friendship

Audiobook: Return to Sender

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by Vera Brosgol
Read by Michelle H. Lee
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some intense moments and it begins with a dead parent. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Oliver has moved a lot in the past year after his dad passed away. He has desperately wanted two things: his own bedroom and to grow up and follow his dad’s dream by opening a restaurant. He gets his first wish when his mom’s great-aunt passes away and leaves the apartment to her. Except there’s something weird in the apartment: A mail slot in the wall that goes nowhere. But, when Oliver slips in an accidental “wish” (for pizza!) and it comes true, he realizes what he’s got: his own personal wish-fulfiller. But, as his wishes get more and more grand, he starts realizing that the consequences of his actions are bigger and bigger.

I’ve enjoyed Brosgol’s graphic novels in the past, and I know she’s a good storyteller, but I didn’t know what to expect out of a prose novel from her. I didn’t need to worry (I didn’t, really): she’s an excellent writer, and this has everything that a middle grade novel needs. It reaches the kids where they are at, it’s funny and fast-paced, and it’s got a huge heart. I loved that at its heart it’s about the butterfly effect – how our actions have consequences, for good or ill – and about the disparity between rich and poor, and how unfair it is that rich people don’t often see the consequences of their actions. There’s a silly villain, there’s action and tension, and it’s just a lot of fun.

This one is good whatever way you read it: in the print version, Brosgol has included illustrations; in the audio version, Lee is an excellent narrator who makes the story that propels the story forward.

I hope many kids find this one, because it’s fantastic.

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.

Miss Camper

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by Kat Fajardo
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work
Release date: July 1, 2025
Others in the series: Miss Quinces
Content: There are some intense moments, and talk of crushes. It will be in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

It’s summertime again, and this year Sue’s mother is letting her go to sleepaway camp. It’s only because her older sister is a counselor and her younger sister has to come along, but Sue’s still excited. She’ll get to hang with her best friend, and explore new classes, and just have an exciting two weeks. Except things don’t go the way she planned. Her best friend has a camp best friend, her little sister is always underfoot, and Sue’s friend Izzy has a crush on her. It’s all a bit too much to handle.

Much like Miss Quinces, this is a bit of a fish out of water story. Sue doesn’t quite fit in with the long-time campers, she’s not entirely sure how to do some of the classes she’s come up. She wants to make friends, but her little sister is always underfoot, hanging around. There is a bit of a conflict and climax, but mostly it’s just Sue figuring out how to fit in with this new experience she’s having. I don’t think I liked it quite as much as I liked Miss Quinces – it lacked some of the humor I remember that one having – but I still thought it was a solid friendship and experiencing something new story. I do like Fajardo’s art and the way she depicts friendships, which is all this one really needed.

Sea Legs

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by Jules Bakes, illustrated by Niki Smith
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered off the ARC shelves at the bookstore.
Content: There are some intense, possibly scary, moments. There is also possible abuse, but I think only an older reader would catch that. It’s in the MIddle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Janey has spent the last year at a school in Florida, living a normal life, making friends. But all that’s come to an end, as her parents – who have built a seafaring sailboat – have decided to leave and go adventuring again. For Janey, that means homeschooling and no actual friends. That is, until they reach St. Thomas. Then, in another boat, Janey discovers Astrid, a girl slightly older than Janey is. Janey’s just excited to make a friend, but friendship with Astrid is complicated to say the least.

On the one hand, I really liked this portrait of a family that’s not doing traditional things. I liked the adventurous spirit of the parents, their willingness to give things up and chase their dreams. And I appreciated seeing that from the point of view of their child. It’s not easy. It was a lot of boring times, and then trying to figure out how to stay out of everyone’s way. On the other hand, Janey got to see some incredible things that she wouldn’t have been able to experience if she were land-bound.

The thing I found most interesting about this was that it felt much like a memoir. It was told in first person point of view, and there wasn’t a neat and tidy ending. It was much more a slice-of-life story than one with a traditional story arc. I didn’t mind that, but I do wonder how kids will react to it. Are they going to want more of a resolution? The art is good and suits the story well.

I’m glad I read it.

Audiobook: The Raven Boys

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by Maggie Stiefvater
Read by Will Patton
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is swearing, including a couple of f-bombs, talk of teenage drinking, and a murder. It’s in the Teen Bestsellers section of the bookstore.

I wasn’t going to write a post about this one, since I don’t have much new to say from my first review 13 years ago. Then I realized that even though I have reread this a couple of times, I finally experienced it in a different format, and that warranted mentioning. I’ve heard that Patton – who narrates the whole series – is a good narrator and that the audiobook is a good experience, but I haven’t felt the need. Until this year. I decided I needed Maggie’s stories in my life, and I was feeling a gravitational pull towards the Raven Cycle, so I decided to do the audio. And they’re right: Patton is an excellent narrator for this book (and I’m assuming the series – I’ve got Dream Thieves on hold already) and it’s an excellent way to experience Henrietta and Blue and the boys. I plowed through it because I didn’t want to stop listening (because good story + good narrator = a remarkable experience).

I’m glad I finally got around to listening to this one!

Audiobook: Kate & Frida

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by Kim Fay
Read by Kelsey Jaffer & Ines del Castillo
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some emotionally charged situations, including a library fire in Sarajevo. It’s in the Adult Fiction section of the bookstore.

It’s the early 1990s, and Frida Rodriguez is in Paris to try and figure herself out. She wants to be a war correspondent, and she is trying to get someone to help her get into Sarajevo so she can cover the Serbia-Bosnia conflict. While she’s waiting, she writes to the best bookstore in Seattle (which isn’t Elliot Bay Books, but actually is) and Kate Fair answers her letter. Thus begins a correspondence between the two young women where they discuss books, food, life, romance, family, and everything else.

It’s another slight novel that really is more than it seems. There’s a lot of bookish references that I didn’t get – I really wasn’t reading what was popular in the early 1990s, not like now – but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy listening to Kate & Frida write back and forth. I was also in my 20s in the 1990s, and it all felt very, well, real to me. I also adored the narrators. Both women did excellent jobs bringing these letters to life, and giving both Kate and Frida more depth.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

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.

Grow Up Luchy Zapata

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by Alexandra Alessandri
First sentence: “It’s a well-known fact that Colombians living outside the motherland will find a way toward each other like magnets.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered off the shelves at work.
Content: There is some bullying. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Luchy and Cami have been friends their entire lives – it comes from being Colombian in Miami and having parents who are good friends. But, the summer before sixth grade, Cami goes to Colombia and comes back different: she’s into make-up and boys, and wants to “reinvent herself” now that they’re in middle school. Except Luchy likes things the way they are. She’s content with herself and where she is, and she doesn’t want things to change.

But what starts as a change becomes a huge rift, and things escalate until they get out of control. How does Luchy figure out how to navigate middle school without her best friend.

I was talking to a librarian of a K-8 school in a nearby town at the store the other day, and we were lamenting how many middle-grade books had characters who have crushes in them. It’s all fine and good to write characters with crushes, but sometimes, you just need to have a story about kids who are friends and not make it about relationships. Thankfully, Alessandri stuck to the friendship element of the story (Cami has crushes, but it wasn’t a big deal to the story) and doesn’t go down the “who likes who” road. I’m not saying there’s not a place for that; I’m just a little tired of reading books where that is a main element. I like that this one focused on Luchy’s struggle with her heritage – her parents didn’t speak Spanish at home and so she never learned, and she doesn’t really feel connected to Colombia – as well as her friendship with Cami. It’s a good portrayal of the struggle that sixth grade and middle school often is, and I’m glad Alessandri didn’t gloss over the friendship struggles that come along with that.

A really solid middle grade book.

The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night

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by Steven Banbury
First sentence: “She ran.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: It’s a little long, and mildly scary at moments. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Eve was in an orphanage, but she was incredibly unhappy. She had several failed escape attempts, but one Hallows Eve night, she ran away and straight into the path of the Pumpkin King. He was impressed with her spirit, and adopted her on the spot: he needed an heir, she needed a home. It was perfect. Except that she’s living and Hallowell Valley is a haven for the undead – witches, ghosts, gouls, vampires, and werewolves, and the like. She stubbornly makes her home there, and even makes a couple of friends. That is, until things go sideways, and it looks like someone it trying to take the Pumpkin King’s kingdom away. Can Eve and her friends figure out what’s going on before it’s too late?

To be honest: I thought this was a graphic novel when I picked it up. It’s not – just in case you were wondering. But it is a very cozy, very sweet little story of found family and learning to love and making good change where you’re at. I thought it was cute and charming, but I’m not entirely sure it’s going to be one that kids will gravitate to. Maybe certain kids, and I’m sure it would be a very fun Halloween read-aloud. But, I am not sure that it’s one of those books that kids are going to love. I might be wrong. At any rate, I thought it was a clever idea, well-executed, and very sweet in the end.