**Thank you to NetGalley, author Claire Alexander, and Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

In this new installment of a Ploofers story, readers are introduced to the impact of words and actions on others.

A Little Bit of Respect shares the message to readers that it is okay to stand up for yourself and ask for respect from others. Little One is called many cutie names by one of the Islanders and is very upset by these actions. 

I like the message that this book is trying to convey - stand up for yourself because you deserve respect - however, I don’t think the execution was quite there for me. I agree with many other reviews before mine that the ending felt abrupt and did not seem to resolve the conflict in the way which I assume the author intended. I really enjoyed Alexander’s other book A Little Bit Different but this one didn’t hit the mark for me. 

**Thank you to NetGalley, author Jamila Rowser, and Chronicle Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

First of all, thank you. I didn’t know I needed to read this graphic novel, but I NEEDED to read this graphic novel. I am loving and living for the new adult content. 

Secondly, I don’t think there is much more this book could have done to represent friendship and new adulthood. Both the author and illustrator did a fantastic job creating scenes that felt real, honest, and relatable. 

Wash Day Diaries tells the story of four (4) friends who are all experiencing different aspects of new adulthood and enveloping themselves in Black beauty and joy: Kimana (Kim) is growing her singing career; Cookie is working to amend family tension; Tanisha (Nisha) is exploring what love means for her life at the moment; and Davene is learning how to prioritize her mental health. 

Through minimal dialogue, text conversations, and intricate illustrations, readers are immersed in four major life points in each of the characters' lives and taken through how all four women intertwineidly (yes, I just made that word up) interact with one another. The friendship and genuine connection between these characters leave something to be admired and, dare I say, envied. 

I love the use of wordless spreads throughout this book. These spreads are really powerful and push the reader to consider what is actually happening in the action of the characters and why the illustrator and author chose to include those scenes. These spreads in particular seem to share the beauty and intricacies of caring for the female body

*SMALL SPOILERS AHEAD* READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I think the way in which Cookie handles Davene sharing her mental health struggles is a representative and common response many people get when opening up about mental health, and with that being said, I think it is something that needs to be addressed. Cookie’s response to Davene when she shares that she was struggling with depression is to encourage positivity and encourage being around friends. She also scoffs in astonishment when Davene mentions asking her therapist about starting medication. This sort of reaction can feel really invalidating and potentially be super damaging. 

I hate that this was Cookie’s response to her friend opening up about her mental health, but I am also kind of happy that Rowser chose to write the plot this way because it shows the raw truth behind mental health sigmas and assumptions, especially the ones that suggest you can “just be positive” and “think positive thoughts” to make things better. 

I thought the follow-up for this interaction at Kim’s concert was a nice addition to show that Cookie really does care and is trying to understand. She is cognizant that Davene is out with friends after an extended absence of not going out with them and offers to stay back with her instead of going out to another party. This in turn gets the other two friends to stay in and have a girl's night, something they all seemed to need. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

There is so much detail and thought put into this book, and I am ready to recommend it to everyone and anyone who will listen. This is definitely one I will be rereading in the future. 

**Thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

I did not read a single page of this book without a smile on my face and the thought in my head that I will be recommending this book to parent grown-ups forEVER! As a librarian, I am always looking for books to have in my tool belt for quick, go-to recommendations and this is the perfect book to add to my baby book pocket. 

This book was a different style from the other Rebel Girls books I have read, and it was really nice to see the same empowering messages for a different-aged audience. The pictures were bright and colorful which will surely catch the attention of baby readers, and the text is smooth and elegant for grown-ups to read aloud. 

I also love that there are subtle reminders throughout the text to be kind to yourself, encourage yourself, and be excited to grow. All beautiful messages to share with young (and really all) readers.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

Again - Amazing. Love it. 

This is a powerful collection of inspiring, strong girls and women who have made their way in the business world. Nothing is holding these women back as they pave the way for young women to come. Something about reading the brief biographies of empowering women makes me feel inspired and excited for the future of young leaders. 

There were two quotes that really struck me while reading these this time around:

“Do you want to be the smartest, or do you want to learn something?” Mar Hershenson’s boyfriend (26)

Hershenson’s boyfriend asked her this when she said she was going to quit school. After hearing this, she was determined to learn something, learn everything. And succeed she did. 

“The most powerful people empower other people.” Nina Vaca (37)

I don’t have much more to say about this quote other than, “Yes.” 

I truly love the way the Rebel Girls series create easy-to-comprehend biographies of amazing women in different categories. As I have stated before in Rebel Girls reviews, these collections are perfect to recommend to juvenile readers looking to learn more about powerful and impactful girls as well as those who are interested in nonfiction reading but don’t know where to start. 

I will always, always recommend Rebel Girls and can’t wait to read more collections in the future! 

**Thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

I love reading the Rebel Girls series. Not much more to it. 

This collection was full of powerful girls and women who have made or are currently making an impact in the climate conversation. From the 1800s to the present day and from activists to conservationists, girls have been making a loud and productive contribution to climate topics.

I love the way the Rebel Girls books create easy to comprehend biographies of amazing women in different categories. These collections are great to recommend to juvenile readers looking to learn more about powerful and impactful girls as well as those who are interested in nonfiction reading but don’t know where to start. 

I will always recommend Rebel Girls and can’t wait to read more collections in the future! 

What a fun middle-grade graphic novel read!

Dragons, friendship, and family secrets. These are the main aspects that make up City of Dragons: The Awakening Storm by Jaimal Yogis and Vivian Truong. 

Readers follow the main character Grace, who is navigating a new school in a new country all while trying to make new friends. During a class field trip, Grace and her new friend Ramesh wander off in search of something more exciting than the history of the city. During this adventure, Grace is given a dragon's egg by an elderly woman with no directions or instructions. Soon after, Grace makes a pact with Ramesh, James, and Jing, and all four tweens work together to understand why Grace was given the dragon and what it means for the future of China. Through adventuring across land and sea to battling secret agents to learning unsettling truths about her family, Grace and her gang make discoveries about the dragons that could impact the entirety of China. 

This was a really fun adventure graphic novel that brought together mythology, ancient legends, dragons, and friendship. I enjoyed the relationships that were formed between Grace, Ramesh, Jing, and James. Their friendship did not feel forced, and each character truly had something important and meaningful to bring to the group and story.

The illustrations are also well-done and help to bring the storyline to a new level. If just reading the text, graphic novels can often feel like they are missing pieces of the story or have sections that are underdeveloped. Thanks to collaborations with brilliant artists, like Truong, the stories come to life and have so much more depth to them. A particular character that caught my attention in this story is Nate. When I first saw the drawing of Nate (the dragon), my heart melted! I didn’t know dragons could be so cute, and he definitely gave off some canine companion vibes. I would not be upset to have a dragon friend like Nate. 

The cliffhanger at the end of the story definitely left me curious to see how the plot continues with Grace and her friends. There are plot lines I want to know more about and hopefully will have the chance to in a sequel to City of Dragons: The Awakening Storm. If you are ready to take flight with Grace and the dragons, I recommend checking this one out!

**Thank you to NetGalley, author Alexene Farol Follmuth, and Holiday House for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

My Mechanical Romance is a story that brings together family, friendship, women in STEAM, and learning how to explore the future without fear. Told through a dual perspective, readers are immersed in the senior year of Bel and Teo, along with their friends, as they navigate friendship, college applications, and budding romances.

Bel moved schools for her senior year and is not eager nor excited to be thinking about the future. AP courses? Only if she has to. Filling out college applications? Yeah right. Joining clubs? No thank you. 

It is not until Bel's physics teacher, Ms. Voss, gives her the ultimatum of receiving a poor grade on a project that Bel neglected or moving up to AP physics and joining the robotics team that Bel realizes she might actually be able to enjoy her knack for building and tinkering as a future career. With the encouragement of Ms. Voss, Jamie (Bel's best friend), and Lora (Jamie's friend), Bel enters both AP physics and the robotics team…with a few reservations. 

Robots, romance, regret, and restart. Those are the words I think of after reading My Mechanical Romance. 

Much of this book is focused on young women in STEAM and the realities of having to fight for space in a male-dominated field. Author Alexene Farol Follmuth intertwines the intricacies of wanting to take up space in this field while also earning that space among other women. 

At the beginning of the novel, Ms. Voss (an underrated character whom we need more of in the real world) tells Bel that she needs to be confident and bold. That she has the talent, smarts, and determination to succeed in what she wants but she needs to apply it. Ms. Voss tells Bel, "Take up your own space, Bel. Don't let other people tread over it." (29). Yes! We can use more characters who will encourage women, historically marginalized groups, minorities, and those less confident to - Take. Up. Their. Own. (Deserved.) Space. It takes Bel most of the novel, and a raw heart-to-heart with a teammate, to really take and truly understand this advice. But once she does, Bel’s character grows and expands in wonderful ways. 

The female characters in this novel are all so independent of eachother and take up their own space in the storyline. This was really refreshing to read and made the underlying theme of empowerment naturally powerful. The relationship between Bel and Neelam was one of my favorites because they both had their minds set on accomplishing a similar task, however, they approached things differently. Neelam, through tough conversations, helped guide Bel to be a better version of what she (Bel) wanted. 

I wanted to also touch on the fact that Teo’s character, though not my favorite young adult love interest, was a strong representation of what pressure, stress, and societal expecatations can do to young people. Multiple times throughout the novel, readers are reminded of everything Teo is expected to be - a leader in robotics, the team captain of the soccer team, the MIT early admittant, and a perfect, loyal son. These expectations were set forth on him by many adults, including his father and his teachers. Interestingly enough, however, it was his friends and peers who noted that he does not have to be perfect, he does not have to be the leader of everything, and he is allowed to take a break. Though I didn’t love the way Teo’s “break” was written into the story (without spoilers, it just felt a bit rushed and random, almost), I am glad it happened to show him that he can trust in others and doesn’t need to be at the center of everything all the time. 

I really enjoyed the addition of the epilogue in this story and felt that it wrapped the robots and romance up nicely. I am happy I read this one and will keep it in mind for future recommendations. 

- Crab is different from the other fish. Crab bakes cakes!
- One day, garbage is dumped into the ocean, changing the lives of all the fish.
- All of the fish are scared, frozen in fear and unsure what to do. All but Crab. Crab does what Crab knows best - bakes a cake.
- Teaches about ocean pollution and also how to manage emotions.

**Thank you to NetGalley, author Sandra V, Feder, and House of Anansi Press Inc., Groundwood Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

I love a good SEL book, especially one that discusses what emotions can feel like and some different ways in which to cope with them. I like how Feder uses different labels for the anger that the child feels, like "I didn't do anything wrong," angry and "But you promised," angry, instead of just stating that the character was angry. I think this is much more relatable for young readers as they are still trying to understand and navigate through their emotions and what they mean. This can be a great addition to elementary school SEL programs!

**Thank you to NetGalley, author Andrea Dorn, MSW, and PESI Publishing for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

"People go away for different reasons and for different amounts of time."

When Someone Dies: A Children's Mindful How-To Guide on Grief and Loss shares an important and impactful guide to young people on what grief can look and feel like. One of the pieces of this book that I like a lot is the "optional questions" at the end of each page. I feel like this gives the reader a chance to think about and discuss their own lives and examine what grief has looked like for them. And some readers may not have experienced grief from the loss of a loved one yet, but they could definitely have experienced it in other ways.

It is always a bit difficult to tell with eBooks, but some of the illustrations did not look fully completed or in the right spot, however, with that being said, I enjoy that with every explanation of emotion or coping skill, they have placed an illustration to go along with it. This can help young readers understand what their emotions are called and how they use the different strategies being discussed in the story. 

Dorn also provides a nice set of resources and suggestions in the back of the book for caregivers to use as they navigate this difficult conversation with their young people.