(2) YA Eighth graders Jake, Cassie, Lily, Nick, and Mac all face very different, complicated struggles, but each has found comfort and confidence in a musical instrument and now in one another in a special class at their Upstate New York middle school. "Any dumb thing that might have happened before this doesn't matter anymore, because it's a good day whenever it's Jazz Lab day." The third-person-omniscient narrative alternates among the perspectives of these five characters plus one more: a detached, defiant, and chronically misunderstood student known as Quagmire. As their stories knit together and unforeseen circumstances threaten the future of Jazz Lab, these students find themselves at risk of losing what they depend on to propel them through their daily challenges. Each distinctly developed character has an engaging story and voice. As they plot to save Jazz Lab (and ultimately many other small electives and activities), the novel's pacing heightens and intensifies. Their struggle to make their position heard by the cast of outrageously obtuse adults both at home and at school--with a few effective exceptions--creates the perfect amount of tension to draw readers in to a funny, sad, and heartwarming story that celebrates the importance of independence, belonging, and the arts.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022

(2) 4-6 Fifth grader Sofía is proud of her Cuban American heritage and of her family's reputation in the ballet world: her parents danced with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba; her sister, Regina, is on a path to the American Ballet Theatre; and her little brother, Manuel, plays Fritz every year in The Nutcracker. Sofía dances, too, but her passions are more in visual arts and costume design. The Acostas are famous for their openness and generosity; their home is known as the Acosta Accordion "because sometimes it's just my family, like an accordion smooshed to the smallest setting. Sometimes the accordion expands and we have my parents' friends or relatives or a million of Manuel's and Regina's friends over. That's the biggest setting." When friends from Cuba come to visit--the ballet-dancer son is guest-performing a tribute to Alicia Alonso--Sofía learns more about her background while complicating what she already knows about her family, her closest friendships, geo-politics, the arts, and what makes a home. Sofía's voice is authentically tweenlike, as are the conclusions she draws and the realizations she makes; Spanish is naturally incorporated into the dialogue. In the Acostas, Otheguy has created a close-knit family whose warmth, kindness, and openhearted honesty will both educate readers (about the ballet world and Cuban history) and welcome them in.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) YA Hannah doesn't think too deeply about why her peripatetic mother, Malka, has always moved their family from place to place. Now, having earned a scholarship to a prestigious high school, high-achieving Hannah thinks she's finally convinced Mom to settle down. Then she wakes up on her seventeenth birthday to eyes that have turned golden and snakelike. The next day it's fangs. And then Mom disappears. An anonymous letter draws Hannah (now with ram's horns) and her older brother to a small town in upstate New York in time to sit shiva for Jitka, the grandmother they never knew, and to meet the rest of their extended Jewish family. Hannah suspects that Mom is nearby; and in uncovering her family's past, she believes she can solve the mysteries surrounding her own bodily transformations. Her search leads her to Jewish mysticism and folklore--and to the golem hidden in their barn. Interspersed chapters relate the tale of Malka's doomed teenage love affair and of Jitka's youth in Prague. Themes of family, love, identity (including LGBTQIA+ identities), betrayal, and redemption blend well with the author's meditations on religion, ancestry, dreams, storytelling, and the significance of names and naming. Hannah is an engaging protagonist, and her interactions with her family members and the ­supernatural beings she encounters guide this layered tale to a suspenseful and satisfying conclusion.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) YA Ely ("pronounced, he always said, to rhyme with freely") Samuel Parker was "a man who more than any other walked with honor in two worlds." The boy with the Seneca name Ha-sa-no-an-da was born on the Buffalo Creek Reservation in Upstate New York in 1828, attended "English" schools, and would come to occupy "a unique and special place in American history." When Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in 1865, it was Brevet Brigadier General Parker, then Ulysses S. Grant's personal secretary, who wrote the official terms of surrender. In a long life of public service, Ely Parker was a major voice of the Iroquois Confederacy, an engineer for the Genesee Valley Canal, a commissioner for Indian Affairs, and a successful Wall Street investor. Bruchac relates Parker's story clearly, honoring the dual context within which Parker lived, and placing his life within the context of his times, including the struggles of Native Americans to preserve their lands, the Civil War, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and Reconstruction. Numerous archival photographs, paintings, and a map are used to good effect, and back matter includes a timeline, source notes, bibliography, and notes on the use of Native names throughout the volume.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(3) YA Four very different teenage girls go from strangers to unlikely friends while sharing a summer home in the Adirondacks. In chapters that alternate between their perspectives, each girl also faces an individual challenge, such as dealing with a chronic illness or a public family drama. A vivid setting, light tone, and distinct characterization will appeal to fans of Ann Brashares.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(3) YA In this compelling piece of historical fiction, young Margaret Sanger watches her consumptive mother in near constant childbirth while helping to raise her many siblings. Margaret is painted as a feisty, free-spirited young woman frustrated by her limited options in the late 1880s. The novel doesn't cover her adult feminist activism or founding of Planned Parenthood, but a historical note explains more. Bib.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(2) YA Acerbic, aimless teen Serena Velasco wants out of her "small and grimy" upstate New York factory town; so does her best friend, beautiful and dreamy Melody Grimshaw, who hopes a dance career is her ticket out. In this bleakly realistic story, Serena struggles to untangle her identity from Melody's as their futures begin to diverge. This is a raw, atmospheric depiction of a complicated relationship that unflinchingly faces hard questions about class and friendship.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2019

(2) YA In this rich, honest companion novel to If I Ever Get Out of Here, seventeen-year-old Carson and fifteen-year-old Maggi prepare for a high-stakes Battle of the Bands. Their alternating first-person narratives, set in 1980 on the Tuscarora Indian Nation near Niagara Falls, offer an intimate look at the teens' lives within their Indigenous culture, which embraces modern popular culture but still often faces outsiders' abuse.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(4) YA YouTube performer and standup comedian Hofstetter was bullied in high school by classmates, unnerved by family dysfunction, and socially insecure with the opposite sex. Structured to resemble the acts in a comedy show, his entertaining and honestly written (though sometimes repetitive) memoir mines his high school, synagogue youth group, and summer camp experiences for high and low points.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Rebecca Crane. After Annie's family moves from Brooklyn to rural Clover Gap, quiet Annie hides her quirks, including her amazing memory and orderly thinking. But soon the fifth grader makes new friends and learns to be--and speak up for--herself. Decorated with simple yet lively spot illustrations, the story is primarily told in a series of lists (e.g., "Four reasons I'm quiet"), which emphasizes Annie's perceptive and clever personality.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(2) 4-6 In sleepy Wolf Creek, New York, a prison breakout sets the community on edge and brings racial tensions to the surface. Messner tells the story through letters, transcriptions, newspaper articles, and other items the three girl protagonists gather for a school time-capsule assignment. Doses of humor and details about the main characters' everyday lives help leaven the story, which delivers timely and relevant messages.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(3) YA Sixteen-year-old Harriet Winter, the eldest daughter in a farming family, lives in the wilds of New Hampshire in 1807, where she is expected to cook, clean, and marry her neighbor. Determined to control her own life, Harriet disguises herself as a boy and goes pioneering. The sweet, slow-burn romance that plays out for smart, progressive-thinking Harriet makes for a pleasurable, affecting read.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA The whirlwind insta-romance of seventeen-year-old Betts and nineteen-year-old Aiden deflates just as quickly as it begins when abusive, obsessive Aiden starts showing his true colors. Fast pacing draws readers into Betts's world and reflects the intense nature of abusive relationships. Rissi sustains reader interest with dynamic secondary characters--such as Betts's best friend, Jo--who wholeheartedly support and protect Betts. Domestic violence resources are included.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(3) YA Illustrated by Alex Puvilland. Color by Hilary Sycamore. Westerfeld continues the Annihilation-reminiscent plot of Spill Zone, in which Addie entered a section of Poughkeepsie taken over by a toxic otherness. Addie returns here but with special powers, and she's joined by Jae, a boy transformed by a similar area in North Korea. With striking coloring, dynamic panels, and page-turning action, this graphic novel brings the story to a thrilling conclusion.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) YA College freshman Flora Goldwasser compiles journal entries, magazine clippings, blogs, and other documents to help explain why, at age sixteen, she left Manhattan for "an alternative boarding school" in upstate New York to impress her older male history tutor. Throughout the narrative, smart, snarky Flora perceptively explores issues of class, gender, sexuality, fashion, art, and more. The effect is kitchen-sink-y but entertaining.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) YA On Fire Island in the summer of 1976, Jean (whose wealthy family is a pillar of the exclusive community) and working-class Southern girl Fritz (who's just visiting a friend's family there) compete on the tennis court as well as off for the affection of handsome but insensitive Gil. Griffin expertly evokes time, place, and atmosphere as the girls' rivalry builds to a shocking climax.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) YA Friends Isabel, Ruth, and Magda are burning to leave their stagnant Long Island hometown. Stealing a local dealer's stash might help fund their escape, but complications in their troubled personal lives obstruct their plans. The three brooding protagonists raise serious questions about the repressed and oppressed lives of women, but their insights are muddied by melodramatic dialogue.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(4) K-3 Engineering Marvels series. These books provide brief accounts of major engineering feats--three transportation marvels and three iconic structures. Each book includes the project's purpose, how it was built, personnel involved, and physical challenges encountered. Archival and recent photographs give insight into the construction process. The lackluster texts are enhanced with sidebars providing statistical data and examples of similar projects. A short quiz is included in each title. Glos. Review covers these Engineering Marvels titles: Building Route 66, Building the Channel Tunnel, Building the Panama Canal, Building the Empire State Building, Building the Golden Gate Bridge, and Building the Hoover Dam.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) 4-6 After a disappointing first meeting with her three soon-to-be stepsisters, twelve-year-old Avery has only a few weeks until her father's wedding to find common ground with the girls. Palmer deftly shows the complications of two families blending together, including awkward moments and heightened emotions. Avery is a fully developed character, but the stepsisters lack complexity.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Felicita Sala. A talented chef creates delectable dishes at his fancy restaurant. When a fussy diner repeatedly returns his plate for thinner potatoes, the first potato chip is born. Told in offbeat-flowery prose and with old-timey illustrations, this origin story is based on some truth (detailed in an author's note): George Crum was a real chef who's credited with developing potato chips, called "Saratoga Chips," in 1853. Bib.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo