​Nancy Brashear and Carolyn Angus
Readers of all ages will be captivated by the creative storylines and formats of the recently published fantasy and science fiction books reviewed in this column. From a picture book for the youngest readers to chapter books for middle grade readers to a complex stand-alone book and first books in a series for older readers, each book offers readers the opportunity to exercise their imaginations as they meet traditional fantasy characters as well as a diverse group of humans having fantastical adventures set in make-believe worlds, futuristic Earth, or outer space. 

​Charlie Hernández & the Phantom of Time (Charlie Hernández #4). Ryan Calejo. (2024). Aladdin.
In this latest fantastic adventure of Charlie Hernández, South Florida middle schooler Charlie, a morphling who can manifest physical characteristics of animals, receives a letter from his dead grandmother predicting “The future is doomed . . . Death reigns” in less than five hours if he cannot stop the obliterating attack to be launched by La Mano Peluda on the Land of the Living in Florida in their 5,000-year war. He must solve the mystery of “The Five Donkeys” in 1956 Cuba. Charlie and his young teen compatriots (cousin Raúl, girlfriend and investigative journalist Violet Rey, and paranormal skeleton Esperanza) embark on a time-travel quest that takes them to Cuba, Colombia, and other locations that come alive in magical and, often, horrifying ways. Teaming up with another time traveler, Evelyn, they uncover more clues, face more enemies, and battle against increasingly unbelievable odds to save the world. With snarky banter augmented by Spanish and Portuguese words and phrases sprinkled throughout and non-stop action, readers new to the series will be hooked and want to seek out the earlier books: League of Shadows (2018), The Castle of Bones (2019), and The Golden Dooms (2022). (Gr 6 Up)
—NB

​Daughters of the Lamp (Daughters of the Lamp #1). Nedda Lewis. (2024). Putnam.
Twelve-year-old Egyptian American Sahara Rashad never imagined flying to Cairo for her Uncle Omar’s wedding and a two-week visit with the family of her mother, who died when Sahara was born, would immerse her in a family mystery involving magic. In a second narrative set in 985 CE, Morgana, the 13-year-old servant of Ali Baba, flees Baghdad with a jinni lamp and other magical treasures to fulfill the promise she makes to her dying master, who had been attacked by an evil sorcerer, to protect them. As the wedding of Omar and Magada, who Cousin Namia is convinced is a witch, approaches, the necklace Sahara inherited from her mother starts glowing and then disappears. Following a break-in at the family’s shop, Sahara learns that Ali Baba’s treasures have been hidden in an underground chamber and realizes that she must accept her legacy as guardian of the lamp. The second book in this fast-paced fantasy, Children of the Wind, will be published this June. (Gr 3 Up)
—CA

​The Day I Fell into a Fairy Tale. Ben Miller. Illus. by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini.  (2024). Aladdin.
It is summer vacation, and nine-year old Lana is bored. With the promise of a treat, she agrees to join her mother on a trip to Grimm’s, a supermarket that popped up overnight in their small town. Lana decides on a huge volume of fairy tales although the small elderly man who appears to be the only employee says the stories will be too scary for her. Once her mother starts reading “Sleeping Beauty” to her and gets to the part where the evil 13th fairy casts a curse on the newborn princess, she seems to agree that the tale is too scary when she hides the book. On a return trip to Grimm’s, Lana learns about portals to the fairy tale world in pick’n’mix tubs of candy and, with a push from the clerk, falls down a chute and into the Grimm Brother’s darker version of the tale. Ben Miller’s exciting adventure into the fantasy world may have middle grade readers checking out a collection of Grimm’s fairy tales as part of their summer reading. (Gr 3 Up)
—CA

​Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear. Robin Wasley. (2024). Simon & Schuster.
Sixteen-year-old Isidora “Sid” Spencer is keeping a low profile as an adopted Korean. She has lost her best friend, Nell, to her almost-boyfriend Finn, and everyone knows about it. Llewelyn (Wellsie), a town with mostly white families, sits on a sealed fault line that keeps old magic locked away and attracts tourism. Unbeknownst to Sid and most people, one of the eight guardians sworn to protect the seal is killed, and this leads to a cataclysmic earthquake ripping the seal open, throwing part of the town into the rift, and releasing zombie-like creatures who feed on the humans. A wall springs up trapping everyone already in the town, and keeping those on the outside, including Sid’s parents, sister, and niece, from returning. When Sid cannot locate her older brother, Matty, she and her cat survive by joining an unlikely group of teens including a guardian. Searching for the other guardians, they dodge magic-hungry strangers in town who are acting like paramilitary and devise a plan using their superpowers (as Sid discovers her own) to close the gap—but will they seal the fault in time to save themselves and the town? (Gr 9-12)  
—NB

​The Last Bloodcarver (The Last Bloodcarver #1). Vanessa Le. (2024). Roaring Brook.
Eighteen-year-old Nhika Suonyasan believes she is the last of the heartsooths, Yarongese island people with the magical ability to diagnose and heal a body by the laying on of hands. In the industrialized city of Theumas, where as a practitioner of the ancient art of heartsoothing she would be seen not as healer but a bloodcarver, a monster who kills for pleasure, Nhika is abducted and auctioned off on the black market. The highest bidder is Mimi, the daughter of a prominent industrialist, who wants Nhika to heal a comatose witness to her father’s suspicious death. Nhika’s success in doing so becomes complicated as a murder investigation gets underway, the attending physician makes demands to keep her healing gift a secret, and her uncertainty increases as to whether Ven Kohin, the physician’s assistant, is an ally or a foe. Vanessa Le’s richly detailed first book in this intriguing duology has a heart-stopping ending that leaves the reader eagerly anticipating the publication of His Mortal Demise in March 2025. (Gr 6 Up)
—CA

​The Selkie’s Daughter. Linda Crotta Brennan. (2024), Holiday House. 
Brigit, daughter of a selkie mother (Marella) and a human father (Andrew), hides her painfully-trimmed webbed fingers from her classmates. As fishermen in her isolated Nova Scotia village return home empty-handed, many blame the dearth of fish and various misfortunes on a selkie bane—and point at her family. Hardships intensify when diphtheria takes the lives of Brigit’s little brother and others and her mother slips into her seal skin to search for Andrew, who is lost at sea following a storm that destroys much of the town. After her selkie cousins send her visions revealing baby seals being murdered for their skins, Brigit fears the bane is in retribution from the Great Selkie, the golden seal she glimpses in the harbor. Throughout her struggle to accept her land-and-sea heritage, Brigit knows she is the only one who can get to the undersea kingdom of Sule Skerrie to present the selkie king with a plan to stop the pup killings, rescue her father (with the help of friends), and lift the bane so village life can get back to normal. Celtic mythology and songs are woven throughout this engaging coming-of-age fantasy. (Gr 3 Up)

​Sky’s End (Above the Black #1). Marc J. Gregson. (2024). Peachtree Teen.
When he was ten years old, Conrad’s father, the Archduke of Holmstead Island of the Skylands, was murdered by his brother, who as the new archduke exiled Conrad and his mother from “High” to “Low” to live in destitution while keeping his younger sister, Ella, hidden away. Although Conrad was raised by a compassionate mother, he is strongly influenced by his father’s belief in the governing system of Meritocracy (“The weak fall; the strong rise. Think hate.”), so he trusts no one. Now 16, he qualifies to enter the Selection of the Twelve Trades after his mother’s death, is assigned to the Hunter Trade (his profession for life with a high mortality rate), and fights the gorgantauns, sky serpents with steel scales that are destroying the Skylands. If he wins the deadly Gauntlet contest, Conrad will earn his own skyship, which he plans to use as a getaway vehicle after kidnapping Ella from his uncle. As captain of The Gladian, with his nemesis, Pound, and other shipmates, each harboring secrets, he struggles to find his own identity during brutal battles against gorgantauns and learns who the real enemy is. Readers will be primed for Among Serpents, the next book in this battle-filled adventure trilogy, to be released in January 2025. (Gr 9-12)
—NB

 The Spaceman. Randy Cecil. (2024). Candlewick.
A tiny spaceman comments, “I must confess, at first glance I thought this a rather ordinary planet” as he steps out of his tiny spaceship expecting to have another ordinary day at his job of collection soil samples, labeling the soil samples, and filing the soil samples before moving on to the next planet. But then a creature with wings comes along and flies away with his ship. He gives chase into the unknown and has to flee into the starry dark from “a hideous beast” covered in fur. As the darkness fades, he encounters an extraordinary variety of creatures—some strange, some adorable, some beautiful—and when the creature he had considered to be hideous rescues him from a lily pond and seems to have potential as a friend, the spaceman has a big decision to make upon discovering his ship high up on a branch of a tree. Young readers will enjoy knowing more than the little alien does about “the extraordinary place” he has landed on, such as the furry beast being a dog, from what is revealed in Randy Cecil’s warmly humorous oil paintings. (PreS Up)
—CA

​The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice. Rachel Chivers Khoo. Illus. by Rachel Sanson. (2024). Candlewick.
After ten-year-old Felix tosses his last coin into Whittlestone’s penny fountain and makes a wish that his 16-year-old sister, Rebecca, would like him again, he sees a small elderly man retrieving pennies from the fountain with a fishing pole. Surprised that he can be seen, the man introduces himself as Rupus Beewinkle, the Whittlestone wishkeeper, and offers Felix a job as his apprentice. Rupus needs help not only organizing his chaotic office filled with incoming wishes and fixing wish snags but also in dealing with a wishsnatcher, “a creature of pure despair” that was thought to be extinct, who is responsible for the ever-increasing obliteration of wishes being kept by Rupus. It will be up to Felix to rescue Rupus from the wishsnatcher’s lair before the monster has stripped the last wish from the wishkeeper. Rachel Sanson’s grayscale illustrations for this engaging transitional chapter book complement Rachel Chivers Khoo’s lively magical adventure story. A recipe for Snorlicks, a wishkeeper’s beverage of choice, is appended. (Gr 3-5)
—CA

​Nancy Brashear and Carolyn Angus
Fans of fantasy and science fiction have a wealth of good books to choose from in 2022. Following up on our April 25 column, here are reviews of more recently published books that we found particularly inventive and engaging. For younger readers, there is an original fairy tale, an animal fantasy, and the first books in two chapter book series that introduce a charming witchling and a boy apprenticed to a guardian of monsters. For older readers, there are novels and a short story collection that will take them to make-believe worlds to share fantastical adventures with intriguing characters in the past, present, and future. 

​Alone Out Here. Riley Redgate. (2022). Hyperion.
It is 2072. Leigh Chen, First Daughter of U.S. President Olivia Chen, and other teens (children of members of the Global Fleet Planning Commission) are in California to tour Lazarus, the prototype of a space fleet being built to send millions of people into space to save humankind following a volcanic eruption of Mount Shasta predicted to occur in 18 months that will result in a global apocalypse. When it appears that the anticipated eruption has just occurred, 53 of the assembled kids escape into the ship without a crew of adults. The captain’s daughter can pilot Lazarus, but the spaceship has a minimal food supply and had not been stocked yet with the vegetable seeds needed for the many-generation long trip to its destination, a planet over 5.4 light-years away. With a small self-appointed leadership team making all the decisions, the new society develops schisms. Alliances form and a revolution begins. When Leigh finally takes a stand which may determine whether humanity will survive, what happens is beyond her imagination. (Gr 9-12)
—NB  

The Armored Goretusk (Leo’s Map of Monsters). Kris Humphrey. Illus. by Pete Williamson. (2022). Kane Miller.
On his ninth birthday, Leo Wilder sees only the words TOP SECRET upon opening his letter from the village elders meant to inform him of his assignment for the next two years. Then, Gilda, the Village Chief, appears and takes him through a hidden door in the Village Wall, which he knows was built to keep the villagers safe from deadly forest creatures (wolves, bears, and wildcats). Reaching a small cabin, Leo is introduced to elderly Henrik, the Guardian, and learns that monsters, not wild animals, roam the forest. As his apprentice it will be Leo’s job to keep both the villagers and monsters safe. Equipped with only a strange Map of Monsters on which lighted colored dots show the present locations and movements of various monsters in the forest, a slingshot, and a pouch of small stones, Leo is immediately sent on his first assignment: Locate an angry Armored Goretusk (a large four-legged monster with an armor-plated back and four tusks) moving quickly toward the Wall and return it to its Festian Swamp habitat. An abundance of grayscale illustrations and the fast-paced, first-person narration of this easy-to-read chapter book will leave young readers wanting to join Leo on his next assignment. (PreK Up)
—CA

​The Callers. Kiah Thomas. (2022). Chronicle.
Quintus Octavius from Elipsom comes from a long line of Callers, who can conjure things by naming them. Now that he is 13, it is time for him to take the TEST, but no matter how much he practices, he still cannot conjure anything. Unbeknownst to him, his sister, Davinia (helped by their mother, the Chief Councilor), cheats to qualify him. Upset at learning of this deception, Quin retreats to his room where he gets pulled into a magical vortex by Allie, a Caller from Evantra (a continent on the other side of the planet), who shares the true history of Elipsom and Evantra.  While in Evantra, Quin also discovers his own special gift. When his mother calls them back to Elipsom (Quin for the induction ceremony into the Council of Callers and Allie for imprisonment), he learns of her devastating betrayal and must take a stand: Turn his back on his family and power—or rescue Allie so they can partner to heal Evantra, and maybe the world, before it’s too late. (Gr 6 Up) 

Cress Watercress. Gregory Maguire. Illus. by David Litchfield. (2022). Candlewick.
 After Papa went out one night to find ginger root and honey for tea and never came back, Mama Watercress, Cressida (Cress), and her baby brother, Kip, leave their rabbit warren on the riverbank and move into the one-room basement lodgings of a treehouse apartment in an old dead oak tree. Gregory Maguire weaves an enchanting tale with a host of anthropomorphized animals including the tenants of the Broken Arms (an owl, an elderly mouse couple, two songbirds, and a family of squirrels) and some denizens of Hunter’s Forest to beware of: Monsieur Reynard, a sly red fox, and Final Drainpipe, “one shifty menace” of a snake. Adventure abounds—and so does wit—in the short episodic chapters of this animal fantasy complemented by David Litchfield’s colorful, stylized digital illustrations. Cress Watercress is a great read-aloud or read-alone choice. As grumpy Mr. Titus Pillowby Owl, the Broken Arm’s landlord, would say, “Make a note of it.” (PreK Up)
—CA ​

Crimson Twill: Witch in the City (Crimson Twill #1). Kallie George. Illus. by Birgitta Sif. (2022). Candlewick.
Crimson Twill is not a typical witchling. Her dress is polka-dotted not black, her hat sports a big bow, and she wears red gum boots instead of black pointed-toed shoes. Crimson, who lives in rural Cackle County, is going for the first time to New Wart City’s Broomingdale’s, the favorite department store of witches. While her mother deals with a long shopping list, Crimson plans to buy something special with her five gold coins. On the cat floor, she rescues Pepper, a lost puppy according to his name tag, from the saleswitch’s intended Dog-Gone spell (Bromingdale’s does not allow dogs). After other good deeds on the broom and hat floors, Crimson heads for the Moonlight Café to meet her mother, and her unique fashion style becomes the hit of Vera Fang’s Frightful Fashion Show as she chases Pepper down the runway after he escapes from his basket. Birgitta Sif’s lively grayscale artwork is the perfect match with Kallie George’s delightful chapter book series opener full of clever puns and wordplay. (PreK Up)
—CA  ​

Echoes and Empires (Echoes and Empires #1). Morgan Rhodes. (2022). Razorbill. Spoiled, 17-year-old Josslyn Drake loves being adored by Queen Isadora’s court. It is the first anniversary of the death of her father (the Queen’s advisor) at the Queen’s Gala, and Joss is again in attendance. After the Queen’s annual speech on sorcery and its deadly consequences, Joss explores the gallery of recovered magical artifacts, interrupts a robbery, and breathes in golden smoke that escapes from a box the thief drops. Unable to return safely to the court infused with magic, she teams up with thief Jericho Nox to purge this accidentally acquired memory magic inside her so he can deliver it, as promised, to his witch employer, Valery. Vander Lazos, Overlord of the Queen’s Keep, proposes that in exchange for Jericho’s killing of a beast who has taken 12 prisoners, he will extract Joss’ magic, but can he deliver? Raw truth shatters secrets and lies as Joss returns to court, her world tipped upside down and her life in jeopardy. Readers will be eager to read the conclusion of this engaging fantasy duology filled with magic, political intrigue, secrets—and lots of plot twists. (Gr 9-12)
—NB

The Fog Catcher’s Daughter. Marianne McShane. Illus. by Alan Marks. (2022). Candlewick.
A young Irish lass, Eily, lives with her father in a cottage on the coast in sight of the isle of Lisnashee, which is never visited by the villagers, who fear the wrath of the fairy folk (the Good People) for trespassing on their enchanted land. In midsummer each year, her father, the fog catcher, crosses over to the island to catch beads of mist that provide the villagers with the magic water needed to make cures and charms for keeping away sickness and bad luck. When Eily discovers that her father has rowed out to Lisnashee without his protective charm, she bravely sets out in her small boat, Lapwing. Crossing a storm-tossed sea while chanting a blessing, “A smooth way before me, a smooth way before me,” she lands on the beach. Finding her father in the sand, drifting into a fairy sleep, Eily safely returns them to their cottage with two jars of fairy water. Alan Marks’ beautiful watercolor paintings perfectly set the scene for Marianne McShane’s original Irish fairy tale. (PreK Up)
—CA

​The Ivory Key. (Ivory Key #1). Akshaya Raman. (2022) Clarion.
This first book of Akshaya Raman’s Indian-inspired duology introduces readers to the kingdom of Ashoka, whose biggest export, magic, is almost depleted. If that news gets out, it will mean no alliances, no armies, and no money. Royal siblings—18-year-old Maharani Vira, who became ruler of Ashoka after the murder of their mother; Ronak, twin to Vira and, unhappily, about to be married off to the highest bidder; Kaleb, falsely imprisoned by Vira for murdering their mother; and Riya, pronounced dead but really a secret rebel plotting against the maharani—despise each other. Temporarily reunited and with recovered pieces of a map leading to the Ivory Key that can unlock the sealed magic quarries their father searched for during his lifetime, each has a different dream to fulfill. They dodge fate and death and uncover special powers, a secret society, and spies as they discover that their heart-pounding quest brings more challenges than answers. Readers are primed for the conclusion to this duology. (Gr 6 Up)
—NB

The Ogress and the Orphans. Kelly Barnhill. (2022). Algonquin.
Once upon a time there was a hardworking, kind, and generous Ogress and a family of 15 orphans who loved each other dearly under the care of Matron and her husband, Myron. They lived in the town of Stone-in-the-Glen, where people were friendly and cared for each other until the occurrence of the mysterious burnings of two buildings: the library (was there a dragon lurking nearby?) and the school. Trees died, floods arrived, a sinkhole destroyed the playground, people began locking their doors, and the town’s promise to fund the Orphan House was broken. Meanwhile, the mesmerizing mayor with his glittering smile assured the citizens that he was the best mayor ever, raised more taxes, and hid a dark secret. After an orphan mysteriously disappears and the Ogress is accused of stealing the child (even though the child returns), the town continues its accusations. In this happily-ever-after fairy tale, the Ogress and orphans create a secret campaign to expose the culprit and unite the townspeople as they rediscover what it means to be good neighbors. (Gr 6 Up)
—NB

Reclaim the Stars: 17 Tales Across Realms & Spaces. Zoraida Córdova (Ed.). (2022). Wednesday.
Ecuadorian Zoraida Córdova has organized the 17 tales of magic, love, and superstition included in Reclaim the Stars into three categories: “To the Stars,” “The Magical Now,” and “Other Times, Other Realms.” The authors who contribute to this anthology span the Latin American diaspora: Anna-Marie McLemore, Daniel José Older, David Bowles, Lilliam Rivera, Mark Oshiro, Circe Moskowitz, J. C. Cervantes, Linda Raquel Nieves Pérez, Romina Garber, Maya Motayne, Nina Moreno, Isabel Ibañez, Vita Ayala, Yamile Saied Méndez, Sara Faring, Claribel A. Ortega, and Zoraida Córdova. Their short stories draw the reader into imaginative situations. For example, in Zoraida Córdova’s “Tame the Wicked Night,” teen Aurelio Saturnelio goes on a quest to capture the head of the beast from the Midnight Mountains to atone for turning down the Marquéz Montrose’s daughter’s hand in marriage. In Yamile Saied Méndez’s “River People,” Malena hears the River Paraná warn about her brother, Miguel, entering into an illegal transaction with the devil to rustle cattle. Back matter includes biographies of the contributors to this superb anthology. (Gr 9-12) 
—NB ​

​Nancy Brashear and Carolyn Angus
Readers of all ages will be intrigued by the inventive storylines of the recently published fantasy and science fiction books reviewed in this column. From picture books for the youngest readers to chapter books for middle grade readers to complex (and some lengthy) series and stand-alone books for older readers, each book offers readers the opportunity to exercise their imaginations as they meet traditional fantasy characters as well as a diverse group of humans having fantastical adventures set in make-believe worlds or on futuristic Earth.

Ashes of Gold (Wings of Ebony #2). J. Elle. (2022). Denene Millner.
In the conclusion of the Wings of Ebony duology, African American Rue from Houston, Texas, returns to her father’s homeland, Ghizon, a fantastical island near Madagascar (where she is known as Jelani) to fight against the loyalist Grays and restore the magic the Chancellor stole from the native Ghizonis. While leading a rebellion against the loyalist in which half of the Ghizoni population is killed, Jelani is captured. Waking up in prison, her memory is spotty. After being rescued from her cell by Ghizoni rebel warriors, she is determined to bring an end to the Chancellor’s rule, but what she doesn’t remember about magic, betrayal, and truth can kill her. Transporting back to Texas to recruit the help of her former boyfriend, Julius, she knows that the outcome in Ghizon will affect her battle-scarred Houston hometown, for better or worse, too. (Gr 9-12)
—NB

Castles in Their Bones (Castles in Their Bones #1). Laura Sebastian. (2022). Delacorte.
In this series opener, triplet princesses, Saphronia, Daphne, and Beatriz, born under the constellation of the Sisters Three with silver magic in their eyes, have just celebrated their coming-of-age sixteenth birthdays. Their mother, Empress Margaraux of Bessemia, is sending them to their betrotheds the next day: Beatriz south to Cellaria, Sophronia west to Temarin, and Daphne north to Friv. Educated in the history, traditions, and habits of their future husbands and their families, the girls have been instructed in strategies to sow dissension in court and among the other kingdoms. According to their mother’s plans, after they marry and become queens, they’ll be able to drive their monarchies to war so that she can swoop in to rule the entire continent of Vestria. The sisters leave fully expecting success in their goals and to be reunited with each other within the year, but best-laid plans can go awry—as readers learn in this engaging fantasy (told from the rotating points of views of the princesses) which will leave them eager for the sequel. (Gr 9-12)
—NB

A Dragon Used to Live Here. Annette LeBlanc Cate. (2022). Candlewick.
When Thomas and his younger sister, Emily, go in search of the arrow he accidentally shot through the basement window of one of the castle’s towers, they meet Meg McThorn, the grumpy supervisor of the castle’s scribes who are busy creating elegant handwritten invitations for a surprise anniversary party for their parents. Meg tells them she used to be their mother’s best friend even before a dragon lived in the castle, but their mother has never mentioned her or a dragon—and they want to know more. Thomas and Emily return again and again with baskets of freshly baked treats for the scribes, and while helping to pen invitations, they listen to Meg’s avowed “completely true story.” In short chapters, Annette LeBlanc Cate interweaves Meg’s story with its decidedly once-upon-a-time fairy tale tone about the fire-breathing dragon who held their mother, young Lady Catherine, captive in his castle and the story of how the “little nobles” orchestrate the reunion of their mother and Meg at the party. (Gr 3-5)
—CA

​Healer & Witch. Nancy Werlin. (2022). Candlewick.
In 1531, 15-year-old Sylvie, who has grown up in the small French village where her mother and grandmother are healers, discovers that she, like Grand-mère Sylvie, has the power of healing by the laying on of hands. However, when Sylvie touches someone, she not only can see their thoughts and memories, she can also remove them. When her grandmother dies before she has had time to train Sylvie about this special power, in an attempt to lessen her mother’s grief, she removes all memory of Grand-mère Sylvie and Sylvie, herself. Accompanied by young Martin, the farrier’s son, Sylvie sets out for Lyon to find a wisewoman who can teach her how to use her unusual healing power safely. In this beautifully crafted historical fantasy, Sylvie’s quest to understand her gift is fraught with danger as they travel across France, encountering individuals who consider her a witch or wish to use her gift for personal gains and not knowing if they will ever return home. (Gr 6-8)
—CA

Monsters in the Fog. Ali Bahrampour. (2022). Abrams.
On a foggy morning, Hakim, a donkey, is making his way up the mountain to visit his friend Daisy when he meets an old goat who inquires where he is going. The goat warns, “Don’t do it! There are monsters up there!” Hakim, who doesn’t believe in monsters, continues on until he hears a groan, and out of the ever-increasing dense fog comes the strangest creature he has ever seen (readers also see the spooky figure on the facing page, and a turn of the page reveals the identity of the creature, who joins Hakim in his trek). This pattern of strange encounters in the fog occurs two more times until Hakim and his traveling companions hear a loud scream and see what looks like a MONSTER!  Young children will be delighted when the creature who was afraid of the foggy image of Hakim and his new friends is revealed and agree with Hakim that “everything looks like a monster in the fog,” but up close it’s not so scary. (PreK-Gr 2)
—CA

Solimar: The Sword of the Monarchs. Pam Muñoz Ryan. Illus. by Jacqueline Alcantara. (2022). Disney Hyperion.
Solimar, a tomboy, dreads her upcoming Quinceañera, where she will be crowned Princess Solimar Socorro Reyes Guadalupe, a descendant of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain; she’d rather have a barbeque. When Solimar and her royal bird, Lázaro, cross the forbidden river and enter the oyamel forest to greet the butterflies who overwinter there, the Monarchs cover her rebozo (shawl), embedding their silken wings into the fabric. Solimar soon discovers that while wearing the rebozo in daylight, when asked a question, she blurts out the truth. After her father (King Sebastián) and brother leave on an expedition, greedy King Aveno from a nearby kingdom learns of the rebozo’s power and takes everyone in the castle hostage—except Solimar, who escapes—planning to them exchange for the rebozo. Solimar, hunted by Aveno’s soldiers during her flight to alert her father and brother and save her family, is desperate to divest the rebozo of its futuristic, truth-telling magic by freeing the butterflies. (Gr 6 Up)
—NB

​A Thousand Steps into Night. Traci Chee. (2022). Clarion.
In this Japanese-inspired fantasy, 17-year-old Otori Miuko, an ordinary girl from the servant class, lives with her innkeeper father in the decaying village of Nihaoi in the realm of Awara and follows society’s restrictive rules for women until she is kissed by a demon during the forbidden “verge hour” of dusk. Cast out by her father, she pursues a quest along the Thousand Step Way to break the curse as the demonic spirit takes over causing her body to slowly turn blue. Accompanied by trickster Geiki (part human, part magpie), Miuko engages in a journey of self-discovery. She wrestles with injustices wrought by humans and demons, battles against dark spirits, and creates unusual friendships. Then, the story deftly flips on itself, taking readers on a mind-bending trip back through key events that aren’t what they seemed to be first time through. Returning to Nihaoi two weeks later, Miuko’s transformation is complete, and she is ready to take on whatever her universe throws her way. The invented words of the language of Awara that Chee uses in the text are defined in footnotes. (Gr 6 Up)
—NB

Tortoise and Hare: A Fairy Tale to Help You Find Balance. Susan Verde. Illus. by Jay Fleck. (2022). Abrams.
“Once upon a time there were two neighbors, Hare and Tortoise.” They did things very differently. Hare did everything quickly. “Some might say she was too fast.” Tortoise did everything slowly. “Some might say he was too slow.” When Hare suggests that Tortoise can’t move fast for anything, he challenges her to a race. As expected, Hare is off in a flash while Tortoise creeps slowly. However, Hare’s nap at the halfway mark becomes a deep sleep, and she awakes to find Tortoise by her side and enjoys slowing down to stargaze with him. When the sun comes up, they finish the race together with Tortoise on Hare’s back enjoying going fast. Susan Verde and Jay Fleck turn Aesop’s fable into a fairy tale with a gentle lesson as Tortoise and Hare discover that it’s sometimes good to be fast and sometimes it’s good to be slow “but mostly, it’s good to have a friend to help you find the balance.” (PreK-Gr 2)
—CA

​Wakers (Side Skip Trilogy #1). Orson Scott Card. (2022). Margaret K. McElderry.
Seventeen-year-old Armenian American Lazarus Davit Hayerian, a clone, comes to consciousness, with an intact memory, in a facility filled with pods of dead clones—except for one girl. While he waits for Latina Ivy Maisy Downey (the viable clone) to awaken, Laz remembers that he can “side skip” (move to parallel worlds), and finds clever ways to survive in the abandoned city with a pack of feral dogs that becomes his companions. After Ivy comes to life, they coexist in their current time as well as in side skips. Created by a team of scientists who expect Lazarus and Ivy to carry on the work of their originals (OrigiLaz and Ivy-O, who didn’t get along), the two teens will need to work together to save the inhabitants of earth from “Shiva,” a giant planet hurtling through space toward Earth, by locating safe side skips into which humanity can be relocated. (Grade 9-12)
—NB