This book is the true story of how twenty-two-year-old Henny Sinding worked with the Denmark Resistance to smuggle hundreds of Jewish families out of Nazi-occupied Denmark to the safety of Sweden during World War II. Henny used an old fishing boat and its crew to sneak Jewish families and resistance fighters out of Denmark in the early hours of the morning. She did this for weeks, providing safe passage for over 300 individuals.  

 

Told as a novel-in-verse, Harboring Hope is an accessible read for a wide audience. The backmatter in this book also provide further information regarding the mass evacuation of Jewish people from Denmark, including groups who assisted in rescuing those put in concentration camps and pictures Henny, the Gerda III, and many others. The author also gives descriptions about the various types of poetry they used throughout the book. 

 

This is an educational nonfiction read for junior high readers. 

*Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**

When You Trap a Tiger (Tae Keller) meets Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Toshikazu Kawaguchi) in this cute middle-grade novel about family secrets, time travel, and soul-warming recipes.

Maya learns of Halmonee's secret when she shares a meal with her and is suddenly taken back in time to Seoul, Korea, when Halmonee was much younger. More and more secrets about Maya's family start to unfold as she discovers more about her family's history and abilities. 

I enjoyed listening to this story. I liked learning more about Halmonee's life and exploring with Maya the secrets her family holds. I do wish some plot points were explained a bit better

especially the section about who Halmonee really is and why she is struggling with memory loss

 

I think this will appeal to many middle-grade readers looking for a magical realism story with themes of family, friendship, and food. 

“From my left came a shout — of terror / always bone-chilling, firesound / Who had gone? / I could not tell. / And was still to under siege myself to care.”

Dark Testament: Blackout Poems by Crystal Simone Smith is an emotional collection of poems that explore mourning and grief, the unjust world for which we live. 

Crystal Simone Smith has used the text of George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo to create the visually tragic collection of Dark Testament. 

As from the description on StoryGraph, “Bold and deeply affecting, Dark Testament is a remarkable reckoning with our present moment, a call to action, and a plea for a more just future.”

I don’t read much poetry, but after seeing this collection popping around the book community, I knew it was a book I needed to explore. 

Crystal Simone Smith’s words left me with questions for the future. We have seen horrific tragedies happen time and time again, so what are we going to do to put a stop to it? 

This is a book that can support difficult, uncomfortable, and highly important discussions for teen and adult readers. 

A book you can read and reread again to explore new words and meanings each time. 

**Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**

This one was tough to get through. I have just started my journey into fantasy, and I thought this would be a fun one since it is based on Arthurian Legend.

The story was fine. The characters were fine. The book was fine. That was about it, however. I ended up getting the audiobook format for this read, and I am very glad that I did. I either would not have finished it or it would have taken me months to read. The plot moved fairly slowly, especially in the beginning, and I did not find myself overly invested in any of the characters. 

Again, a fine read, but it likely will not be the first fantasy novel I reach for during reader's advisory. 

This book takes the history of Japanese Concentration Camps and breaks it down in an understandable format for a variety of readers. I enjoyed the ways in which the author and illustrator worked together to use minimal text throughout the majority of the book alongside real images and sketched illustrations. This truly brought the page to light. Each section in this book is broken down by the photographer, giving readers insight into the role each individual played. The back matter includes information about what happened after the war, including how the government (often poorly) handled the matters. It also provides brief biographies of the three photographers. Finally, there is a note from Lauren Tamaki (illustrator) about the Model Minority Myth and how it has negatively impacted minority communities across the nation. This is an important and educational nonfiction read for middle-grade and high school readers. 

A climate-change must read for junior high and high school students. This Book Will Save the Planet provides a unique format to present the information through colorful illustrations and varied text size. The information is directly targeted at how youth can help understand climate change, climate policies, and the impact humans are having on our planet. This book also provides reflection opportunities for readers to assess and evaluate what they are doing now and how to make changes in the future. At the end of the book, additional resources are shared for further exploration. 

Wyatt, a trans witch, it dragged back into the fae world he has so long avoided for the abuse and trauma that came it caused. When his fiancé (whom he left behind) shows up to take him back to the Fae Kingdom to see through their engagement to save the Kingdom, Wyatt is anything but helpful.

I have had this book on my radar for about a year now, and I finally read The Witch King for the #TransRightsReadathon. I am so happy I added this to my list.

I had a lot of fun with this one. Through humor-filled banter and action-packed adventure, H.E. Edgmon addresses important ideas of found family, the spectrum of gender and sexuality, and so much more. I have been slowly working my way up to reading more fantasy books, and this one did not disappoint. 

I will be recommending this title!

I appreciate what this graphic memoir represents and how the author used the main character as a representation of herself. The art style is unique and the images helped to enhance what was happening in the story. 

I struggled, however, to ever become fully invested in the story. The font that was used was pretty difficult to read and distracting at times. I was also hoping to learn more about the author after this book was published, and I now see that that was not the intention with this story. 

This is a fine read, it just was not what I was expecting and turned out to be pretty slow and mundane. I won't be reaching for it again.  

The survival story of the U.S. Presidential Candidates son. 

Lennon Pierce was kidnapped (6 times to be exact) - but this is in regard to the second kidnapping - and dropped out of an airplane into the Q with nothing but a parachute. No explanation. No supplies. No way out. Lennon is given 72 hours to get out of the Q, otherwise he will be stuck in there for good. 

The Q is the a post-pandemic quarantine zone built around Austin, TX, that houses the population of once-infected citizens who still run the risk of getting sick. There is no cure, meaning there is no way out for those who are trapped in the walls. Lennon partners with Maisie Rojas, a teen who was born in the Q, to make their way to the wall to secure missing supplies for Maisie and her family and to get Lennon back to safety. This trip could cost them both their lives. 

I had fun with this post-pandemic dystopian-sci-fic story. The action and adventure were nonstop and I was fairly invested all the way through. The power dynamics were interesting in this story because we got to see the poor relationship between the people outside of the Q versus those within, but we also got to see the dynamics between the two family lines of those living within the Q. 

There were a few plot points that I wish got more page time - like the spy birds, the unrest between the North and the South, and the ending.

I wish there was more about what happened with the unrest between the two families - The Lopez's and the Spencer's. I think it was supposed to be inferred that the Vals and Lopez family regained their control in the South, but with all the build up with how powerful the North is and the tight tension between the two territories I was hoping there would be more is all.

The end was a straight power move and I don't know how I feel about it. I get why the author chose to do it, but I have mixed feelings on this. 

I do think teen readers will enjoy this one because it is full of action and adventure. 

A teacher was murdered. Five years later, a former student proposes this case at her internship at a true-crime podcast show. When old stories are brought back up, the group of students who found the dead Mr. Larkins start to panic...though all for seemingly different reasons. 

This was a fine mystery novel that was quick-paced and will definitely draw in readers. I was invested in the story and was curious to find out more of what happened with each chapter. 

That being said, I didn't find the the plot to be very in-depth, it primarily stayed at surface-level, which is totally fine, but to make it a stellar book, it would have been nice to see the plot dive a little deeper in certain parts of the story. 

The same can be said for the characters. I thought Brynn was fun and she was ambitious, curious, and daring. Tripp was a bit mysterious and unhinged but overall a likeable character.

Overall, I think that YA readers will enjoy the journey this story takes on and will be draw in to the fast-paced writing of Karen McManus.