Very cool MG - Ellie Engle Saves Herself, by Leah Johnson

Ellie Engle Saves Herself! by Leah Johnson

This one is a bit older, but I've only just read it and really enjoyed it. 

From the publisher, Disney Hyperion: available in paperback January 28, 2025 / hardback published in 2023.

Ellie Engle doesn’t stand out. Not at home, where she's alone with her pet fish since her dad moved away and her mom has to work around the clock. Not at the bakery, where she helps out old Mr. Walker on the weekends. And definitely not at school, where her best friend Abby—the coolest, boldest, most talented girl in the world—drags Ellie along on her never-ending quest to “make her mark.” To someone else, a life in the shadows might seem boring, or lonely. But not to Ellie. As long as she has Abby by her side and a comic book in her hand, she’s quite content.

Too bad life didn’t bother checking in with Ellie. Because when a freak earthquake hits her small town, Ellie wakes up with fantastical powers that allow her to bring anything back to life with just her touch. And when a video of her using her powers suddenly goes viral, Ellie’s life goes somewhere she never imagined—or wanted: straight into the spotlight.

Surviving middle school is hard enough. Surviving middle school when paparazzi are camped out on your front lawn and an international pop singer wants you to use your powers on live tv and you might be in love with your best friend but she doesn’t know it? Absolutely impossible.

This is such a great story, with excellent characters and a very cool situation.

I love the themes of standing up for yourself and being valued as a person and a friend. It’s not easy to stand up to friends when you’ve been hurt. Learning and understanding consequences; and how to do hard things. I found the characters’ struggles to be real.

Being yourself is enough.

Tension Filled YA - Best of All Worlds, by Kenneth Oppel

Best of All Worlds, by Kenneth Oppel

From the publisher, Scholastic Press: June 3, 2025

Xavier Oaks doesn't particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad's pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it's only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only... one morning he wakes up and the house isn’t where it was before. It's like it's been lifted and placed... somewhere else.

When Xavier, his dad, and Nia go explore, they find they are inside a dome, trapped. And there's no one else around...

Until, three years later, another family arrives.

Is there any escape? Is there a reason they are stuck where they are? Different people have different answers -- and those different answers inexorably lead to tension, strife, and sacrifice.

In this masterpiece, award-winning author Kenneth Oppel builds to a heart-stopping pitch in drawing a story that feels very much of our moment, where our very human choices collectively lead to humanity’s eventual fate.

This book has mind-bending twists. What is the truth? Why is this happening?

The story had a fascinating hold on me throughout. The suspense is intense and the tension riveting. The story ups the ante with the addition of the new family, with very opposing views, into their world.

It’s a wild ride – enjoy it. 

MG - Heartfelt graphic novel - Winging It, by Megan Wagner Lloyd

Winging It, by Megan Wagner Lloyd, Michelle Mee Nutter (Illustrator)

From the publisher, Scholastic Press: available October 21, 2025

Twelve-year-old Luna never wanted to move from California to Virginia, even if it is near historic Washington, DC, and no matter how excited her dad is to show her the sites and introduce her to the area where her late mother grew up. And she definitely doesn't want to live with a very formal grandmother she barely knows. But during a visit to the National Museum of Natural History, the rarely seen luna moth for which Luna was named sparks her curiosity. Using her mother's old naturalist notebooks as a guide, Luna, who has always preferred the indoors, endeavors to see a real luna moth with her own eyes. Learning more about nature just might help her make a new friend, figure out how to feel at home in her new life, and understand the mother she never got the chance to know. 

What an excellent graphic novel. Very relatable and heartfelt.

The story unfolds seamlessly with each of the characters growing, changing, and learning about themselves changing for the better. Everything comes full circle and is very satisfying.

Communicating and being open to new people and experiences changes us and helps us understand the world and other people better. And watching Luna and her grandmother navigate their new relationship, does just that. Luna wants to learn about her mom and getting to know her through her nature journal opens Luna up to things she was closed off to before.

Grief is very hard for everyone and finding ways to deal and process it are so important.  

There are even instructions on how to make your own nature journal at the back of the book. It’s a story for everyone.

MG - Graphic Novel - The Cartoonists Club

The Cartoonists Club by Raina Telgemeier, Scott McCloud

From the Publisher: Graphix, April 1, 2025

Makayla is bursting with ideas but doesn't know how to make them into a story. Howard loves to draw, but he struggles to come up with ideas and his dad thinks comics are a waste of time. Lynda constantly draws in her sketchbook but keeps focusing on what she feels are mistakes, and Art simply loves being creative and is excited to try something new. They come together to form The Cartoonists Club, where kids can learn about making comics and use their creativity and imagination for their own storytelling adventures!

This is the perfect book for budding artists, writers, illustrators. We get to go along for the ride and join the cartoonists club where they learn all about how to make comics. We learn comic book/graphic novel jargon, see examples, and the story shows the development of their friendships, their comic book abilities, as well as the support they offer each other. 

I found The Cartoonists Club is inspirational and encouraging. And I loved it when they broke the fourth wall, talking to the reader. I love the unconventional way the story is told and enjoyed the fun along the way.

MG Excellent Ghost Story - The Last Resort, by Erin Entrada Kelly

The Last Resort, by Erin Entrada Kelly

From the publisher, Scholastic Press: available September 2, 2025

Twelve-year-old Lila has two goals for the

1. Win back the friends who ditched her for being "too dramatic"

2. Stop being so dramatic

But then Lila's estranged Grandpa Clem dies, throwing a wrench in her plans. Now she'll have to spend the summer in Ohio while her parents decide what to do with Grandpa Clem's creepy Victorian Inn. It's supremely unfair. How can she show off the "new and improved" Lila from so far away?

Even worse, strange things keep happening. En route to Ohio, the family gets into a scary car accident. No one's hurt, but the remainder of the trip is... odd. At every rest stop, Lila sees people in weird old-fashioned clothes. People no one else can see or hear...

Lila convinces herself it's just her overactive imagination until the day of the funeral when she spots an old man sitting in her grandfather's favorite chair. She does a double take -- it's him, Grandpa Clem. He tells Lila that he didn't die of a heart he was murdered. Possibly by someone who wants to control the inn. Because it's not a normal bed & it's a portal between the land of the living and the realm of the dead. A hotel for ghosts passing onto the afterlife.

With the help of her skeptical brother, Caleb, and their new ghost-obsessed neighbor, Teddy, Lila -- the girl who's vowed to be less dramatic -- must uncover her grandfather's killer AND stop the evil spirits desperate to make their way back into the human world.

Enter the world of The Last Resort! Ghosts from the story will emerge from the pages of the book, allowing readers to talk to spirits from the past and help solve the mystery! 

Phenomenal book! Perfectly crafted, excellent characters, the right amount of spookiness, ghosts and mystery. What a feat. I wanted to post this as soon as I read it, but wanted to wait until it was closer to coming out in Sept.

I loved that Lila was overly dramatic with an active imagination – so many of us are that way – and it gives us insight as to how others interpret that. It warmed my heart that Lila was able to meet her grandpa, even if it is as a ghost. Estranged families may not always see how it affects everyone in the family and why things are the way they are. Regret is tough.

Seeing how the ghosts’ stories developed is always fascinating. Lila’s journey to being brave and resourceful is satisfying, too. Love the cover!

Plus, there is a QR code to interact with the ghosts. Book 2 comes out in Spring 2026 by a different author. Is anyone having as much fun as I am? Loving this creativity and great story telling.

Join in the fun and the mystery, you won’t regret it.

MG magical realism and mythology - El Niño, by Pam Muñoz Ryan

El Niño, by Pam Muñoz Ryan

From the publisher, Scholastic Press: available May 6, 2025

Kai Sosa comes from a long line of competitive swimmers. And this is his summer to prove his own prowess on an elite invitational team, even if he is the weakest link. He hopes to carry the Sosa torch in a competition against the infamous Sea Wolves.

But recently, he's been haunted by a puzzling dream. One where he sees his dead sister, Cali, swimming in the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by dolphins. When he wakes, it's hard to hold back the dam of feeling he's been working so hard to contain the past two years. But he must, because feeling will mess with his race times.

Then one day, while surfing with a friend, Kai encounters a mysterious sea creature as big as he, with long black hair and a fluked tail, that insistently pokes his board. Kai is sure his mind and the sea are playing tricks, until the sea creature finds Kai twice more. When a school assignment about the weather phenomenon El Niño leads him to the local library-and a book Cali had checked out multiple times, about dolphins and a mythic Amazonian queen who once ruled over an underwater realm-Kai's grip on reality begins to fissure. What are the sea creature and the book trying to tell him? In a climactic head-to-head faceoff with the Sea Wolves, everything becomes clear as Kai tests his strength, unleashes the dam, and discovers that sometimes the only way to hold onto what we love is to let it go. 

I really enjoyed the folk lore in this story. I appreciated the struggles the characters faced with the death of a sister and daughter.

I was a bit confused in one area, but after reading the next part, it all became clear. Just in case you read and wonder, is this happening?

Relatable characters since you can see where each of them are coming from and why they react the way they do. The swim training, surfing, and the ocean and what’s beneath are characters in the story, too.

There’s mystery and a journey with a goal propelling Kai to the end.

There are many ways to cope with death, and this highlights how different people react and deal.

My favorite book of Pam Muñoz Ryan is The Dreamer.

Two Perfect Picture Books!

Millie Fleur Saves the Night, by Christy Mandin

From the publisher, Scholastic Press: available July 1, 2025

Garden Glen was afraid of the dark.

Each night when the sun went down, all the lights in town turned on. The houses shone like the noon sun. Every house except for MIllie Fleur La Fae's, of course.

Millie Fleur knows there are enchanting things that can only be glimpsed in the dark. But ever since she moved to Garden Glen, her nighttime friends are nowhere to be found.

Determined to welcome the dark back to town, Millie Fleur bakes delicious moon pies and plants a sweet-smelling moon garden. But before the nighttime creatures will return, Millie Fleur must convince the townspeople to be brave and turn out the lights. 

I don’t think I can say enough about Millie Fleur. Loved the first book, Millie Fleur's Poison Garden, and loved this one, too.

She’s brave, inspiring, smart and hopeful – she’s a teacher in her community.

The illustrations are beautiful, creative, and amusing.

It reminds me a bit of the animated film, Monsters, Inc. where we can see how easy it is to be afraid of the dark, but getting to know the monsters and that they aren’t that scary, allows us to be more knowledgeable and less afraid. I wish I could buy all those plants – from both books.

Learning more about night creatures made me feel a bit badly about my solar yard lights, even though I love them so. I hope they’re not too bright for the night bugs and animals.

We can all learn a thing or two from Millie and you don’t even know she’s doing it. So fun! And, I heard there’s a book three on the way!

Little Big Man by Varian Johnson, Reggie Brown (illustrator)

From the publisher, Scholastic Press: available May 6, 2025

Elijah can't wait to take his brand-new kite for its first flight! But Daddy comes home with some bad news... he has to work this weekend. After all, a new baby means extra work for everyone. Can Elijah step up and be a little big man at home while Daddy's gone?

Beloved children's book author, Varian Johnson, stresses the importance of stepping up and helping out... and making sure to have time to play at the end of the day

This beautiful book shows a strong role model in both father and son, and a family story.

Elijah learns what growing up and being responsible means. Elijah is allowed to figure out what that means to him and how it manifests in his work. Elijah also sees how to have fun and the importance of that and having family time.

The father’s storyline and Elijah’s storyline parallel each other. They work hard and then they can play hard. Thoughtful and empowering and thoroughly adorable, if a book could be a hug, I think this might be it.