Rebecca Phelps’s inventive novel "Down World" crosses multiple dimensions and timelines as a teenager searches for a way to heal her family and correct a tragedy that should never have happened. Sixteen-year-old Marina recognizes some... Read More

This brief, detailed introduction to the seasonal calendar that celebrated by many modern pagans describes eight festivals, consisting of two equinoxes, two solstices, and the four midway points between, referred to as the cross-quarter... Read More

In Ellen Cooney’s thoughtful, beautiful novel "One Night Two Souls Went Walking", the traumas of a hospital’s patients become a way to think about the concept of souls. The book is narrated by an unnamed, third-shift chaplain who... Read More

In Mathew New’s absurdist graphic novel, a teenage boy and his talking duck seek out adventure in an attempt to prove the boy’s worth as an explorer. Billy, a part-time janitor, is really an explorer. With Barrace, a duck who is also... Read More

Colleen Nelson’s heartwarming novel "Harvey Holds His Own" is about friendship, loyalty, and the importance of staying true to oneself, no matter the obstacles. For twelve-year-old Maggie, seventh grade at St. Ambrose Academy includes... Read More

In the thoughtful middle grade novel "Second Dad Summer", a boy spends his vacation with his father and his father’s boyfriend. Jeremiah likes his summers with his dad. This year, their time together includes Michael, his dad’s new... Read More

In Darlene Beck-Jacobson’s poignant novel in verse, Wishes, Dares, & How to Stand Up to a Bully, a boy copes with the absence of his father, who is missing in action during the Vietnam War. Eleven-year-old Jack, with his mother and... Read More

In Jean Mills’s insightful "Larkin on the Shore", a sixteen-year-old struggles to overcome an assault and the gossip and cyberbullying that follow it. While her father visits her sick mother in Vancouver, Larkin is sent to stay with... Read More