Thursday May 18, 2023

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

5 new fantasy novels invigorate old tropes

May 18, 2023 • Spell books, dragons, mermaids, fairies and a magic circus all take on new life in the pages of these five enchanting tales hitting shelves in May and June.

Wednesday May 10, 2023

Henry Holt & Co.

Review

Book Reviews

'Warrior Girl Unearthed' revisits the 'Firekeeper's Daughter' cast of characters

May 10, 2023 • In this gripping follow-up to Angeline Boulley's much-lauded debut, we return to Sugar Island and meet the next generation of girls in the Firekeeper family.

Thursday April 6, 2023

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

5 new YA books that explore the magic of the arts and the art of magic

April 6, 2023 • Art and magic so often go hand in hand. These new YA releases all explore both art and magic as the means to heal trauma, communities — and even worlds.

Wednesday March 15, 2023

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

3 new fantasy novels spin inventive narratives from old folklore

March 15, 2023 • Daughters and sisters are at the heart some new fantasy novels where supernatural bargains and shapeshifting transformations are just the beginning of stories that ultimately explore family dynamics.

Wednesday February 1, 2023

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

5 YA books this winter dealing with identity and overcoming hardships

February 1, 2023 • The pale daylight and early darkness of winter create a space for stories — in particular for stories that ask the reader to mull themes and ideas that can sometimes be difficult.

Wednesday September 7, 2022

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

5 new YA reads to check out this fall

September 7, 2022 • As autumn's chill creeps in, we look to five new YA releases that will both haunt you and bewitch your heart, including books by the authors of Last Night at the Telegraph Club and The City Beautiful.

Friday June 10, 2022

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

5 YA books that offer a nuanced reading experience for summer

June 10, 2022 • Beach reads are great — but here are some new books offering the stuff of sticky, heat-stroke dreams; overgrown, light-filled wildflower fields; and twisted alleys of old cities waking from winter.

Wednesday April 27, 2022

Tor Books

Review

Book Reviews

'Nettle & Bone' creates a once-upon-a-time that is familiar, yet original

April 27, 2022 • T. Kingfisher treats source material like a buffet; the result feels like a cozy but still perilous D&D adventure, full of found-family, second chances, and winks to the folklore that inspired it.

Wednesday March 16, 2022

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

Three YA fantasies take you on a journey — at home

March 16, 2022 • These three YA fantasies offer up creative magic systems and mythologies, stakes as high as they come, and girls with the grit to get it done.

Thursday January 27, 2022

Feiwel & Friends

Review

Book Reviews

A young nurse investigates murders in 18th century Korea in 'The Red Palace'

January 27, 2022 • June Hur's history-based novel binds fiction to fact in a gripping young adult mystery. A nurse in 18th century Korea's royal court tries to track down the killer of four women.

Wednesday December 22, 2021

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Tordotcom

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'A Marvellous Light' infuses magic and adventures into 19th century England

December 22, 2021 • The 19th century historical fantasy wherein magic is a layer over the already complicated strata of society is a fairly common genre, but Freya Marske makes it feel fresh in this treat of a book.

Thursday October 28, 2021

NPR

Review

Book Reviews

'Skin of the Sea' sends its little mermaid swimming into very different waters

October 28, 2021 • Natasha Bowen's new young adult novel is inspired by "The Little Mermaid," but charts a different course, using fairytale and folklore to deal with one of the grimmest chapters in human history.

Sunday October 10, 2021

St. Martin's Press

Review

Book Reviews

A delicious Gothic romance strikes just the right balance of heart and horror

October 10, 2021 • The Death of Jane Lawrence asks that age-old question of gothic novels and fairy tales: What do you do if your very attractive husband is hiding a very dark secret in his crumbling manor house?

Saturday September 25, 2021

HarperTeen

Review

Book Reviews

Fall Brings YA Historicals About Haunted Boys And The Rapscallions Who Love Them

September 25, 2021 • Both The City Beautiful and Before We Disappear feature young crooks getting by in big cities at the turn of the 19th century, one haunted by his past and the other trapped by his magic powers.

Saturday August 21, 2021

Feiwel & Friends

Review

Book Reviews

This Road Trip Is A Winding, Poetic Journey Through Ancestry, Trauma And Art

August 21, 2021 • On the surface, Me (Moth) seems like a simple story. Two damaged teens fall for each other as they journey across America. But on every page, Amber McBride builds layer upon layer of meaning.

Saturday July 31, 2021

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Knopf Books for Young Readers

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Monsters And Magic Run In The Family In These 2 YA Novels

July 31, 2021 • Six Crimson Cranes and The River Has Teeth — two new July YA novels — both focus on monstrous mothers and folkloric family magic. But apart from that, they couldn't be more different.

Thursday July 1, 2021

Feiwel and Friends

Review

Book Reviews

Fierce Girls And Giant Robots Battle An Empire In This YA Adventure

July 1, 2021 • In Zoe Hana Mikuta's new Gearbreakers, a talented pilot and a daring rebel have the same goal — take down a giant, evil empire. But first, they have to learn to trust each other — and maybe more.

Sunday May 23, 2021

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Review

Book Reviews

May's YA Brings Unlikely Connections Between Very Different Stories

May 23, 2021 • At first glance, The Ones We're Meant to Find and Luck of the Titanic don't have much in common — one's historical, one's dystopia. But as you read, you'll see surprising thematic connections.

Saturday April 24, 2021

Margaret K. McElderry Books

Review

Book Reviews

'In Deeper Waters' Is A Frothy Romantic Confection

April 24, 2021 • F.T. Lukens' earnest new seafaring romance follows a young prince desperate to hide his magical powers from the pirates who've kidnapped him — and the mysterious boy who comes to his rescue.

Saturday March 20, 2021

Henry Holt & Co. (BYR)

Review

Book Reviews

'Firekeeper's Daughter' Forges A New Path Between Cultures And Genres

March 20, 2021 • A contemplative exploration of existing between two cultural identities meets fake relationship romance meets backwoods thriller in this powerhouse YA debut from Ojibwe author Angeline Boulley.

Saturday February 20, 2021

Walker Books

Review

Book Reviews

Winter Not Cold Enough? Here Are 3 YA Thrillers To Chill You

February 20, 2021 • Prickly, angry girls get to the bottom of mysterious disappearances — or cause them — in these three angsty YA novels, from a retelling of "The Cask of Amontillado" to a wild and frozen dystopia.

Sunday February 7, 2021

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review

Book Reviews

Facing Down The Monster Within in 'What Big Teeth'

February 7, 2021 • Rose Szabo has created a monstrous, dysfunctional family far worse than anything Charles Addams ever dreamed up — and young daughter Eleanor may be the worst of them. She just doesn't know why.

Saturday January 16, 2021

Feiwel & Friends

Review

Book Reviews

The History In 'Angel Of Greenwood' Could Not Be More Timely

January 16, 2021 • Randi Pink's new novel follows a young couple, Angel and Isaiah, whose budding love is set against the backdrop of historical tragedy: the Tulsa race massacre of 1921.

Saturday November 21, 2020

Margaret K. McElderry Books

Review

Book Reviews

'These Violent Delights' Transports Romeo And Juliet To 1920s Shanghai

November 21, 2020 • Chloe Gong's new novel has some of the important aspects of Shakespeare's famous tragedy — but more than anything else, it's a rich portrait of a time and place not often seen in literature.