A prequel and an origin story; in more ways than one. It becomes easy to see why this book has sometimes been placed as the first in the seven-book series. But personally, I like it where it is--retroactively answering questions the reader may or...

An alternate reality take on the Super Sons series, featuring the middle-school aged offspring of Batman and Superman. When "climate disruption" threatens coastal cities, both boys are displaced. And with their fathers busy off trying to save the planet in their own ways, they get caught somewhere between school bullies...

Nix dives back into the Abhorsen series with the same quality and intrigue we’ve come to expect from this world built on Charter and Free Magic. (And thanks to the addition of two finely detailed black-and-white maps at the front, the worldbuilding is expanded in more than one sense.) ...

Both heart-wrenching and soul-soothing, this vibrantly illustrated story is a sort of basic introduction to the concept and impact of losing someone close to you. An unnamed little girl opens by taking us through the seasons and all the adventures she's had with her beloved grandfather. Long...

This graphic novel is an early life personal account of a major historical event (the internment of Japanese Americans durring WW2), and a present-day retrospective analysis. Format-wise it jumps back and forth, giving it a sense that's part memoir and part TED Talk. George is just 5 years old when...

I snapped this one up because I love Wonder Woman, and I much appreciated Leigh Bardugo's adept writing in Six of Crows. (I know shameless fandom pandering when I see it, but I found this one harder to resist than others in this vein.) Disclaimer:...

A memoir in graphic novel form, offering the personal account of a young Muslim girl’s nearly lifelong battle with perception, body image, and eating disorders. An offhanded (and honestly, benign seeming) remark from her aunt on how “big” she’s gotten sends a very young Dounya spiraling...

To be honest, I went into this expecting vampires. I guess between the visual tone to the cover and the fact that this was purported to be a gender-swapped variant on Vlad the Impaler (inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula), I had vague expectations that this...

A weighty YA Contemporary, grappling with a wide array of crises and quandaries. What I Liked: As ever with stories on this order, it’s great to see the inclusion of helplines and websites at the back of the...

As Middle Grade graphic novel adaptations go, this urban fantasy is above par. The artwork has a bit of darkness and grit, but still conveys characterization and emotion to a close approximation of what I’d envisioned while reading the actual book. (The scene with Artemis trying...

A highly accessible biographical overview of (arguably) the most renowned and history-altering of all the United States presidents. The book tracks and examines the life of Abraham Lincoln—from his unremarkable birth and monetarily/intellectually impoverished upbringing, to his time as an indentured laborer—on to his courtship of Mary Todd and budding...

4.5 Stars This low-fantasy middle grade story is at once hefty and heartrending—despite its relative brevity and target audience age. Thirteen-year-old Conor O’Mally has a lot to deal with. His mother is ill, and has been for some time. His father abandoned them...

A first-person past-tense telling exclusively from the perspective of Maia, a depressed high school sophomore with some ambitious—if half-formed—plans for running away from home just before summer break. (She doesn’t seem to see it as running away so much as setting out to find her reclusive whale scientist mother.) ...

“The wise needn't ask, the fool asks in vain.” My first exposure to Ursula K. Le Guin’s work, I’m a little sorry to say. I’m not sure what’s taken me so long… but I CAN now see some of her influences in more recent...

Sanderson raises the YA sci-fi quality bar in this high-flying story of human survival, friendship, legacy, loss, and confronting enormous odds. “Sometimes, the answers we need don't match the questions we're asking." … "And sometimes, the coward makes fools of wiser men.” ...