BIPOC author

J vs. K

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by Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft
First sentence: “J loved to draw.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered off the ARC shelves at work.
Release date: May 6, 2025.
Content: The chapters are short, and it’s a mix between prose and comics. It will be in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore, but it could probably skew younger for an advanced reader.

J is a fifth grader with a passion for drawing. He’s great at it and loves doing it. In fact, all his classmates at Dean Ashley Public School think he’s the greatest, so he is sure he could win the annual creativity contest the school holds. The only problem: K, a new kid, who is just as gifted at writing as J is at drawing. There’s no way either one of them will let the other get the best of him. That is, until they learn that maybe working together is the best way to go.

There’s not much to this story, and yet I had a grand time with it. It helps that Craft and Alexander are gently ribbing each other in commentary throughout the novel, that it’s a silly reason for two gifted, brilliant authors to work together, and to show that while there’s nothing wrong with competition, maybe working together is the better way to go. It’s based super loosely on Craft and Alexander’s real-life friendship/rivalry, which makes the whole thing that more hilarious and fun.

It’s a very silly book, but I loved it.

Audiobook: That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon

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by Kimberly Lemming
Read by Hazel Addison
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: This is a spicy book! Lots of on-page sex, lots of swearing. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

All Cinnamon wants to do is grow her spice (guess which one) and live a quiet life with her family and friends. But then, she accidentally saves the demon Fallon, and gets caught in his quest to defeat the evil witch that is enslaving demons. Cin goes along reluctantly at first, but as they spend more time together, sparks start to fly (among other things).

This was so so silly. Incredibly silly. Like I felt myself getting less intelligent reading this silly. That said, Addison was a good narrator, and I had a grand time listening to it. I’m sure there are internal inconsistencies and that the world-building wasn’t that great, but honestly, I didn’t care. I was here for a good time, and Lemming gave me one.

I’m not sure I care enough to read the rest of the series, but this one was a lot of silly fun.

Audiobook: Deep Dark

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by Zohra Nabi
Read by Sarah Ovens
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some intense parts, jump scares, and neglectful/bad parenting. It would be in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore if it existed in physical form.

Cassia Thorne has spent half of her life in a debtor’s prison in London, eking out what living she could while her father slowly descended into madness. She has made her way as a flute player at the Bartholomew Fair, but this year, she has hopes of something grander: to write and sell the songs that everyone sings. But, her quest for a grander life is waylaid when her friend’s younger brother goes missing. And suddenly Cassia is thrust into the underworld of London, a world of monsters and greedy men, a world where poor children go missing solely because no one will think to go looking for them.

Can Cassia help before it’s too late?

I pitched this one to my coworkers as Dickens with a kraken, and they all agreed: who wouldn’t want to read that? I do have to admit, I was a little disappointed there was an actual monster; I was kind of hoping for a straight-up historical mystery. That said, Nabi did a fantastic job weaving both the speculative aspect of an actual monster in the tunnels under London with the historical elements of class and the way poor people had to scrape to make it.

Ovens was a fantastic narrator, though, keeping the story moving forward, and keeping me engaged enough to keep wanting to listen. I’m sad there isn’t a physical publication of the book in the US; I can think of a handful of kids who would love this one.

But it’s fantastic on audio.

Audiobook: All the Blues in the Sky

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by Renée Watson
Read by Bahni Turpin
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: This talks pretty explicitly about the violent death (due to a hit-and-run) of a beloved friend. It may touch some nerves with sensitive readers. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Sage’s thirteenth birthday party was supposed to be a fun afternoon and evening with her best friend. Except that, on her way to Sage’s party, her best friend was killed in a hit-and-run by a drunk driver. Suddenly, Sage’s world is turned upside down as she deals with the tragic death of her closest friend. It’s not easy: she’s dealing with survivor’s guilt, with the sympathy (and pity) of her classmates, and just learning to make new friends. It’s not an easy journey, and even as she grieves, new, good things come into her life.

Watson is a remarkable writer, and is able to capture so much emotion and pain and sadness in so few words. Sage’s pain and heartbreak and grief came through the page (well, audiobook) loud and clear. Some of that, though, is Turpin’s excellent narration. She’s long been one of my favorite narrators, mostly because she captures the essence of the characters and the words so well. I felt Sage’s pain. And yet, the book was hopeful. Sage was beginning to work through the grief and guilt, good things were happening. And when more bad news came, Sage was better equipped to deal with it. I know kids shouldn’t “have to” deal with things like this, but the truth is they do. And having a book that can help them see what the grieving process might look like is an incredibly helpful thing.

It’s also an excellent book for its own sake.

The Door is Open

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Edited by Hena Khan
First sentence: “I pick up the queen and twirl her between my forefinger and thumb.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some talk of domestic abuse and racism. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

In this series of interconnected short stories, we get a portrait of the Maple Grove community center and some of the people who use it. There are chess tournaments and spelling bees, basketball games and cooking classes, and celebrations, including festivals and banquets. It is very much the heart of the city, especially the Desi community, and when it is proposed to be knocked down instead of renovated, the community – especially the kids who find value in having it be a community meeting spot.

I liked this collection a lot. I liked getting the perspectives of a number of children; it helped emphasize just how diverse the Desi community is. I liked the role the center played in the lives of all the kids; in Wichita, the budget for the Parks & Rec department and the community centers have been slashed, so we don’t have anything like that here. But, I respect it, and am glad that the authors of these stories portrayed the community center as a vibrant and vital part of the community. I liked how all the stories connected; characters and situations in one would appear in another.

It’s a solid short story collection.

Fresh Start

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by Gale Galligan
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work
Release date: January 7, 2025
Content: There is some online bullying and talk of periods. It will be in the Middle-Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Ollie moves a lot because of her dad’s job and so she’s decided that nothing she does really matters. Embarrassing moment at school? Doesn’t matter; we’re moving soon. Fallout with friends? Doesn’t matter; we’re moving soon. Until her dad takes a job in Virginia (after being overseas for much of Ollie’s 12 years) and her parents buy a house: they’re going to stay put for a while.

Which means Ollie actually needs to adapt and figure out how to make friends and find her place in the world.

This one was super fun and charming. I loved Galligan’s illustrations, and I liked that she balanced Ollie figuring out how to fit in with people who had grown up together and stay true to herself. I loved the relationship Ollie had with her sister, Cat, and that they had some honest struggles with their parents. I liked that Ollie’s mom is Thai, and there was that cultural element as Ollie struggles with not being “Thai” enough.

It was just all-around enjoyable. Highly recommended.

The Teller of Small Fortunes

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First sentence: “On the day the Teller of Small Fortunes came to Necker, the village was in an uproar because the candlemaker’s would-be apprentice had lost all the goats.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Content: There is some violence. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasty section of the bookstore.

Tao is just a teller of Small Fortunes. She is alone, except for her horse, traveling from village to village telling only the things that are small. She told, once, a Big Fortune, and she’s still paying the cost. She doesn’t want company, until she stumbles across a couple of adventurers, out looking for the lost daughter of one of them. And then, they pick up a baker and a magical cat, and Tao’s life has suddenly become complicated.

I picked this one up because I wanted something cozy, and this looked, well, cozy. And at first, I was liking it. I liked that Leong brought in racism and suspicion of the Other, and the idea that Tao – born in one country but raised in another – never quite fit anywhere. But, it kept going and it kept being just cozy without much weight to it (though I think Leong tried), and then I got 2/3 of the way through and realized I just didn’t care anymore about Tao or her companions or their Quest. So I skipped to the end to see if the daughter was ever found, and called it good.

I’m sure this will be comforting and lovely to many people. I’m just not one of them.

Audiobook: Heist Royale

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by Kayvion Lewis
Read by: Jade Wheeler
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Theives’ Gambit
Content: There’s people breaking the law (obviously) and talk of underage (for America) drinking. It’s in the YA section of the bookstore.

When we last left Ross, she came in second in the Gambit, which is not what she wanted. She’s had work over the past six months, but she still has the threat of someone wanting to kill her family hanging over her head. And then there’s the rivalry over who is going to run the Organization. Ross – and her friends – get roped into another gambit this time on teams and for the control of the Organization. Who will take the ultimate prize?

I’ll be up front: while this was fun, it wasn’t as fun as Thieves’ Gambit. That one was new, original, and a lot of fun. This one was almost a re-hashing of the first one. There were moments – at one point, they infiltrate a high-end casino in Moncao and there’s an intense moment when the owner catches Ross and tries to catch her out on cheating (but he doesn’t). That was very satisfying. But, because of the title, I was expecting a heist or a long con – something like Heist Society or Oceans 11 – and I just didn’t get that. That said, the narrator was excellent, and she kept me interested, even when I stopped caring about Ross and her relationship to her mother or her friends. I’m just not entirely sure the Thieves’ Gambit needed a sequel.

And maybe that’s where the problem lies.

Audiobook: Twenty-Four Seconds from Now…

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by Jason Reynolds
Read by Guy Lockard
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: It’s a book about teen sex. There is none actual, but there is a lot of talk about it. There is also swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Teen (grades 9+) section of the bookstore.

Neon and his girlfriend, Aria, have been talking about this night for months: they have been dating for two years and are ready to have sex. Except, as the book opens, Neon is in the bathroom, freaking out. As the book unfolds, going backward in time, we learn about Neon and Aria’s relationship to each other, to their families, and to their friends. We learn about how Neon’s parents are handling him having a steady boyfriend and about their relationship to each other. We learn about Neon’s highs and lows, and basically how he got to this specific moment, in the bathroom, about to take this step.

I think this is an important book. Seriously: I think a book that is frank about consent and parents having healthy discussions about sex with their children is important to have out there. It’s a magnet for the book banners, who don’t want any sex near teens, but honestly, I think honest discussion is a better way to deal with teens having sex rather than ignoring it. And Reynolds knows how to write about difficult subjects with humor and in ways that kids (and yes, parents) can relate to.

This is also a book that I think I enjoyed a lot more on audio. Lockhard Is a fantastic narrator, and he made all the characters come alive for me. It’s a quick read/listen, and I’m glad I did.

Highly recommended.

On a Wing and a Tear

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by Cynthia Leitich Smith
First sentence: “Hesei, cousins!”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There are a couple of intense moments. Otherwise, it’s a short book with short chapters. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) Section of the bookstore, but I’d give it to a good younger reader as well.

Mel and Ray are off for spring break, and the only thing they want to do with Grandpa Halfmoon is go to a Chicago Cubs game. Except they are thrown a loop: Great-Grandfather Bat was injured and is recuperating in Mey and Ray’s backyard. And he’s been summoned to another Birds vs. Animals baseball game, and it’s up to Grandpa, Mel, and Ray to take Great-Grandfather Bat from Chicago to Georgia.

It’s a road trip!

There are adventures on the way, as they make the trek, stopping to see relatives in Kansas and Oklahoma, before getting Great-Grandfather Bat to his game.

On the one hand, this was a sweet modern folk tale. It has the cadence of a Bre’r Rabbit tale – the omniscient narrator talking directly to the reader, with folksy asides. And I do like the way Smith weaves in Native traditions, cultures, and challenges throughout the book. But it wasn’t quite a straight-up fantasy (Smith even says it’s not fantasy, it’s fiction, even though she warns not to interact with wild animals the way these characters do) but it wasn’t a realistic fiction book either. Maybe it was that there was a little bit of everything and the whole didn’t quite add up.

I didn’t hate the book, but it wasn’t my favorite either.