Highly Rated Books

Our top-rated children's books with 4.0+ stars and 50+ reviews

Showing 175 exceptional books — page 2 of 2

GHOSTS OF HIROSHIMA

by survivors, include the sight of a cart falling from the sky with the hindquarters of the horse pulling it still attached\u003B a young boy who put his hands over his eyes as the bomb hit—and “saw the bones of his fingers shining through shut eyelids, just like an X\u002Dray photograph”\u003B “statue people” flash\u002Dfossilized and fixed in place, covered in a light snowfall of ashes\u003B and, of course, the ghosts—people severely flash\u002Dburned on one side of their bodies, leaving shadows on a wall, the side of a building, or whatever stood nearby. The carnage continued for days, weeks, and years as victims of burns and those who developed various forms of cancer succumbed to their injuries: “People would continue to die in ways that people never imagined people could die.” Scattered in these survivor stories is another set of stories from those involved in the development and deployment of the only two atomic weapons ever used in warfare. The author also tells of the letter from Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard to Franklin D. Roosevelt that started the ball rolling toward the formation of the Manhattan Project and the crew conversations on the Enola Gay and the Bockscar, the planes that dropped the Little Boy on Hiroshima and the Fat Man on Nagasaki. We have to find a way to get along, one crew member said, “because we now have the wherewithal to destroy everything.”"⭐ 4.3/5(294)

This gripping historical novel plunges readers into the immediate aftermath of the atomic bomb, following a young survivor's harrowing journey through the ruins of his city. The narrative masterfully...

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MIDNIGHT ON THE POTOMAC

by superior resources and persistence, not battlefield victories, so he was not discouraged after a year of bloody stalemate, although Union morale plummeted. Departing from tradition, Ellsworth gives John Wilkes Booth more attention than Abraham Lincoln and Grant. America’s most admired matinee idol, Booth hated Black people and fervently supported the Confederacy. Ellsworth turns up evidence that he secretly met with Confederate agents. No one knows what they discussed, but the idea that Wilkes was carrying out a devilish Confederate plot has never lacked supporters. Despite remaining skeptical, Ellsworth devotes much of his book to the South’s energetic secret service, whose members engaged in espionage, propaganda, and terrorism throughout the Union and Canada. His breathless account takes the service more seriously than most scholars but can’t conceal its mostly ineffectual schemes, among which were plans to kidnap the president. Booth approved and volunteered his services, but by 1865 efforts had fizzled\u003B the Confederacy was on its last legs, but the plot to kill Lincoln, the vice president, and the secretary of state proceeded under Booth’s leadership. Ellsworth tells the familiar story, followed by the victory that the Union greeted ecstatically despite the shadow cast by Lincoln’s assassination. He extols Black freedom yet admits that persistent racism left a shameful pall over American exceptionalism, which lifted somewhat over the following century but is, of course, still with us."⭐ 4.3/5(709)

This gripping political thriller plunges readers into the high-stakes world of Washington D.C. intrigue, where a young intern stumbles upon a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of government....

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SCHOOLBOT 9000

by Genre⭐ 4.3/5(62)

When a school installs an AI learning assistant named Schoolbot 9000, the optimization goes exactly where a kid's nightmare would predict: recess gets cut, homework gets assigned by reading brainwave...

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COFFIN MOON

by Name (2024), Rosson returns with an even grungier throwback, dressed up as a vampire\u002Dinfested road novel. In December 1975, just outside Portland, Oregon, roughneck bartender Duane Minor knows he’s on thin ice. His wife, Heidi, a college student who dreams of becoming a writer, is none too pleased with his PTSD and burgeoning drinking problem. Duane is managing to just hold down his in\u002Dlaws’ bar, the Last Call Tavern, but he knows something funny is going on with the business. Meanwhile, Heidi and Duane are both trying to connect with Heidi’s 13\u002Dyear\u002Dold niece, Julia, who was reluctantly sent to them after her mother murdered her stepfather. It’s a rough scene made worse when Duane has a bad run\u002Din at the bar one night with a bunch of bikers led by one John Varley. After the century\u002Dold Varley viciously dismembers both Heidi and her parents, Duane and Julia hit the road seeking vengeance. For horror fans, this is closer to crime fiction than loftier vampire fare—think Richard Lange’s terrific outlier Rovers (2021) or From Dusk Till Dawn in lieu of tortured immortals in velvet capes. Julia’s character takes a dramatic turn after they encounter a sanctuary dubbed the Children’s Museum, led by an ancient, lonely creature called Adeline. Even as he and Julia navigate this bizarre subculture, Duane’s defining characteristic remains the conflict between his inner demons and his outer ones. “You want that man to come forward, that killer I was, but I’ll drown if I do it. I’ll die,” he swears. Meanwhile, John Varley and his psychotic “thrall” leave a bloody trail across the country, chased by one broken man and a little girl with nothing but half a dozen silver bullets to their names."⭐ 4.3/5(863)

This chilling YA thriller plunges readers into a world of ancient prophecies and modern-day peril, where a lunar cycle dictates the fate of a small town gripped by supernatural forces. The narrative ...

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BORN IN FLAMES

by deregulation and accompanying shifts in the economic system, which spurred disinvestment in cities and reshaped the insurance industry, with companies making much of their money by investing customer premiums in stock, bond, and money markets. The 1970s Bronx fires were frequently blamed on tenants, a relatively small number of whom did commit arson, Ansfield writes. But this excellent book delivers the truth about “the burning years.”"⭐ 4.2/5(60)

This powerful debut novel follows a young woman's journey through a dystopian society where she must navigate oppressive systems while discovering her own revolutionary potential. The narrative blend...

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SHROUD

by a disaster that strands humans among dangerous aliens, concerns a repressive government whose strong resistance to an equitable first contact is met by potentially stronger resistance from the alien contactee(s). As such, it is more than a little reminiscent of the author’s Hugo\u002Dnominated Alien Clay (2024), even if the government and the alien are quite different. While it reads like a meditation on the same theme, especially in the relevance of its socioeconomic and political milieu to contemporary circumstances, it is also well crafted and full of tense moments, building up to an emotional gut punch. "⭐ 4.2/5(5,030)

This gripping supernatural thriller plunges readers into a world where ancient secrets and modern danger collide, following a protagonist who discovers they're connected to a mysterious burial cloth ...

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THE VANISHING PLACE

by Genre⭐ 4.2/5(457)

Disappearances with no clear pattern have been quietly emptying out this small town, and the protagonist has to work out what's actually happening before becoming the next person the town loses, whic...

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A SLOWLY DYING CAUSE

by Inspector Beatrice Hannaford, with Lynley and Havers not turning up until 120\u002Dodd pages in, and with a handy excuse for heading to Cornwall: Lynley, it turns out, is heir to a crumbling estate there, “the country pile that accompanied the cringe\u002Dworthy title he’d inherited from his father.” The fuzz put their heads together to sort out poor Lobb’s situation, and, as ever, the solution emerges in a perp who’s been there all along but has been overlooked. The book is, also as ever, too long by a quarter, but it’s got plenty of intriguing twists and turns that will leave the reader guessing."⭐ 4.2/5(157)

This powerful memoir offers an unflinching look at the realities of activism and social justice work through the eyes of a young person discovering their voice. The narrative captures both the passio...

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THE TRAGEDY OF TRUE CRIME

by Genre⭐ 4.2/5(112)

Chapter by chapter, this nonfiction book walks through real criminal investigations, covering evidence collection, courtroom procedure, and forensic science, but the throughline is really about the e...

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HEKATE

by Genre⭐ 4.2/5(751)

Hekate, the Greek goddess associated with magic and crossroads, is the mythological backbone for this fantasy, where a teenage protagonist finds out she has a supernatural inheritance tied to that ol...

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THIEF OF NIGHT

by a Blight, and he doesn’t want the Cabals to face the blowback if the truth becomes public. Mr. Punch could do terrible things to Charlie if she fails, but if she succeeds, he’ll help Charlie and Red be free of the Cabals for good. The sophomore novel in a series is always tough, but this sequel proves that the second book can be even better than the first. Black turns the screws on the magical world she set up in Book 1, creating complicated political motives between Charlie and the Cabal leaders and making the question of what it means for a shadow, like Red, to have their own consciousness more interesting. Veteran con artist Charlie makes some truly brilliant moves, especially toward the end, where the last few chapters have one terrific surprise after the other."⭐ 4.2/5(683)

A teenage thief who can manipulate shadows gets handed a job well past her usual scale: breaking into the most fortified fortress in the city, with actual magic and political conspiracy tangled up in...

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REPLACEABLE YOU

by shooting himself in the afflicted foot) for an amputation and refitting with a prosthetic that allowed him to walk more easily. Roach wanders through the hallways of eldritch laboratories where pigs are grown to provide organs that are transplantable to humans, and she visits cadaver labs to look at another source of carefully inventoried parts (“As much time is spent on documentation and shipping of a donor’s tissues as on their removal. You’re expecting The Jeffrey Dahmer Story but it’s closer to UPS”). She interviews researchers on cures for type 1 diabetes and advances in “in vitro gametogenesis” and generally has a grand time looking into areas where few writers—especially squeamish ones—have ventured."⭐ 4.2/5(462)

This powerful YA novel explores the complex world of teenage identity in an age of artificial intelligence, following a high school student whose life is upended when a sophisticated AI replica of he...

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SUGAR SHACK

by Genre⭐ 4.2/5(407)

Early spring on a maple sugar farm is the setting for this picture book, which follows the whole process in order: tapping the trees, collecting sap, and boiling it down into syrup, all through the e...

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DARK RENAISSANCE

by dint of brains and energy, moved to Cambridge, where he distinguished himself in Latin learning, found himself recruited into a network of intelligence officers for Queen Elizabeth, and then, at age 29, was mysteriously murdered in a bar fight. At the heart of Greenblatt’s book, though, is not just a familiar story but a new argument: that it was really Marlowe, rather than Shakespeare, who lit the flame under the literary Renaissance of Elizabethan England and, furthermore, that it was Marlowe’s brilliant schooling (rather than any lived experience) that fed his verbal imagination. Acting and action were everywhere in Marlowe’s world, and Greenblatt implies that it was his work as a spy that gave him an added sense of what it meant to perform. Marlowe “entered a world in which virtually everyone was in disguise, and it was fantastically difficult to know whom to trust. These professional role\u002Dplayers, operatives supremely gifted at inspiring confidence, whispered what one most hoped to hear and made one want to relax, open up, and reveal the truth.” Greenblatt is describing the world of Elizabethan espionage, but he could well be talking about the power of the theater to make us open up, relax, and reveal the truth. In the end, Marlowe “made it possible to write in a new way about violence, ambition, greed, and desire. He offered poetic liberation.” In his hands, “the expressive power of the English language took a great leap forward.” In Greenblatt’s hands, literary scholarship, too, has taken a great leap forward."⭐ 4.2/5(111)

This gripping historical fantasy plunges readers into a shadowy alternate Europe where alchemy works, forbidden knowledge lurks in forgotten libraries, and the great artists of the era wield powers f...

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THE WOMEN'S ORCHESTRA OF AUSCHWITZ

by the Shoah Foundation. Crucially, she tells the story not only of the players, but also of their audience of fellow prisoners. “How could we play light music here, against the background of the flames and black smoke that billowed day and night from the crematoria chimneys?” reflects one survivor. The author leaves open the question of whether the music helped prisoners or intensified their suffering. She makes clear, however, that the orchestra did not play during the “selection” of poor souls sent to the gas chambers. The players’ musical skills saved at least their own lives, exempt from the work squads, though they themselves were exhausted and starving, and Jewish orchestra members were always vulnerable to “selection” for gassing. Their resident block was mere meters from a crematorium, and human ashes settled inside some of their instruments. They experienced the “scandal of music at Auschwitz on a daily basis,” as the Nazis’ abuse of music was itself “a form of torture.” Their playing was an “effort to claw back something of what it meant to be human.”"⭐ 4.2/5(179)

This nonfiction account follows women forced to perform music for the people running Auschwitz, built from historical research and survivor testimony rather than invented scenes. It doesn't soften th...

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EXTREMITY

by the roads not taken. An SF novella about the ultrawealthy and their clones could reasonably be assumed to be in conversation with Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, but Extremity as a title is a bit of a red herring. It’s not about the clones being extensions of their prime selves, but rather about humanity reaching too far in its greed and Earth ultimately paying the price. The narrative framework is engaging but underused as the three stories basically line up, failing to generate sufficient tension about the evening’s outcome. While Binge’s longer works like Ascension are stunning in their scope, this tonally uneven adventure stumbles before it really gets started."⭐ 4.2/5(107)

This graphic novel drops its scavenger protagonist into a post-apocalyptic setting where staying alive depends on prosthetic augmentation as much as raw nerve, and where rival factions make trust as ...

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THE MISSION

by the Senate Intelligence Committee of the Torture Report, which described in horrible detail the interrogation methods used in the battle against al\u002DQaida. The book also describes the shocking effectiveness of Russian and Chinese cyberattacks. Weiner pegs the difference between the two foes: “China wanted to know their enemies. The Russians simply want to screw them.” Still, the CIA directed the multilateral decade\u002Dlong intelligence operations that enabled NATO and Ukraine to prepare for and react quickly to the Russian invasion in 2023. The CIA is the most studied and misunderstood of any U.S. government agency. Weiner’s book is a balanced and nuanced account that should change that."⭐ 4.2/5(440)

A team of teenage operatives is the hook here: kids running actual espionage missions, not just spy-adjacent adventure, with covert operations and surveillance tech doing a lot of the plot's heavy li...

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BIRTH OF A DYNASTY

by a tyrannical dynasty and largely follows two characters as they struggle to survive in a viper pit of political intrigue while also trying to find a way to attain vengeance for atrocities done to their families." />⭐ 4.2/5(396)

This one traces a ruling family from modest beginnings up to real political power, and it spends as much time on the personal cost of that climb, the alliances made and broken, the sacrifices individ...

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ACCOMPLICE TO THE VILLAIN

by Genre⭐ 4.2/5(44,849)

The core joke of this fantasy adventure is right there in the setup: a clever young woman ends up working for the villain she should be running from. The book gets real mileage out of that contradict...

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DREAM ON

by winning a contest." />⭐ 4.2/5(274)

Winning the contest turns out to be the easy part; this novel spends its real energy on a teenager living with what comes after. The story is less about the contest itself than about what "success" e...

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DEEPWATER CREEK

by Genre⭐ 4.2/5(51)

A camping trip turns into a survival story fast: a flash flood hits before the characters can get to safety, and from there it's a group of teenagers against rising water with no adult help anywhere ...

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POEMS & PRAYERS

by an 18\u002Dyear\u002Dold (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all\u002Dwe\u002Dcan\u002Deat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental\u003B only when he writes of life\u002Dchanging events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job."⭐ 4.2/5(570)

This is a collection of short spiritual poems and prayers rather than a single narrative, put together to be accessible without talking down to a young reader working through big questions. The langu...

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ODDITY WOODS

by town of Perdita, where he worked with the police. But the town’s police are dismissive, saying they’re too busy to follow up on a “silly ghost story.” To keep children out, people say that “deep in the woods, a ghost train appears, which steals your soul if you ride it.” Trusting her instincts, Marietta runs directly into those storied woods. Upon crossing a mystical threshold that disappears behind her, she finds herself in an otherworldly realm. A boy named Wyatt with a mysterious past appears to be the only living human in a landscape otherwise populated with monsters and ghosts. After escaping a terrifying encounter with the conductor of the ghost train, the two team up, working together to find Marietta’s father and get Wyatt home. Originally released as a webcomic, this series opener features luminescent and evocative artwork reminiscent of chibi\u002Dstyle manga. The illustrations effectively convey threats, movement, and emotions. Though the latter half of the book gets a bit complicated by added characters and side quests, the magical gadgets, compelling characters, and exciting twists give the story strong appeal for young fantasy fans. Most human characters are white presenting."⭐ 4.2/5(121)

Strange occurrences are just an accepted part of life in this forest town, and the plot follows a young protagonist digging into what's actually behind them, with the woods themselves doing as much s...

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NORTH FOR THE WINTER

by Podesta"⭐ 4.2/5(59)

A kid gets separated from their family in brutal winter wilderness, and the book earns its tension by keeping the survival details realistic: no convenient rescue arrives, and every skill the protago...

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A RESISTANCE OF WITCHES

by Genre⭐ 4.1/5(7,187)

Underneath an ordinary-looking modern setting, this one runs a hidden magical war, and the plot kicks into gear when a scattered group of young witches has to get separate covens to work together aga...

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THREE SHATTERED SOULS

by a common goal of ending the treacherous rule of King Joon of Yusan, regroup after a bloody battle claims the life of one of their own—the banished Yusanian prince, Euyn. However, there’s little time for Mikail, Aeri, Sora, and Royo to mourn. Bounty hunters and assassins are after them, in part because they now possess three of five legendary Relics of the Dragon Lord. Mikail, who’s just found out that he’s the last surviving member of a royal family, wields the Water Scepter of Wei, while Aeri, King Joon’s daughter, holds the Sands of Tim and the Golden Ring of Khitan. The remaining relics—the Flaming Sword of Gaya and the Immortal Crown—remain with King Joon, who’s desperate to have all five to wield a great deal more power. Meanwhile, the cruel Count Seok, who once indentured Sora, has usurped the throne of Yusan. The group has two goals: overthrow the king and liberate the Yusanian colony of Gaya—Mikail’s homeland—so that it can again be a thriving, independent realm. The relics are powerful tools in combat, but using them is adversely affecting Aeri and Mikail’s health. They need allies, but trusting strangers is a dangerous gamble. Corland’s final book in her Broken Blades trilogy is a relentlessly thrilling and action\u002Dpacked dark fantasy featuring memorable characters, intense battle scenes, romance, and a satisfying conclusion. Alternately narrated by Aeri, Mikail, Sora, Royo, and their long\u002Dlost friend, Tiyung, readers benefit from watching the story unfold through the perspectives of each compelling, well\u002Ddrawn character. The author’s passion for the fantasy genre shines through in the novel’s richly detailed worldbuilding, including vivid descriptions of landscapes and palace layouts, as well as its exploration of magic. Readers will also delight in the sardonic humor sprinkled throughout, as when Mikahil narrates, “Rune thinks he fathered Seok’s son. Truly, the nobility of Yusan has too much time on their hands.”"⭐ 4.1/5(4,937)

Three separate protagonists, each dealing with their own version of the same devastating event, carry this one, and the book is more interested in what that shared trauma did to each of them individu...

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DEADWOOD

by Genre⭐ 4.1/5(135)

Set in a lawless 19th-century mining town, this western keeps its plot grounded in the practical mechanics of frontier survival, quick decisions, faster reflexes, knowing which saloon conversation is...

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The Robin on the Oak Throne

by Genre⭐ 4.1/5(5,332)

A robin inherits a throne it never asked for, and the forest's existing power structure, the ancient oaks who apparently ran things before, doesn't take well to it, setting off political intrigue tha...

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MORE AND MORE AND MORE

by a new one. In this model, wood gives way to coal, which gives way to oil, then electricity, nuclear, and eventually renewable energy become the dominant forms. The book argues that the transition model was originally created by industrialists touting their products as the wave of the future. The idea especially took off after World War II, with the “atomic age” promoted as a new era of clean, cheap energy. Historians as well as the popular press adopted the idea without looking closely at all the ways it simplified what was really happening. Fressoz, a French historian of science and technology, rejects this model, supplying abundant evidence that instead of earlier forms being replaced as newer ones came online, they remained in use, often supplementing the new forms. For example, the rise of coal was accompanied by an increase in the use of wood, for braces in the coal mines, railroad ties, and construction of railroad cars. A similar dynamic followed each of the later “energy transitions,” with coal usage increasing as oil became the dominant energy source\u003B more coal is being used today than ever before, notably to generate electricity in Asian countries but also to make steel and other metals. Most recently, “transition” has become a mantra for those responding to the climate crisis—all the bad, polluting energy sources will be replaced eventually by something greener. Fressoz does not dispute the severity of the climate crisis. Instead, he points to “the need…for a new understanding of energy and material dynamics” instead of reliance on “bad history.”"⭐ 4.1/5(150)

This counting book leans on repetition and bold, bright pictures to teach number recognition, walking a young reader through a set of familiar objects and playful scenes that add a quantity at a time...

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THE FAIRY TALE FIXERS

by Genre⭐ 4.1/5(76)

The premise here is genuinely clever: a behind-the-scenes crew exists to repair fairy tales when something in the story machinery breaks, and the plot kicks off with exactly that kind of malfunction,...

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LADIES IN HATING

by thoughts of each other." />⭐ 4.1/5(1,011)

Here is a short book with sharp elbows: interconnected vignettes about women and the friction between them — friendship, rivalry, and the social expectations pressing on both at once. The stories str...

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THE AFTERLIFE PROJECT

by day. Great vees of migrating geese fill the air with their throaty honking.” The final act takes a noticeable but not entirely drastic turn, culminating in an extraordinary and befitting denouement. "⭐ 4.1/5(291)

A teenage coder discovers her late father's secret research: a project capable of digitally preserving human consciousness. The mystery machinery works — the story runs from code-filled computer labs...

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TALL WATER

by Genre⭐ 4.1/5(183)

The water in this title is doing metaphorical work. This is a coming-of-age novel about a teenager in over their head — high school currents, family secrets, a first love — and about keeping your foo...

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ENGINES OF WAR

by master-class worldbuilding, the third volume of Ford’s Age of Uprising trilogy concludes an epic fantasy narrative chronicling an empire torn apart by war." />⭐ 4.1/5(119)

This action-packed military science fiction novel plunges readers into the heart of interstellar conflict, where young pilots and mechanized warriors clash in epic battles for survival. The narrative...

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THREADS OF EMPIRE

by nomads. From earliest times, Armstrong asserts, carpet weavers have been women, honing their skills in carding, spinning, dyeing, knotting, setting warps and wefts, and designing or reproducing patterns. Considerable skill, as well, Armstrong has found, is involved in rug restoration and repair. For centuries, rugs have been associated with the rich and powerful: Potentates, chieftains, robber barons, and collectors considered the acquisition of prized rugs as a reflection of their own status. Attribution of a rug’s creation and provenance also connects to power. The startling beauty of a particular rug in the collection of the Victoria \u0026amp\u003B Albert Museum led to the assumption that it was made by a team of men. That conclusion, Armstrong asserts, “suited a nineteenth\u002Dcentury Western view which held that if an object was art then it was created by men, and that what women practised was a lesser form of creativity described in the West as craft.” Armstrong reveals the exploitation of rug makers that continues to the present. Twenty\u002Dfirst\u002Dcentury rugs sold in department stores are often crafted by “weary refugees in makeshift encampments” who create products for international trade to design and color specifications and are marketed through export houses. Nevertheless, as Armstrong’s richly detailed history shows, even modern rugs can shimmer with glamor and mystique."⭐ 4.1/5(109)

This sweeping historical epic plunges readers into the heart of a crumbling empire, weaving together the fates of a defiant street thief, a reluctant heir, and a scholar guarding dangerous secrets as...

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WISH I WAS A BALLER

by sports journalist Shah, a ninth grader pursues his passion in the face of familial expectations pushing him toward a medical career, while also navigating the perils of high school social life." />⭐ 4.1/5(81)

This energetic picture book captures the universal childhood dream of athletic stardom through rhythmic, basketball-inspired verse that will have young readers bouncing along. The narrative follows a...

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JOHN HANCOCK

by paragraphs, until every member shall have had opportunity fully to express his sentiments,” after helping offset contending state interests in the fight over the Articles of Confederation. Randall reminds readers that the years immediately after the war ended were fraught: Frontier rebellions broke out over taxations and pensions for military service, and, briefly, “Pennsylvania and Connecticut had actually gone to war” over territorial issues. A Federalist but also a pragmatist, Hancock championed nine “Conciliatory Amendments” that led to the Bill of Rights, to which he added the 10th, which reserved to the states any “powers not expressly delegated to Congress.” As well, apart from serving as a well\u002Dliked governor of Massachusetts, Hancock—serving his own interests to be sure, but also with an eye on the larger U.S. economy—helped restore postwar trade with Britain. For all that, Randall notes, Hancock weathered numerous controversies, mostly financial\u003B he was also the subject of a possible canard that Randall corrects—namely, that he wished to be commander of the Continental Army and resented George Washington for being selected for the post, when in fact, Randall writes, Hancock suffered so badly from gout that it is unlikely that he “would have accepted a position that would require long days on horseback.”"⭐ 4.1/5(113)

This biography goes after the person behind the giant, famous signature — a wealthy merchant who became one of the loudest voices for revolution and then spent years as Massachusetts's first governor...

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BETWEEN TWO RIVERS

by young students learning cuneiform, the Mesopotamian writing system. The author, an honorary fellow in Assyriology at Oxford, puts each of the objects in the context of the daily life of the era when they were made. So we learn about a young scholar who left his toothmarks on the clay tablet he was using for his assignment, or a barkeeper whose furniture budget included a suspiciously large number of beds. The hundreds of thousands of surviving cuneiform documents include not only royal decrees and official documents but letters between ordinary people—two mentioned here are a wife asking her husband to come home and a merchant planning his route to dodge tax collectors. The Sumerians, Babylonians, and other peoples who lived in the era were highly conscious of history, drawing connections between themselves and their predecessors—sometimes more than 1,000 years earlier. Their literary achievements include the Epic of Gilgamesh (which the author tells her young daughter as a bedtime story). The era’s advances in astronomy and mathematics contradict any notion that these were primitive, unenlightened times. Still, as the chapter on a stone mace found in the museum makes clear, brutal warfare was a too\u002Dcommon part of life, then as now. A final chapter on the priestess in whose palace the museum was located shows the important and varied roles played by women in Mesopotamian society."⭐ 4.1/5(424)

This powerful novel explores the complex journey of a teenage girl navigating cultural identity and family expectations while caught between her immigrant parents' traditions and her American upbring...

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KULEANA

by the last king of Hawai‘i. Arriving at an equitable solution to this bureaucratic problem is just one thread of Goo’s narrative, whose larger story is really one of homecoming: Born and raised in California, an East Coast resident for decades, Goo must learn or relearn key points of the people’s traditional lifeways. The title of the book speaks to one such point, one’s obligation to both place and culture, less a burden, she explains, than a privilege: “For example, certain people had kuleana for growing taro or crops in a certain part of the island, or for taking care of a fishpond or teaching hula.” She explores many other concepts as she travels in the company of relatives, who take her, in one instance, to a heiau, or temple, whose purpose is lost to time\u003B says her uncle, “Some people say dey did these tings there like human sacrifice and dat stuff, but we don’t know.” What is clear is that humans are sacrificed, at least metaphorically, for profit in a Hawai‘i made for wealthy outsiders\u003B as Goo laments in closing, “Our culture won’t remain unless each generation—grandparent to parent to child to grandchild—­keeps it burning.”"⭐ 4.1/5(423)

This powerful coming-of-age story set in contemporary Hawaii follows a young native Hawaiian boy as he navigates the complex intersections of family legacy, cultural identity, and environmental activ...

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THE SPACE CAT

by that harsh reality. But ultimately, Periwinkle puzzles out his place in Nigeria’s feline society and enjoys a disaster\u002Daverting adventure, with help from the curious cast of animals who slink around the local marketplace. Okorafor’s storytelling is intuitively episodic, blurring the realities of everyday pet life with gleeful fantasy. Ford’s sci\u002Dfi comic illustrations, rich with cosmic blues, purples, and oranges, bring a dynamic energy to this eccentric escapade. Periwinkle’s particular syntax (“When I come here, I reminded all things possible,” “Yes, I winning!”) may distract or amuse, depending on the reader."⭐ 4.1/5(147)

A house cat becomes an astronaut, and then the actual hero, once an intergalactic threat shows up in this space adventure. Across 170 pages the story keeps two things in balance — real stakes, with a...

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THE ROMA

by the almost universal hatred that greeted the Roma, who maintained their own culture and traveled in caravans at a time when almost no one traveled. They were attacked, expelled, imprisoned, and even enslaved. The first enslaved people taken to America—by Columbus—were Roma. During World War II, from several hundred thousand to a million Roma were murdered or transported to extermination camps, including Auschwitz. Today most Roma are settled, but they do not have it easy. Their children in Sweden were not permitted in public schools until 1959. Although caravans are uncommon, stronger British trespassing laws were directed at them in 2022. Traveling widely, Potter is perhaps too focused on recording unpleasant encounters, but she is not shy about pointing out Romani celebrities and cultural achievements. Spanish flamenco is one, as are, despite the names, Franz Liszt’s Hungarian rhapsodies and Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian dances."⭐ 4.1/5(94)

This nonfiction title traces Roma history from its roots in ancient India through centuries of migration across continents, and it doesn't soften the harder half of that story — discrimination and pe...

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ALL THAT DIES IN APRIL

by the village healer, Octavia, makes up her mind to follow the mountain streams in the direction they flow, hoping to come to the sea. Relicario is stunned by Lina’s absence and soon decides to follow her. Accompanied by a wise donkey named Jumento and the bones of his mother and father—all of his family he could fit in the cart—Relicario begins a long, arduous journey, guessing Lina’s course at every turn, while his wife forges on before him, entering into worlds and ways of living that Relicario cannot begin to imagine. Meanwhile, a series of coincidences conspires to create a reunion no one in the Ramos\u002DCruz clan could have anticipated, all as the destructive torrents of April begin their seasonal scouring of the land. Spare and yet echoing with voices, Travacio’s English\u002Dlanguage debut captures the haunting cycles of death and displacement but also of life, joy, and the succor of community in a place where “families come together and break apart…as easily as storm clouds in the sky.”"⭐ 4.1/5(1,605)

Every April, someone in this town dies, and that single, dread-soaked fact drives this YA thriller from its opening pages. The book leans on atmosphere over jump-scares — grief, buried secrets, and a...

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THE LONELINESS OF SONIA AND SUNNY

by leaving home, coming back, connecting, disconnecting, and swimming in the ocean at Goa." />⭐ 4.1/5(206)

A poignant exploration of adolescent isolation, this novel traces the parallel journeys of two teens grappling with profound loneliness in their respective worlds. Sonia navigates the treacherous soc...

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DEATH OF A POP STAR

by Genre⭐ 4.1/5(64)

This YA thriller opens with a pop star's murder and doesn't ease up for 288 pages, rotating between an investigator's perspective and the people who were standing closest to the victim when it happen...

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SOFTLY, AS I LEAVE YOU

by Genre⭐ 4.1/5(177)

A parent's terminal illness is the subject here, seen through a teenager's eyes, inside a family where everything that gets said — and everything that doesn't — carries weight. Running 502 pages, the...

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ETERNALLY ELECTRIC

by her “ballbuster” mother\u002Dturned\u002Dmanager. Her early fame came at a cost to her mental health, she writes, leading to a string of anxiety attacks: “If anyone out there has experienced them, you’ll know what it’s like: you literally think you are dying, unsure where your next breath is coming from.” Gibson writes candidly about her health struggles—she also has Lyme disease—as well as her fraught relationship with her mother, who once said (perhaps jokingly, but revealingly), “My worst nightmare has come true. She has become her own person.” Gibson’s later career saw her appearing on The Celebrity Apprentice and in films such as Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus—perhaps not the life she had envisioned, but, as she writes, “I love that, though the world has kicked my arse a bit, I’m not bitter.” The writing here is bubbly if unexceptional, and structurally, it’s a by\u002Dthe\u002Dnumbers celebrity memoir, complete with motivational aphorisms and occasional non sequiturs (“I think Mozart would approve of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club”). This is strictly for Gibson’s fans, but they’ll find it a treat."⭐ 4.1/5(123)

This high-voltage adventure plunges readers into a world where the very energy that powers our cities is also the source of life for a hidden society. When a teenage protagonist discovers they can ma...

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THE PRINCESS AND THE P.I.

by an unsolved case involving Fiona’s father’s megachurch. Is Maurice bailing Fiona out to help her or to find dirt on her dad? Payne’s foray into romantic suspense starts with a high\u002Dstakes tech event and a backstory about Fiona’s family dynamics and the cultish church she has been serving. Add to it Maurice’s demons about his failure to help a young woman escape that church, plus the ugly end of his police career, and the narrative feels like it’s being pulled in several different directions. The plot gets further crowded with other characters and connections between the corporate espionage plot and the religious Mafia one. Villains abound, including Fiona’s sister, her brother’s former lover, the publicist for the tech firm, a second\u002Din\u002Dcommand at the church who keeps leering at Fiona, and Maurice’s ex–best friend on the force. There is also a scene at a sex party, a break\u002Din at the tech office, a fight on a yacht, and a confrontation during a church service. The sequence and timeline of the scenes is confusing and the trail of murders, suspects, and motives hard to follow."⭐ 4.1/5(122)

A teenage princess flees an arranged marriage and finds herself under the protection of a rugged private investigator in this modern royal romance. The unlikely pair navigates a world of paparazzi, p...

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PLAY NICE

by a demon. In So Thirsty (2024), Harrison wrote a book about vampires that was also a novel about best friends trying to figure out what to do with their lives. Here, Harrison mines the potential of the haunted house to excavate the abuse that Clio and her sisters suffered as children. Clio is a terrific protagonist. She’s sharp and funny and a little less self\u002Daware than she thinks she is. As she tries to reconcile her own memories with those of her family—including her mother, who left behind an annotated copy of the book she wrote about living in a demon\u002Dplagued split\u002Dlevel in the suburbs—and questions her own sense of reality, Clio unravels. But it’s a necessary unraveling, the kind of annihilation that makes real change possible. This novel delivers truly chilly scenes while also exploring the emotional depths that make horror meaningful. There’s a climactic scene at a family barbecue where Clio sees echoes of her mother in herself, Leda, and Daphne and thinks, “Her ghost is us.” There are many emotionally devastating moments in this novel, but this one captures the essence of them all. Harrison knows that we are, all of us, haunted."⭐ 4.1/5(8,587)

This middle-grade novel tackles the complex social dynamics of school friendships with raw honesty and emotional depth, exploring how playground politics evolve into something much more serious as ki...

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THE POTENCY OF UNGOVERNABLE IMPULSES

by this third installment, as charming and even action\u002Dpacked as it is, the construction of this science fantasy might be pushing the boundaries of implausibility too far. Older has degrees and experience in economics, politics, and disaster response\u003B she clearly knows that a society with limited resources would be unlikely to produce the luxurious food and drinks she describes, and understanding people as she does, it seems equally unlikely that a society that also produces murderers wouldn’t have at least one prison and a stricter judicial system than is presented here. There’s a point being made, but it’s not entirely clear what it is."⭐ 4.1/5(903)

This psychological thriller explores the dangerous intersection of impulse control and criminal behavior through the lens of a forensic psychologist's most challenging case. The narrative follows a s...

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BUFF SOUL

by cops, Moa’s debauchery starts to look less like youthful exploration and more like a serious problem. When Åsa disappears from her band duties, Moa recalls a time when she was part of a search party for a woman named Sofia who was found dead. When she finds Åsa and they go home, there’s no glamour left in the tour for Moa. She tries to address Åsa’s out\u002Dof\u002Dcontrol behavior, but Åsa turns it back around on her friend. For Moa, it was less about the drugs and more about indulging in the chaos and inoculating herself from the consequences. Åsa and Moa reaffirm their commitment to their friendship and vow to regain stability. Though the characters skirt up to the edge of the addiction\u002Drelated horror, they manage to help each other through sticky situations and get home mostly unscathed."⭐ 4.1/5(677)

This powerful collection of poetry and prose explores the complex emotional landscape of modern adolescence with raw honesty and lyrical precision. The author crafts verses that tackle identity, ment...

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LADY LIKE

by Emily Sergeant, who has arrived in London desperately looking for a husband who can outrank the odious man to whom her family has betrothed her. When their separate pursuits of the duke bring the two women together, after a few days of bickering both become more interested in each other’s company than anything, or anyone, else. The worldly Harriet is well aware of the nature of her developing feelings for Emily, but it takes Emily longer to understand her emotions. When she finally learns what a Sapphist is, the women connect emotionally and physically. However, society hasn’t changed, nor have the expectations of their families. Lee’s delightful adult debut will please fans of her YA historical fiction as well as romance readers encountering her for the first time. The story, which centers queer and theatrical Regency life alongside the familiar tropes of the London Season, is well\u002Dpaced, with entertaining side characters and rich detail. The clever ending, moving and satisfying on its own, is enhanced by Lee’s extensive, thoughtful notes sharing historical background and revealing that much of her plot is less fantastic than readers might assume."⭐ 4.1/5(309)

This empowering guide for young women tackles the complex transition from girlhood to adulthood with refreshing honesty and practical wisdom. The book addresses everything from personal values and he...

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DRACULA'S BRUNCH CLUB

by the towering, glowering vampire Constantine, who’s banned people. Worse, Dracula’s entire store of “the crimson\u002Dred, blood orange jelly all vampires crave” has been raided. Local farmers have no blood oranges—a blight has destroyed the crops. This proves disastrous even as Dracula tries to regain his brunch\u002Dhosting ground—kale is no substitute for delicious, energizing fruit jelly. The shortage also jeopardizes his standing with his crush, the human Elena, since he’s promised to donate a year’s supply of jelly donuts to her charity auction to help sick children. Something must be done—and it might just involve blood. After all, Count Dracula is a vampire. This book will greatly appeal to young readers looking for comics with a little edge: The gore is mild and cartoon\u002Dsilly, and there are plenty of jokes to lighten the mood. The story moves at a measured pace, and the fun, kid\u002Dfriendly artwork adds depth to the narrative. Gaybba’s color palette predominantly contains cool, moody tones that make the occasional spots of red—mostly jelly and blood—pop. Human and vampire characters have skin in varying shades of blue and purple."⭐ 4.1/5(224)

Vampires who would rather curate a brunch menu than hunt anything is the joke this book builds its whole premise on, and it keeps returning to that gap between what a monster is supposed to want and ...

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ALL CONSUMING

by Tandoh"⭐ 4.1/5(141)

Tandoh writes this memoir from inside the experience rather than looking back at a safe distance, which means the book does not organize disordered eating into a tidy cause-and-effect story. Food, id...

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GOAT MAGIC

by good fortune, Trill’s magic power is the ability to communicate with goats. Alya, in her goat form, hides from her assailants among Trill’s herd. The girls get off to a rocky start—sheltered Alya has some high\u002Dhanded ways that make Trill bristle—but ultimately, Trill agrees to help the princess. The girls must move quickly, however: Aunt\u002DU, a friend of Trill’s mother whom they seek out for help, informs them that if they don’t destroy the talisman used to place the curse within a month, Alya will remain a goat forever. This fantasy story reads like a classic fairy tale and explores themes of trust in oneself and greater awareness of others. The friendship and love that blossom between Alya and Trill feel natural and endearing. The cartoonlike illustrations employ warm colors that match the tone of the story. Wheeler’s worldbuilding emerges organically from interactions between the characters, sustaining a fast pace and avoiding lengthy explanations. Alya has tan skin, and Trill has medium\u002Dbrown skin."⭐ 4.1/5(138)

This middle grade novel delivers a thrilling sports fantasy that will captivate young readers who dream of athletic stardom, blending competitive soccer action with unexpected supernatural elements. ...

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A MURDER MOST FOWL

by the time Seth, a lawyer with no interest in the food truck, gets his sister sprung from jail, she’s met the hunky police officer she dubs Officer Pretty Boy (to the amusement of his fellow cops). What’s more, an email informs Beth that she’s been selected to compete in The Food Truck Showdown, a popular Cooking Channel show with a $50,000 prize. Bringing along Seth and her assistant, Rylie, who usually wears the chicken costume, she arrives at the rented warehouse where the show’s being filmed and meets the other contestants, who include Benji, and the show’s host, famous chef Bobbi Taylor. The first challenge is marked by disappearing ingredients and a threatening note that seems aimed at Benji. When Benji’s found dead, the showrunners suggest that he’s had a heart attack, but the police are suspicious—and since everyone knows that Beth despised him, she’s their favored suspect. More threatening notes arrive. And there’s definitely something fishy about the showrunners. You’d think that with all those camera crews, there’d be video, but the ancient system at the rental is glitchy, leaving Beth to team up with Rylie and Seth to prove her innocence."⭐ 4.1/5(85)

This cleverly titled mystery serves up a delightful blend of suspense and humor, perfect for young readers who crave a good whodunit without the grimness of adult crime fiction. The story centers on ...

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MERCY

by his own tragedy when readers first meet him hunting fugitives. Later, he allies himself with Alevist. “So much of the history was filled with deceit and manipulation, but also sacrifice,” Erevayn realizes at one point. “So much of what he had learned, now revealed to be false.” In the book’s “About the Author” section, a mention is made that some of Dillon’s writing influences include Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series and Joe Abercrombie (presumably his First Law trilogy). Readers familiar with those authors will see them all over this fast\u002Dpaced series opener. The usual trappings of epic fantasy are present—maps, glossaries, etc.—but they’re amply augmented by some of the hallmarks of grimdark fantasy, including bouts of gory violence and the liberal deployment of expletives. The characters wield magic in a world of supernatural beings, but most of them sound distinctly contemporary in language and attitude. The novel is also characterized by a great deal of the cynical nihilism that fills the books of the author’s storytelling predecessors. Dillon takes the risk of front\u002Dloading his narrative with the intricate vocabulary and proper names of his story, and despite the presence of glossaries at the front and back of the novel, this gamble doesn’t entirely pay off. Readers unfamiliar with the shotgun\u002Dstyle worldbuilding of the Dungeon Master’s Guide may find themselves swamped by the tale’s arcane terminology. But the author usually overcomes this lack of punchy exposition by keeping readers hooked the old\u002Dfashioned way, with well\u002Ddeveloped characters and smoothly realized dialogue. Alevist dominates the bulk of the story so completely that it’s fortunate he’s drawn as compellingly as he is, a deeply wounded man who’s nonetheless emotionally honest. But even the tale’s main villain, Harglon, often manages to be more than a simple, one\u002Ddimensional bad guy. In his first novel, Dillon accomplishes the crucial feat of making his readers want to move on to his next book."⭐ 4.0/5(126)

This series opener wears its influences openly: readers who know Steven Erikson or Joe Abercrombie will recognize the DNA immediately, from the fugitive-hunter plot to the maps and glossary at the fr...

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A LIGHT IN THE NORTHERN SEA

by Genre⭐ 4.0/5(78)

The setting does a lot of the heavy lifting here: a lighthouse on a stretch of the North Sea known for wrecking ships, and an apprentice keeper whose job is equal parts tedious vigil and genuine dang...

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THE SHORTEST HISTORY OF ANCIENT ROME

by contemporaries—not unlike today’s polarized biases—underscores just how unreliable is much of the tradition we have of Rome specifically and the ancient world in general. However, the author does his best to parse the probable from the improbable and rarely takes things at face value."⭐ 4.0/5(74)

A "shortest history" is a real claim here, not just a title gimmick: the book runs from the founding legend of Romulus and Remus straight through to the empire's collapse in the west, covering that e...

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CIRCLE OF DAYS

by Genre⭐ 4.0/5(417)

At 700 pages, this is not a book for a reader looking for something quick, and that length turns out to matter: the story needs the room because it is structured around days and eras that loop back o...

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ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING

by Genre⭐ 4.0/5(55)

Big Bang to present day in 220 pages is an enormous span to cover, and the book manages it by leaning on connections rather than completeness, showing how an empire collapsing on one continent can se...

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BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL

by Genre⭐ 4.0/5(88,584)

This haunting debut novel plunges readers into a world where ancestral magic and environmental collapse collide, following a young protagonist who discovers her family's power to communicate with the...

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GOOD AND EVIL AND OTHER STORIES

by an eerie threat (a ghostly cat, a telepathic neighbor, a violent guest), we realize we have been party to a central human truth. Some revelations come in the form of body horror, and the gore can be hilariously goofy—a welcome lightness to the more somber scenes of tender caretaking (or unapologetic cruelty). Schweblin and veteran translator McDowell trace the slim barrier between perception and reality with masterful narration, piercing dialogue, stealthy wit, and psychological precision."⭐ 4.0/5(4,314)

This collection of moral tales thoughtfully explores the complex interplay between right and wrong through a series of compelling narratives that will resonate deeply with young adult readers. Each s...

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AFTER HAPPILY EVER

by true love. In this novel, the author imagines past that point, catching up with Neve (Snow White), Bry (Sleeping Beauty), and Della (Cinderella) when they are middle\u002Daged. On the surface, their lives seem like a dream, with a serene, unchanging kingdom, marriages to princes, and the enviable stability of their royal status. However, cracks soon begin to show: Della struggles with her waning beauty, questioning her worth beyond the physical charms that once defined her. Bry, the ever\u002Dgracious peacekeeper, feels smothered under the weight of pleasing everyone but herself. And Neve, haunted by her stepmother’s attempt on her life, dreads the power and vulnerability that come with the throne (“she had sometimes wondered what it would be like to experience a day or two that didn’t dawn with the reminder of her death”). The sudden passing of the king sends each woman on a transformative journey, revealing the kingdom’s perfection as a fragile facade masking inequality and decay. The novel deftly balances plot and character, offering nuanced portrayals of each princess’ growth. The traumas of their original tales—Neve’s poisoning, Della’s abuse, and Bry’s forced exile—are examined with sensitivity, shaping their struggles and triumphs in compelling ways. While readers will be familiar with the characters’ origin stories, these new threads in their tales create a fresh and engaging narrative to follow. The plot is well paced, with character development offset by action. Each woman’s journey is distinct, with Neve’s confrontation with fear, Della’s pursuit of self\u002Dworth, and Bry’s embrace of authenticity each resonating deeply. In centering older women as powerful, multifaceted protagonists, the story is both feminist and empowering, demonstrating that value and agency do not diminish with age."⭐ 4.0/5(153)

This clever anthology of fractured fairy tales offers a fresh perspective on classic stories, exploring what happens long after the traditional "happily ever after" ending. Through a series of interc...

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HUMAN HISTORY ON DRUGS

by professing that he’s obsessed by the past—and that, being on the autism spectrum, “I develop an almost physical compulsion to know everything there is to know on a subject.” This lively book is proof positive, a whole warren of rabbit holes that lead to unexpected vignettes about the mind\u002Daltering habits of the likes of George Washington (laudanum), Queen Victoria (ganja), Elvis Presley (the whole medicine cabinet), and Adolf Hitler (“coked out of his mind”). Kelly reaches deep into the past, reckoning that people have enjoyed various means of bending reality since there have been people: One early case is Marcus Aurelius, the brilliant Roman emperor whose Meditations Kelly likens to “The Art of the Deal [if it] had been written by Jesus Christ instead of Donald Trump” and whose chronic pain was relieved by goodly doses of opium prescribed by his physician, none other than the famed medical encyclopedist Galen. Young Judy Garland was prescribed mounds of pills at the behest of studio executives who “preferred to get her addicted to drugs and ruin her life than give her a reasonable work schedule.” The Beatles, of course, famously got so ripped that, as the comedian Bill Hicks used to quip, they let Ringo sing—but, Kelly notes, even though they were fairly open about their drug use (John Lennon: “I’ve always needed a drug to survive”), they also denied being proselytes, about which Kelly brightly remarks that if simply mentioning drugs brings down the (silver) hammer, “well, then, frankly, I’m in a lot of trouble.” And Shakespeare? As Kelly notes, “pipes with cannabis residue” have been found in the Bard’s garden—and besides, “his plays are filled with characters who ingest all manner of fantastical pharmaceutical concoctions.”"⭐ 4.0/5(270)

This provocative exploration of psychoactive substances throughout civilization offers a bold, unflinching look at how drugs have shaped human culture, religion, and society from ancient rituals to m...

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SCHOOL DANCE

by a self\u002Dinduced hex: Every time he dances, disaster follows. After mortifying experiences at a friend’s bar mitzvah and a group dance lesson, Milo is utterly dejected when he hears about the upcoming Snowball Soiree. Luckily, Abue, his beloved abuela, has moved into the Castillo home. Even though she’s been warned against driving, Abue whisks Milo and his friends off to experience live Tejano music, which he enjoys both musically and aesthetically. The experience leaves him with a stronger connection to his heritage as well as more self\u002Dconfidence in his dancing—but Milo feels guilty for lying to his parents about Abue’s driving and conflicted about where to draw the line when trying to please others. When Abue’s failing eyesight catches up with her clandestine drives, Milo must make a hard choice. This latest entry maintains the high standards of Sax’s series. Milo is wholly relatable and accessible, adroitly portraying the ups and downs of adolescence. Sposto’s vibrantly alluring colors and Sax’s gift for highlighting facial expressions and emotions imbue Milo’s journey of self\u002Dacceptance and confidence with deeper levels of nuance that are certain to resonate with readers long after the last page is turned."⭐ 4.0/5(111)

This vibrant collection of school dance poetry captures the electric energy and social complexities of this pivotal adolescent rite of passage. Through sharp, contemporary verse, the poet explores ev...

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JOY GODDESS

by her mother, Lelia adopted Mae Bryant, a fatherless girl who served as a hair model and assistant for the company. While Mae at first considered the adoption a great privilege, Lelia proved as domineering as Madam had been, leaving Mae—Bundles’ biological grandmother—feeling “indebted and cornered.” Lelia could be difficult, to be sure, but Bundles captures her energy, her drive, and her commitment to the creative community that she nourished."⭐ 4.0/5(101)

This vibrant guide to cultivating happiness offers young readers practical tools for navigating the emotional landscape of adolescence, blending mindfulness techniques with accessible psychology. The...

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MY DEAR ILLUSION

by the mist rising off the black water and the droplets falling in a raindrop symphony over the moonlit night that it almost missed the trickster slipping through the front door of the Night Den.”) The story, despite its bulk, maintains tension. The frenetic, unpredictable final act makes checking out the forthcoming sequel a virtual necessity."⭐ 4.0/5(85)

This collection of literary criticism and essays offers a sophisticated exploration of literary theory and textual analysis that will challenge advanced high school readers and college-bound students...

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THE BEWITCHING

by a haunting of her own." />⭐ 4.0/5(10,400)

This supernatural thriller delivers a chilling exploration of grief and the lingering power of memory, wrapped in a ghost story that will keep readers turning pages long past bedtime. The narrative m...

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Mockingjay (Hunger Games, Book Three)

by Suzanne Collins⭐ 4.0/5(2,572)

The greatly anticipated final book in the New York Times bestselling Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The greatly anticipated final book in the New York Times bestselling Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for

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The Hunger Games Trilogy

by Suzanne Collins⭐ 4.0/5(1,463)

The stunning Hunger Games trilogy is complete! The extraordinary, ground breaking New York Times bestsellers The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, along with the third book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay, are available for the first time ever in e-book. Stunning, gripping,

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Coraline

by Neil Gaiman⭐ 4.0/5(114)

"Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house. . . ." When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous. But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be thei

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A Wrinkle in Time

by Madeleine L'Engle⭐ 4.0/5(94)

NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER • TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM DISNEY Read the ground-breaking science fiction and fantasy classic that has delighted children for over 60 years! "A Wrinkle in Time is one of my favorite books of all time. I've read it so o

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid

by Jeff Kinney⭐ 4.0/5(84)

Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into a new year and a new school where undersize weaklings share the corridors with kids who are taller, meaner and already shaving. Greg is happy to have his sidekick, Rowley, along for the ride. When Rowley's star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend'

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Bud, Not Buddy

by Christopher Paul Curtis⭐ 4.0/5(71)

Hit the road with Bud in this Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic about a boy on a journey to find his father—from Christopher Paul Curtis, recipient of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. It’s 1936, in Flint Michigan. Times may be hard, an

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WHILE ISRAEL SLEPT

by dismissing the idea that the Hamas\u002Dled incursion of Oct. 7, 2023, was akin to 9/11. Instead, they liken it to the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor as a sequence of misread indicators that something bad was about to happen. So lax was the monitoring of the Gaza border, they note, that Hamas “didn’t use even a single tunnel,” even as Israeli Defense Forces intelligence assumed that Hamas wouldn’t dare cross the border openly. Another missed sign was the removal of protective fabric from rocket\u002Dlaunch pits within Gaza, a prelude to a rocket attack, although Hamas said that it was a drill. “Israel possessed all the intelligence to piece together Hamas’s plans, but the IDF never connected it into a comprehensive picture to understand what was happening right before their eyes,” the authors charge. One proximate cause of the failure, they hold, was the IDF’s complacency about the “iron wall” that divided Gaza and Israel, “believed to be impenetrable,” but the larger issue was that different agencies weren’t talking to each other and sharing intelligence that might have been stitched into a coherent whole. An interesting point, if untestable, is that the division in Israeli society wrought by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to reduce the power of the nation’s judiciary revealed a weakness that lent itself to attack. Controversially, the authors insist that the IDF’s response to the attack took great pains to spare civilian lives and “refrain from preemptive action that could lead to a wider war.” They close with a set of policy recommendations, including taking care not to alienate the U.S., as happened during the Biden presidency, and enlisting Mossad, which operates internationally, to aid with internal intelligence."⭐ 4.0/5(58)

This gripping historical account chronicles the tense days leading up to the Yom Kippur War, when Israel faced an unprecedented surprise attack from neighboring nations. The narrative masterfully bui...

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