Reviews written by Connie Reid, Site Manager

Zain’s Super Friday is about a boy ready to use his imagination to save the world but must attend the special Friday religious service at his Mosque first. The illustrations do a great job of capturing Zain’s boundless enthusiasm to play and his slight boredom listening to a prayer service....

Empty and Me is about a girl who has lost her mother and now empty is always how she feels and is always with her. The emptiness is illustrated with a ghostly blob that is always by her side and often shown in between her and others. The illustrations are...

I Cannot Draw a Bicycle is a humorous picture book perfect for fans of Mo William’s Piggie and Gerald series. Cat and Horse want to see a bicycle and through a series of funny events end up with things close to a bicycle but never quite right. This humorous book...

I Love Everything About Me is brimming with positivity and enthusiasm for your self-image. It embraces what you see in the mirror and the decisions you make. It is a wonderful addition for any preschool -early elementary African American girl to embrace herself and go boldly into the world. The...

Breaking to the Beat encapsulates the history and the context around the rise of break-dancing in American culture. This is a timely book as it hits bookstores and libraries just before breaking makes its Olympic debut in Paris 2024. Our character Manolo is a composite of the experience of the...

Teenage Dirtbags is such an eye-catching name and the premise of the book was instantly intriguing. At first, the plot followed the summary of the book so much that I didn’t become invested until it delved more deeply into the characters and how they executed their revenge plot. There were...

Forged in Fire and Stars is a solid first book in a high fantasy trilogy. The world-building was well done and shaped this story into a unique addition to the genre. The country of Saetlund has been invaded. The twin heirs escaped before the fall and were raised in secret....

Skandar and the Phantom Rider finds Skandar and his friends in their toughest plight yet. Someone is killing the wild unicorns, the island’s magic is becoming unstable, his friends are divided, and his sister won’t stay in contact with him. Those are just the problems he knows about. Secretly, his...

Claw and Order sees Sadie and her pack of friends navigating how to be good and loyal friends. Sadie finds herself in an impossible position. She knows why Lindsay has memory loss but it could put her friend in danger to tell her the truth and it would betray the...

THE SEA KNOWS MY NAME is an exploration of the female voice in a male-dominated world. Told in back-and-forth timelines of Thea in the present and the past that brought her to this point we meet a girl trying to find her place away from the shadow of her mother’s...

Manslaughter Park was a smooth read from beginning to end. Fanny Price witnesses her uncle’s fall down the stairs and realizes his death is not just a horrible accident. She enlists her reluctant cousin Edmund to her aid in figuring out which of her relatives is a murderer. ...

Jam, Too? Is a celebration of how music can bring strangers together and turn them into friends. Each person brings their own instrument and adds to the basic beat until they have a unique song to jam to. Our character has no instrument but cannot resist the urge to dance...

My Block Looks Like is a celebration of all the unique attributes of living in a big city neighborhood. The lyrical prose laid down a captivating beat and pulsed with pride for the community within the neighborhood. The illustrations were fun and conveyed a sense of joyful movement. The colors...

Wild Places gives us a behind the scenes look at the man behind the famous voice on nature documentaries. This biography centers around how humans are a part of nature and how David Attenborough has advocated for more understanding of nature and what we can do to prevent its destruction....

Ra Pu Zel is perfect for fans of the classic tale, Rapunzel. I love the vibe of this reimagined folktale now set in China about a Princess who just wanted to stop being scolded and was drawn to the chef who had the most interesting food to offer. Fans of...