Published by Scholastic

Summary:  Princess Shuri, sister of T’Challa the Black Panther, is gifted in all things technological and wants to use her talents to help Wakanda.  She feels that her mother and brother don’t appreciate her and treat her like a child.  So when she discovers that the powerful heart-shaped herb is dying, then has a vision of an evil invading Wakanda, she feels compelled to act.  When her family doesn’t take her warnings seriously, Shuri takes matters into her own hands, escaping with her friend and protector K’Marah to travel to Kenya and London in search of assistance.  Their return to Wakanda coincides with the invasion, and Shuri is able to use some of her innovative technology to stop it and to show her family what she is capable of.  272 pages; grades 4-8.

Pros:  My experience with another middle grade Black Panther novel makes me pretty confident that this will be an easy sell.  It’s an action-packed ride with a strong, smart girl protagonist, and characters that may be familiar to readers from the movie or comic books.

Cons:  The queen seemed unnecessarily obnoxious to her daughter, not appreciating Shuri’s considerable gifts, and focusing too much on her clothes and social skills.

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Published by HMH Books for Young Readers

Summary:  Amelia Jones has always dreamed of attending The Mystwick School of Musicraft where her late mother became a maestro.  Amelia is a flutist who has studied musicraft with some local teachers, but is ill-prepared for the big time and bungles her audition to the school.  She’s shocked a few weeks later when she gets an acceptance letter.  But when she arrives at Mystwick, she discovers the letter was an error–it was intended for a different Amelia Jones, a piano prodigy who died the previous summer under somewhat mysterious circumstances.  Our Amelia is about to be sent packing, when the teachers discover a nifty bit of magic she inadvertently performed on the school grounds.  They decide to give her two months to get her magic up to speed, at which time she’ll have to audition again to stay for good.  Amelia is determined to work hard, but when the ghost of the other Amelia Jones seems equally determined to see her fail, it becomes more and more difficult for her to believe that she really belongs at Mystwick.  368 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  Harry Potter fans will enjoy this fun tale of a school where kids learn to use their musical talents to do magic.  There are plenty of plot twists and supernatural events to keep kids turning the pages, and the end seems to make a sequel inevitable.  I enjoyed listening to the Audible version of this which is free, along with quite a few other books: check out their site for details.

Cons:  Granted, Amelia had plenty of reasons to doubt her talents, but I got tired of her constant “maybe I just don’t belong here” refrain.

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Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary:  When Cal and his friend Drew see a bunch of coins walking toward a girl in their class named Modesty, they want to know more.  It seems as though Modesty is practicing magic, but when they get their hands on her book of spells, it’s not much.  They can make a few of the more mundane spells work for one minute at a time during five minutes of the day…or night, in a few cases.  What Cal wants most is to find a spell that will repair the expensive harvester he accidentally set on fire and to help save the family farm from the inventor who has found a way to create vegetables with a 3-D printer.  When a portal opens up into another world, the three kids find themselves in the midst of an effort to save that world from global cooling–with the help of a green-skinned kid librarian named Preface (Pre for short).  When Drew accidentally gets trapped in the other world, and Pre ends up back with Cal and Modesty, it’s up to the kids to save Drew, save the farm, and quite possibly save the world.  352 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  Fun doesn’t begin to describe this madcap magic adventure with an intriguing parallel universe, clever wordplay, and a few zings about fake news, corrupt leaders, and climate change deniers.  The adventures and laughs never stop; this will be an easy book to promote for summer reading.

Cons:  I’d love to see more of Cal, Drew, Modesty, and Pre, but everything wrapped up so neatly, I fear there will be no sequel.

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Published by HarperCollins

Summary:  Cordelia leads a happy, if somewhat sheltered life, with her father in a reimagined Victorian/Edwardian Boston, capturing and caring for monsters.  Her mother was also involved in this work until she disappeared in the jungles of Brazil.  When Cordelia wakes up one morning to find her father and most of the monsters gone, she finds herself on an unlikely journey to try to rescue them.  Assisted by an orphan named Gregory, whom she befriends after saving his zuppy (zombie puppy), and her ex-best friend Elizabeth, she travels to New York, Nova Scotia, and Worcester, attempting to track down her father and the monsters.  Along the way, she encounters cruel prejudice against monsters and some humans, and at last learns the fates of both of her parents.  She and her father are reunited, but realize that monsters are not meant to be kept in cages (or houses) and ultimately decide to let them go their own ways.  384 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  There’s plenty of adventure for Cordelia and her friends, as well as some interesting monsters, a couple of heartwarming friendship stories, and a timely message about valuing all forms of life.

Cons:  Try as I might, I never found this book as engaging as I was hoping (it got three starred reviews), and the message was repeated just a bit too often.

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Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Summary:  Fionn and his older sister Tara have been sent to the island of Arranmore to spend time with their grandfather while their mother is dealing with some mental health issues.  Tara has been to the island before and likes to lord her knowledge over Fionn; she often leaves him behind to spend time with her crush Bartley Beasley, who is searching for a secret cave.  As Fionn gets to know his grandfather, he discovers that he is the Storm Keeper, the overseer of the magic on the island. Granddad knows that his time in this role is coming to an end, and that the island is looking to find a new Storm Keeper.  As Fionn learns more about the magic, he starts to use it himself to travel through time and learn more about Arranmore’s secrets. The ending brings about the revelation of the new Storm Keeper and some healing in Fionn’s family, but there are plenty of unanswered questions to explore in book 2.  308 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  A promising start to a fantasy series that ably combines magic and everyday life.  Lots of interesting characters and history have been introduced that will provide a good foundation for a sequel.

Cons:  As I was reviewing this book, I realized it was published in 2018.  Since I had to force myself to read it (generally the case with me and fantasy), this was something of a blow.  It looks like it was published in Great Britain in 2018 and in the U.S. in 2019, so that is something of a comfort to me.

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Published by Henry Holt and Co.

Summary:  A brave group of seven kits ventures into a nearby den to hear what their mother has warned them will be the scariest story ever.  A mysterious storyteller begins with a story about a kit named Mia whose brothers and sisters contract a disease that turns them mad.  It’s pretty scary, and at the end of it, one of the kits decides to leave. The next story is about a kit named Uly who only has three paws, and who is terrorized by a fox named Mr. Scratch–who turns out to be his father.  That drives another kit from the den. And so it goes, with the stories of Mia and Uly eventually intersecting as they manage to escape from one harrowing situation after another. By the end, only the littlest kit is left. When she and the storyteller start talking, their identities are revealed, which neatly ties up the book with an unexpectedly happy ending.  320 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  The scare level is just right for elementary kids, and animal lovers will enjoy it as well.  It’s a pretty long shot, but this book is so unique and so well-written, it would be fun to see it get some Newbery recognition.

Cons:  Beatrix Potter fans might want to skip the story entitled “House of Trix”. 

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