As typically happens by mid-November, the Spotlight lists start to get smaller. By mid-December the lists will dry up to almost nothing, so my last list of the year will be coming in the next few weeks. Only 13 titles this week, which is not enough for me to do a “top picks” section.
This week’s Spotlight titles are #2907-#2920 on The Ginormous book list.
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*The Lies We Tell by Katie Zhao
She also finds a familiar face–her middle-school rival, Chris Lu. The Lus happen to be the Xu family’s business rivals since they opened Sunny’s, a trendy new bakery on Sweetea’s block. Chris is cute but still someone to be wary of…until a vandal hits Sunny’s and Anna matches the racist tag with a clue from her investigation.
Anna grew up in this town, but more and more she feels like maybe she isn’t fully at home here–or maybe it’s that there are people here who think she doesn’t belong. When a very specific threat is made to Anna, she seeks out help from the only person she can; Anna and Chris team up to find out who is stalking her and take on a dangerous search into the hate crimes happening around campus. Can they root out the ugly history and take on the current threat?
Kirkus and Publishers Weekly starred.
- Genre(s): thriller
- Setting: Michigan college town
- Recommended for: Grades 9-12
- Themes: struggling family businesses, murder, unsolved crimes, family rivalry, prejudice, hate crimes, stalking, threats, immigrants, anti-Asian hate
- Protagonist description: female, Chinese American, university freshman
Briarcliff Prep by Brianna Peppins
Before long, Avi settles into life at Briarcliff. New friends (and foes), challenging classes (at times too challenging), and maybe a cute tutor-turned-something-more (if her brothers don’t get in the way). Meanwhile, Belle does what she always does: she runs the campus’s social scene, especially now that she’s dating Logan, the pride and joy of Briarcliff’s sibling school Preston Academy.
But something about Logan doesn’t sit well with Avi, no matter how many times Belle reassures her Logan is a good guy. And when Avi stumbles across the truth, her relationship with Belle is put to the test. If Avi reveals what she knows, their sisterhood might never recover. But if she doesn’t, she might lose Belle forever.
Publishers Weekly starred.
- Genre(s): realsitic fiction
- Setting: Georgia, USA; historically Black boarding school
- Recommended for: Grades 9-12
- Themes: relationships and dating, boarding schools, secrets, school stories
- Protagonist description: female, age 14, Black
Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell
Yet there are shadows there, too. Many of the men that try to charm Adele’s new friends do so with dark intentions. After a violent assault, she turns to a roguish young con woman for help. Together, they become vigilantes meting out justice. But can Adele save herself from the same fate as those she protects?
With a queer romance at its heart, this lush historical thriller offers readers an irresistible mix of vengeance and empowerment.
Publishers Weekly starred.
- Genre(s): historical fiction, romance
- Setting: England and France, 19th Century
- Recommended for: Grades 9-12
- Themes: Jane Eyre, gothic literature, high society, con artists, boarding school, LGBT+
- Protagonist description: female, bisexual, white
The Hope Raisers: How a Group of Young Kenyans Fought to Transform Their Slum and Inspire a Community by Nihar Suthar
Korogocho is one of Kenya’s darkest slums, plagued by gang violence, food and water shortages, and rampant pollution. Most children have no future except for scavenging through trash piles or resorting to lives of crime. One day, a boy named Daniel Onyango decided to do more, creating a band called the Hope Raisers to inspire the kids of Korogocho. His friend, Mutura Kuria, quickly joined in.
In The Hope Raisers: How a Group of Young Kenyans Fought to Transform Their Slum and Inspire a Community, Nihar Suthar tells the amazing story of how Daniel and Mutura turned the band into a platform for change. They started teaching children on the streets how to express themselves through art and established a skating team after finding a pair of rollerblades in the dump.
Suthar closely follows the story of one rebellious girl, Lucy Achieng, who refused to get married off at a young age and instead used competitive rollerblading to reach for her dreams. Lucy continues to inspire girls to stand up for themselves and challenge the longstanding practices in Korogocho of early marriage and prostitution.
The Hope Raisers is an eye-opening look into a world of poverty and violence where children receive only a basic education and are left with little to no means to get out. Yet it also reveals the remarkable impact that a few determined individuals can have on their community, even in the most challenging of conditions.
- Genre(s): narrative nonfiction
- Setting: Korogocho, a large slum in Kenya
- Recommended for: Grades 8+
- Themes: true story, food shortages, water shortages, pollution, gangs, slums, art, rollerblading, community activism, getting involved, child marriage, prostitution, poverty, social change, music
- Protagonist description: three young Kenyans, two male and one female
The Do-Over by Lynn Painter
Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare that she can’t wake up from as she re-watches her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day. In addition to Josh’s recurring infidelity, Emilie can’t get away from the enigmatic Nick, who she keeps running into–sometimes literally–in unfortunate ways.
How many days can one girl passively watch her life go up in flames? And when something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?
- Genre(s): romance
- Setting: Valentine’s Day; Omaha, Nebraska
- Recommended for: Grades 8+
- Themes: Valentine’s Day, repeating the same day, cheating boyfriend, relationships, dating, Groundhog Day, time loops
- Protagonist description: female, age 16, white
The 9:09 Project by Mark H. Parsons
Jamison begins to take photos of ordinary people on the street, at the same time and place each night. As he focuses his lens on the random people who cross his path, Jamison begins to see the world in a deeper way. His endeavor turns into a school project, and then into something more. Along with his new outlook, Jamison forges new and unexpected friendships at school. But more importantly, he’s able to revive the memory of his mother, and to connect with his father and younger sister once again.
Kirkus starred.
- Genre(s): realistic fiction
- Setting: California
- Recommended for: Grades 7+
- Themes: photography, death of a parent (mother), grief, loss, memories, school projects, family, synesthesia, cancer
- Protagonist description: male, age 17, white
Oscar from Elsewhere by Jaclyn Moriarty
Oscar is that boy who skipped school in our world on Monday to skate, and found himself in the city of the elves at just the wrong moment: He fled as fast as he could, but not fast enough because the silver wave struck him and he fell down dead.
And that’s just the beginning! At breakneck pace the cousins and friends (and a six-year-old stowaway elf named Gruffudd, who’s a troublemaker) try to stop the clock and rewind the tragedy. Can they do it?
The pleasure is all in the adventure, as only Jaclyn Moriarty can tell it.
- Genre(s): fantasy, adventure
- Setting: parallel fantasy world of elves and other magical creatures
- Recommended for: Grades 4-8
- Themes: elves, parallel worlds, keys, quests, alternating voices, magical creatures
- Protagonist description: male, age 12, Australian; female, age 13, white
Tenmile by Sandra Dallas
It often feels like there’s just a thin line between life and death. Mining is a hard job; men are hurt or even killed. Sissy sees the same thin line between the haves and the have-nots as she assists her father in his practice, seeing firsthand the personal and not-always-private struggles of his patients.
Now that she’s older, Sissy is starting to think of the world beyond Tenmile and where she might fit in. What opportunities might she find if she could just get away? What kind of future does Tenmile offer, especially for a girl?
- Genre(s): historical fiction
- Setting: 1880; Tenmile, Colorado (a gold mining town in the mountains)
- Recommended for: Grades 3-7
- Themes: gold mining, privilege, poverty, social class, doctors, dangerous jobs, traditional gender roles, immigrants, tuberculosis, 19th Century, classism
- Protagonist description: female, age 13, white
Heart Finds by Jaime Berry
But when her friendships start to crumble and her grampa suffers a stroke, Mabel quickly learns that real-life maybes are harder to handle than imagined ones. Desperate to change things back to the way they were, Mabel devises a plan that she believes will fix everything. Except bringing her plan to fruition means lying to her grampa and disappointing her mother.
Will Mabel learn that letting go of the past doesn’t mean letting go of her grampa and that embracing the future might be one of her most important heart finds yet?
- Genre(s): realistic fiction
- Setting: Abner, Oklahoma
- Recommended for: Grades 3-8
- Themes: found treasures, friendship, grandfathers, stroke, difficult mother-daughter relationships, puns
- Protagonist description: female, age 11, white, 6th grader
Van Dog by Mikolaj Pa (Author) and Gosia Herba (Illustrator)
As the landscape becomes busier and busier, Van Dog struggles to finish his painting–but is he overwhelmed by his subject, or is the richness of the countryside precisely what inspires him?
Booklist starred.
- Genre(s): picture books
- Setting: a beautiful morning
- Recommended for: PreS-Grade 1
- Themes: dogs, art, painting, urbanization, Van Gogh, Monet, nature
- Protagonist description: dog that is an artist
*A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexihcah Word Painters by Duncan Tonatiuh
THREE starred reviews!
- Genre(s): picture book
- Setting: Mexico
- Recommended for: PreS-Grade 5
- Themes: Aztecs, Native Americans, indigenous peoples, Mesoamericans, making paper, artisans, codices, Latin American history, books, Nahuatl words, colonization
- Protagonist description: young Aztec girl
Elephants Remember: A True Story by Jennifer O’Connell
When Lawrence died, the matriarch led all the elephants from remote parts of the reserve in a procession to his home, where they gathered to mourn him. They returned on the same day at the same time for the next two years–because elephants remember. This moving story of human-elephant mutual love and respect will inspire readers of all ages.
Booklist starred.
- Genre(s): nonfiction picture book
- Setting: Thula Thula Game Reserve, Zululand, South Africa
- Recommended for: Grades K-5
- Themes: elephants, memory, mourning, human-elephant friendships, animal intelligence, poaching, conservation
- Protagonist description: male conservationist, white; a herd of elephants
*How to Send a Hug by Hayley Rocco (Author) and John Rocco (Illustrator)
Both timely and timeless, How to Send a Hug is about reaching out across the miles when you can’t do so yourself in person and turning words into love.
Kirkus and Booklist starred.
- Genre(s): picture book
- Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
- Themes: love, affection, hugs, innovation, grandmothers, snail mail, writing letters, US mail process, community helpers, postal workers
- Protagonist description: young girl and her grandmother, both white
A Sweet New Year for Ren by Michelle Sterling (Author) and Dung Ho (Illustrator)
She watches family members rolling out the dough and loves the mouth-watering smell. Watching and waiting, when will Ren be old enough?
- Genre(s): picture book, holidays
- Setting: Chinese American family home at Lunar New Year
- Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
- Themes: food, Lunar New Year, holidays, cooking, family, traditions
- Protagonist description: Chinese American girl and her family
THIS WEEK’S SEQUELS (YA):
THIS WEEK’S SEQUELS (MIDDLE GRADES):
THIS WEEK’S SEQUELS & FAVORITE CHARACTERS (ELEMENTARY):
ABOUT THE SPOTLIGHT
The New Release Spotlight began in May 2016 as a way to help librarians keep up with the many new children’s and YA books that are released each week. Every Tuesday, school librarian Leigh Collazo compiles the New Release Spotlight using a combination of Follett’s Titlewave, Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble. Titles with a * by them received two or more starred professional reviews. Recommended grade levels represent the range of grade levels recommended by professional book reviewers.