January Recommendations

Novels:

DAD'S GIRLFRIEND AND OTHER ANXIETIES, by Kellye Crocker, is a terrific middle grade debut. Sixth-grade-graduate Ava should be happy now that summer vacation has begun. Her life is “simple, sweet, and exactly as she like[s] it.” But, suddenly, “practical, responsible, and sort of boring” Dad surprises Ava by dragging her to “super dangerous” Colorado to meet his new girlfriend and said girlfriend’s daughter. Ava’s anxiety kicks in and, because too many changes are coming at her too fast, she decides to plan some surprises of her own. Crocker’s novel is a well-written and satisfying read.

MIDNIGHT AT THE BARCLAY HOTEL, by Fleur Bradley with illustrations by Xavier Bonet, is a super-fun whodunnit that reads like Agatha Christie for middle graders meets the game of Clue—with ghosts! When fancy invitations draw five people and a couple of “stragglers” (kids) to the fancy Barclay Hotel way up in the Colorado Rockies, it turns out most of the adults are suspects in the recent murder of the hotel’s owner. Twelve-year-old JJ, a fledgeling ghost hunter, eleven-year-old Penny, granddaughter of a retired police detective, and twelve-year-old Emma, who lives at the hotel and really wants some kids to hang out with, all decide that they’re going to be the ones to solve this crime. Winner of a Colorado Book Award, this inviting mystery will keep kids turning the pages as fast as they can.

Picture Books:

In POOPSIE GETS LOST, by Hannah E. Harrison, pampered Poopsie enjoys her plush kitty bed, until the narrator of this droll picture book challenges Poopsie to be a “daring adventurer.” So, out the cat door Poopsie struts. She's goaded into some extremely dangerous situations which involve unmarked trails, large snakes, larger tigers, and… well, let’s face it—the narrator of this book is simply not reliable! Will Poopsie get herself out of the “fine pickle” she is in??? This picture book is surprisingly excellent!

TOASTY, by Sarah Hwang, well, it’s weird. Toasty is a slice of bread who wants to be a dog. Yes, there are differences—Toasty doesn’t have hair or fur and he sleeps in a toaster. And instead of four legs, Toasty has “two legs and two arms.” But Toasty tries to act like a dog, anyway. When he goes to the park, things get a bit fraught, but they turn out just fine in the end! “Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof.” The acrylic, colored pencil, and digitally-collaged art is playful and bright, and the whole package is oddly refreshing.

In WOMBAT SAID COME IN, written by Carmen Agra Deedy and illustrated by Brian Lies, when a dreadful fire causes Wombat’s friends Wallaby, Kookaburra, Platypus, Koala, and Sugar Glider to seek shelter in Wombat’s underground home, Wombat repeatedly says “come in, my friend, come in!” As the days pass, his patience is sorely tested… and his kindness prevails. Great language, a repeating refrain, and an abundance of generosity, along with superb acrylic and colored pencil illustrations by the always wonderful Lies, give this picture book plenty of heart.

In MOON LIGHT, by Stephen Savage, “something is on the move.” It swings and slithers, streaks, slips, and tumbles through a forest, over a waterfall, swirling on and out to sea, drifting, hiding, making its way “into your bedroom,” where “it rests for a while… next to you, softly fading.” But never fear, because the moon “will come back tonight.” It’s lyrical and lovely, the art created with linocuts and water-based ink.

--Lynn