Melissa McAvoy

Cline-Ransome, Lesa. They Call Me Teach: Lessons in Freedom. James E. Ransome, Illus. Candlewick, 09/2024. [40]pp. Picture Book. Trade $18.99. 978-0-7636-8155-5. GRADES Kindergarten–4. HIGH ADDITIONAL. Luminous watercolors show each day of the week, as a young enslaved Black man uses his literacy to help pass on [continue reading]

Butler, Caron. Clutch Time. Addl. Creator Justin A. Reynolds. Shot Clock Novel. HarperCollins, 09/2024. 242pp. Fiction. Trade $19.99. 978-0-0630-6964-0. GRADES 6–9. HIGH ADDITIONAL.           Kofi, known as KO, is living his basketball dreams. At fourteen, he’s just been named the number one ranked AAU player in the [continue reading]

Albee, Sarah. Bounce: A Scientific History of Rubber. Eileen Ryan Ewen, Illus. Charlesbridge, 10/2024. 48pp. Nonfiction. Trade $18.99. 978-1-6235-4379-2. GRADES Kindergarten–3. OUTSTANDING.          Five hundred years ago, Europeans didn’t even have a word for bounce, much less words for a material that can be molded and shaped, stretched, [continue reading]

Smith, Heather. Tig. Tundra, 09/2024. 160pp. Fiction. Trade $17.99. 978-0735267497. GRADES 5–6. HIGH ADDITIONAL.      Being left behind changes you. In their four months on their own, eleven-year-old Tig, and her slightly older brother Peter, learned that when you have nothing, you know who you are. [continue reading]

Rosenstock, Barb. Sea Without a Shore: Life in the Sargasso. Katherine Roy, Illus. Norton, 08/2024. 32pp. Nonfiction. Trade $18.99. 978-1-3240-1607-6. GRADES 1–3. HIGH ADDITIONAL.          The Sargasso Sea is the stuff of legends: a shoreless ecosystem, built from currents, teeming with unique life. Lyrical, active, scientifically accurate language [continue reading]

Larsen, Andrew. Gifts from the Garbage Truck: A True Story About the Things We (Don’t) Throw Away. Oriol Vidal, Illus. Sourcebooks, 09/2024. 40pp. Picture Book. Trade $18.99. 978-1-7282-8351-7. GRADES Kindergarten–3. HIGH ADDITIONAL.         As a child, Puerto Rican Nelson Molina collected, repaired, and gifted thrown away treasures. In [continue reading]

Hendrix, John. Mythmakers, The: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. John Hendrix, Illus. Abrams, 09/2024. 224pp. Graphic. Trade $24.99. 978-1-4197-4634-5. GRADES 6–10. OUTSTANDING.            Hendrix’s graphic biography focuses on exactly how Tolkien and Lewis’s deep friendship inspired their radical creative leaps. Combining playful illustration, strong [continue reading]

Crow-Miller, Britt. World of Rot: Learn All About the Wriggly, Slimy, Super-Cool Decomposers We Couldn’t Live Without. Bruno Valasse, Illus. Storey, 09/2024. 80pp. Nonfiction. Trade $18.99. 978-1-6358-6669-8. GRADES 2–6. OUTSTANDING.           The wonderful and essential world of rot is all around you, on you, and in you. Slow [continue reading]