Review of One Word, Six Letters, by Adib Khorram

Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

One Word, Six Letters

by Adib Khorram

Henry Holt and Company, 2026. 213 pages.
Review written August 11, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

I’ve got a soft spot for Adib Khorram’s writing because his Morris-Award-winning debut novel, Darius the Great Is Not Okay, was published the year I was on the Newbery Committee. Although Darius did not win the Newbery (and is really more of a young adult book than a children’s book), it was a 2018 Sonderbooks Stand-out – in a year that I read ALL the best children’s and young adult books of the year and read most of them at least twice. So, yeah, I love his writing.

This book is about the effects of bullying language. The word referred to in the title is never printed on the page, but the cover tells us it starts with F and we know that one of the students is afraid people are saying it about him because they think he’s gay.

We’ve got two perspectives in this book, and both are presented in present tense, addressed to “you.” Usually I hate present-tense novels, let alone second-person – but Adib Khorram pulls it off, and it didn’t bother me a bit. I’ll give you a taste with the starting paragraph of each character.

For Dayton:

You know you’ve messed up when you get marched into the principal’s office.

For Farshid:

You’re so used to people saying your name wrong, you don’t realize it at first. After all, people have been messing up Farshid for as long as people have been saying it. Even the teachers who get it (mostly) right can’t quite do the ar, which is sort of halfway between air and are.

The situation is that both boys are freshmen in high school. They barely know each other, but have a class together. In an all-school assembly, a visiting poet was speaking, and a guy named Reggie bet Dayton to shout that word. Dayton wanted the $20 to buy some food (He hadn’t eaten breakfast.), so he did it. And it affected his whole school year. And Reggie never paid up.

Farshid wasn’t singled out by Dayton, but he’s afraid everyone was thinking of him. He insists to himself that he’s not gay. He focuses on lifting weights, working out, and watching his diet. His best friend, a girl named Nour, drags him to the Rainbow Coalition to show solidarity after the incident in the assembly. Farshid hopes people know he’s going as an ally.

Dayton gets in-school suspension the same time as another kid, named Brody. Dayton’s told to write an apology letter, and he knows he only did it for the bet – but no one else at school sees it that way. Dayton’s former friends don’t want anything to do with him, so his new best friend is Brody, who isn’t as picky about his language and doesn’t hold that mistake against him.

We go through the whole school year with these two boys. The incident has surprisingly long-lasting effects – which they eventually have to face up to.

And it’s all written engagingly, so you care about both boys, even the one who shouted the slur, as he learns a lesson about trying to repair your mistakes.

adibkhorram.com
fiercereads.com

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Review of Busted, by Dan Gemeinhart

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

Busted

by Dan Gemeinhart
read by Mark Sanderlin

Macmillan Audio, 2025. 8 hours, 44 minutes.
Review written July 31, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

Busted is one of those intergenerational caper novels that are fabulous when done well, and this one is exquisitely pulled off, with plenty of adventure and crazy situations for middle school students to enjoy, while simultaneously giving adult readers like me all the feels.

Oscar has grown up in a retirement community. Three days after his birth, he went to live with his grandpa at Sunny Days retirement community, and he’s got a huge set of unofficial grandparents who look after him. The book opens when Oscar is twelve years old and attending his forty-ninth funeral, for Mr. Howell, the kind man who owned the place.

When Mr. Howell’s son takes over, it isn’t long before Oscar and his Pops learn their rent is going to be quadrupled. So when a shady character down the hall offers Oscar money to do something for him, Oscar goes against his instincts and against everything he learned from the kind folks he lives with.

What Jimmy Deluca wants is for Oscar to bust him out of the nursing home. Mr. Deluca uses oxygen, wears a monitor, and is checked on every four hours. At first, Oscar thinks it’s enough to get Mr. Deluca out the door without the alarm going off, but next thing he knows, if he wants the money, Oscar has to come along.

And it’s not just Oscar and Mr. Deluca, whose mafia name turns out to have been Jimmy the Wrench. Jimmy the Wrench brought along his hairless cat, Mr. Buttercup. And then Natasha, Mr. Howell’s twelve-year-old granddaughter, inserts herself into the caper, someone much less uptight than Oscar about breaking rules.

They set off in Mr. Deluca’s classic car on what turns out to be a bucket list journey to some sketchy places, but starting with a mall, where Oscar has to buy clothes for Natasha to wear in place of the bathing suit she was wearing when she broke out of the retirement community with them. Including underthings.

Oscar figures they won’t get busted if they get back to the retirement community before a nurse checks on Mr. Deluca in four hours, but he didn’t account for Mr. Deluca’s plans.

The whole adventure is a wild ride from one thing to another. We learn that Oscar has some unusual talents as he gets to wrestle with when to worry about the right thing to do and when to worry about the good thing to do. The foursome (including the hairless cat) make an unlikely group, and this story is entertaining every step of the way – but comes to a conclusion so poignant, you might shed a tear or two.

I clearly haven’t read enough books by Dan Gemeinhart, because every one I have read has packed a punch.

dangemeinhart.com

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Review of When I’m a Moshom, by David A. Robertson and Corrie Hill

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

When I’m a Moshom

written by David A. Robertson
illustrated by Corrie Hill

Tundra, 2026. 36 pages.
Review written July 9, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This beautiful, soothing, and inspiring book will leave you with a warm and happy feeling. It’s from the creators of On the Trapline, written after the death of the author’s father. Told from the perspective of his young son, it’s a wonderful homage to the boy’s Moshom (grandfather).

Each section is headlined by a word in Swampy Cree with the English translation in parentheses. [And I apologize – I put the Swampy Cree words with the correctly accented letters into this post, but my blog didn’t recognize those characters and when I came back to it, they’re replaced with question marks. Instead of getting it wrong, I will simply list what they mean in English.] Some examples are “teacher,” “love,” and “your home.” Then the text starts with these lines:

When I’m a moshom,
A long, long time from now, . . .

And we get gentle descriptions of the things the moshom will do with his grandchildren… “Because that’s what Moshom used to always do.”

When I’m a moshom,
A long, long time from now,
I will go to all my grandchildren’s activities,
Just like Moshom did.

Those activities will include dancing, swimming, gymnastics, playing hockey.

Because moshoms bring the best luck,
Especially when they watch their grandchildren play.

The child’s Moshom taught them things, like words in the Cree language. He did things with them. He told them stories. He showed them his community.

My favorite section is probably the one headed by the word for Love:

When I’m a moshom,
A long, long time from now,
I will tell my grandchildren I love them,
Just like Moshom did.

I’ll say I love you when I visit them,
And they’ll jump into my arms and knock the wind out of me.

I’ll say I love you when they visit me,
And I’ll swing them around in a great, big circle.

I’ll say I love you when they call,
And they’ll hug their phone tight to their chests.

When ever they say, “Moshom, I love you,”
I’ll say “kisâkâhitin.” I love you, too.

Because that’s what Moshom used to always do.

An incredibly touching book for talking with a child about their grandparents. What things will your child do when they are a grandparent?

darobertson.ca
corriehill.com

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Review of A Kid Like Me, by Norm Feuti

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Graphic Novel 0

coverA Kid Like Me

by Norm Feuti

HarperAlley, 2026. 268 pages.
Review written July 16, 2026, from a library book.

I’ve long been a fan of graphic novels about middle school. It’s a good way to show the angst, the friendship drama, the worries, the wide range of emotions. This has all of that, with some additional insights as to what it’s like for a kid from a poor family when his classmates are wealthy.

Ethan and his friend Ricky are concerned about snobby people at his new school. Ethan found some Battle Bio cards at a yard sale, but Ricky’s more into wrestling. They don’t have any classes together, and the new friends Ricky brings to their table at lunch think Ethan’s a nerd for liking Battle Bio.

And then there’s the stuff. Ethan’s mom does get him a new phone – but it’s a flip phone that doesn’t even connect to the internet. His backpack’s falling apart, and so are the shoes they bought at the discount store. His mom’s trying her best, but how can Ethan fit in when they simply don’t have the money?

When he does make friends at a Battle Bio club, a friend’s mom is afraid to let her son visit Ethan’s home in the trailer park.

The free lunch is handled well at the middle school – kids just type in their ID number, so no one knows who’s paying what, but it turns out that if he gets extra cookies or snacks after lunch, and just types in his number – his mother gets a bill.

Something I like about this book is that, while it does present a bunch of challenges, you feel like Ethan mostly manages to get past them in a healthy way. Ethan and Ricky’s friendship is strained during the book, but they’re friends at the end, and that feels realistic and healthy.

The story kept me reading, and enjoying time with a good kid who doesn’t have as much money as many of his classmates, but is still worth knowing.

normfeuticartoons.com

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Review of Together We See, by Ari Tison

Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Together We See

by Ari Tison

Farrar Straus Giroux, 2026. 310 pages.
Review written July 24, 2026, from my own copy, sent to me by the publisher.
Starred Review

I suspect the publisher sent me Ari Tison’s new book because I was on the 2024 Morris Award Committee that chose her debut novel, Saints of the Household, as a finalist, and they knew I’d love it. They were right. I was already a huge fan of Ari Tison’s work, and I think she’s gotten even better with her second novel.

Ulá lives with her mother in Wisconsin, making plans for after high school. She’s excited to see her brother, coming home from time in Costa Rica, but is less than thrilled when their dad shows up along with him.

Their dad lives on Bribri territory in Costa Rica after years as an activist. As far as Ulá is concerned, he’s got a long history of not keeping his promises, and that’s reinforced when he gets a flight back to Costa Rica after only two days.

But then they get the news that he died of a heart attack only a couple days after going back. Ulá and her brother go to attend his funeral, in keeping with the Bribri ways. But then things turn up that suggest maybe his death wasn’t from natural causes as the police believe.

We end up with a gripping mystery, and a story about family and community, with plenty of historical background information about injustices against indigenous people in general, and Bribri people in particular.

There are chapters interspersed from the perspective of Ulá’s ancestors, watching over her, seeing what’s happening on the land.

And all of this is told about characters you quickly care about, with relationships that are complicated, as in real life.

And yes, as the cover hints, there are venomous snakes in this book.

aritison.com

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Review of This Story Might Save Your Life, by Tiffany Crum

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Mystery, Starred Review 0

This Story Might Save Your Life

by Tiffany Crum
read by Julia Whelan and Sean Patrick Hopkins

Macmillan Audio, 2026. 10 hours, 39 minutes.
Review written July 15, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

This audiobook had me riveted from start to finish. I was in the middle of things last night, and when I woke up in the morning, my first thoughts were about this book. I made sure I found times to snatch a listen until it was done.

The book is a tale of two best friends who run a podcast called “This Story Might Save Your Life.” One of Joy or Benny introduces a life-threatening situation, based on a true tale of survival, and the other one ad-libs ideas for what they would do to survive. With banter and lots of humor at the terrible ideas. They finish when the person who researched the story tells how the actual person survived or what experts say you should do to survive in such a case. The podcast is crazy popular because listeners can sense the spark of devoted friendship and respect between Joy and Benny, who met not long after college.

We can tell the book begins on a momentous day, because they call it “Day 1.” The sinister Santa Ana winds are blowing, and they do the start of a podcast together. Joy slips Benny a note to come back and talk with her alone, but we don’t find out why. The next day, Joy and her husband Xander, the producer of the podcast, are missing.

The mystery is this: Where are Joy and Xander? What happened to them? We’re fed information in an exquisitely suspenseful way. Alternate chapters go back in time by giving us excerpts from a memoir Joy was writing with Benny about their friendship. I don’t dare say anything about the crucial developments in the story, because the author so expertly feeds us background and current information at exactly the right pace.

I will say some things we learn right at the start. Joy has narcolepsy, and has had it since high school. She takes a wide variety of medicines to manage it, but she still is known to fall asleep anywhere. This human failing of Joy’s makes her all the more likable from the beginning.

We also learn that the previous year has been tough. Their podcast is wildly popular, and Xander’s trying to arrange a lucrative deal with a production company. But Joy has had a stalker. She hasn’t left her house in six months. There are references to difficult things that happened, but we don’t get the details right away.

And Benny feels terribly guilty about what he said to Joy when they met at her house the night before she disappeared. What did he say? Does it have to do with her disappearance? And where are they now? And why is he hiding Joy’s computer from the police?

I wish I could say more! But when the plotting is just so very good, I don’t want to risk messing it up. I read in Libby that there are some extras on the audio version – the podcast that came at the end of the book is a fun bonus. And there are some nice sound effects thrown in. They include different people’s voices calling in to a Tipline about the missing people. So I’m going to recommend listening to this book if you get the chance.

tiffanycrum.com

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Review of Let Them Stare, by Jonathan Van Ness and Julie Murphy

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Teen Fiction Review 0

Let Them Stare

by Jonathan Van Ness and Julie Murphy
read by Jonathan Van Ness and Jeremy Arthur

Storytide (HarperCollins), 2025. 10 hours, 5 minute.
Review written July 1, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.

Let Them Stare is a light-hearted romp about a queer teen with a haunted handbag – with serious overtones about the history of how queer people were treated and how they fought back.

As the story opens, Sully is having a high school graduation party and looking forward to leaving Hearst – a small town near Pittsburgh – the very next day for the glamour of New York City as a junior assistant to an influencer. When their uncle misgenders and insults them while pretending to give them a gift, Sully is all the more ready to put it all behind them. They sell their car to Brad, the only gay guy in town, with a small last-minute make-out session to seal the deal.

But in the morning, the influencer decides to go to Tahiti and sends Sully notice that they won’t be needed after all. So Sully’s left with no job, no money, and no car – stuck in Hearst. However, when they go back to the thrift shop to try to get their job back, they don’t succeed – but they do score a vintage handbag worth potentially tens of thousands of dollars – enough to go to New York after all! Trouble is, when Sully takes it home and gets the lock open – a ghost comes out of the bag.

Rufus, the ghost, is a flamboyant drag performer (or, as he calls it, “female impersonator”) from Hearst in the 1950s. Rufus and Sully instantly recognize their similar ways of being. But Rufus doesn’t remember what happened to him or how he died young. And Sully can’t sell the bag with a ghost living in it. So Sully takes on the quest of researching Rufus and their history. Since they don’t have a car, they get rides with Brad, and Rufus is eager to give advice on Sully’s love life.

It’s all told with lots of humor. Sully has always been over-the-top, and they get into some comical situations when talking to the ghost in their bag. Rufus slowly remembers more and more of his life, leading them to various locations around Hearst to find out more. And along the way, the full story comes out of how queer people historically had to hide – and were punished severely if they didn’t.

The plot borders on melodramatic – complete with a nefarious politician who wants to sell off historical parts of the town. But the whole thing is as flamboyant as Sully, and this only adds to the fun. I appreciate how, even with such serious historical material to deal with, the authors keep it light and give everyone a happy ending. The good guys – or good people – win in this one.

jonathanvanness.com
imjuliemurphy.com

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Review of Midsummer Sisters, by Niki Smith

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Graphic Novel 0

Midsummer Sisters

by Niki Smith

Graphix (Scholastic), 2026. 270 pages.
Review written July 11, 2026, from a library book.

This graphic novel makes you feel the summer breezes at the beach.

Quinn and Kenzie have been stepsisters pretty much as long as they can remember. But the book starts when their parents are fighting, and together they’re trying to block out the noise. The next day their Gramma (technically, Kenzie’s grandmother) comes to take them to the Outer Banks, so their parents can have some time alone and work things out.

Quinn and Kenzie are in middle school or upper elementary (not entirely clear which), and Quinn’s more upset to leave her friends behind than Kenzie is. Gramma is a veterinarian who keeps an eye on the local herd of wild horses that inhabit the islands, so the girls are excited to go kayaking in the nearby waters and spot the horses – and a newborn foal.

So this graphic novel is about summer fun – and the pictures make you feel like you’re there. But there’s an undercurrent of what are the girls going to do if their parents split up?

This is a lovely story and a quick read – with horses!

niki-smith.com
scholastic.com

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Review of Whistler, by Ann Patchett

Contemporary, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Whistler

by Ann Patchett
read by the Author

Harper, 2026. 10 hours, 45 minutes.
Review written July 1, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Whistler is another rich, warm tapestry of a novel from genius author Ann Patchett.

This one begins when Daphne’s husband notices that a man is following them in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The stranger turns out to be Eddie Triplett – her former stepfather. They haven’t seen each other in 44 years, since Daphne was nine years old.

Of the three men her mother married, Eddie was Daphne’s favorite. Her mother had told Daphne that he had to leave because he’d endangered her life in the car accident that happened shortly before she sent him away. Now as an adult, Daphne learns about the real reasons. And she has a lot of unpacking to do.

The story of that car accident from 44 years ago weaves through the book. While her sister was in the hospital with appendicitis and their mother was by her side, Eddie drove Daphne up to a closed-for-the-winter blackberry farm to see the stars – and drove off the side of the hill. Eddie was injured and couldn’t get out, and they spent significant time talking together in the toppled car. Eddie was an editor and told Daphne a story of a book proposal he’d just read where a woman was in an accident and was saved when her horse, Whistler, came back for her.

But the book isn’t simply about that long-ago car accident. It’s also about the present, about reconnecting while making new sense of the past. And above all, it’s about the joy of reuniting with a beloved father figure.

A richly written and evocative book about joy and love. Can I give a stronger recommendation?

annpatchett.com

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Review of We the People Is All the People, written by Howard W. Reeves, illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

We the People Is All the People

written by Howard W. Reeves
illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2026. 36 pages.
Review written June 4, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

The concept of this picture book is simple and beautiful. The first page after the title page lists the Preamble to the United States Constitution, of course beginning with “We the People.” The rest of the book shows the wonderful multi-faceted diversity of the people of the United States.

Here’s how it begins:

“We the people” is all the people.

People
next door,
down the street,
and across the country,
in cities,
towns,
and farms.

People
living in houses,
apartments,
and in shelters,

who worship in churches,
mosques,
and temples.

People
who were here,
who arrived later,
who still come today.

And so it continues. Of course the pictures add great resonance – showing us a wide variety of people who fit each description.

A later section includes:

People
who look different ways,
love different ways,
and communicate different ways.

People
on assembly lines,
bread lines,
and protest lines.

And the last couple spreads:

Her. Him. Them.
You. Me. Us.

“We the people” is ALL the people.

There’s an author’s note at the back where he does acknowledge that the Constitution was originally written not for all the people, but for landowning white men. But I like his conclusion:

Some injustices have been corrected, such as emancipating the enslaved and giving women the vote, while others we are still working on.

Although things are better today, and there are more people included in “we the people” than when the preamble was written, for every step forward there is often a step backward, and there are still so many people left out. We still have much more work to do to include all the “we” in “we the people” as we strive to create a more perfect union.

This simple and beautiful picture book helps me believe that we can raise up the next generation to help make it so. Reading this book is a perfect way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.

DuncanTonatiuh.com
abramsbooks.com

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