I'm all for imaginative, adventurous kids acting like real kids, but there is quite a lot of name-calling in the mix here. Still, the friendship and some genuinely funny scenes and subtle humor near the end almost won me over. :-)

Something feels off about this middle grade realistic fiction story about a small town school dealing with the sudden appearance of hateful graffiti and rumors of an openly racist past. It could've been the tones of the audiobook or the way the religious and cultural aspects were handled or that I just didn't connect with the main cool kid character. I'm not really sure — and there's still plenty to like here (including a twist that makes thing really interesting and adds far more depth) — so I'm just going to skip the rating and move on.

This is a beautiful, warm, old-fashioned, thoroughly modern, medieval tale of bravery and love and the power of stories. And of a wise and very cranky goat.

"I do believe the best and wisest thing we can do is to follow the goat."

A girl-powered, family-hearted, Coco-vibed Ghostbusters story set in St. Augustine, Florida! "Cracking jokes, kicking ghost butt, and being charming," 12-year-old Lucely [loo-SEL-ee] and her best friend, Syd, search for a lost book of spells and battle long-dead villains. Will Lucely's firefly family spirits, Syd's bruja grandmother Babette, and a suspiciously intelligent cat named Chunk (yes, a Goonies reference, and not the only one!) be enough help or will Lucely lose her home, her family, and the lives of everyone in her city? This is a classic ghost-hunting buddy adventure that's perfect for upper elementary, pre-teen fans of Coco, Moana, etc. Lots of pop culture and witchy adventure catnip, including retro movies and Harry Potter references throughout! It's also great on audio.

My thanks to Scholastic and Libro.fm for a digital review copy and a listening review copy.

I was curious to see if this held up and it mostly does! I'm far less comfortable now with Dahl's habit of portraying ghastly character flaws via physical traits. And Miss Honey doesn't come off quite as positively as she did when I was young. Overall, however, it's a captivating and enjoyable story. It's still easy to root for Matilda, every young bookworm's idol, and easy to root against the horribly abusive Trunchbull and the Wormwood parents, as Dursleyish a pair as ever Dursleyed.

I love a good portal fantasy / pocket universe story, and this one was excellent! Southern Indian traditions and Hindu mythologies provide the tapestry of the tale that our anxious young artist Kiki brings to life — literally.

Drawing in her sketch book is sometimes the only thing that quiets the voice of nearly uncontrollable worry in Kiki's head. She has spent many recent hours pouring her anxious energy into drawing the Indian myths and legends she loves. That's all well and good until a violent, vengeful god from those stories takes control of her sketchbook world — and wants to use it to get to this one too. Kiki knows she's not the hero they need, but she has to do something! She joins a quirky cast of mostly kid characters to try to help free her sketchbook world from the evil god and his demons.

With lots of humor, a beautiful and clever arc about anxiety, some gasp-out-loud moments in an active adventure, gorgeous world-building, high stakes steps and missteps, a celebration of diversity in strengths and abilities, and another book coming to continue the series, Kiki Kallira deserves a Rick Riordan-level of readership. In fact, it's perfect for fans of Riordan, the Riordan Presents line (including Aru Shah and Tristan Strong), and bookish fantasies like Pages & Co. Bookwanderers, the Land of Stories, and Inkheart.

[I switched back and forth between the paper book and the excellent audiobook for this one, which was a great way to learn some of the pronunciations and also helped me keep the characters straight.]