everywhere, Rowan is assigned to help Leone, a lone figure who spends a lot of time with sheep. Leone has his own dreams. He plays the fiddle constantly but won’t play for any person at all. As the two of them start their slow journeys together, their friendship begins to grow. Each finds support in one another, creating joy and romance.
O’Neill is author of The Moth Keeper and the Tea Dragon Society. This graphic novel combines a fantasy world with a trans and non-binary coming out story for both main characters. Beautifully told and filled with true moments of connection and romance, this book features characters who are complex and layered.
Beautifully illustrated and compellingly told, this graphic novel will make your heart soar. Appropriate for ages 10-14.
Anang wants to make a ribbon skirt to wear at an upcoming powwow, a skirt that is traditionally worn by Anishinaabe girls. Anang is two-spirit and nonbinary. While they have some concerns about wearing a ribbon skirt, they decide to follow their dreams. Helped along the way by spirits, turtles and crows, Anang steadily gathers the items they need for their skirt. Supported by their family and friends, Anang must also deal with a girl who used to be a close friend but now is more like a bully. It’s up to Anang to stay strong, follow their path and create their perfect skirt.
Mukwa is also a two-spirit Anishinaabe and this is their debut book. Written with a wry sense of humor, an honest take on support and fear, and a delight in the spirits helping, this graphic novel has a winning combination. The illustrations are bold and colorful, making the graphic novel all the more approachable for young readers.
A timely and joyful look at being nonbinary and living your dream life. Appropriate for ages 8-12. Reviewed from library copy.
JieJie lives with her little brother in a barren wasteland that they trek across for water and to reach the phone that lets when call their mother who works in a far off city. One day, the children discover the broken parts of a robot in a trash heap. JieJie uses skills her mother taught her to fix the robot and her little brothers asks the robot to be his mom. The AI boots into mother mode and soon the three of them are living a better life together, but what will happen when their real mother returns?
Done in pencil illustrations that capture the dark desolation, this graphic novel looks towards the light. Color is introduced only sparingly, offsetting the darkness but never taking it fully away. The story is hauntingly told, the answers are never easy and the humanity of robots and humans alike is the center of the tale.
Another simply beautiful read from this author. Appropriate for ages 8-12.
Autumn and her family are servants at the Inglenook School, a magical boarding school for wizards. Her family cares for the magical monsters in the menagerie, including plant-loving gardening dragons, wisps who need to be clubbed before they are gathered up, and a grumpy Boggart who loves Autumn more than anyone. But Autumn has a mystery to solve, her twin brother Winter disappeared almost a year ago, and she is certain that he isn’t dead. The Boggart spotted him in the school kitchens, but she is not allowed to venture much into the school itself. Meanwhile, Cai Morrigan, the boy prophesized to one day kill the Hollow Dragon, needs Autumn’s help. It turns out that he is terrified of dragons to the point that he can’t stay conscious around them. The deal is that he must help her find Winter while she helps him stop fainting dead away. Now the two of them must search the school and discover hidden parts while also entering the dangerous forest and dealing with dragons big and small.
It is inevitable that people will compare this to Harry Potter due to the magical boarding school at its center, but this middle-grade fantasy novel is something quite different. With a broad sense of humor about monsters, posh wizards, and older brothers, the book also takes on serious subjects like discrimination against different magics, the treatment of those who are different, and one girl’s determination to find her brother no matter what.
The characters are marvelously written. From the powerful and gruff Gran who raises Autumn and her siblings to the brothers who are both heroic and terrible to the family dog who just knows everyone loves him to the dark Boggart who loves deeply and hates to use his full powers. There are monstrous delights throughout the book, the creatures beautifully detailed and fascinating.
A grand fantasy full of twists, magic and mucking out stalls. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
From the dawn of World War II through the course of the war, four young people grow up. There is Ruby, born with speckled birthmarks on her face, who is bullied for them and spends much of her time alone or in her family’s British news shop. There is Kate, who has a constant cough and anxiety and who is looked after by her older siblings until they have to leave the house. In Germany, Erik and Hans grow up as best friends living in the same building. They tend to swallow chicks together, dream of working in a zoo and pastry shop, and spend time at the airfield. As the war progresses and the Nazis take over, they become part of the Luftwaffe. The girls are also impacted by the war, rescuing a dog who has been released by his owner, moving to safer areas due to the bombing, and helping neighbors understand what is happening in Europe. Both the English and German characters have loving uncles who appear in their lives, fix things and set things up and then disappear again. As these characters survive the war, their lives impact upon one another in tragic and unexpected ways.
I am a great fan of McKay’s work. Her writing takes on serious issues yet she manages to truly show the deep humanity of all of her characters through small memorable moments that impact their lives. It may be a wild and drunken Christmas that ends with a crash, it may be saving a diminutive elderly woman with fierceness and physical strength, it may be rescuing a very smelly dog from the streets, or it could be visiting with women who have staunch victory gardens and a tendency toward hoarding. Each one of these is so well written and described that the scenes are vivid and the moments uniquely special.
The characters themselves are also beautifully written, each with their own tone and style. It is particularly noteworthy to have two German characters from World War II who retain their humor and humanity through the entire story. They are written with a deep empathy for the situation of the German people during the Nazi regime and an eye towards also showing that families did what they could to save neighbors. The English girls are a delightful mix of bravery, steadiness and wild adventures that keep the book lighter than it could have been.
Another gorgeous read from McKay, this time illuminating both sides of World War II. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
Reviewed from copy provided by Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Borders by Thomas King, illustrated by Natasha Donovan (9780316593069)
When his older sister decides to move to Salt Lake City, a boy and his mother take her to the border between Canada and the U.S. His mother decided one day to make the trip to Utah to visit. They got dressed up and ready to leave the Blackfoot reserve. When they reached the border though, his mother refused to say that she was Canadian, giving her citizenship as Blackfoot. Caught between two countries, refusing to deny her true citizenship, the boy is caught with her as they demonstrate the power of their identity and family.
Written by an award-winning author of Cherokee and Greek descent, the graphic novel is illustrated by a well-known Métis illustrator. The book insists that readers see Native identity and recognize it as valid in a way that neither country is willing to. The story is immensely uncomfortable as readers wait for a resolution to come along with the boy and his mother. There is a brilliance to this discomfort, allowing readers to sit with it and learn.
The illustrations honest and simple, portraying the love among the family, even when his sister leaves for the United States. The focus on the people allows the illustrations to move beyond the desolate border and into the people being impacted.
An important middle-grade graphic novel that will inspire thought and discussion. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
Addie is neurodivergent just like her older sister. She has had good luck with teachers at school until she gets Ms. Murphy, who clearly doesn’t appreciate having Addie in her class. Meanwhile, Addie’s previous best friend has found someone else to be friends with, a girl that bullies Addie constantly. The new girl in class though clearly wants to be Addie’s friend and is also willing to stand up and defend her. As Addie navigates friendship and school, she learns of her village’s history of witch trials and the women who were killed. She is determined to have a memorial created for the women who were killed, many of whom were likely different from the norm, just like Addie and her sister.
Written by a neurodivergent author, this middle grade novel won the Peter Blue Book Award for Best Story of the Year. It is clear to see why. This portrayal of being autistic is filled with compassion and empathy, but also doesn’t apologize for being different instead pointing out how important different perspectives and voices are. Written in the first person from Addie’s point of view, readers get to understand how it feels to need to control autistic behaviors and the toll it takes.
Addie explains directly how it feels to be autistic, how it is to have to suppress stimulation behaviors, and what having a meltdown feels like to the person having one. This book offers everyone a way to see underneath autistic presentation to the person underneath who has so much to say and contribute. This is done simply by allowing us inside Addie to deeply understand her as a human.
A compelling look inside autism and activism. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Crown Books for Young Readers.
Garlic works at the farm market with the other living vegetables brought to life by the witch. Garlic tends to stressed and anxious, and is even more so when she accidentally sleeps in again on market day. The next day, the witch encourages Garlic to try using some magic to get her garlic to grow, encouraging Garlic to look beyond helping her in the garden too. But Garlic doesn’t want adventures at all, she’s much happier staying on the farm. So when a vampire moves into the abandoned castle nearby, it seems that Garlic is exactly the right one to send to get rid of him. After all, vampires can’t abide garlic.
This debut graphic novel for children is a look at anxiety and stress, all in one garlicky wrapper. With one bully on the farm to contend with, Garlic can’t seem to see the kindness of the others around her, instead getting fretful, sleeping too much, and doubting her own abilities. When she is sent on her mission, she finds her footing and eventually takes care of it in her own special way, making the ending satisfying on multiple levels.
The art style is unique and is something that will draw readers into the story. It has a great vintage feel to it from the classic vampire to the vegetables themselves. The humanoid veggies are marvelous characters, their emotions clear on both their faces and in their body language. The book plays characters that one might be afraid of against their tropes, showing dimensions to them in inventive ways both in the storyline and in the images.
A cozy graphic novel full of witches and vampires. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Quill Tree Books.
Waking Brain Cells 