Welcome to November 2024, Week 3! As predicted – because it’s like this every year – there are notably fewer Spotlight titles this week.
Since next week is Thanksgiving week, expect even fewer next week. I have held back some titles that didn’t make the list earlier this month, so I have added some of those titles to fill in some of this week’s gaps.
As I do every year, I’ll be taking a break from the Spotlight until early-January 2025.
MY TOP PICKS – YA (Grades 7+)
All the Truth I Can Stand by Mason Stokes – based on the true story of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man who was brutally murdered in 1998
Dead Girls Don’t Dream by Nino Cipri – That cover alone makes this an easy booktalk!
MY TOP PICKS – Middle Grades (3-8)
Let It Glow by Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy – I’m always up for a Parent Trap-esque middle grade novel set during the holiday season!
Power to the Parasites! by Chelsea L. Wood – Nonfiction for Grades 3-8 that got four starred professional reviews. It’s got all the gross, slimy, squirmy, and even poopy facts about parasites!
The Other Side of Tomorrow by Tina Cho – graphic fiction about escaping from North Korea in 2013
Take It From the Top by Claire Swinarski – Let’s count how many ways you can sell this book to your students: 1) It’s graphic fiction, 2) It’s set at summer camp, 3) It has former best friend drama, and 4) The camp is theater camp, and guess what the musical is… WICKED! With the movie musical of Wicked releasing in just a few days, this book could not possibly be more timely.
MY TOP PICKS – Picture Books and Chapter Books
I Know How to Draw an Owl by Hilary Horder Hippely – A young girl who lives in a car with her mother notices that a new student at school may also live in their car.
Mishka by Edward van de Vendel and Anoush Elman – Elementary chapter book about an Afghan refugee family that settles in The Netherlands. Semi-autobiographic based on the authors’ lived experiences.
A Voice in the Storm by Karl James Mountford – How gorgeous are those illustrations? I love the color palatte in this picture book, and I always love the use of triangles in artwork. This one is on my “Caldecott possible” list for 2025, a blog post I will publish in December.
All titles have been added to The Ginormous Booklist. For this month’s titles see lines #4422– #4466.
YA BOOKS – GRADES 7+ – NOVEMBER 2024
A few title notes for the YA releases:
If you are in a school where library books are under fire for their content, please note that my Week One top pick – All the Truth I Can Stand – may be controversial, as noted in the Booklist review (1 Oct 2024), which states “Stokes has done an excellent job of incorporating real life into his fictional narrative. The result is bound to be controversial, however. Be aware.” The full Booklist review is on Titlewave.
Big Jim and the White Boy released in October, but it did not have meet my Spotlight criteria until this week (only had one review on Titlewave). As a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it does contain the N-Word, but the word is shown in a redacted format, with the middle letters crossed out.
The Love Interest has four positive professional reviews in Titlewave, but grade level recommendations range widely from Grade 6+ (SLJ) to 9-12 (Kirkus). Publisher Bloomsbury YA recommends ages 12-17. None of the reviews currently on Titlewave mention sexual content, but middle school librarians may want to thumb through the book to check content.
When Mimi Went Missing by Suja Sukumar – This book sounds interesting to me, and I think many students will enjoy it. It meets my “two positive professional reviews” requirement, but note that a third review from Kirkus mentions stereotyped characters and “repetitive, confusing thoughts.”
Shadowed by Carl Deuker features short chapters and sports-announcer style narration, making it a great choice for reluctant readers. Reviews are mixed for this title, but Carl Deuker is always a great recommendation for readers looking for sports fiction with emotional depth.
Do not miss Take It From the Top by Claire Swinarski! I mentioned why it’s so perfect for middle graders in my top picks above, but seriously, it features the musical Wicked prominently. A MUST considering the release of the Wicked movie musical on November 22.
The Doll Test is an informational picture book about the psychological effects of school segregation on young Black children. Professional reviewers recommend Grades K-5, but the SLJ review cautions about using it as a read-aloud. According to the SLJ review: “Actual questions asked in the test are used in the book, so there is a use of the N-word, making this a dramatic and great lesson for U.S. history units but too sensitive for sharing as read-aloud.”
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.
Each week, school librarian Leigh Collazo compiles the New Release Spotlight using a combination of Follett’s Titlewave, Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble. Recommended grade levels represent the range of grade levels recommended by professional book reviewers. See the full selection criteria here.
Inevitably, there are far more books that meet my criteria than can make it on the Spotlight. When I have to make the tough decisions on what to include, I just use my “librarian judgment.” Would I buy this book for my own library? Would my students want to read this book? Is the cover appealing? Does it fill a need?
All the titles on this list have been added to a giant spreadsheet of books. The Ginormous Booklist is an invaluable collection development tool, and it’s 100% FREE! It includes all New Release Spotlight titles and analysis since October 2019. It’s searchable, too! Check it out!
