Melissa McAvoy

Hardinge, Frances. Traitors’ Nest. Amulet, 09/2026. 400pp. Fiction. Trade $19.99. 978-1-4197-9414-8. GRADES 6–11. OUTSTANDING.             Otherworldly lords, vying for power, move pieces on a board; in the real-world castles jump, upending lives. Fifteen-year-old Burr, his family and friends, made desperate by seasons of cruelty and lies, [continue reading]

Michno, Maciej. Still Water: The Wonders of Ponds, Pools, Wetlands, and More. Valentina Gottardi, Illus. Addl. Creators Danio Miserocchi. Translated from the Italian by Sylvia Notini. Eerdman’s, 08/2026. 64pp. Nonfiction. Trade $18.99. 978-0-8028-5659-3. GRADES 4–6. OUTSTANDING.     Still waters have a bad rap as places where diseases, pests and smells [continue reading]

Stead, Philip Christian. Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic: Or, Like Lightning in an Umbrella Storm, A: A Story Out of Order. Philip Christian Stead, Illus. Holiday House/Neal Porter, 04/2026. 319pp. Fiction. Trade $18.99. 978-08-2345809-7. GRADES 3–7. OUTSTANDING.      Like the unusual title itself, this [continue reading]

Stratton, L.S. Sundown Girls. Penguin Random House/Nancy Paulsen, 01/2026. 320pp. Fiction. Trade $19.99. 979-8-2170-0494-2. GRADES 7–9. HIGH ADDITIONAL.         Kidnapped as a baby, sixteen-year-old Naomi must come to terms with her childhood trauma and new family dynamics during an ill-fated bonding trip with her biological family. [continue reading]

Podesta, Lena. I Am Not Boring: The True-Life Story of a Log. Lena Podesta, Illus. Ten Speed, 05/2026. [40]pp. Picture Book. Trade $17.99. 978-0-5938-3829-7. GRADES Kindergarten–2. OUTSTANDING.        A confident but unreliable narrator and an opinionated [continue reading]

Pizzoli, Greg. When the Sun Goes Down. Greg Pizzoli, Illus. Penguin Random House, 04/2026. [34]pp. Picture Book. Trade $18.99. 978-0-593-64980-0. GRADES Kindergarten–1. HIGH ADDITIONAL.            A young girl with light skin and brown hair wonders where [continue reading]

Smith, Niki. Midsummer Sisters. Niki Smith, Illus. Scholastic /Graphix, 06/2026. 272pp. Graphic. Trade $14.99. 978-1-5461-2894-6. GRADES 4–7. HIGH ADDITIONAL.        Stepsisters Kenzie and Quinn spend a magical summer with their grandmother, while wondering if their sisterhood [continue reading]

Szamosi, Sofia. Bad Kid: My Life as a “Troubled Teen.” Little, Brown, 03/2026. 385pp. Graphic. Trade $25.99. 978-1-5235-2738-0. GRADES 9–12. ADDITIONAL.      As the very apt title says, this autobiographical memoir illustrates the author’s difficult teen [continue reading]