Super Boba Cafe

Super Boba Cafe
Nidhi Chanani
Amulet, October, 2023
216 pages
Grades 4-7
Graphic Novel

Aria travels to San Francisco to spend time with her Grandmother, Nainai, to help out at her boba cafe. As much as they want to see the sights, much of the time is spent at the cafe. Aria has a great idea on how to expand the sleepy business after the store cat has kittens--inviting customers to play with kittens as they enjoy their boba. She also has ideas about expanding the flavor selection, but Nainai is reluctant to change. Both ladies have secrets. Eventually we find out the real reason that Aria was sent to San Francisco and that is one mystery solved. But why does Nainai escape to a backroom everyday and won't let Aria in? Eventually Aria discovers the truth behind Nainai's secret disappearances and how it all ties in with the very nature of the city. Can Aria help her in the mission to keep the city safe? And what is up with all the prairie dogs who arrive at the cafe's doorstep every evening? All secrets are revealed by book's end and Aria and Nainai learn to trust each other in order to fix past hurts and move forward into the future.

I feel like it's a boba summer! Everywhere I look a new shop or stand is opening, selling the delicious concoctions. As a huge fan of the drink, I absolutely had to read this upcoming graphic novel by one of my favorite creators of Pashmina fame. This is a story blending real-life problems (social media, friendship drama, loneliness, business troubles) with fantasy. The emergence of the boba monster, which explains away the San Francisco earthquakes, is pretty cool and unexpected. I easily made the transition into fantasy and was all in for the ride. Aria, who was beaten down by a horrible school year, finds her voice and courage as she battles the monster and increases business in Nainai's shop. Eventually, she allows herself to open herself again to others and make a friend. The illustrations are full-color, cartoon-like, and easily scanned. The target audience will appreciate the format, plot and delivery. Mystery undertones about the identity of the monster will keep readers turning pages up to the satisfying conclusion. Much like the titled drink, this new graphic novel is sure to be a hit!

Grounded

Grounded
Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins Bigelow, & S.K. Ali
Amulet, 2023
253 pages
Grades 4-7
Mystery

Four authors pen the voices of four different Muslim tweens who are "grounded" at a fictional airport after a national Muslim conference. All four young people are from different backgrounds and have never met, yet share the same religious identity, though are on different places of the path of their faith. Hanna, animal lover extraordinaire, is terrified of her father remarrying and is dodging any serious conversation with him. When she becomes aware that a cat is missing at the airport where she is stranded, it becomes her mission to locate poor Snickerdoodle, eventually pulling in the other kids. Feek is a budding rapper, much like his famous and way too busy father. He wants to hone his craft, except he is always having to mind his rambunctious little sister Raqi. Sami has little self-confidence and is riddled with anxiety. He only feels confident while practicing Karate, yet thanks to this change in plans, he is going to miss an important tournament. Nora's mother is an upper level politician, who is so busy that she can't get her only daughter's birthday right. That's okay-at least Nora has her NokNok followers who love her-or do they? Follow these four unlikely friends as they try to track down a missing cat, all while causing commotion at the airport.

Grounded presents a fun and diverting summer read, all while providing much needed Muslim representation in children's literature. The four voices are all unique and capture their characters effortlessly, all within the framework of a coherent story. The different authors/narrators manage to keep the plot moving without repetition, while providing ever-changing points of view to the action. At times suspenseful, while at other times sincere and heartbreaking, the authors also manage to inject humor to lighten some of the important messages of family dynamics, friends troubles, identity, and growing up. All of the characters are facing family problems, which they manage to work out with their grown-ups by book's end. Not everything is neatly sewn up, yet the reader is left with a sense of hope and the road to healing in every character's situation. And the cat? This umbrella plot is resolved in the best possible way with unexpected allies helping out and a very sweet reward as a payoff. Grounded is the perfect book to read while traveling and reads best in an airport. Toss a copy in the carry-on of your favorite tween.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
Chris Grabenstein
Douglas Holgate, Illustrator
Random House, November, 2023
258 pages
Grades 3-6
Graphic Novel

Kyle Keeley loves games, especially those of eccentric hometown hero, Luigi Lemoncello. Kyle plays hard. He is even not afraid to break windows, if that means beating his brothers at games. When Mr. Lemoncello offers an essay contest to pick a group of kids to compete in an actual scavenger hunt within the walls of his new library, Kyle knows he has to win. Despite a remarkably lame essay, Kyle is chosen and is challenged to find the clues to escape the new library, which is housed in an old bank, where robbers escaped many years ago. Can Kyle solve the clues and puzzles to figure out the robber's escape route? Not alone he can't! Kyle teams up with some of the other contestants to create a team, proving that teamwork is dreamwork. Meanwhile, the class rich-kid/bully is also a competitor and will stop at nothing to win. Do Kyle and his team have a chance against Charles' dirty-dealings? State of the art technology, mind-busting puzzles, and even holograph librarians await in this now-classic library adventure.

Ten years after the publication of it's classic predecessor, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library gets the graphic novel treatment. The plot primarily stay the same, though a bit watered down, and the action never stops. Holgate's full-color illustrations match the lively nature of the text and will draw-in a new audience of reluctant readers. The characters are more or less how I saw them in my head and I enjoyed the graphic rendition. I love that Grabenstein gets reader's brains turning with puzzles to solve and clever puns hidden within the text in plain sight. I also like the messages of teamwork and fair play. The nice kids are rewarded and the sneaky ones punished. Kids appreciate that kind of justice. Readers will identify with underachieving Kyle, who serves as the perfect "every-man" in the competition. Ten years later the series continues to delight and this new rendition will connect with a whole new audience, who will (hopefully) continue on in the series of standard fiction.

A Work in Progress

A Work in Progress
Jarrett Lerner
Aladdin, 2023
368 pages
Grades 5-8
Narrative Poetry

Will's life changes in fourth grade when a school bully calls him "fat" in front of a hall full of kids. Suddenly, Will realizes that the accusation must be true and that he must be a disgusting human being. Will goes home and destroys all of his clothes so that his mother will take him shopping and he can get everything to be baggy on his frame. Will slowly distances himself from his friends and starts a spiral of depression, distorted body image, and disordered eating. Now in middle school, Will is lonely and paranoid, knowing that the world must think that he is a monster. One day, while eating lunch alone behind the school, a boy comes by to ride his skateboard. Markus keeps coming and eventually starts talking to Will and shares his story. Will listens, still reluctant to trust Markus with his own tale, and tries to keep him at arm's length. One day the constant starving himself catches up with Will and he passes out in the hall at school. Will Markus still want to be his friend? Will the other kids hate him even worse? Can Will keep living his secretly miserable life indefinitely?

This is a very sad fictionalized memoir based on the author's actual experiences that will appeal to readers who like this sort of thing. The poems are beautiful and sincere. Reader's hearts will break as they spend time in Will's shoes and will certainly empathize with his situation. Kids with similar troubles will find this book to be a game-changer and others will become more sympathetic to peers after reading. The plot is somewhat linear and clear-cut, making this book an easy, if difficult in content, read. The format is fun. The story appears to be Will's notebook with lined paper pages and sketches throughout drawn by Will. Because of the formating, the book reads very quickly, though packing a large emotional punch. I had to put the book down a few times because I was getting too upset by it, but finally had to finish the story to make sure that Will was okay. I found the parents frustrating for most of the story, but they ended up to be allies in Will's healing once they discovered the extent of his troubles. The ending is ultimately hopeful, though not perfect, and readers will leave with a sense that the troubled protagonist is on the road to recovery. This story will fill a much needed hole in school and library middle grade collections.

The World's Worst Time Machine

The World's Worst Time Machine

Dustin Brady

Andrews McMeel, 2023

185 pages

Grades 3-6

Fantasy/Humor

Liam finds a mysterious box tucked away in the corner of a disappeared neighboring mad-scientist's garage at a lawn sale labeled "the worst time machine ever".  Of course he forks over his last three dollars and brings it home. Liam hopes to connect with Thomas Edison so he can get out of reading his biography book report book. Surprisingly, the machine works! Liam does not go back in time, a historical figure is brought to him-and it is Thomas Edison, only not the right Thomas Edison. This teenager comes from 1933 and prefers to be called "Tommy Twinkles".  Tommy is a wanna-be gangster and tries to convince Liam to help him rob a bank of the future. The situation gets worse when Mom and Dad come down to the basement to investigate the noise and get sucked into time. Luckily, Liam's best pal Elsa is a genius and knows time travel. She runs over to help Liam sort this mess out. Unfortunately, more gangsters arrive and chaos ensues. Will Lia and Elsa be able to send all of the gang back to the 1930's without causing too much disturbance in the universe? And, ever more importantly, will they be able to retrieve Mom and Dad?

Non-stop mayhem and absurdity propel this new series starter right into the hands of reluctant readers. The author of the Trapped in a Video Game and Escape from a Video Game series has a new scenario that will lure in kids who think that they hate reading. Time travel is a cool concept that will intrigue the intended audience and Brady makes this adventure believable and possible. Infused with humor, the plot doesn't stop. Cliff-hanging chapter endings will keep readers moving along. The format is perfect for those struggling with reading. The font is large, the chapters are short, and lots of white space graces the pages. Cartoon-like illustrations are plentiful and will help to suck in the reader. This is a much needed series starter to hand to video-game kids who think they hate to read. It will also be useful for graphic novel readers who need to read something with more text and less dependence on illustrations. Especially since the pandemic, there is an increase in kids who have a hard time sitting still and concentrating on a book. This new edition might be just the thing to turn some of these kids into readers.

The Witch of Woodland

The Witch of Woodland

Laurel Snyder

HarperCollins, 2023

Grades 5-8

Fantasy

Turning thirteen isn't easy. Especially when your best friend is growing away from you and your mother decides that you must be Bat Mitzvahed, even though your family isn't particularly religious. Luckily, Rabbi Dan is a pretty cool guy and willing to work with Zippy, even though she has had no training in Hebrew and little knowledge in Judaism, beyond the high holy days. What Zippy is really interested in is witchcraft, forcing her into "weirdo" status at school. After finding a strange red book Zippy manages to cast a spell delivering a new friend with wings. Miriam is very kind and the two girls immediately hit it off. Is Miriam an angel? Rabbi Dan gives Zippy a book about magic creatures in Judaism to help her in figuring it all out. The friendship goes sour when Miriam seems to be zapping energy from Zippy.  Could she really be a dybbuk? Another piece of the puzzle is that Zippy suddenly understands Hebrew and become the star of her Bat Mitzvah class. What is going on? And what does Miriam do when Zippy is at school or at home? The mystery is solved, but not before Zippy is transformed in many ways and realizes that growing up is not as horrible as it seems.

Laurel Snyder is an unpredictable author. Her 2017 Orphan Island is one of my favorite books ever and she has proven to be an eclectic author who crosses genres and ages. I love this new offering in that it touches on a topic rarely seen in children's lit: Judaic mysticism. Readers will learn about all kinds of magical figures from Jewish folklore, all within the framework of a coming of age story. Realistic fiction fans will enjoy Zippy's struggles with her best friend and parents as she is navigating the choppy waters of puberty. Fantasy readers will love the magical bits and be interested to discover exactly what Miriam is. Zippy is not your normal protagonist. She feels a bit more Harriet the Spy than your average hero and is definitely someone that I would have loved to hang around with at that age. Kids interested in witchcraft will snatch this book up and want to break out some spells of their own. It was nice to see Judaism represented in a very relatable and contemporary way and will make many kids in my community feel represented. A heartfelt book featuring a new idea and a very readable plot that will appeal to the target audience.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
Holly Jackson
Delacorte, 2019
387 pages
Grades 9-Up

Mystery
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series

Connecticut high school senior, Pippa, is determined to get into Columbia and that means that she must have a stunning capstone project. She decides to research the murder of Andie Bell, a popular high school senior who was killed by her boyfriend five years previous. The convicted killer, Sal Singh, committed suicide days after Andie's disappearance, but Pippa is not convinced that he did the deed. For one thing, Pippa knew him as a family friend and he was just too decent a person. She starts her investigation with Sal's younger brother Ravi, who also is convinced of his brother's innocence and joins Pippa in her investigation. Pippa contacts many people connected with Andie Bell and discovers that the dead girl had secrets. Several suspects emerge, yet just when Pippa thinks she has figured it out, another piece of evidence points to someone new. As she pries deeper, Pippa receives threatening notes, eventually fearing for her own safety. How far is she willing to go to get to the truth? And what really happened to Andie Bell?

Who doesn't love a good murder mystery? A long-time resident on the bestseller list, this series starter reflects the current teenage mystery trend. We can't keep our four copies on the shelf and, in fact, every copy of all three books in the series are currently checked out. This mystery does not disappoint. There are red-herrings, danger, and surprises around every turn. The circumstances behind the murder are scandalous enough to delight teen readers and keep them turning pages. I did not figure out the scenario behind the murder, but it was gettable and the ending satisfies. I found it unnecessary that the original British book was edited and changed for an American audience. Today's kids are used to Harry Potter and can handle British phraseology. Keeping the main character's name as Pippa clues in the reader that it is a British book and some of the terms remain, making the Connecticut settling a little jarring. That said, teenagers probably won't care. They will love the quickly moving plot and the tenacity of the main character. The book feels a bit long, but reads quickly, as some of the content is in transcript form. The middle schoolers in my library are clambering for this book, but be aware that there are some mature situations involving sexual encounters and drugs, though it never gets too graphic.