(3) K-3 Illustrated by Alexandra Badiu. Chaffee gets the ball rolling with a quick sketch of soccer icon Abby Wambach's childhood as the last-born in a competitive, seven-sibling-strong family. After riding the highs and lows of youth soccer league and high school soccer, Abby is noticed by college scouts and trains relentlessly to land a spot on the U.S. National Soccer Team. The fast-moving account of her subsequent historic career presents her as a team leader and class act on and off the field. A refrain -- "But Abby was tougher" -- emphasizes the pluck and mettle that helped her surmount defeats, self-doubt, and a major injury. In the vector-like illustrations, a color motif of coruscating pinks reconciles femininity and athleticism. Back matter includes a run-through of Wambach's professional milestones and a glossary of soccer terminology.

Reviewer: Summer Edward

(2) K-3 As a girl helps her family set up their stall on "beeping, bickering, and bartering" Tai Yuen Street in Hong Kong, she complains that every day is boringly the same. ­Suddenly and with a "THWUMP!" a man falls to his knees. He tells the crowd of hawkers and shoppers that he's traveled a thousand miles through forests and across rivers, leaving "everything behind but the clothes on his back" to cross the border. The crowd turns away, "uninterested in hearing their own stories retold to them," but the girl's mother asks her to bring the tired and hungry man a mooncake--the very one that was promised to her and her brothers. Reluctantly, she offers him the mooncake, "the best kind" with a double-yolk center. Her act of kindness ripples out into the crowd, reminding onlookers (and readers) of the satisfaction of being able to share what they can. AuYeung's expressive digital illustrations depict Hong Kong's Tai Yuen Street and its people with lively details that lighten the tone. An author's note provides historical context and explains that the story is based on her family's experiences.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Bonnie Lui. Timid Chinese American ghost Mimi wishes she looked like all the other ghosts. On the first day haunting a new school, she is ridiculed by the popular ghouls because of the "old-fashioned," traditional Chinese garb her relatives insist she wear. But when clique leader Lisette steals Mimi's look, Mimi stops being a "good Chinese girl ghost" and behaves like a very scary ghoul indeed--all ending with an apology from Lisette that leads to new friendships. The text of this caught-between-two-cultures ghost story contains much wordplay ("It isn't long before Mimi and her ghoulmates model all kinds of haunt couture"), and the illustrations capture Mimi's early misery and later empowerment.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lee Gatlin. "Stan Lee didn't have hulking strength...His superpower was creating heroes who did." This picture-book biography of the man born Stanley Lieber traces his story from growing up in poverty in the Bronx, to running errands at Timely Comics, to creating Spider-Man and many other "perfectly imperfect superheroes" at Marvel Comics. It also covers his dedication to his readers through his monthly "Stan's Soapbox" column and his work to promote real-world heroism. The accompanying mixed-media illustrations have suitable comic-book flair, depicting Lee's life in sepia tones and the characters he created in vibrant colors. A bibliography is appended.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Kerns

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Katrin Dreiling. "Skeletons have no muscle-- / they'll never win a race. / Their legs flop 'round like jelly, / and they fall down on their face." Evans's peppy rhyming text reassures readers that without muscles, skin, brains, noses, and guts, skeletons pose no threat to humans, while Dreiling's digitally composed mixed-media illustrations feature three trick-or-treaters who aren't convinced. When they encounter one of the skeletons that, "waking from their slumber...climb out of the ground" on Halloween night, the kids run away as the skeleton gives chase. But has anyone considered that since skeletons "have no friends," maybe "they'd like to find a few"? The raucous illustrations are packed with visual treats.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) YA Each of the two narrators of this Ireland-set rom-com has something to gain from faking a relationship. Sociable Hani thinks it will prove to her longtime (if ­undeserving) friends that she isn't making up her bisexuality. Prickly, studious Ishu hopes it will help her become popular so she can be elected Head Girl to please her parents. The two strike a deal, complete with a Google Doc with rules for the ruse: they will pretend to date each other until both have achieved their goals. Hani, Ishu, and their families exhibit diversity in many senses among people of Bengali ethnicity. Both ­narrators are constantly working to counter others' perceptions of them, and when Hani's white friend Aisling falsely accuses Ishu of copying off her paper (the reverse is actually true), that conflict frustratingly culminates in Aisling being believed. Jaigirdar (The Henna Wars, rev. 9/20) again provides a lighthearted read--the main plot is an entertaining iteration of what readers expect from the fake-dating trope--while story elements interwoven with aspects of the characters' identities add nuance.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(2) YA Nishat is a Bengali Muslim teen attending a conservative Catholic school in Dublin. When she comes out as lesbian to her parents, she is met with near-silence. Meanwhile, Nishat creates a henna business for a school competition, and her longtime crush Flávia (an Afro-Brazilian Irish classmate) complicates things by creating a rival business. As the competition heats up, so do the young women's feelings for each other. Their will-they-or-won't-they? romance will keep readers engrossed. Jaigirdar's debut novel features realistically complex queer girls of color at its center and honestly addresses the conflicts they face as such--micro- and macro-agressions, hitting up against family traditions while trying to pursue one's own desires and wants--though always standing in Nishat's corner is her supportive sister Priti, who offers the approval the protagonist longs for from her family. All major conflicts are tied up, and probably most touching of all is the hopeful understanding that Nishat and her family reach.

Reviewer: Sara Danver | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ellen Rooney. A suburban neighborhood, nostalgically drawn, bids children to make the most of a summer evening. As twilight falls, a diverse cast of kids happily heeds the call to climb trees and look at worms; play leapfrog, hide-and-seek, tag, and kick-the-can; and whisper secrets and catch fireflies together. Leslie has a keen sense of how children play: they "love to run at lightning-fast speeds to a cricket's crick, crick, crick and dodge a street lamp's gradual glow to keep from being captured," and they enjoy giving toads "funny matching names like Bubba, Bubbette, and Bubbarina." Pairing seamlessly with the vivid, lyrical text are Rooney's bold mixed-media collage illustrations, which use light and dark and swaths of color to wonderful effect. On the title page, for starters, a sinking sun shines softly, casting a hazy glow on the book's title. As Rooney's palette shifts from blues, yellows, and greens to purples and pinks, streetlamps cast triangular beams of light; porch lights, doorways, and windows faintly gleam; and the starlit sky looks like it's been "sprinkled with diamonds." Interspersed throughout the book are striking silhouette scenes, with children's figures set against backdrops of textured color. It's a picture-book celebration of--and a clarion call for--unstructured, unsupervised, unplugged playtime, for children to roam and explore the outdoors and "pretend not to hear their parents' the-sun-is-gone yell: "Time to come home!'"

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Keith Henry Brown. Loose free verse with pared down language picks up on the sounds of Miles Davis's (1926–1991) childhood as he hones the trumpet style that will later make him a jazz great. Text and illustration alike for this picture book biography have an appropriately improvisational feel; Brown's unfinished-looking ink drawings are enhanced by energetic watercolors. Interspersed quotes from Davis in a handwritten font lend immediacy to the text.

Reviewer: Laura Koenig | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ellen Rooney. This stirring picture-book biography introduces Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon with an official race number (having registered as "K. V. Switzer"). During the race, officials tried to block her path, but she evaded them and continued, determined to show that "women deserve to run too." Throughout the text, Chaffee repeats the sound of running feet ("Pat, Pat, Pat"), setting the pace and building momentum. Rooney's mixed-media collage illustrations add emotional depth and effectively use perspective. An author's note adds further biographical and historical details. Bib.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2019

(4) K-3 Curmudgeon Mr. Sherman awakens under a cloud--literally: it's raining in his bedroom. The cloud follows him as he goes about his day, during which he notices that when it visits cheerful folk, it offers "just a brief bit of shade" before it vanishes. The vapidly cartoonish art undercuts the book's cleverly crafted insight that we make our own sunshine.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 Young dancer Lena is worried about whether she'll be able to meet her recital's requirement of white ballet slippers: "At home, money was tight..." Happily, the night before the recital, Lena finds an ingenious solution. An understated text focuses on Lena's joy in dance and the anxiety of her predicament. Unfussy ink, watercolor, and acrylic illustrations use a variety of perspectives to further communicate Lena's emotions.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019

(3) K-3 The young narrator describes the "dogs and their people" she encounters on her strolls: sometimes both are young, sometimes both are old, some resemble each other, some couldn't look more different, etc. In a nifty twist, at book's end the narrator goes home to her...cat. The dapper art shows the humans in garb that suggests an earlier, foppish era.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) YA To save her father, scarred and isolated Echo agrees to live with the white wolf for a year--but after failing to save the wolf from the Wolf Queen, Echo takes on a new, impossible quest. The Slavic-flavored fantasy combines elements from a number of fairy tales ("Tam Lin," "Cupid and Psyche," "Beauty and the Beast"), with luscious fantasy imagery and an epic romance embroidering the plot.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) PS Illustrated by Ileana Soon. A locomotive carrying a boy and his parents travels through the night past wild horses, over mountains and bridges, and across the plains in this old-fashioned tribute to cross-country travel. Romano's verse recreates the strong rhythms of a train ("wheels a-clatter, creatures scatter--hissing, chugging, mountain-hugging night train") and Soon's soft digital illustrations, rendered in deep blues and sepia-tinged yellow, set the nostalgic tone.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) YA During a three-day deposition, Nate delivers a sworn statement to the prosecution about how and why his best friend, Cam, stabbed him. The stylistically complex narrative (unfolding through letters and other evidence as well as Nate's first-person account) spurs readers' consideration of issues of faith, sexuality, and the evolving and sometimes volatile nature of friendships.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(3) YA After seventeen-year-old alchemist Mirabelle unintentionally helps assassinate King Louis XIV, she renounces the uprising led by her mother's Shadow Society to brew curatives for the impoverished masses in secret. Meanwhile, Josse, the king's bastard son, must flee to the sewers of Paris to protect his beloved younger sisters and decidedly not-beloved half-brother, the crown prince. An exciting debut novel packed with poison, rebellion, action, and romance.

Reviewer: Rachel Marsh

(2) 4-6 Straightforward text and comics-style sequential art combine in a (fictionalized) account of the Black student–led protest in 1976 Soweto, South Africa, in opposition to a law requiring half the school lessons be taught in Afrikaans. Separate chapters follow three individuals, including twelve-year-old Hector, whose lifeless body appears in a black-and-white photograph at book's end. An afterword describes how that photograph "became a powerful symbol." Lovingly illustrated portraits further humanize the three main characters. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019