December 2023

Bunce, Elizabeth C. Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity: A Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery. Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries. Algonquin, 10/2023. 368pp. Fiction. Trade $17.99. 978-1-64375-314-0. Paper $8.99. 978-1-5235-2428-0. GRADES 5–8. ADDITIONAL. When her beloved governess inherits a Scottish castle, Myrtle acquires two problems to solve: investigate the possible murder of Miss Judson’s [continue reading]

Brown, Don. Run and Hide: How Jewish Youth Escaped the Holocaust. Don Brown, Illus. Clarion, 10/2023. 192pp. Graphic. Trade $22.99. 978-0-3585-3816-5. GRADES 7–12. HIGH ADDITIONAL.          The heartbreak, violence, and destruction caused by Nazi Germany is immeasurable, but Brown’s focus on the Jewish children swept up in the [continue reading]

Arnold, Elana K. Blood Years, The. Balzer + Bray, 10/2023. 400pp. Fiction. Trade $19.99. 978-0-0629-9085-3. GRADES 8–12. OUTSTANDING.      Even those uninterested in history will be gripped as the child Frederieke grows to womanhood in the shadow of an idolized, egotistical sister, all while facing [continue reading]

Alexander, Lori. What’s a Germ, Joseph Lister?: The Medical Mystery That Forever Changed the Way We Heal. Daniel Duncan, Illus. Clarion, 10/2023. 144pp. Nonfiction. Trade $19.99. 978-0-3585-3817-2. GRADES 5–7. OUTSTANDING.     Bloody and butchering was how Joseph Lister described his job as a surgeon, and in the [continue reading]

Viva, Frank. Gotta Go! Frank Viva, Illus. Toon, 9/2023. 32pp. Picture Book. Trade $18.99. 978-1-6626-6507-3. GRADES Preschool–1. HIGH ADDITIONAL.          How do you hold it when you gotta go? Owen, a bald boy with light brown skin, hilariously learns (and shows off) various gotta go dances [continue reading]

Sudyka, Diana. Little Land. Diana Sudyka, Illus. Little, Brown, 04/2023. [48]pp. Picture Book. Trade $18.99. 978-0-3163-0176-3. GRADES Preschool–1. HIGH ADDITIONAL.            A young child explores the ecological transformations of a tiny piece of land from millions of years ago, a world where dinosaurs and prehistoric animals [continue reading]

Markle, Sandra. Wild Inventions: Ideas Inspired by Animals. Lerner/Millbrook, 10/2023. 48pp. Nonfiction. PLB $33.32. 978-1-7284-6795-5. GRADES 4–8. HIGH ADDITIONAL.         Animals have been found to do some pretty interesting, or perhaps just odd, things. Markle’s hook is that she ties these animal oddities to human inventions [continue reading]