Middle grade fiction

The magic of friendship

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The Best Friend Bracelet by Nicole D. Collier (HarperCollins, 272 pages, grades 3-6). While Zariah has a booming friendship bracelet business, she herself has been without a best friend since entering middle school. When she realizes one of her bracelets is magic and will cause the wearer to instantly become her best friend, she embarks on a series of experiments to try out different friends. Each relationship teaches her something new about friendship and moves her closer to the real thing. As she gets to know a girl named Theo who claims to have no interest in making friends, Zariah begins to realize that best friendship is based on shared experiences, trust, and having each other’s back. By the time she and Theo realize that they have a real best friendship, Zariah has discovered that she no longer needs the magic bracelet.

I could really relate to Zariah’s obsessive overthinking about friendship from my own middle school days, and I loved how she got to experiment with different types of relationships with her magical bracelet. Both Zariah and Theo are interesting characters with lots of quirks and interesting hobbies. I was hoping they would expand their friendship circle to include Willow, a best friend runner-up who was the last bracelet wearer, and her friend Clara.

Split Second by Janae Marks (Quill Tree Books, 256 pages, grades 4-7). After an evening of fun at the fall carnival, Elise happily falls asleep in her sleeping bag at a slumber party with her two best friends, Ivy and Melinda. She wakes up in bed, with Ivy and Melinda gone, and soon realizes that it’s now spring and six months have passed. No one else seems to notice anything’s amiss, and Elise soon realizes that she’s lived through that time period, even though she has no memory of it. Elise learns that she and Ivy and Melinda are no longer friends, but that she’s reconnected with an old friend, Cora, who she drifted apart from during the pandemic lockdown. Cora’s the one person she confides in about the time jump, and as they try to puzzle out what happened with Ivy and Melinda, it soon becomes clear that Cora has some secrets of her own. After revealing one of those secrets to Elise, Cora takes up the narrative to tell her side of what happened that night and what she knows about the time jump and the magic that made it happen.

I was drawn right into this book by the various mysteries involved in the time travel and enjoyed the way the author wove together middle school friendship issues and magic. Splitting the book between two narrators allowed for interesting shifts in perspective. This is the second book this year where the narrator lives through a time that she subsequently forgets, a premise that I find both intriguing and disconcerting.

Oh boy!

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Boy vs. Shark by Paul Gilligan (Tundra, 240 pages, grades 4-7). Paul is already struggling with a best friend named David who wants to hang out with the local bully, Swain, and a dad who wants him to toughen up and stop spending so much time drawing and reading comics. The last thing he needs is the new movie Jaws that everyone is talking about, and the peer pressure he feels to go see it himself. But off he goes to the theater with his dad, and the film proves to be every bit as terrifying as he was afraid it would be. Before long, the shark is haunting Paul’s imagination, telling him he needs to be cooler and go along with what David and Swain want to do. When Paul listens to the shark and gives in, he finds himself in a world of trouble and discovers that doing his own thing and being honest with his parents is actually what works best for him. And when Swain’s shenanigans result in David falling off a roof and breaking his arm, David begins to see the light as well, saving his friendship with Paul. Includes a pictorial glossary of such Jaws-era terms from the story as The Six Million Dollar Man and the Easy-Bake Oven.

As someone just a year older than David, I could relate to his terror of Jaws. While I didn’t see it at the time, just the knowledge of its existence was enough to cast a dark shadow over my happy Jersey shore summer vacations. The story is a fun romp through the 1970’s (no glossary necessary for this boomer), but it’s also a timeless tale of growing up, peer pressure, and friendship, and it’s nice to see this kind of graphic novel written with boy main characters.

Boy Here, Boy There by Chuck Groenink (Tundra, 56 pages, grades K-3). A boy living in prehistoric times leads a nomadic life with his family. While they set up a home in a cave, he explores the surrounding environment, encountering animals like wolves and mammals, and enjoying running, jumping, and rolling in the grass. His most surprising find is a boy similar to himself, whom he sees across the river. That boy waves to him, then walks off with his family. Back at home that night, the boy eats dinner with his family, then blackens his hand with the smoke from the fire and makes handprints on the cave walls to commemorate the wave from the other boy. An author’s note gives more information about Neanderthal people, which is what the boy is, and Homo sapiens, the group the other boy belonged to. Includes a list of sources.

Readers will be fascinated at this glimpse of prehistory, written in short phrases that feel like early language. The Neanderthal boy’s adventures as he explores his new neighborhood have many elements that kids will relate to, and the illustrations do a great job of capturing his joy and wonder at what he sees. It’s not clear from the text who the other boy is, but the author’s note adds the necessary additional information.

Family secrets

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Wrong Way Home by Kate O’Shaughnessy (Knopf Books, 336 pages, grades 5-8). Fern loves the community she and her mother moved to six years ago. Although her memories of her first six years of life are vague, she knows that she and her mom moved a lot and didn’t have much stability. At the Ranch, Dr. Ben teaches them his ideals and how to do the things they need to survive when the world inevitably falls apart. There are signs that things aren’t as rosy as Fern sees them, such as her recollections of a teenage boy who died during a coming of age ritual that she herself is slated to go through soon, but she’s sure if she trusts Dr. Ben, all will be well. So it comes as a shock when her mother wakes her in the middle of the night and sneaks the two of them away from the Ranch to a new home in California, on the other side of the country. At first, all Fern can think about is getting back, but as time goes on and she starts to learn more about the world outside of the Ranch, she begins to have doubts. Ultimately, when Fern is forced to make a difficult and dangerous decision, she realizes she must trust her own instincts about what is right and wrong.

I’ll admit that I find cults fascinating, so I was swept into this book from the very beginning. There are lots of interesting characters and subplots, and once you reach the final 100 pages, it’s difficult to put the book down. I’d love to see this considered for a Newbery. It’s a pretty complex story with a less than totally reliable narrator, so it may be a better choice for middle school than elementary, which is kind of unfortunate since Fern is 12. It would make a great book club selection with lots of interesting topics to discuss.

The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin (Viking Books for Young Readers, 400 pages, grades 5-9). 19-year-old Jakob and his 14-year-old sister Lizzie wind up together at Bletchley Park in 1940. Jakob has been recruited from his mathematical studies in London, while Lizzie escaped a trip forcing her to stay with her American grandmother. Their mother, Willa, is missing, presumed to have been killed during a mysterious trip to Poland that took place on the eve of the Nazi invasion. Both siblings have inherited their mother’s courage, sense of duty, and knack for breaking codes, and as the story unfolds, they start to suspect that their mother may still be alive. When a series of mysterious letters arrives for them, Jakob and Lizzie piece together a message from their mother to meet her in London. Jakob knows from his work with Enigma, the German code breaking machine, that Germany could invade England at any minute. As the truth about Willa unfolds, the siblings find themselves in danger as fighter jets roar overhead. Includes an author’s note and photos of people and places from the story.

Two young adult masters of nonfiction and historical fiction have combined their research and storytelling talents to produce an amazing adventure story that will appeal to World War II fans as well as those who enjoy elaborate codes. There are many characters, but each one is drawn so memorably that I had no trouble remembering who was who. I did find Lizzie’s unwavering feistiness a bit unbelievable given the circumstances, but ultimately I was won over by her courage and sense of humor. Sure to be a contender for some awards, add this to the list of outstanding World War II books published this year.

National Book Award longlist

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I’m nerdy enough to eagerly await the announcement of the National Book Award longlist, which this year happened on September 10 for young people’s literature. I read three of the books on the list and offer you my assessment of them here.

Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi (G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books, 336 pages, grades 5-8). When this novel in verse opens, Kareem’s biggest concern is with making the middle school football team. He’s willing to cheat on homework and shun a new boy who’s a refugee from Syria in order to befriend the football coach’s son Austin. But when Kareem’s mother returns to Syria to help her ailing father, Kareem begins to question his actions. The 2017 Muslim ban throws Kareem’s life into chaos, and his issues with Austin start to feel petty. Kareem has to look deep within himself to do the right thing and start to make amends with some of the people he’s hurt. Like many immigrant kids, he has a foot in two different worlds, and by the end of the story, Kareem has learned to embrace his dual heritage.

I well remember Trump’s Muslim ban, but this book really made me understand the horrific effects it had on those who were directly impacted by it. The characters were well developed, and I liked that Kareem made some pretty bad–and quintessentially middle school–decisions, but that he was able to acknowledge them, working to make things right and growing over the course of the story. The book was so compelling that once I got about halfway through, I had to keep reading to find out how Kareem’s story turned out.

Free Period by Ali Terese (Scholastic Press, 272 pages, grades 5-8). Helen and Gracie alternate telling the story of how a prank gone wrong lands them in the principal’s office, where they’re sentenced to join the Community Action Club. At the first meeting, they learn about a project to get maxi pads in all the school bathrooms, something that club president and mean girl Madison wants to do as the final touch to her glittering middle school resume. After Helen has a period catastrophe, she becomes a huge advocate, leading the club in all kinds of pranks and civil disobedience to get the school board to fund the project. Helen’s a bit of an evil genius, while Gracie’s more of a quirky, artsy type, and while the two of them have been best friends and partners in crime for years, the period project shows them that they are developing their own identities and outside friendships. Combining their talents, they become an unstoppable force that brings the whole club–even Madison–together to get the job done.

It is a bit confounding to me why this book garnered NBA recognition. To me, it read like a run-of-the-mill Scholastic tween/teen story, albeit one that focuses and educates about an important topic that’s often not discussed. Helen and Gracie seemed so similar at the beginning of the story that it actually took me a couple of chapters to notice that they were alternating the narration. Their nonstop witty banter, confidence, and disregard of any kind of authority felt a bit unrealistic for middle school.

Mid-Air by Alicia D. Williams (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 320 pages, grades 5-8). Alicia Williams’ sophomore novel focuses on Isaiah, a Black eighth-grade boy whose two best friends are Drew and Darius. Together, they try to set world records and egg each other on to attempt daredevil stunts. When one of those stunts goes wrong and Darius is killed by a car, Isaiah blames himself. Both he and Drew withdraw into their separate grief at a time when they need each other the most. Isaiah’s attempt to find some healing by revisiting the scene of Darius’s death results in racial violence toward Isaiah that leaves him barely able to function. His worried parents send him to relatives in North Carolina where he basks in the easygoing warmth of his aunt and uncle’s home and develops his first crush on a girl who accepts all the things Isaiah has always tried to hide: his love of rock music, his fondness for painting his nails, and his fear of many of the stunts Drew and Darius pushed him to do. By the time summer’s over, Isaiah is starting to heal and is ready to start high school, and he and Drew finally find a way to begin to communicate.

Another novel in verse that could easily be a contender for a Newbery or Printz award. Like she did in Genesis Begins Again, Alicia Williams creates a memorable character who’s often afraid to let his true nature shine, slowly learning to be himself as the narrative unfolds. Both of the novels in verse would make excellent middle school book club books.

Since I started working on this post, the National Book Awards finalists have been named, and only one of these books made it. Which one? I will leave it to you to read all about it here (hint: it was my personal favorite). The winners will be named November 20, and yes, I have it on my calendar.

Read at your own risk!

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The Secret Dead Club by Karen Strong (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 240 pages, grades 4-7). Wednesday has always been able to see ghosts, a power she inherited from her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. When an encounter with a wicked ghost almost kills her, Wednesday and her mother end their extended RV trip and return to her great-grandmother’s house in Georgia. There, Wednesday finds herself drawn to two girls who have formed a secret Dead Club for those who can either see ghosts or believe that they exist. A third girl has left the club under somewhat mysterious circumstances, and a fourth member died the previous year and starts appearing to Wednesday as a ghost. Most of the women in her family have lost their ability to see ghosts when they hit puberty, so Wednesday isn’t sure how much longer she’ll hold onto her powers. When the girls in the club need her help to resolve a potentially dangerous ghostly mystery, Wednesday has to decide how much she is willing to trust them, herself, and the ghosts to try to set things right.

Full disclosure: this is the only book in this post that I actually read from start to finish. Although there was some creepy ghost stuff–including a prologue in which a grieving father becomes possessed by an evil spirit and kills his two children–a lot of the focus is on the changing nature of middle school friendships and the emotions that accompany those transitions. I saw a review that called this book the Baby-Sitters Club meets Stranger Things, and I feel like that is an apt description.

Give Me Something Good to Eat by D. W. Gillespie (Delacorte Press, 272 pages, grades 4-7). Every year, the town of Pearl, North Carolina celebrates Halloween with a big blowout, but before the night is over, a child disappears, and all the residents’ memories of that kid are wiped clear. All of them, that is, except for seventh grader Mason, who still recalls the time five years ago that his best friend Marcus vanished, and even his own mother forgot that he had ever existed. When Mason’s younger sister Meg goes missing, it’s up to him and his three friends, Serge, Becca, and Mari, to discover the town’s dark underside and rescue Meg. UnderPearl is filled with monsters, giant spiders, and a horrifying witch who controls everything and has no intention of letting Meg escape.

I started reading this book just before bed, and after two nights of bad dreams, I finally decided it was not for me. Horror fans will undoubtedly love the monsters and frightening situations the kids find themselves in, but be warned that this is a genuinely scary book that may not be for everyone.

Once They See You: 13 Stories to Shiver and Shock by Josh Allen, illustrations by Sarah Coleman (Holiday House, 192 pages, grades 4-7). Holiday House sent me a copy of this book recently. I was delighted, since Josh Allen’s other other short story collections, Only if You Dare and Out to Get You are extremely popular in my library. Fans of Alvin Schwartz’s classic Scary Stories collections will also enjoy these.

War

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A Star Shines Through by Anna Desnitskaya (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 40 pages, grades 1-5). “We used to live in a big city,” the narrator begins. Her family kept a star-shaped lamp in their apartment window, which would welcome her home at night. But then war came, and she and her mother (the father disappears without explanation) flee to another country. Everything is new: the language, the food, the apartment, even her mom and her. One night, Mom brings home a package with cardboard, scissors, and glue, and together they make a cardboard star with a light inside. Putting the lamp in the window marks a turning point, and soon their new country is feeling more like home. Includes an author’s note telling how a one-week family vacation in Cyprus turned into a refugee situation when Russia invaded Ukraine.

The author packs a big punch with just a few words on the beautifully illustrated pages of this book. It felt a little optimistic that making a lamp would turn things around so quickly, especially with the loss of the father, whether he was killed or had to stay behind. But the story offers hope to kids forced to move due to wars and other difficulties that make them and their families refugees.

The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (Dial Books, 288 pages, grades 4-7). When there’s a roundup of Jews living in Paris, Miriam (Miri) is captured and separated from her parents. A neighbor helps her escape, on the condition the Miri take the woman’s two-year-old daughter Nora with her. Helped by a nun, Miri and Nora are sent to a town near Tours, where an old castle stands on the border of occupied France and Vichy France. En route to the town, Miriam falls asleep and awakens to find that Nora has been taken away and sent to live with another family. Miri is placed in a convent school, joining the nuns and a few students who have stayed for the summer, and is renamed Marie to hide her Jewish identity. While there, she gets involved in a secret operation to help escaping Jews cross the border, aided by a mysterious old woman who turns out to be the ghost of former castle owner Catherine de Medici. Miriam/Marie’s last mission is to save herself and Nora, which she is able to do with the help of the friends she has made at the convent, in an exciting and daring escape. Includes a lengthy author’s note with additional historical information.

I’m on a mission to read some of the Newbery contenders, so I finally got around to this one, written by the author of some of my favorite World War II historical fiction books, The War That Saved My Life and its sequel. While it’s currently at number 3 on the Goodreads Newbery list, I confess I did not much care for it. I’m sure the circumstances of 1942 France made kids grow up fast, but Miri and her friend Beatrice were way too wise beyond their years. Their other friend Jacqueline seemed to exist mostly to show how oblivious many French people were to the suffering of their Jewish neighbors. I had kind of mixed feelings about the ghost plot twist; it was cool in some ways and made for an interesting subplot, but also felt somewhat jarring. Finally, the epilogue wrapped things up WAY too neatly for a book about the Holocaust. This book has gotten glowing reviews, though, and the history is super interesting, so take a look for yourself!

Dealing with middle school

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Grow Up, Luchy Zapata by Alexandra Alessandri (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 256 pages, grades 4-7). Luchy’s excited to be starting middle school, joined by her two best friends, Mateo and Cami. Cami and Luchy are both Colombian American, and they’ve been friends since their moms met years before, but they’ve never gone to the same school. Middle school brings changes, though, and Cami, who spent the summer in Colombia, starts acting cool toward Luchy and Mateo. Luchy attempts to figure out what’s happening, first by making Cami a fancy scrapbook to remind her of their long friendship, and, when that doesn’t work, declaring war on Cami and her new friend Melissa. One act of revenge leads to another until Luchy finally does something that jeopardizes her place on the soccer team, something she’s worked hard for all fall. Even though Mateo and Luchy’s parents keep encouraging her to try talking to Cami, it takes a near catastrophe for the two girls to finally sit down and communicate about what’s been going on.

Gut Reaction by Kirby Larson and Quinn Wyatt (Scholastic Press, 272 pages, grades 4-7). Tess is starting eighth grade at a new middle school, where, after a bit of a rocky start, she finds some good friends. They support her dream of competing in the Jubilee Flour Junior Baker contest, something Tess knows her late father, a baker who taught her everything she knows, would also support. But Tess is experiencing increasingly debilitating stomach issues, and a painful episode at school lands her in the hospital. She’s devastated to get a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease and to learn that the symptoms can only be managed, not cured. Her friends help her get back on track, and she’s able to compete in the baking contest, where an unfortunate turn of events forces Tess to have to make a difficult decision.

Both of these realistic middle school books feature engaging protagonists and realistic issues. Gut Reaction is written by a mother-daughter team who drew on their real-life experience with Crohn’s disease to write sympathetically about Tess’s symptoms, diagnosis, and gradual acceptance of her illness. Grow Up, Luchy Zapata has many elements of middle school angst: changing friendships, a possible crush, academic and athletic struggles, and embarrassing parents. There are also some issues facing second-generation American immigrants Luchy, Camila, and Mateo (who is Chilean-American). Both books used plots that felt a little timeworn: the cooking/baking prodigy who competes in some kind of contest or reality show, and the friend who goes away the summer before middle school and comes back different and trying to fit in with the cool kids.

Graphic novels that root for the underdogs

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We Are Big Time by Hena Khan, illustrated by Safiya Zerrougui (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 240 pages, grades 3-7). Aliya’s not happy that her family is moving from Tampa to Milwaukee just as she’s about to start high school. Although it’s nice to be close to her grandparents, she misses the Florida weather and her basketball friends. Her new Islamic school has a girls’ basketball team, but they’re not very good. A new coach arrives at the school at the same time Aliya does, and before long the girls are working harder than ever on their conditioning and teamwork. Slowly, huge losses turn into smaller losses, then wins. As the team improves, they start attracting some media attention, which more often than not focuses more on their clothing and religion than on their basketball playing. The girls learn to navigate all kinds of new situations as they slowly build a winning season and make their way to the big end-of-the-year tournament. When the season finally comes to an end, the team and their families have plenty to celebrate. Include’s an author’s note about the real-life team that inspired this book and a behind-the-scenes look at the development of some of the artwork.

This is sure to be a big hit with fans of Raina Telgemeier-inspired graphic novels. The story reminded me a little bit of Hoops, with its team of scrappy underdogs breaking barriers for girls’ sports. Their turnaround from huge losses to wins seemed to happen very quickly, reminding me of the storytelling limitations of graphic novels.

Lion Dancers by Cai Tse (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 304 pages, grades 4-7). Wei is trying to find his place in middle school, but despite academic success, he hasn’t found a place where he feels he belongs. When he literally runs into a teenager wearing a lion dance t-shirt, Wei begs him for a chance to join his team. Wei’s late father was a championship lion dancer, and Wei danced a few years back, but he quit when he had some conflicts with another boy named Hung. Hung is part of the new team as well, and Wei struggles to work with him. When Lunar New Year comes around, the team is booked solid with performances all over the city, and everyone has to pitch in to make things work. When Wei and Hung’s rivalry gets in the way of one of their dances, it threatens everything the team has worked for. Wei has to decide if he’s going to work through his problems to continue with the dance form he loves or once again walk away from it.

I struggled a little at the beginning trying to keep the various characters straight and get up to speed with lion dancing, but once I figured things out, I very much enjoyed learning more about the dance and seeing how all the interpersonal drama played out. After reading this and Lunar New Year Love Story, I am ready to attend my first lion dance performance.

New books for reluctant readers

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Faker by Gordon Korman (Scholastic, 224 pages, grades 3-7). Trey’s family–his father and his sister Arianna–have always been the most important people to him. They move from place to place, with their father planning a different scam in each new town, and Trey and Arianna making friends to provide Dad with connections. When people start to get suspicious, the family pulls a “Houdini,” leaving town in a hurry and hanging out at an island resort until things blow over and they can start their next scheme. But when they get to Boxelder, Tennessee, things feel different to Trey. He begins to form some real friendships, including one with a girl named Kaylee. Kaylee and her family live in the less affluent part of town, and when her father decides to invest in Trey’s dad’s latest get-rich-quick scheme, Trey is torn between loyalty to his family and guilt that Kaylee’s family will lose their life savings to his family, leaving him with some tough decisions to make.

Gordon Korman’s many fans will enjoy his latest, featuring a likable protagonist and a cast of other middle school kids who will seem familiar to readers. There’s plenty of humor, and Trey’s ethical dilemma could make for some interesting discussions. This is the second book I’ve read this year featuring a main character with an unrepentant criminal for a parent (although Trey’s father has a change of heart–sort of–at the end), which I’m finding is a premise that makes me a little uncomfortable.

Biggest Secret Ever! (Middle School and Other Disasters, book 3) by Wanda Coven, illustrated by Anna Abramskaya (Simon Spotlight, 352 pages, grades 3-7). Heidi Hecklebeck is back, having been promoted from her early chapter books series of a decade ago to a new middle school series. I missed the series start last year, so I read the latest, which is book 3. Heidi’s a student at Broomsfield Academy, a boarding school for both magical and non-magical students. The non-magical ones don’t know that some of the kids, like Heidi, are witches and wizards. Heidi’s working on learning to read people’s thoughts, which is her special gift, and also how to use magic to remedy emergency situations, which she seems to find herself in fairly frequently. When her new friend Isabelle confides to Heidi that she’s a princess but swears her to secrecy, Heidi’s not sure she can keep from sharing the secret. Her gossipy roommate Melanie guesses what it is, and Heidi has to try to use a spell to erase just the parts of Melanie’s brain that contain the secret. After a slight hiccup, Heidi succeeds, proving herself to be a loyal friend to Isabelle and a pretty good witch as well.

I’ve never read the Heidi Hecklebeck books, but this was a fun and light middle school tale with a bit of magic thrown in. The cover has a Dork Diaries vibe, and I imagine it would appeal to fans of that series. Inside, there are plenty of illustrations with a font that resembles handwriting and that varies in size so that some pages only have seven or eight sentences. Readers who may feel daunted by the 300+ page count will find it easier going than they may have expected. If you’re looking to get some good discussion going with this book, you might want to start by asking if you’d really want to be able to read other people’s minds.

The cat’s meow

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Picture Purrfect (Bodega Cats, book 1) by Hilda Eunice Burgos (Henry Holt and Company, 144 pages, grades 2-5). Told in the alternating voices of Miguel, a human boy, and Lolo, a cat, this story unfolds in Miguel’s parents’ New York City bodega. When Miguel finds a stray cat outside, he brings it into the bodega and convinces his parents to let him keep it. Lolo’s nervous at first, but eventually he feels comfortable enough in the bodega to head upstairs to the family’s apartment. He tries to be a good friend to Miguel, who’s having issues with his parents. They want him to excel in math and science, while real passion is art. Meanwhile, Lolo has worries of his own about a yellow stray cat who starts coming around the bodega. One memorable day, Miguel lies to his parents so he can go on a field trip to the Cloisters, and Lolo rescues the yellow cat right before she’s due to have kittens. After narrowly escaping disaster, Miguel finally has an honest conversation with his parents that results in a happy ending for all.

With a relatively low page count and plenty of illustrations–including Miguel’s comic book art–this is an engaging start to a new series for kids moving up to chapter books. Miguel’s family issues are relatable, with his hardworking Dominican immigrant parents and some interesting extended family members. Some kids may struggle with the alternating points of view, but it’s fun to get things from a cat’s perspective. A bodega full of newborn kittens in the last chapter should make for an interesting segue to book 2, due out in the spring.

Rescue Cat by Stephen Savage (Roaring Brook Press, 32 pages, ages 3-7). Butterscotch lives a cushy life, but it wasn’t always that way. Before she became a rescue cat, she lived on the streets, alone and scared. Now she finds new meaning in the term rescue cat: when she sees a lion cub being hunted by a hungry crocodile on TV, she jumps through the screen and roars at the crocodile. He chases Butterscotch and the cub, but they leap back to the safety of the living room. The cub plays there for a few minutes before returning to his TV family. Butterscotch knows that she is a brave rescue cat as she settles down for a nap with her toy crocodile.

Young readers will enjoy this cute story and be inspired by Butterscotch’s courage, even when she’s feeling scared. The “rescue cat” double meaning makes for some fun wordplay.