A Forgery of Roses

Myra Whitlock is an artist in a place where the religious majority believes her work is blasphemy.  Even worse, she is a prodigy.  This means she has a magical ability to use her art to change reality.  She knows she must keep this power hidden.  To be outed as a prodigy is to be killed or imprisoned by the government.  

Artists all over town have gone missing over the past few months, including Myra's parents.  Her mother was training Myra, but now it is up to her to make enough money to care for herself and her chronically ill younger sister.  Lucy is curious and intelligent, but she is clearly getting worse, and they don't have money for a doctor.

That's why Myra accepts a dangerous offer that could change their lives forever.  Mrs. Harris, the governor's wife, offers Myra more money than she could make in a lifetime to heal her son through her art.  There are only two problems.  Governor Harris and his wife actively hate prodigies which means Mrs. Harris could turn on her at any moment.  The other problem?  Will Harris isn't just injured or sick; he's dead.

Myra joins the household undercover and quickly tries to do the impossible.  As far as she knows, no one has ever used magic to bring someone back from the dead.  But to use her magic to heal, she needs to understand the injuries and the emotions behind them.  It quickly becomes clear that Will's death was not an accidental fall.  Someone murdered him, and Myra has no hope of reviving him until she knows the truth.

With the help of the Harris's older and gentler son August, she begins an investigation that will reveal dark secrets and bring her face to face with a murderer, but will she recognize the face of a killer before it's too late?

I have a split opinion on this one.  I thoroughly enjoyed Jessica S. Olsen's story which is well-plotted with an interesting take on magical ability and the toll it takes to exercise it.  This would easily be one of my favorites of the year if not for the repeated passages of awkward metaphors and overwrought phrasing.  I will still recommend this one; I just don't know why the prose didn't get more editing.

I Must Betray You

It's Romania in 1989, and Cristian is living in a world oppressed by a communist dictator.  Despite the danger, Cristian and many others look for every scrap of information they can find about the outside world.  They listen to Radio Free Europe and watch bootleg copies of American movies in secret.  But even so, Cristian finds it difficult to believe that world is real.

Even possessing a scrap of an American magazine can be dangerous with neighbors informing against each other to the secret police.  Owning even a small amount of foreign currency is a crime, and Cristian is alarmed when he finds an American dollar tucked into the envelope with the stamp given to him by a friend.  

That dollar is the beginning of a dangerous game when the secret police use its existence to blackmail him into becoming a spy for the government.  Becoming an informer is the antithesis of what Cristian wants to be, but he really has no choice.  And they promise medicine for his sick grandfather.  Now that he is caught up in this world, he becomes suspicious of everyone.  Who told the secret police about the money in the first place?  Are there ever really any secrets when the government can see into your most private hiding place?

Maybe, he thinks, he can become a double agent.  He can spy for the government while also trying to find a way to get the truth about life in Romania to the outside world.  When the opportunity to act comes, will he have the courage of his convictions?  Or will he continue to live in oppression?

Ruta Sepetys's niche is bringing to light the stories of the oppressed and awakening compassion in the hearts of her readers.  This is a powerful story of struggle and hope in a dark time.  Like her other works, this is a story everyone should read and reflect on the dangers of oppressive governments and the impact they have on regular citizens.  Highly recommended for grades 7 and up.

Across the Desert

It's summer, and twelve-year-old Jolene spends as much time as she can at the public library.  It's too hot to be outside, and she doesn't want to be in the apartment with her mom.  The highlight of her day is watching the live stream of Addie Earheart's daily flight over the Arizona desert.  She doesn't know Addie in real life, but the two started chatting online once Jolene found the daily flight videos.  

Jolene wants to be a cartographer, and she uses Addie's videos and existing maps to draw out her own version of the desert.  It's almost like having an adventure herself.

Addie is Jolene's only friend.  That wasn't always true, but after the car accident that injured her mother, life was never the same.  Her mom started taking the pain meds prescribed by her doctor, but then she couldn't stop.  Now, it seems like she doesn't care about anything else.  There's rarely food in the house, and most of Jolene's clothes are two sizes too small.  

That's why the daily live stream and the chats are so important, but one day Addie's plane crashes as Jolene is watching.  Then the feed goes blank.  Jolene is the only viewer, and Addie was flying over a vast uninhabited desert.  No one else knows what happened...or even where to look.

As a panicked Jolene tries to reach out to adults for help, it quickly becomes clear no one believes her.  She knows Addie would respond to her chats to let her know if she were safe, but she doesn't.  Jolene can't just leave her friend to die because no one will listen.  That's when she decides to go on the biggest and most terrifying adventure of her life.

I'm a Dusti Bowling fan, and this one does not disappoint.  It's full of the same life-and-death adventure her fans will expect, and she also deals with trauma in a realistic way that is appropriate for middle-grade readers without patronizing them.  Jolene is struggling with the aftermath of surviving a horrible car accident and a stint in foster care, and she's living with a parent who is addicted to opioids.  There are definitely parts of this story that stretch credulity, but Jolene and her internal struggles are very real.  Highly recommended.

Hotel Magnifique

After their mother dies, Jani takes her younger sister and moves to the port city of Durc hoping for opportunities to live a better life.  What she finds is the drudgery of working in a tannery to support herself and Zosa.  They can barely afford the rent in their boarding house, and Jani dreams of returning to their idyllic village in the countryside.

Everything changes when she learns the Hotel Magnifique will be appearing in Durc.  The magical hotel appears out of thin air to take on new guests and staff.  No one knows exactly what happens in the hotel because guests emerge after their trip with no memories other than a feeling of indescribable joy.  

The hotel is also the only place where suminaires can safely perform their magic.

When Zosa is hired to work as a performer, Jani isn't surprised.  She just needs to find a way to extend her own temporary appointment as a maid, she the sisters won't be separated.  Everything in the hotel is more enchanting than Jani could have imagined, but she quickly starts to see that some things seem not quite right.  

For one thing, employee contracts are unbreakable, and she can't find anyone who will talk to her about their lives before the hotel.  Her only ally in the quest for information is the mysterious Bel.  She knows he's a suminaire, but she isn't exactly sure what his job entails.  She only knows she finds him frustrating and increasingly attractive.  Bel warns Jani not to dig too deep; if the Maitre finds out what she's doing in his hotel, the consequences will be dire.  But Jani is determined to find a way to save herself and her sister their beautiful but deadly cage.

Emily J. Taylor's lushly dark fantasy is a world to sink into and enjoy.  There are as many delights as there are horrors in the Hotel Magnifique, and I loved them all.  Jani and Zosa have a strong sisterly bond that never falls into resentment, and the romance element is a light but important part of the plot and Jani's character development.  The conclusion felt a little rushed, but I loved it anyway!  Recommended for grades 7 and up.

Attack of the Black Rectangles

Mac's hometown has a lot of rules.  There's a strict curfew, no junk food, and girls aren't allowed to wear pants to school.  It doesn't matter who argues against these rules, the school and the town council always bow to the whims of Ms. Laura Samuel Sett.  She always has a matter-of-fact answer for everything, and Mac and his friends will be in her 6th-grade class this year.  

Everything seems fine until it's time for literature circles.  That's when it happens.  They discover their copies of The Devil's Arithmetic have black rectangles over certain words and phrases.  Mac's mom and granddad raised him to investigate when things seem wrong, so he and his friends begin a journey to understand what the blacked-out words are and why they are censored.  

They know they are right, but no one other than their parents seems to take them seriously.  Suddenly, they begin to reexamine the rules and search for the underlying truths many people want to ignore.

This is a timely and engaging story about censorship and seeing through the surface to find the truths beneath.  It reads a bit more like a fable, but Mac and his friends still seem like real kids until the very end.  The last chapter is the only time the voice seems less like a 6th grader and more like an adult.  I would still recommend this one as food for thought and great discussion.

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief

Skandar Smith has spent his entire thirteen years dreaming of becoming a unicorn rider.  He's studied and worried and wished for a life different from his own.  His mother died when he was a baby, and his dad has been an alcoholic who can barely hold a job since then.  His older sister Kenna has spent the last year in a depression after failing the exam to make it to the island where the unicorns live.  Though he feels some guilt at the idea of leaving them behind, he can't imagine living a life without a unicorn.

Unicorns had always been a secret of the island until the number of eggs outgrew the number of available 13-year-olds to try for a bond.  Even with a bond, unicorns are bloodthirsty and powerful.  Unicorns that hatch wild...well, they are terrifying and unstoppable.  The bond between unicorn and rider not only gives the rider magic ability but also makes the unicorn less ferocious and gives it a natural lifespan.  

When he's turned away at the exam door, Skandar can't understand.  How can they just deny him the chance to even try?  But when a stranger shows up at midnight to smuggle him into the next round of the trials, he has to take his chance.  Plus, the stranger is convinced Skandar is the only one who can save the island and the mainland from the Weaver, a rogue magic wielder whose thirst for power could endanger them all.

Now Skandar has his wish, but he has so many secrets to keep, it seems inevitable one will escape.  Will he be able to keep his place in the Eyrie and continue training, or will the Weaver's plot endanger his future?

The series opener from A.F. Steadman is a wild ride and a wonderful reimagining of unicorns.  Instead of ethereal beings of light, they are bloodthirsty carnivores who are difficult to control.  The Eyrie is the perfect magical school for unicorn riders with lots of fun and whimsical details.  (However, I want just one of these magic school books to at least mention the study of language and math.  or do you magically have a mastery of the regular subjects when you get magical powers?)  This is a well-plotted series opener with plenty of twists and false suspicions along the way.  Harry Potter fans will eat this up!  Highly recommended! 

Two Degrees

Akira is happy to recharge her batteries in the California mountains with her dad and her horse, Dodger.  But things quickly go wrong when she sees smoke from a wildfire.  Suddenly her beautiful day turns into a fiery nightmare.   

Owen helps his family run polar bear tours in Manitoba, Canada.  Lately, the bears have been showing up earlier and staying later in the season, which is good for business, but Owen has never really thought about why this is happening.  When he and a friend get stranded miles from town, all the polar bear facts he spouts on the tour become suddenly more applicable.  They have no transportation, no phone, and they are being stalked by a hungry polar bear.

Natalie and her mom have ridden out hurricanes in their Miami home before, but there is something different about this storm.  As the flood waters quickly rise, Natalie is swept away and must fend for herself in a fight for survival in a raging hurricane.

Three harrowing events in three different parts of North America are connected by climate change.  Warmer, drier summers in California lead to increasingly devastating wildfires.  Warmer temperatures in the frozen north mean it's more difficult for polar bears to find and hunt seals.  And warmer air in the ocean means more powerful and frequent hurricanes.  Two degrees seems like such a small change on a hot day, but the change in the global temperature leaves Akira, Owen, and Natalie fighting for their lives.

Alan Gratz's newest book is sure to be a crowd-pleaser with nonstop survival action from the first chapter all the way through to the end.  The many kids who have been affected by climate disasters will relate to the three protagonists in the story.  Gratz likes to connect seemingly unrelated characters in unexpected ways, and this strategy usually works for me.  It felt a little heavy-handed this time, but I don't think young readers will care.  Hand this to Gratz's normal fans and to the I Survived crowd who are ready for the next step.  Highly recommended!

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

For generations, Mina's world has been beset by raging storms that take whole villages into the sea.  Those who remain fight over the few resources that survive these storms.  The people believe the sea god is angry.  Every year a beautiful girl is sacrificed to the sea in the hope one of them will finally be the sea god's true bride, the girl who can stop the storms.

Many believe the beautiful Shim Cheong might be the one, but Mina's older brother is in love with her and plans to throw himself into the sea with her, even knowing he will die.  

Mina decides to take Shim Cheong's place to save her brother.  She isn't even sure it will work until she awakens in the Spirit Realm.  This magical city is filled with spirits, ghosts, demons, and even a few minor gods.  Mina soon discovers the sea god in an enchanted slumber.  She must find a way to wake him in order to end the curse on her home, but her time is limited.  If she stays too long in the Spirit Realm, she will become a spirit herself, unable to end the curse or return home.  

She has the help of Shin, a minor god, whose fate has been bound to hers, and an assortment of other spirits and demons.  Mina believes she could be the sea god's true wife and break the curse, but can she follow through if she falls in love with someone else?

Axie Oh's beautiful fairy tale of a story is dream steeped in Korean mythology.  The plot is gentle and meandering, giving way to characters and descriptions, but it's a lovely ride through a dangerous and enchanted kingdom.  The romance is clean enough for a middle school audience and stems from true friendship and devotion.  Recommended.

Witchlings

Every year in the magical town of Ravenskill, witchlings participate in the Black Moon ceremony to be magically sorted into their covens.  Seven Salazar has always dreamed of being in house Hyacinth with her best friend, Poppy.  They plan to become reporters for the local newspaper, and House Hyacinth is the place to be for young writers.  On the night of the ceremony Seven's anxiety mounts as each new coven becomes a closed circle and is accepted into their new house.  Finally, her worst fears are confirmed.  She never even considered this as a possibility.  Seven is a spare.

Every year a few witchlings are left without a coven, without the protection of a magical house. 
Spares don't have the same rights as other witches and they aren't allowed to continue their magical studies, perform higher level spells, or even have real jobs.  To make matters worse, Seven's worst enemy and biggest bully, Valley, is also a spare and technically in her "coven."  The third member of the group is a quiet new girl named Thorn.

To escape her fate, Seven invokes the Impossible Task.  If they can complete the task, the girls will be reinstated in society.  If not...they will be turned into toads!

Claribel Ortega's newest book is full of magic, adventure, and friendship with a diverse cast of characters.  There are definitely shades of Harry Potter here, but the book has it's own perspective, too, highlighting inequities between the social classes and the right to control the rights of those with less the wealthy sometimes feel.  This is solid middle grade fantasy.

The Getaway

Life is good for Jay and his family at Karloff Country.  The outside world has struggles with the economy, climate change, poverty and food shortages, but none of that exists inside the gates of Karloff Country.  The commercials say it's the funnest place around, and that seems to be true.  Jay and his friends live in a community created for employees on the massive Karloff complex.  They go to school during the day and work at the theme park in the afternoons.  They are training for guaranteed jobs in the future, so it's not a bad gig.

Everything is perfect...until it isn't.  One night his friend Connie's dad comes home acting strange, and the next day the whole has is empty. It's like they never lived there, and Connie didn't even tell anyone she was leaving.  Something is definitely wrong.  

Then the richest of the rich start showing up in waves while regular ticket sales stop.  It seems the Karloff family has been selling shares to the ultimate end of the world oasis.  While the world falls to pieces on the outside, the rich will live a pampered life on the inside with the employees catering to their every whim whether they like it or not.

Lamar Giles's newest dystopian thriller is his best book yet!  With every chapter the situation gets worse, and the book is filled with almost nonstop action all while managing to explore themes of racism and classism.  Prepare for things to get super dark.  I don't want to spoil anything...just be prepared.  There is always room for things to get worse!  Recommended for more mature readers and especially for Neal Shusterman fans.

Skin of the Sea

Simi was once a normal girl who prayed to the gods like everyone else.  Now she is a Mami Wata, a mermaid, collecting the souls of those who die on the ships carrying people in chains away from their homes.  Her only job is to collect the souls so they can have a peaceful journey to the afterlife.  She is not supposed to interact with the humans or interfere with them in any way.

One day as she is circling a ship to collect a soul, she discovers a boy who is still alive.  She has been warned to stick to her duties, but how can it be right to leave this boy to die alone in the sea after being stolen from his home?  She does the only thing that seems right in her heart.

Kola is desperate to return home and confused about who Simi is and why he is still alive.  He has secrets of his own, and the two are uneasy with each other.  If Kola returns home, the goddess Yemoja will know Simi has disobeyed her, but Kola is unwilling to leave his family behind.  

When Yemoja learns the truth, she reveals Simi has broken a godly bargain that jeopardizes the lives of all the Mami Wata.  Now she and Kola are on a quest together to save his home and all the Mami Wata.  The journey will be perilous, and they must defeat a trickster god to win, but Simi knows success is her only option.

Natasha Bowen's black mermaid story is a truly magical adventure.  These mermaids have legs on land and tails in the water, so that solves some potential problems from the beginning.  She weaves traditional African tales with the European Little Mermaid story, and wraps it all around a quest adventure.  I struggled to get into this one at first, but I'm really glad I stuck with it.  This book wins both as a good fantasy and as strong representation.  This is much more complex than a middle grade fantasy and would be better suited for readers who enjoy a big juicy complex fantasy.

Hummingbird

At twelve years old, Olive has never been to school with other kids.  She has osteogenesis imperfecta, OI for short.   That just must her bones are fragile and break easily.  Because of this, she's always been homeschooled, but she's finally convinced her parents to let her go to school with everyone else.  Olive desperately wants a BFF.  She loves her family, but it's not the same as having someone her own age.  She has her stepbrother, Hatch, but he barely looks at her.  

It doesn't take long for Olive to find a potential best friend in Grace, who is kind, creative, and who is making sets and costumes for the upcoming play.  Olive's true dream is to be an actress, and she's arrived just in time to try out.  Movies would be just as good if the actors used wheelchairs and had disabilities!

She also hears a strange story about a magical golden hummingbird who grants wishes.  Everyone knows the hummingbird is coming when magical white feathers that melt like snow fall from the sky in the weeks leading up to May Day.  Olive already has so many great things, and she loves herself as she is, but what if she didn't have OI?  What if her parents didn't have to constantly worry she might break a bone?

What if she could wish away the hardest thing in her life?

Natalie Lloyd's new book isn't set to come out until August, but it should definitely be on your TBR pile.  Lloyd and Olive have the same disability, and the author's personal struggles and triumphs shine through the story.  This is not one of those books where the "normal" kids learn to be better people because of a magical experience with a disabled person.  This is a story that centers a character with a disability whose family and friends rally around her because they love her as a person regardless of her physical abilities and disabilities.  The story is also filled with Lloyd's delightful touches of magical realism and her love of the Tennessee mountains where she grew up.  Highly recommended!

Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone

Mallory Moss knows how middle school works.  Wear the right clothes, say the right things, and don't stand out.  When Reagan, who is obviously cool, moved to town in elementary school and chose Mallory for her best friend, life was perfect.  She is on the right side of the social divide, and she has a best friend to share secrets with.

Then Jennifer Chan moves in across the street.  Jennifer is unlike anyone Mallory has ever known.  She's so...herself.  Jennifer is obsessed with aliens, and she's not embarrassed or shy about it all.  The way she talks about aliens almost makes Mallory want to believe herself.  

Then summer is over, and Mallory moves back into her role as best friend of the class queen.  If only Jennifer would just try to fit in, dress like a normal person, not talk about aliens, maybe things could be different.

Then Jennifer goes missing, and Mallory feels compelled to find her, partly because of the connection they had back in the summer...and partly because of the incident.  But she's not even really ready to admit the truth of that to herself.

Tae Keller's first book after winning the Newberry is a beautiful and painful story about friendship and fitting in.  The social interactions and power dynamics of middle school are realistically and brutally displayed.  Be sure to read the author's note at the end for extra insight into the characters and the author herself.  Nearly everyone will relate to this story of bullying and the struggle to be your authentic self.  Highly recommended.

The Patron Thief of Bread

Duck was saved from the river as a baby by the Crowns, a group of child thieves who band together for survival.  At eight years old, Duck knows they saved her life, but she also feels resentment and fear for the group's leader, Gnat.  She mostly tries to stay quiet and out of the way, but when the Crowns move into a new town, Gnat has a plan to keep them in coin and bread for the foreseeable future.  One of them will pose as the baker's apprentice and slip bread and money to the Crowns right under the baker's nose.  And he's decided Duck will take on this job.

Despite her nerves, getting a position as Griselde Baker's assistant is not a problem.  Despite the fact that her assistant doesn't trust Duck, the plan continues to work perfectly.  But it doesn't take long for Duck's heart to be pulled in two directions.  The Crowns saved her and kept her alive all these years, but the blind baker gives her a taste of warmth, comfort, and love she's never known before.

Meanwhile, a grouchy gargoyle sits atop an uncompleted cathedral.  He watches everything that happens, but he is unable to perform his duties as a protector because the cathedral was never completed.  For almost one hundred years, he has only been able to watch and complain.

Linsday Eagar is one of my favorites because her books are always unusual and creative.  This one is no exception.  It's a beautiful story about found family and the things we do for the ones we love.  The last few chapters of the book take various characters on a journey of seeking and granting forgiveness that really take this story to a deeper level.  Highly recommended.

A Snake Falls to Earth

Nina is a Lipan girl living in our world in the near future.  She has always felt a strong connection to her ancestors and her older relatives, like her great-great-grandmother Rosita.  No one is exactly sure how old Rosita was but photographs put her in the range of impossible.  Before she died, Rosita told young Nina a story, an important story, but Nina couldn't understand the words in their mix of Spanish, Lipan, and English.  She has the recording, and she's been working on a way to translate the tale.  She knows this connection to the past is important.  

Oli is a cottonmouth kid who lives in the reflecting world.  This world is almost like ours, except more natural, and most of the people are also animals.  Oli's true form is a cottonmouth snake.  In his false form, he looks almost human, except for the patches of scales, and the diamond shaped irises.  Oli just wants to relax in his home by the lake and have small adventures with his coyote friends, Risk and Reign.  His best friend is a toad named Ami.  Ami doesn't really talk or have a false form, but that doesn't change the feeling of comfort and companionship between the two friends.  

Nina often thinks about the far past, the joined time, when animal people and humans shared the earth.  She believes animal people still exist, and she longs desperately to meet one.

One day Ami becomes deathly ill, and the only way to save him is to cross into the human world to find a cure.  Oli and his friends undertake this dangerous journey with nothing but hope they will find a human willing to help them.  

As Nina continues to work on the story, another hurricane is moving closer to shore, and Nina is worried about her grandmother out in the country.  She has become afflicted with a mysterious illness that prevents her from traveling very far from her home.  What will happen if she has to evacuate?

Ami's illness and the approaching hurricane will bring these two worlds together, but will Oli and Nina be able to help each other and save the people they love?

Darcie Little Badger's Newbery Honor Book is a beautiful tale of friendship and belief as much as it is a testament to the forms of traditional storytelling.  Nina mentions early in the books that traditional tales often don't have clean endings and beginnings.  The people from these stories weave in and out of each other's tales.  It is best to keep this in mind to better appreciate this book.  While there is definite closure for the two main threads, those who are looking for a typical story structure and conclusion may be frustrated.  But readers who are willing to relax into the ebb and flow of the tale will find a real treasure, and they may even find themselves thinking about future tales of Nina and Oli's adventures.  Highly recommended.  There is no sexual content, but there is some profanity sprinkled through the book.

The Last Cuentista

Petra doesn't want to leave her home on earth and especially her beloved Lita, but a comet is hurtling toward the planet, and her family has been chosen to board one of three escape vessels.  Her parents' expertise in botany and geology have secured their spot, but Petra wants to be a cuentista like Lita.  She loves stories, especially the old ones, and she knows that a good storyteller makes each tale her own.  

Petra's family and the other colonists will sleep in stasis pods for the hundreds of years it will take to get to their new home.  Their special skills are too valuable to risk losing over generations.  The monitors will watch over them while they sleep through generations and prepare everything for arrival.

But when Petra wakes sluggishly from her centuries of sleep, she immediately knows something is wrong.  The monitors look wrong. They all look the same and talk about the Collective.  They even call her Zeta One instead of Petra.  She soon realizes she is the only one who remembers earth.  All memories have been purged in order to create a homogenous Collective with no art, no culture, and no stories.  

Can Petra survive this new society that ruthlessly purges anyone or anything that is different?

I loved this book from the very beginning.  I know I'm late to the party since it already won the Newbery, but this book is excellent.  Petra's memories and stories have a lovely dreamlike quality which juxtaposes well with the stark reality the Collective has created.  There are passages of real dread and horror without any open violence.  The members of the Collective have become monsters, physically and emotionally in their relentless quest for "equality."  I truly believe this book has the power to become part of the children's literature canon alongside books like The Giver.  This is a meaty tale for discussion and thought.  I can't recommend this book enough.