(2) YA A teenage girl's identity crisis coincides with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Girard's (Girl Mans Up, rev. 11/16) latest novel, set on the outskirts of Toronto. Baylee is a thoughtful yet highly self-critical young woman who struggles with body image after years of being bullied about her weight. Her once-strong friend group is filled with tension as romantic pairings emerge or fall apart, while Baylee believes she will never find a significant other. Gradually, she relaxes her defenses and affirms the feelings she has or develops for her best guy friend, a new female friend, and her one-time bully. Her emotional rollercoaster is intensified by caring for her twelve-year-old sister, who has severe cerebral palsy, and by the daily news about people getting sick from COVID-19. She is faced with decisions about exploring newfound romance during lockdown and putting her sister at risk. Baylee and her family, both blood and chosen, model how life's mistakes can be survivable with support from loved ones. Girard's strength as a writer is in giving Baylee voice as an outwardly strong person whose inner thoughts exist in a state of turmoil. The character and story are highly relatable and potentially validating for readers who are figuring out their identities as well as those who could benefit from their own tumultuous teenage experiences--especially during the pandemic--being externally validated.

Reviewer: Nicholas A. Brown | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(2) YA Plagued by body-image concerns and a lack of self-worth for as long as she can remember, Rain Washington can't seem to escape her sadness. Every day is a struggle to wake up and head to middle school--alone, since her best friend has moved out of their neighborhood (and in some ways, their friendship). Rain's few moments of happiness are thanks to her older brother, Xander. Cool, kind, intelligent, and loved by all, Xander is everything Rain wishes to be. With an absentee father and overworked mother, Rain feels that Xander is the only one who truly cares about her. When Xander is beaten by white fraternity members while on a college trip with his elite prep school, Rain's entire world is shattered. As she tries to maneuver through the press coverage, hospital visits, and her mother's and brother's changed behaviors, the chaotic aftermath causes Rain to spiral into self-destructive patterns. It takes support from an observant teacher and an afterschool group led by the school counselor to equip her with coping mechanisms to help heal and learn she's not as alone as she'd thought. This first-person novel in verse offers a powerfully intimate look at subjects such as depression, anxiety, and self-harm. In a heartfelt author's note, Comrie encourages readers to come to the same revelation Rain does: "Feelings really do matter. And no matter what, you are so loved."

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Rose Bousamra. In a graphic novel that takes on antiblackness and colorism, every Sunday Marlene must sit for hours at the beauty salon while her naturally abundant tight ringlets are styled into straight unfrizzy layers. Gorgeously emotive sunset- and teal-hued panels illustrate the passage of the seasons as Marlene unwillingly follows her mother into the salon yet again. Over time, Marlene begins to wonder if Mom is right, "that I can't be my best if my hair isn't straight." Marlene navigates the white standards of beauty entrenched in her Dominican family and which can permeate Latine communities, internalizing racist ideologies expressed in family comments: "You're lucky your baby's eyes are light." "Cara fina!" "Straighten your hair so you look more presentable." When school bullies target Marlene because of her hair, she takes a stand, which results in afterschool detention but also in a timely visit with Tía Ruby, who shows Marlene how to care for her curls as an act of radical love for Blackness and herself. Ortega's narrative shows the complex arc of Marlene's emotional growth--from exuberance to sadness, self-reflection to empowerment--captured with aplomb in Bousamra's expressive illustrations.

Reviewer: Lettycia Terrones | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) 4-6 In Willis's debut graphic novel, based on her own experiences, narrator Lucy worships her older-by-one-year sister Livy. They play together, then fight, then make up--always. Things change when their parents send them to a brand-new school to start fifth and sixth grades. Shy Livy, furious at losing her tight-knit friend group, takes her anger out on her younger sister, who watches in dismay as Livy begins to obsess about her appearance and develops an eating disorder. Details about Livy's slow starvation are highly disturbing, but the cartoon-style illustrations help keep everything at a tolerable level and even manage to include lighthearted moments. With lots of therapy, and plenty of setbacks, Livy begins to recover, only to notice that Lucy has started losing weight. Heartbreakingly, Lucy can't help envying Livy's thinness in this story that lays bare diet culture's pervasive hold. Preteens listen to their peers; wisely, it's mainly Livy rather than an adult who explains the facts about disordered eating. (Helpful advice also comes from Lucy's awesome summer camp counselor, who encourages her to grow--in all ways--rather than shrink.) Holding this captivating story together is Lucy and Livy's unbreakable bond of sisterhood, authentically portrayed in both art and text. Appended with an author's note and resources.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022

(3) K-3 "Lanky bodies, squat bodies, / Tall, short, wide or narrow bodies, / Somewhere-in-the-middle bodies, / Bodies are cool!" Feder's rhyming text and double-page spreads filled with all kinds of people celebrate the variety of our physical attributes. The joy-filled cartoon illustrations pack a lot of bodies into the settings (e.g., subway car, pool, backyard barbecue) and offer plenty to consider. Each scene highlights one feature: physique, skin color, hair ("lots of hair or no hair"; "leg hair, armpit hair"), eyes ("monolids and round eyes"), tummies, legs ("roll-up-to-the-table legs"), scars ("marks-that-tell-a-story scars"), and more. The titular refrain keeps the book's message front and center.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) YA Illustrated by Lisa Tegtmeier. The diverse group of thirty-one contributors to this collection are fat, and proudly so. Their essays, full-color illustrations, and poems advocate for societal acceptance and accurate media representation of fat people, and encourage readers to love themselves and their bodies. It’s a message that, while repetitive, is welcome. Each piece is accompanied by the contributor’s photo and bio; “Fat Fashion Resources” are appended.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) YA Seventh-grader Ari Rosensweig is the new kid, "awkward, big, different / from everyone else." Picked on and beat up, Ari is drawn to other worlds where characters transform heroically (e.g., Avatar). The verse novel is a well-chosen format for Baron's debut, with his first-person narrative effectively revealing the protagonist"s growth step by step. Any reader who has felt like an outsider will be drawn to this verse novel.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(3) YA When she's first hospitalized for anorexia, twelve-year-old Riley wonders, "If I'm not skinny, who will I be?" After almost two months at the facility--where she makes friends, rediscovers a passion for art, works with a therapist, and eats--she finally acknowledges, "I am Riley." Written as journal entries, the epistolary novel believably captures Riley's disordered thinking and difficult road toward recovery.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(3) YA Max is a quiet fourteen-year-old Brit who enjoys birds, video games, and geocaching. But his anorexia threatens to take all his attention and might be destroying his family. An endearingly intimate voice draws readers into Max's internal battle, including his notably complex feelings about masculinity and puberty. This tender story is hopeful but painfully honest about the difficult work Max's recovery will require.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(3) YA Twenty-one female YA authors offer personal essays about moments and life experiences that shaped their feminist worldview. The timely topics covered include the intersection of race and gender, sexual assault and rape, issues around weight and body image, and the experience of growing up a girl in an immigrant family. Engaging, emotional, and perfectly attuned to today's young women, this feminist collection promises to make an impact. Websites.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA Leah, Simon's friend from Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, stars in a story of their friend group's last few months of high school. Leah, who hasn't told others she's bisexual, slowly falls for her once-estranged friend Abby but worries about a variety of repercussions. Frequently funny, this novel is also socially aware, addressing issues of race, class, and body image in addition to sexuality.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Princess Aislin is half-fairy, half-pedrasi (mountain people who possess incredible strength), but she has the "sturdier" figure of the pedrasi side. When an enemy human king takes her hostage, Aislin must use all of her powers, magical and otherwise, to save her home. Aislin is a compelling heroine, proving her strength against fantastical beasts as well as the human girls who bully her.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(3) 4-6 Tally, whose classmates are tired of her superior-seeming attempts to help others, navigates awkward seventh-grade dynamics on a class trip to Washington, DC. Signs of a classmate's eating disorder force her to consider interfering despite others' annoyance. Dee nails the voice and characterization of preteens trying to find their place in the social order. Eating disorder resources are appended.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Hoops series. The WNBA-player author's new series features seventh grader Elle, who's six feet tall. She's destined to play basketball--which she does and loves--but Elle is also a normal kid, juggling basketball with other obligations and fretting about her height and its impact on her life. Elle is a likable character: a little clumsy, a little goofy, but a good role model for girls. Review covers these Hoops titles: Elle of the Ball, Full-Court Press, and Out of Bounds..

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 4-6 Hoops series. The WNBA-player author's new series features seventh grader Elle, who's six feet tall. She's destined to play basketball--which she does and loves--but Elle is also a normal kid, juggling basketball with other obligations and fretting about her height and its impact on her life. Elle is a likable character: a little clumsy, a little goofy, but a good role model for girls. Review covers these Hoops titles: Elle of the Ball, Full-Court Press, and Out of Bounds..

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 4-6 Hoops series. The WNBA-player author's new series features seventh grader Elle, who's six feet tall. She's destined to play basketball--which she does and loves--but Elle is also a normal kid, juggling basketball with other obligations and fretting about her height and its impact on her life. Elle is a likable character: a little clumsy, a little goofy, but a good role model for girls. Review covers these Hoops titles: Elle of the Ball, Full-Court Press, and Out of Bounds..

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) YA A young Canadian woman with a large nose enters a long-distance relationship with a plastic surgeon, who loves her for who she is. Adapted from Dorfman's time-lapse film of the same name, this graphic memoir for older readers has mature themes yet a refreshing picture-book simplicity to the text. A creatively minimalist art style adds depth to this story of self-acceptance.

Reviewer: Jessica Costello

(4) YA On his eighteenth birthday, Patrick receives a letter from his long-dead mother. Only she's not dead--his dad's been lying to him for years. As "Pack" unravels the mystery, he loses his supportive girlfriend and his whole life turns upside-down. Though readers may not feel satisfied by the hurried resolution to the mystery, Pack is an interesting character and his complicated relationship with food and exercise adds dimension.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) 4-6 Savvy: Girlology series. A series of infographics related to girls' growing bodies address health, hygiene, puberty, nutrition, media representation, and more; overall the text demonstrates the broad range of what's normal and points out the often-harmful messages in mainstream media. The tables, graphs, timelines, trivia bits, and photographs of a diverse set of tween girls create a visually engaging, magazine-style volume.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) YA Sex educator Green expands on her popular YouTube videos with this hefty guide to modern sexuality and relationships. With a slangy but knowledgeable tone, Green expounds on the expected subjects (anatomy, birth control) as well as relevant issues such as gender identity, communication, and consent. Her deft, gentle treatment of delicate topics and commitment to sex-positivity makes this informational book stand out among similar titles for older teens. Websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald