Melissa McAvoy

Rosenstock, Barb. Great Lakes: Our Freshwater Treasure, The. Jamey Christoph, Illus. Knopf, 03/2024. 40pp. Nonfiction. Trade $19.99. 978-0-593-37435-1. GRADES 2–5. OUTSTANDING.       An opening-page map of North America makes clear the visual prominence of the Great Lakes. Vivid, active text, full of striking details, reveals the lakes’ national [continue reading]

Brosgol, Vera. Plain Jane and the Mermaid. Vera Brosgol, Illus. First Second, 05/2024. 368pp. Graphic. Trade $22.99. 978-1-250-31486-4. Paper $14.99. 978-1250314857. GRADES 4–8. HIGH ADDITIONAL.   What women need, in plain Jane’s male-dominated world, is beauty; it can get you anything you want. With no attractive options for her future, [continue reading]

Blackall, Sophie. Ahoy! Sophie Blackall, Illus. Anne Schwartz, 04/2024. [48]pp. Picture Book. Trade $19.99. 978-0-593-42939-6. GRADES Preschool–2. OUTSTANDING.        An opening-page glossary of nautical terms sets readers up to appreciate all the fun when an assertive, rosy-cheeked, pink-skinned child lures a white, house-cleaning parent into imaginative play. [continue reading]

Behrman, Sara T. Sea Hides a Seahorse, The. Melanie Mikecz, Illus. Collective, 04/2024. [40]pp. Picture Book. Trade $18.95. 978-1-68555-644-0. GRADES Preschool–2. HIGH ADDITIONAL.       Digitized, hand-painted paper cutouts in vibrant shades recreate an intricately patterned underwater world, inhabited by a dazzling variety of seahorses. Lyrical, alliterative text on [continue reading]

Sonnenblick, Jordan. Stepping Off. Scholastic, 06/2024. 336pp. Fiction. Trade $19.99. 978-1-339-02317-5. GRADES 7–10. OUTSTANDING.      As sixteen-year-old Jesse’s reality becomes increasingly fraught, the escapist draw of his favorite place—the lake community in Pennsylvania—becomes ever more powerful. There he can avoid magnet-school pressures and his parents’ failing [continue reading]

Safina, Carl. Owls in Our Yard: The Story of Alfie. Norton, 06/2024. 48pp. Nonfiction. Trade $18.99. 978-1-3240-5319-4. GRADES Kindergarten–5. HIGH ADDITIONAL.     A half-dead owlet is adopted by a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, who is also an award-winning nature writer. Dozens of outstanding photographs and daily proximity [continue reading]

Le, Vanessa. Last Bloodcarver, The. Roaring Brook, 03/2024. 384pp. Fiction. Trade $19.99. 978-1-2508-8152-6. Paper $12.99. 978-1-2503-6269-8. GRADES 8–12. LOW ADDITIONAL.       Nhika lives on society’s margins, isolated by prejudice and personal loss. Captured and sold to a wealthy family, she finds herself at the center of a [continue reading]

Donnelly, Jennifer. Beastly Beauty. Scholastic, 05/2024. 336pp. Fiction. Trade $18.99. 978-1-3388-0944-2. GRADES 9–12. HIGH ADDITIONAL.          A young thief, trapped inside a cursed castle, is the unwilling guest of a beautiful, yet distant noblewoman, her creepy ladies-in-waiting, and her loyal servants. Confident in his good looks [continue reading]