Martha V. Parravano

3 days ago | hbook.com | Patrick Gall |Martha V. Parravano |Michelle Lee |Adrienne L. Pettinelli

Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout; illus. by the authorMiddle School, High School    First Second    256 pp. 1/25    9781250869814    $25.99Paper ed. 9781250869821    $17.99e-book ed. 9781250412119    $11.99This deeply personal and poetic graphic novel illustrates the heroic actions of everyday Dutch people as they resisted the Nazi regime, as well as the lingering trauma inherited by subsequent generations.

2 weeks ago | hbook.com | Martha V. Parravano |Sylvia Vardell |Julie Danielson

In the Desert by David Elliott; illus. by Gordy WrightPrimary    Candlewick    40 pp. 3/25    9781536223385    $18.99In fifteen verses, Elliott celebrates creatures who inhabit the Sahara Desert—and, in one introductory poem, the desert itself. As always in this winning series (see At the Poles, rev. 9/23, and eight other titles), the poems are an enticing mix of the evocative and the witty, with haunting language characterizing some poems and light wordplay others.

2 weeks ago | hbook.com | Adrienne L. Pettinelli |Sarah Ellis |Martha V. Parravano

This Is the Year by Gloria MuñozHigh School    Holiday    368 pp. 1/25    9780823458363    $18.99e-book ed. 9780823462186    $11.99In this evocative near-future science fiction novel, high school senior Juli is still reeling from the death of her twin sister, Ofe, a year earlier.

2 weeks ago | hbook.com | Eboni Njoku |Adrienne L. Pettinelli |Sarah Ellis |Martha V. Parravano

I Am the Swarm by Hayley ChewinsHigh School    Viking    336 pp. 3/25    9780593623862    $19.99e-book ed. 9780593623879    $10.99In this Cape Town–set verse novel, each woman in the Strand family gains magical abilities when she turns fifteen. As Nell Strand approaches her fifteenth birthday, she is painfully aware of the potential dangers that can accompany this “gift.” Her older sister, Mora, carries songs underneath her skin—and has been hospitalized for trying to cut the music out.

2 weeks ago | hbook.com | Patrick Gall |Adrienne L. Pettinelli |Sarah Ellis |Martha V. Parravano

A Home for Unusual Monsters [Kairos Files]by Shaun David HutchinsonIntermediate, Middle School    Labyrinth Road/Random    288 pp. 2/25    9780593646335    $17.99e-book ed. 9780593646359    $10.99This sequel to The School for Invisible Boys (rev. 1/24) shifts its focus to twelve-year-old Samantha Osbourne, budding agent for the clandestine paranormal research group Kairos, as she navigates adolescence, grief, and monsters.