Albus, Kate. Nothing Else but Miracles. Holiday House / Ferguson, 09/2023. 288pp. Fiction. Trade $17.99. 978-0-8234-5163-0. GRADES 4–7. OUTSTANDING.
Things have been rocky since Dory’s Pop headed off to war. True, the neighborhood looks out for the three kids: dinner at Caputo’s on Thursday, baked goods and unsolicited advice from Mrs. Schmidt, and all the herring rolls and kindly interest they can stand from Mrs. Kopek. But even her responsible seventeen-year-old brother, Fish, is at his wits’ end when the nasty new landlord is determined to report them to the city. Luckily, twelve-year-old Dory has a genius plan, and so begins a summer of adventure set in World War II-era Lower East Side New York. Combining the best of children’s classics, this page-turning adventure is perfect for family readalouds as the three fully-realized kids find their way in a neighborhood so alive it feels like a full-fledged character. All characters in the ethnically diverse, working-class neighborhood read as white. Reviewed from an ARC.
Melissa McAvoy—Retired