Review of All the Blues in the Sky, by Renée Watson

Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

All the Blues in the Sky

by Renée Watson

Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2025. 182 pages.
Review written January 27, 2026, from my own copy, given to me at ALA Annual Conference and signed by the author.
Starred Review
2026 Newbery Medal Winner

I was happy when the Newbery Medal Winner was announced – and it was a book sitting by my bed in one of my TBR piles, signed by the author. And yes, I’d heard the author speak before I got it signed at ALA Annual Conference, and I was very excited about reading it.

I was disappointed in myself that I hadn’t read it yet. (So many books, so little time! I wanted to read it right away, but there are so many books in those piles, plus award reading, plus I just blew it.)

However, the good side was that it made perfect Snow Day reading. In between walks in the snow, I lounged by the fire, and as a novel in verse, it wasn’t long before I had this beautiful book read.

Here’s the first page of the text:

I didn’t know
best friends could die.

Yes, this is a book about grief. The narrator is Sage, and on her thirteenth birthday her best friend was walking to her house and was hit by a car and died.

Sage is in a grief group after school with four other kids. Two of them lost a loved one suddenly, and two lost a loved one slowly, after a long process. Sage feels like that’s not the same, since she didn’t get a chance to say good-by.

But there are ups and downs after loss. And sometimes the sadness and happiness come at the same time. Sage wants to be a pilot, and she’s going to a program about learning to be one, and she thinks about all the different shades of blue in the sky – and all the different shades of grief.

The poetry in this book is beautiful. We feel with Sage, grieve with her, but also rejoice with her. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself shedding some tears while reading it. (Especially at the rejoicing with her part.) And the book brings us to a place where we know she’ll be able to carry on, feeling all the emotions.

An Author’s Note at the back tells us that Renée Watson lost fifteen people she loved, including her mother, in the space of two years. This didn’t surprise me, because she brings authenticity to the story. And ultimately, hope. She ends the Author’s Note and the book like this:

I hope this book gives every reader permission to feel real emotions, to admit when life is hard.
I hope this book reminds every reader that in the midst of sadness and grief, there can be joy and goodness.

And Renée models that – because out of her own deep loss, she brought forth this wonderful book.

reneewatson.net

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Review of The Queen’s Secret, by Jessica Day George

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

The Queen’s Secret

Rose Legacy, Book Two

by Jessica Day George

Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2019. 250 pages.
Starred Review

This is the second book in a planned trilogy about a land of exiles where people can communicate with horses. And our heroine, Anthea, has an especially strong bond, able to communicate with all the horses, not only Florian, the stallion who’s bonded to her.

I enjoyed this book more than the first one. In that one, the set-up of magical telepathic communication with horses seemed a little bit too much like generic wish-fulfillment.

In this book, the set-up is done, and I enjoyed seeing the people and horses trying to work together. The horse communication seems horsey, not just the thoughts of people attributed to horses.

The Horse Brigade has the favor of the queen – but the king is not so easily won over. As the book opens, they are trying to prove themselves by carrying messages and trying to be useful in the king’s service. However, as things develop, it appears that someone is working against them.

Then an outbreak of illness starts – in the exact places where the horses had been. For a country that already thought horses bring disease, trying to win support for the Horse Brigade just became much more difficult.

The book does end on a disastrous note. We will have to wait for the next book to see how Anthea and the horses of Last Farm can overcome a major setback.

These books are perfect for fantasy-lovers who also love horses. It takes the idea of becoming one with your horse to the next level.

jessicadaygeorge.com
Bloomsbury.com

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Review of Here Comes Lolo, by Niki Daly

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Here Comes Lolo

by Niki Daly

Catalyst Press, 2020. Originally published in 2019 in Great Britain. 78 pages.
Review written November 27, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

I read these beginning chapter books about Lolo out of order, and still love every one of them. This is the first one, where Lolo is introduced. She lives with Mama and Gogo (her grandmother) in South Africa. As all good beginning chapter books, the stories about Lolo reflect the interests of a young child beginning to learn to read. What’s fun about Lolo is that living in South Africa makes her concerns a little different than they might be if she were an American child — yet her personality and adventures are relatable.

There are four short stories in the book:

“A Gold Star and a Kiss for Lolo” is about her desire to win a gold star for reading from her teacher, but the setback that happens when she does.

In “Lolo’s Hat,” Lolo falls in love with a floppy hat in a shop window — but it isn’t there when she and her Mama go back for it.

“Lolo and the Lost Ring” begins like this:

Whenever Mama, Gogo, and Lolo went for a walk, Mama would look up and say, “I love the clouds against the blue sky.” Gogo would look around and say, “I love those trees,” or “What a nice dress that woman is wearing.” Stuff like that.

Lolo liked looking at the ground where flowers grow and where there were cracks to jump over on pavements.

And that’s where she found it: a ring lying in a crack in the pavement!

“Lolo and a Dog Called Hope” is about a dog that lives next door and is being mistreated. What should she do?

Lolo deals with small problems with flare — and with the help of Mama and Gogo.

Often with beginning chapter books, I read just one to get the idea of the series. But with Lolo, I wanted to read them all.

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Review of Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Wundersmith

The Calling of Morrigan Crow

by Jessica Townsend
read by Gemma Whelan

Hachette Audio (Little, Brown), 2018. 12 hours on 10 CDs.
Starred Review
Review written November 6, 2019, from a library audiobook

First, how did this review get buried so long in my unposted drafts? I’m not sure, but here, at last, it is.

Wundersmith is the sequel to Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, or I should say the second book in the series, because the story isn’t finished yet.

All her life, Morrigan Crow has been told she was cursed, and any misfortune that happened to anyone around her was blamed on her. In the first book, she learned that she’s actually a Wundersmith – an amazing gift with the ability to manipulate Wunder, and she’s brought to Nevermoor, a magical place that folks on the outside don’t even know about, and she competes to become part of the Wundrous Society.

In the second book, she’s officially part of the Wundrous Society and ready to begin her classes with the eight other members of her unit. They’re supposed to be like her new brothers and sisters.

But things don’t go like the reader expects. Suppose in the Harry Potter books that Voldemort had a particular powerful gift and was still in power outside Hogwarts. And then suppose Harry was the first wizard to have that exact same gift in one hundred years. Would people be willing to actually train him in his gift?

That’s the situation for Morrigan Crow. The “most evil man who ever lived” was a Wundersmith, and he has been banished from Nevermoor and his name is mentioned to frighten children. Morrigan is the first person to have this gift in a hundred years, and no one in the Wundrous Society wants to teach her “the wretched arts” that a Wundersmith uses.

The only class she’s assigned is a history of Wundersmiths, taught by an instructor who goes over and over how evil or stupid every single Wundersmith has been.

Meanwhile, her unit is told that if they tell anyone that Morrigan is a Wundersmith, they will all be expelled from the Wundrous Society. But someone starts blackmailing them, one by one, or the secret will be revealed. Do they care enough about Morrigan to keep her secret?

At the same time, various people and creatures start going missing. Is Morrigan to blame? Her patron, Jupiter North, is spending all his time working on the problem – so he’s not around for Morrigan to confide in.

The situations all work to a dramatic finish, but with hints of more problems to come.

This book is delightful, and I especially enjoyed listening to it, the narrator’s accent adding to my enjoyment. Jessica Townsend has a vivid imagination, throwing fun tidbits into the story – tricksy lanes that do strange things to you as you walk into them, a smoking room that generates different flavors of smoke, a building made of water, and so much more. I didn’t want to think too hard about how some of the things would actually work, but they were great fun to read about.

Now, there were many places in this book where, like the Harry Potter books, I firmly wished they would just tell a teacher! As with those, various motivations were given for why they didn’t, and it did all work out in the end. There was also a huge coincidence that Morrigan ended up stumbling on something that ended up being a major plot point, but all things taken together, it didn’t ruin the book.

So if you want to read another saga set in an imaginative, magical world, where a young magic user must learn how to use her power to fight evil, in the company of loyal friends – look no further! This series would also make great family listening. I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

HachetteAudio.com

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Review of Rain Reign, by Ann M. Martin

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

Rain Reign

by Ann M. Martin

Feiwel and Friends, 2014. 226 pages.
Review written September 16, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
2025 Mathical Honor Book

It took me a long time to get around to reading this highly acclaimed middle grade novel, but I’m glad I finally did.

Rose is happy to have a name that’s a homonym (Rose, rows) and to have a dog Rain whose name is a triple homonym (Rain, reign, rein). Rose is in fifth grade, and she’s on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. She has an aide to help her remember not to shout when someone breaks a rule, and to remind her that not everyone is interested in homonyms.

Rain lives with her father, who has trouble getting impatient with her at times, but she also has her dog Rain to turn to. Her uncle Weldon lives down the road and drives Rose to and from school. But when a hurricane hits and her father lets Rain out without her collar, Rose is distraught when she can’t find her after the storm. Could she have been swept away down the swollen creek?

But Rose makes a plan and gets help from some new friends.

The plot of this story is fairly simple, but it’s heartfelt, and does take a surprising and poignant turn at the end. Rose tells her own story, and hearing things from her perspective, we don’t think she’s weird – and we feel pain when other people do. But we also feel joy when she finds that having a loving dog can bring people together.

mackids.com

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Review of Two Tribes, by Emily Bowen Cohen

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Graphic Novel 0

Two Tribes

by Emily Bowen Cohen
with colors by Lark Pien

Heartdrum (Harper Alley), 2023. 252 pages.
Review written September 21, 2023, from a library book.

This graphic novel is about Mia, a middle school girl who has recently started attending Jewish school after her mother remarried and is getting serious about Judaism. Mia is enjoying many things about the new traditions, but she feels like an outsider because her skin is brown, inherited from her father. Her father is a member of the Muscogee nation. He left their family when Mia was 3 and now lives far away from them with a new wife and kids in Oklahoma.

Mia wants to find out more about her indigenous heritage. She checks out a book from the library and sees awful stereotypes.

So she comes up with a plan to use money from her Bat Mitzvah to take a bus to visit her father in Oklahoma. But she tells her mother she’s going to Shabbaton, a special Jewish camp.

She has a wonderful time in Oklahoma and learns much about her heritage. But it’s inevitable that her mother will figure it out….

Overall, this book is heart-warming. There are some tough moments for Mia, but most people she encounters are good-hearted and willing to correct when they make mistakes. It’s a lovely story about coming to grips with a dual heritage, and the graphic novel format pulls the reader right in.

emilybowencohenauthor.com
harperalley.com

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Review of Kareem Between, by Shifa Saltagi Safadi, read by Peter Romano

Audiobooks, Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

Kareem Between

by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
read by Peter Romano

Listening Library, 2024. 3 hours, 22 minutes.
Review written February 15, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review
2024 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Winner
2024 CYBILS Award Winner, Novels in Verse
2025 Capitol Choices Selection

Kareem Between is about a child of immigrants born in America who loves football and wants to play on his middle school team. But when his best friend moves away on the day of tryouts, he doesn’t do his best and doesn’t make the team.

So when the coach’s son – who did make the team – promises to put in a word with his dad if Kareem will do his homework, Kareem thinks it’s probably worth it just this once. But it turns out that it becomes an expectation.

Now, I’m too much of a rule-follower to have a lot of sympathy for Kareem as he dug himself into a deeper and deeper hole. But then his mother goes to Syria to try to bring her ailing parents back with her to America. His doctor father can’t go, because any Syrian man will be conscripted into the army during war time. It’s the start of 2017, and I remembered what a bad time that was to travel to Syria.

Meanwhile, with his mother gone leaving the whole family on edge, a Syrian refugee family has moved to their neighborhood with a boy Kareem’s age named Fadi, and Kareem is asked to help him at school. But when the coach’s kid starts bullying Fadi, Kareem doesn’t want to get caught in that negative attention.

Well, thankfully Kareem does finally get pushed to the edge and figures out he needs to try to make things right. But as that is happening, Trump’s Muslim ban goes into effect, causing great pain and heartache, and they can’t even reach Kareem’s mother in Syria.

This book is far too timely right now, putting a face and heart to a story of a child of immigrants feeling in between both cultures – and being part of what truly makes America great.

shifasafadi.com

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Review of Coach, by Jason Reynolds

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

Coach

Track, Book Five

by Jason Reynolds
read by Guy Lockard

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2025. 5 hours, 14 minutes.
Review written December 18, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Coach is the fifth book in Jason Reynolds’ Track series for middle grade readers, each one featuring a different member of the Defenders track team – talking about all the good things about competing on a team while also giving us a window into life situations that weren’t always easy. It looks like I only reviewed the first two books, Ghost and Patina. Though this is book five, it’s effectively a prequel – since this book covers when Coach was a kid, discovering track himself in the 1980s.

This book is narrated with great enthusiasm by Guy Lockard. The reading was basically the same character as in Jason Reynolds’ Stuntboy books, a boy with ADHD. And that didn’t feel wrong for this book, though Coach – then known as Otie Brody – wasn’t formally diagnosed with ADHD and was a bit older than Stuntboy. But he was enthusiastic about things and did sometimes get distracted.

Otie’s enthusiasms make for great reading. His dream is to run in the Olympics and win a gold medal like his hero, Carl Lewis. And also to build a time machine like Marty McFly from Back to the Future. But after he gets mocked for letting his hair get out of shape – his dad being out of town – Otie tries to fix it himself – and accidentally shaves his eyebrow off. His mother helps him concoct a plausible story that it reduces drag and makes him faster – and shaves his whole head to sell the story.

That’s the beginning of Otie’s antics and obstacles as we see him trying to do his best, dreaming of winning glory, and dealing with some family issues – that all go into making him the empathetic coach he’ll need to be later.

Another solid feel-good choice for middle school and upper elementary readers, you don’t have to read the first books to enjoy this one. So glad that there’s one more!

jasonwritesbooks.com

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Review of The Teacher of Nomad Land, by Daniel Nayeri

Audiobooks, Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Teacher of Nomad Land

A World War II Story

by Daniel Nayeri
read by Daniel Nayeri

Listening Library, 2025. 3 hours, 23 minutes.
Review written December 12, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review
2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Winner

Ahhhh. The Teacher of Nomad Land is my favorite Daniel Nayeri book so far. And he’s already won the Printz Award and Newbery Honor. Traditionally, it usually turns out that the winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature does not win the Newbery Medal. Will this year break the pattern?

But about the book. As the subtitle indicates, this is a World War II story, and it’s set in Iran. Iran wasn’t the main stage in World War II and was officially neutral – but that made it a place where people from all over the world could meet one another – with lots of room for misunderstandings.

Our story begins in Isfahan when Babak’s father has recently been killed by the Russian army. His father had been visiting the nomads in their summer home, teaching their children, and the army fired at them, thinking they were insurgents. Babak promises his little sister Sanna that even though they are orphans, he won’t let them be split up, but their relatives don’t give them any choice.

So Babak works as an errand boy for a year, trying to save money to take Sanna away with him so they can be together. They will ask the nomads to take them in before they leave for their winter home.

After a year of saving, the money doesn’t work out, but Babak and Sanna set out anyway. Babak brings along his father’s blackboard, rigged with leather straps to carry on his back. He offers to teach the nomads’ children and tries to be as good a teacher as his father was, but his first attempt isn’t enough for the chief of the nomads.

But then the adventure really begins. As Babak and Sanna try to find their way back to Isfahan, staying together no matter what, they encounter a ruthless Nazi spy who takes all their food. Later, they meet the Jewish refugee boy from Poland that the German is looking for. Together, they try to make their way to somewhere safe, but there’s lots of misunderstanding along the way, not to mention the need for food and water.

The most brilliant scene of all is when Babak figures out how to facilitate communication between the nomads, British soldiers, and Russian soldiers – using I think it was five different languages.

Along the way, Babak learns to emulate his father and think like a teacher, gleaning plenty of wisdom as he does so.

I also love that the book isn’t overindulgent in its length, despite the heavy topic of war time – under four hours in an audiobook! – just right for a children’s book. Yes, it’s about war time, so there are dangerous and scary situations, but the kids at the center of it come through brilliantly.

danielnayeri.com

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Review of Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine, read by Eden Riegel

Children's Fiction Review, Fairy Tale Variant, Fantasy, Old Favorites, Sonderbooks25, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Ella Enchanted

by Gail Carson Levine
read by Eden Riegel

Listening Library, 2000. 5 hours, 42 minutes.
This review written August 25, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Original review posted February 25, 2002.
1998 Newbery Honor Book
Starred Review
2002 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #4 Young Adult and Children’s Fantasy Rereads

To this day, I am proud that I discovered Ella Enchanted *before* it won Newbery Honor. I have a first edition, without the sticker. I don’t know where I got it, but in 1997 I lived in Germany, and I wanted to be a children’s writer. Somehow I got some copies of some publisher catalogs. I was taken with the description of Ella Enchanted – I always love fairy tale retellings – and must have ordered my copy from Amazon. I loved it and was delighted when it won Newbery Honor.

In honor of my 25th year of writing Sonderbooks, I’ve been celebrating #Sonderbooks25. My plan was to reread my reviews of all my Sonderbooks Stand-outs over the years and choose one book to reread from each year. Well, that was a good plan! Instead, I’ve started rereading *all* my reviews and have found the old favorites that my library has on audio and have revisited many. I started at the beginning of 2025, and am still working on 2003. I tell myself it will go more quickly when I don’t have to convert those older pages to phone-friendly format (after 2005) – but hey, the only deadline is my own, and I’m having lots of fun.

It was a delight to enter the world of Ella Enchanted again. At last, we understand why Cinderella let her step family boss her around so horribly – she was cursed at birth with the “gift” of obedience – when someone gives her a direct command, she has to obey.

Gail Carson Levine added many other delightful details as well. It’s a magical kingdom where ogres can charm humans and make you do whatever they want. And it’s also inhabited by kindly gnomes and giants. Ella has a gift of languages, and she gets to know Prince Charmant well before the ball – but he doesn’t recognize her because it’s a masked ball. Besides the romance, the plot involves Ella trying to break her curse.

I put my original review in Young Adult Fiction, but this time around, I have to bow to the fact that despite Ella being a teen who’s old enough to marry, the book is really written for children in the middle grades. The romance isn’t about physical attraction so much as it is about making each other laugh. It all adds up to a sweet story that will make you smile, whatever age you are when you discover it.

gailcarsonlevine.com

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