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Jun 25, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Renee Beauregard Lute |Jeff Kinney |Katherine Applegate |Patricia Castelao
An uplifting caper for readers who don’t mind some emotional shortcuts. Twelve-year-old Tacoma spends her evenings and weekends working at her parents’ Washington state truck stop, the Brake Fast. Socially isolated due to her work schedule and some bullies at school, Tacoma becomes cautiously excited when a musician’s tour bus breaks down at the truck stop, stranding the driver’s 13-year-old son, Denver, along with the band.
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May 4, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Jeff Kinney |Katherine Applegate |Patricia Castelao
A thrilling, hair-raising story with strong cultural roots and a well-developed sense of place. A tragic event leads a tween to move in with his aunt and uncle in his family’s mysterious ancestral home in South Carolina. Twelve-year-old Roderick Bolden has always treasured his hair. Recollections of sitting at his mother’s feet while she braided his thick Afro as they chatted about their days are some of his most cherished memories.
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Apr 5, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Malia Maunakea |Jeff Kinney |Katherine Applegate |Patricia Castelao
Lei and her companions travel to an invisible island from Hawaiian legend to find her best friend’s stolen pendant in this thrilling sequel. Biracial (Hawaiian and Polish) Lei, who now goes by her Hawaiian name, wants a good rest after rescuing bestie Kaipo, who’s also her ʻaumakua (or ancestral guardian) from fire goddess Pele. Unfortunately, Kaipo is missing his protective pendant, and without it, he’ll become a troublemaker and then a kuewa, or wandering spirit.
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Mar 23, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Nedda Lewers |Katherine Applegate |Patricia Castelao
An engaging adventure set in an enchanting world. One year after the events of Daughters of the Lamp (2024), Sahara’s journey continues amid the bustling streets of Cairo, where ancient magic collides with modern-day dilemmas. Back in Egypt to visit family for the summer—this time with her best friend, Vicky Miller—Sahara Rashad meets up with both familiar faces and new allies and uncovers the truth about the hamsa necklace and its connection to the magic lamp.
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Mar 23, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Drew Daywalt |Mike Lowery |Katherine Applegate |Patricia Castelao
A dog who sees the world through his own unique lens battles evil forces to protect his newfound family—and inadvertently succeeds. In a “Dear Diary” format, Sam the pug relates his adventures over the course of 20 eventful days, during which he runs away from “naked-monkey-thing” owner Mike, ends up at the shelter, and gets adopted by the Peterson family, who have a 12-year-old son named Justin.
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Feb 17, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Joy McCullough |Jeff Kinney |Katherine Applegate |Patricia Castelao
Siblings Basil and Dahlia, orphaned and concerned about their futures, go from the frying pan into the fire. While aboard a train to Philadelphia, Basil, 12, and Dahlia, 11, learn that their social worker plans to separate them and place them in different homes. Determined to stay together, Dahlia jumps off the moving train, followed by a hesitant Basil.
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Nov 14, 2023 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Jamie Oliver |Mónica Armiño |Katherine Applegate |Patricia Castelao
Dishes up a tasty round of youthful derring-do with several meaty topics on the side. The popular chef invites readers on a food-filled quest to save both our planet and a magic forest. Waking to a savory bacon sandwich served by his publican mother, 9 ½-year-old Billy throws off the sheets and rises to join his best friends on a venture into mysterious Waterfall Woods.
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Nov 14, 2023 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Nick Brooks |Katherine Applegate |Patricia Castelao
An adventure filled with fun hijinks and personal growth. A boy and his friends do their best to reconnect with an alien friend while avoiding alien enemies in this sequel to Nothing Interesting Ever Happens to Ethan Fairmont (2022). Ethan had a wild summer that included befriending an alien named Cheese, defeating evil alien hunters, and starting the Create Space, a science learning center in his hometown of Ferrous City.
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Oct 5, 2023 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Katherine Applegate |Patricia Castelao
Clever and humorously imaginative, with embedded words of wisdom. Awards & Accolades Our Verdict GET IT In Lynn’s middle-grade novel, a “common pigeon” living in Los Angeles is depressed over the disrespect displayed by humans towards his kind.
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Aug 29, 2023 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Katherine Applegate |Patricia Castelao
One for smart, outspoken kids looking for their places in the world. Ida, 14, leaves her rural Colorado mountain ranch home for Steamboat Springs in this stand-alone companion to 2001’s The Secret School. Ida Bidson attended a one-room schoolhouse, but in September 1925, she says goodbye to her family. She won’t be home for two months. Ida dreams of being a teacher, so she must go 20 miles away to high school.
