(2) 4-6 Swallowtail Legacy series. Lark Heron-Finch is back at her family's house on Lake Erie's Swallowtail Island for the first time since her mother's death. With her younger sister, stepfather, and three stepbrothers also there, the limits of Lark's temper are tested on a regular basis. She finds a purpose for the summer by becoming a research assistant to family friend Nadine, who is working on a book about the island's history. Nadine introduces Lark to Dinah, a ninety-three-year-old woman who is one of the island's oldest residents, and to the story of Nadine's grandfather's death, decades earlier, in a boat wreck that might not have been an accident after all. As Lark dives into investigating the mystery, her impulsiveness continues to present problems, but it also allows her to save the day. While some of the mystery's twists may not be that surprising, the overall execution is a success. The evolution of Lark's relationship with her stepfather and siblings is well done, giving the book's fully realized secondary characters a chance to develop along with the protagonist. Even Lark's soccer-field nemesis turns out to be more complex than the classic bully he'd seemed at first. The book concludes with revelations about another island-related mystery, leaving readers eager for the next installment.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(1) K-3 This wordless picture book about a city child visiting the country pays tribute to the wonders of the natural world. The cinematic illustrations begin on the front endpapers with an overhead view of a busy city. After the title page, we see a child and a dog playing on the floor of a cozy bedroom while the adults prepare for a trip. Zooming out once again, we follow the family's car as it travels out of the city and into the countryside, where the family is welcomed to a small cottage by an older couple. There the adventure truly begins, as the child explores a forest path, encounters giant ferns, swims to the bottom of a clear pond to greet fish among the kelp, sunbathes on a dock, and finally returns to the cottage to eat dinner and gaze at the stars. The illustrations were "entirely drawn and painted using writing ink and slow-dry blending medium," resulting in a dreamy gray, white, and blue palette that complements the tranquil tone. The lack of text adds to the sense of reverence; a brief author's note explains the inspiration for the story. Vivid facial expressions and body language tell the viewer all we need to know about the child's inner life, while the beauty of the landscape speaks for itself.

Reviewer: K Rachael Stein | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(2) YA Two teens--both brown, trans, and neurodivergent--reunite years after a chance meeting and find themselves bound together by their most personal experiences and by the magic of a local lake. Bastián copes with ADHD and the next step of their gender transition by creating alebrijes--brightly painted, fantastical, papier-mâché creatures--and sending them into the lake. Lore, who is dyslexic and was bullied at their old school, moved to town after a devastating fight. As the lake's magic breaks its usual boundaries, seeping into Bastián's and Lore's lives on dry land, they realize that it is responding to the painful emotions they've released into the water (Bastián via alebrijes, Lore through cans of paint) and that they can't reject their own pain or imperfections. The book is committed to its characters' gender, racial, and neurodivergent identities; while this focus can feel overworked at points, the intimacy and seriousness with which it addresses neurodivergence in particular is welcome. McLemore (The Mirror Season, rev. 5/21) successfully binds the novel's fantasy elements to the inner lives of their characters, strengthening the narrative effects of both the mundane and the magical. Readers with identities in common with the protagonists will find relief and recognition in this impassioned book, and teens in general should feel welcomed by its warmly open storytelling.

Reviewer: Anne St. John | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(2) 4-6 In this vivid graphic novel, adventurous thirteen-year-old Iris believes that she has explored every last corner of her small hometown with her best friend, the trepidatious Sam. She acutely feels Bugden's limitations and how they hinder her boundless ambitions. After a fight with her mom, Iris camps out at the river, her place of solace and possibility. Sam finds her in the morning, peering down at the strangely dried-up riverbed. Iris ropes Sam into exploring the riverbed, which soon leads them to the dripping remnants of a once-submerged town. The more Iris investigates, the more she realizes how cautious (and complacent) Sam has become, and this frustration culminates in an outburst that separates the two friends just as the first traces of true danger appear. A skilled animation artist, Pamment balances his plentiful and cinematic sequential storytelling with bright, personality-building dialogue to create a cohesive and immersive narrative in both art and text. Detailed visual motifs and many potent sound effects handily extend the narrative beyond the page and activate readers' senses. Hand this mesmerizing tale about hidden histories and friendship growth spurts to cautious and intrepid young explorers alike.

Reviewer: Niki Marion | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) 4-6 After their mother disappears, to distract from their worry, Max and his sister Rosie are sent with their grandmother, Mozelle, to help close up her lake cabin, a place where their mom spent her childhood summers. Without electricity, they go to bed early and experience the phenomenon of "second sleep," where people spend some time awake in the middle of the night (Max goes outside and stargazes) before falling back asleep. According to Mozelle, the children's mother said she "dreamed more vividly during her second sleep, and that her dreams were sweeter." Their first night there, Max learns what she means: thinking he's awake, he meets Lila, a girl from a neighboring cabin who takes him to the lake, where a group of kids hang out unsupervised. Some of the older ones are teaching Rosie to play chess, and he sees how it boosts her confidence. On waking, he realizes it was a dream--and Rosie's had the same one. Over the week the siblings spend at the cabin, the kids in the dream community (which doesn't exist synchronously in real life) assist Max in sorting out his symptoms of anxiety and inspire his art. They even help him figure out why his mom has gone missing. This gentle but uplifting tale is very much an internal journey, with calmness and creativity at heart; but enough mystery is sprinkled throughout (who are the lake kids? where is Max and Rosie's mother?) that the pace never stagnates.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) 4-6 This quickly paced gothic tale takes us to England's Lake District, 1899. Twelve-year-old Lady Agatha Asquith's elderly father has just died, and the new Earl of Gosswater, her sleazy cousin Clarence, summarily boots Aggie from her home. Even more outrageously, Aggie is told that the old earl wasn't really her father; in his will he decreed that she now live with her birth father, Thomas, a farmer she has never met. And even as she struggles to adjust to her new status, and learns to respect and trust Thomas, she's pursued and tormented by Clarence. He's certain Aggie knows the whereabouts of the legendary Gosswater opals and will perform any cruelty to get them. The story is stuffed with wintry adventures in small boats, icy treks over mountain passes, rose-fragrant visitations from a ghostly maiden, and ill-advised schemes. Characters are sharp, extreme, and sometimes colorfully eccentric, and the action moves toward an explosive and unpredictable finish. At heart, though, this is the tale of Aggie finding a loving family and friends, at last.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Nancy Meyers. The fifth standalone adventure in the Geisel Honor–winning series finds dog King and girl Kayla visiting Grandma's lake house. When a lost dog, Fred, is discovered, King uses deduction to reunite Fred with his people at a nearby campground. King's enthusiasm is, as always, hilarious. With alternating sentence lengths, strong word repetition, plot-reinforcing illustrations, and plentiful white space, this is a supportive early chapter book.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(3) PS Music arranged by Cheryl Eissing. Children will enjoy the sly humor and the chantable repetition of this twist on the classic cumulative folk song, "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea." In Long's bold, full-spread illustrations in deep, mossy greens, a turtle and a little snail provide additional visual comedy. Sing-aloud musical notation and lyrics are appended.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Levi Pinfold. During their final visit to an abandoned Northumberland, England, settlement before a dam floods the valley, a young fiddler and her father make music inside the boarded-up houses. The narrative, based on a true story about real-life folk musicians Kathryn and Mike Tickell, is elegiac and melancholy; dark and moody pictures in shades of gray and sepia break into joy with a serene blue lake reflecting a light-filled sky.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(3) PS Illustrated by Eda Kaban. In this charming follow-up to Old MacDonald Had a Truck, the farm's mister and missus use an electric saw ("With a BUZZ BUZZ here and a BUZZ BUZZ there"), a hammer ("BANG BANG"), and more to spruce up an old boat and build a ramp for the book's grand finale. The art teems with farm animals, many of them unexpectedly handy--and dexterous on water skis.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 4-6 With Paul Mantell. Fifth in Jeter's loosely autobiographical series about his childhood, this novel concentrates on his search for role models during the summer of his eleventh year. Derek's aspiration to be a good person and a great ballplayer would be overly cloying if we didn't know that's just what he grew up to be. The story's messages are padded with plenty of baseball action.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) YA After a tragic day on a lake--when Lark must choose between saving either Alec, the guy she likes, or Annabelle, an almost-five-year-old she knows--Lark's life splits in two. In one version, Alec is in a coma; in a parallel reality, Annabelle is the one hospitalized. The Sliding Doors premise, though occasionally difficult to follow, offers a unique perspective on grief and loss.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(1) PS Illustrated by Jason Chin. In this idyllic picture book, a boy and his family bike to a community picnic, bearing several pies. As Ledyard's text muses on the nature of sharing, Chin's detailed watercolor and gouache pictures take us through the Fourth of July celebration. The book ends poignantly, with Chin zeroing in on faces--a true diversity of races, genders, and ages--all sharing the same rapt expression watching fireworks.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jean Claverie. "Here I am, facing the rock." Every summer, the African American narrator's older brother jumps off a tall rock into the lake; this year, big brother says it's the narrator's turn. Nadon nails an older sibling's aura: intimidating ("He always made everything look so easy") and inspiring (the boy follows his brother's example). The art's sketch-like quality suits the narrator's shaky-giddy mood.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Sutton offers a vivid, detailed account of how and why the SS Eastland capsized on the Chicago River's bank in summer 1915. The cargo-turned-pleasure boat, carrying 2,500 (mainly immigrant) employees of Western Electric, sank before departing for a company picnic. In short, dynamic chapters enhanced with archival photographs, the straightforward text reflects on the disaster's obscurity relative to its contemporary, the Titanic. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) YA Kate expects to work behind the scenes of her school podcast--not to be chosen as a host. Meanwhile, someone is trying to sabotage her parents' marina on the lake she loves. Hosting the Advice Show helps Kate gain confidence, but as she falls for her best friend's crush, Kate also learns that giving advice is easier than following it. An appealing teen romance with a Sleepless in Seattle setup.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) 4-6 After her beloved grandfather dies, Libby and her daddy are the only ones left in the broken Lochewood family. But then Grampa's spirit starts visiting Libby, giving her clues to something hidden in the lake that will help restore depressed Daddy's sense of hope. Libby's boldness shines in this story of loss and recovery, as do Williams's descriptions of 1960s rural Florida.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(3) YA Conservation Success Stories series. Each in-depth volume examines conservation issues in a major habitat, focusing on topics such as deforestation, pollution, invasive species, and climate change, as well as scientific and legal efforts to restore and revitalize plant and animal populations. Full-page "Science Connection" inserts touch on related background science. Large photographs clearly show humans' impact on the environment. A cause-and-effect diagram is appended. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Conservation Success Stories titles: Bringing Back Our Freshwater Lakes, Bringing Back Our Oceans, Bringing Back Our Tropical Forests, Bringing Back Our Deserts, Bringing Back Our Wetlands, and Bringing Back Our Tundra.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) YA After the death of Trixie--Ben's sister and Lucy's best friend--the budding romance between the two fell apart, and they stopped speaking. Now, a year later, Ben and Lucy find themselves drawn to each other again, though grief, anger, and pain continue to complicate their relationship. Ben and Lucy have authentic chemistry in this character-driven and appropriately solemn romance, Biren's debut.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) 4-6 The summer Claire turns eleven, her widowed father has remarried, his wife is pregnant, and their lake house has been unceremoniously cleaned of her long-deceased mother's things. While thirteen-year-old sister Abi is preoccupied with first romance, Claire is rattled. Narratively connected poems from each girl's perspective--and, intermittently, from the lake itself--paint an intimate portrait of quiet family tumult.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2017