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4 weeks ago | 
kirkusreviews.com | Jack Cheng |Soman Chainani |Iacopo Bruno
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record? For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas.
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2 months ago | 
kirkusreviews.com | Christopher Cyr |Soman Chainani |Iacopo Bruno
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied. Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school.
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2 months ago | 
kirkusreviews.com | Louis Sachar |Soman Chainani |Iacopo Bruno
An intriguing variation on border stories that looks at the challenges surrounding an intentional family separation. A nonbinary tween explores their identity after they move from Mexico to the U.S. with half their family. Twelve-year-old Ave lives in Mexicali, Baja California, with their dad, Rodolfo, older sister, Cruz, younger brother, Ramón, and mom, Joss.
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Feb 1, 2025 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Betty Tang |Soman Chainani |Iacopo Bruno |Louis Sachar
by Betty C. Tang ; illustrated by Betty C. Tang ‧Tugs at the heartstrings and will spark important, age-appropriate conversations on pertinent, broadly relevant topics. Three siblings continue their immigrant journeys in 1980s California.
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Jan 28, 2025 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Dav Pilkey |Soman Chainani |Iacopo Bruno
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment. Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty.
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Soman Chainani |Iacopo Bruno |Katherine Marsh
A finely drawn and cleanly written story that will give readers hope. Twelve-year-old Ashley Dalton, who prefers to be called Ash, has one refuge in the world: a walnut tree in the yard of her foster mother’s rental house, where she lives along with her foster mother’s volatile son, his girlfriend, and their baby, who shares a room with Ash. Middle school, where Ash gets bullied for being unfeminine in her clothing and appearance, is scary and threatening.
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Leah Johnson |Soman Chainani |Iacopo Bruno |Katherine Marsh
Electric: bequeaths confidence-building stories that sizzle with wisdom and a little bit of magic. Acclaimed authors share 15 diverse stories that showcase the strength and humanity of Black girls who are facing a variety of challenges. This anthology, composed of stand-alone entries, spans multiple genres, including realistic fiction, fabulism, and fantasy.
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Oct 29, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Soman Chainani |Iacopo Bruno |Louis Sachar
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied. Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school.
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Oct 22, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Janet Fox |Soman Chainani |Iacopo Bruno |Louis Sachar
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied. Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school.
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Oct 11, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Gordon Korman |Louis Sachar |Soman Chainani |Iacopo Bruno
Wry, provocative, and shot through with cogent issues. Korman’s cleverly chosen title plays on several themes explored in this outing. Left by his parents in the care of his grandmother and other residents of a retirement community, Dexter has acquired anachronistic manners, speech, and dress—and a broad education that sets him apart when social services force him into seventh grade. He must adjust—and so must his teachers and classmates at the run-down small-town school.
