Review of Pufflings Fly Free! by Colleen Paeff, illustrated by Linda Ólafsdóttir

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Pufflings Fly Free!

A Rescue Tale from Iceland

by Colleen Paeff
illustrated by Linda Ólafsdóttir

Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2026.
Review written September 18, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

Pufflings Fly Free! is a sweet picture book based on real events that happen every year in the Westman Islands of Iceland.

The book starts with a girl named Freya, the youngest in her family, going out late on a full-moon night on Puffling Patrol.

More than a million puffins come to the Westman Islands every year to breed. The parents leave their chicks – their pufflings – when they’re barely able to fly. Most of the pufflings make it to the ocean, where they live on the water, feast on fish, and their wings grow strong. But some unlucky babies accidentally end up on the land of the islands. There, the pufflings are vulnerable to cars, predators, and even starvation.

So – families like Freya’s go on Puffling Patrol. They capture frightened pufflings and place them safely in grass-lined boxes for the night.

Tomorrow they will check its health with a local scientist, then release the bird over the ocean. There, it will learn to fly and dive for fish, like all adult puffins. But tonight, it will stay at Freya’s house, safe from cars and cats and other kinds of danger.

Freya is good at spotting pufflings. But when it comes to catching them, she gets flustered when they flap and nip and can’t seem to hold onto them. Everyone else seems better at it than she is.

But when they’re almost done for the night, a little bird dives into the mouth of an excavator claw – an opening where only Freya can follow. This time, she speaks calming words to the puffling and to herself, and she gathers the baby up without fumbling.

The next day after the scientist checks and bands the birds, Freya gets to set her rescued puffling free to fly out over the water and grow strong.

Six pages of back matter give us more information about puffins and the Puffling Patrol. This is a lovely story packed with real-life facts that will make you want to visit Iceland.

colleenpaeff.com
lindaolafsdottir.com

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Review of Like Glass, by Jen Ferguson

Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Like Glass

by Jen Ferguson

Heartdrum, October 6, 2026. 322 pages.
Review written July 10, 2026, from an Advance Reader Copy.
Starred Review

A year ago, Tatum Nova Lambert’s big sister, Bronwyn Moonbeam, died of a brain aneurysm in Chamonix, in the French Alps. Their father, a world-class chef, decided to open a restaurant there in her honor. Now Tatum has come to Chamonix over Spring break for the opening of the restaurant – and to get her father to come back to Toronto.

It doesn’t begin well: He forgets to pick her up from the bus station. They’re staying in what used to be Bronwyn’s apartment, and Tatum finds Bronwyn’s necklace there – the one they buried with her sister. Her father doesn’t really talk with her, he grew out his beard, and Tatum’s pretty sure he’s drinking again.

But as Tatum explores Chamonix, she meets people who help her gain perspective. There’s Beetle, the kid who pickpocketed the necklace before she confronted him and got it back. And then there’s Agatha, who’s training to be on the U.S. Olympic Team as a ski jumper. Agatha gets her. But how much trouble will she get into if Tatum knocks her out of her training schedule?

This isn’t a gripping plot book, but it is, like all Jen Ferguson’s books, nuanced and meditative and full of people you enjoy spending time with, including queer people and people with indigenous heritage.

It’s also about Art and about Identity. Tatum’s art teacher back home doesn’t think her art is Native enough. But what does that even mean? And how does he, with settler heritage, have any right to say that?

And it’s about Grief. Bronwyn was never good about answering Tatum’s postcards, and Tatum’s finding out all she didn’t know about her sister’s life.

I like the way the book comes together at the end, though I won’t give away the many threads that involves. They aren’t tied up in a neat bow, but Tatum got some good interior work done on her trip, and it was a pleasure to get to bear witness to it.

jenfergusonwrites.com

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Review of King of the Neuro Verse, by Idris Goodwin

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 1

King of the Neuro Verse

by Idris Goodwin
read by the Author

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2025. 3 hours, 2 minutes.
Review written August 12, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

This is a young adult novel in verse, so it’s short, and perfect for neurodivergent thinkers like the protagonist.

Pernell is stuck going to summer school for his third time in high school, and all his nerves are jangled. Fortunately, a friend gave him a digital voice recorder, so he’s letting off steam by telling all his difficulties to “the future.” It’s 1999, so he’s not sure if the world will end when Y2K hits.

He’s got to take English – and then it turns out that the very teacher who made him go to summer school is teaching the class. She’s made up her mind about Pernell and is portrayed as a bully who humiliates him regularly. Though Pernell honestly has trouble paying attention.

Fortunately, at lunch time, every year a group of students do a rap circle they call the Cypher. Last year’s Cypher King graduated, and Pernell is determined to win the crown himself.

So why does playing with language in rap make so much more sense to him than writing essays in class?

My one little quibble with this audiobook is that a couple of times Pernell refers to ambient noise, and I wish the production had gone to enough trouble to simulate that, since it pulled me out of the book when I didn’t hear it. Supposedly, he’s recording the whole thing. In a print book, we don’t miss the ambient noise and trust that it’s there, but in an audiobook, I wish they’d attempted to make us think this was Pernell’s actual recording. The author is a rapper himself, so he reads the words well.

But that was a minor quibble. The story itself helped me understand how it feels to be a teen with ADHD just trying to do his best – and be King of what he actually cares about.

idrisgoodwin.com

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Review of The Scammer, by Tiffany D. Jackson

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Suspense, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Scammer

by Tiffany D. Jackson
read by January LaVoy

Quill Tree Books, 2025. 9 hours, 10 minutes.
Review written December 15, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.

The Scammer is another young adult thriller by Tiffany Jackson featuring a Black girl protagonist. Jordyn has decided at the last minute, against her parents wishes, to defer her Yale acceptance and attend a historically Black university in Washington, D.C. Once there, she quickly becomes firm friends with her suitemates.

But one of her new friends has a brother who recently got out of prison (wrongly accused, of course), and she asks to let him stay with them. Devonte is everything charming. He cooks for the girls, cleans for them, and starts giving life advice.

But the life advice accelerates to controlling every part of their lives, giving them a curfew, telling them what they can do, and who they can be around. What’s more, it spreads to more people on campus turning to this charming older man to know how they should live. And then he starts asking for money, so their new family can build a community together.

I have to say that the middle of this audiobook when Devonte was getting more and more controlling was difficult even to listen to. Jordyn does make at least one friend who helps her get her head clear – but of course it all leads up to a dangerous crisis. As has to happen in any good thriller.

So yes, here’s some gripping escapism with a side of cautionary tale. And a thriller with a less typical heroine in the spotlight.

writeinbk.com

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Review of Wildspeak, words by Sangma Francis, pictures by Lexi Vangsnes

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Wildspeak

words by Sangma Francis
pictures by Lexi Vangsnes

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2026. 36 pages.
Review written August 13, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

Wildspeak is a wondrous and wonder-filled picture book about creativity and exploring the natural world.

We see a mother and two girls heading off on a nature walk. All three have brown skin, and a dog is happily bounding along with them.

In the wide, wide world with its wide, wide skies,
there are wild, wild words waiting to be spoken.

First, the book highlights some imaginative words that describe nature, like “dragonflies,” and “waterweeds.” But then they begin making up words of their own, like “Sunglitter,” to describe the scatter of light off water. And then they make a game of it:

“What’s the word for the shininess of pebbles underneath?” Cora asks.

It’s time for Wildspeak! On the next spread, they shout the words, “Stonelight,” “Bottomshimmer,” “Rockglisten,” and “Goblingems.”

And so the book continues. I’m not sure where they find so many different spaces for their nature walk – meadows, beach, mountain, forest – but in each space they highlight some existing wild words, and then make up new ones of their own.

For example, when a wave goes out and leaves sea stones drying in the sun, the girls call it, “Beachcrackle,” “Foamdry,” “Poolfizz,” and “Stonebreath.”

At the end of the day, they write their new words in their nature journal.

The end papers are fun, showing that nature journal, and including a taped-in glossary of some of the existing wildspeak words encountered earlier in the book.

This book is more for young elementary school kids than preschoolers – kids that can write down their new words. But preschoolers can get in on the imagination and wonder.

asangmafrancis.com
lexivangsnes.com
sourcebooks.com

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Review of Old Bones, by Aaron Elkins

Contemporary, Fiction Review, Mystery, Starred Review 0

Old Bones

by Aaron Elkins

Open Road, 1987. 209 pages.
Review written June 18, 2026, from my own copy, purchased via Amazon.com
Starred Review
1988 Edgar Award Winner, Best Mystery Novel

When I told my friend Paul that I was going to Mont Saint-Michel on vacation and had signed up for a tour of the bay, he told me I needed to read this book. So I bought myself a copy, and since it is paperback, I brought it on my trip, and it’s the first book I read.

Right at the start, someone dies by drowning when he gets stuck in quicksand in the bay when the tide comes in. That’s not the main mystery of the book, though. His family manor was in the area, and he had ordered his family to come visit, because he had something important to tell them.

But while the family is gathered, some workmen had come to update the cellar – and found a skeleton. Good thing Gideon Oliver, the Skeleton Detective of America, was speaking at a law enforcement conference in nearby St. Malo.

Gideon isn’t actually in law enforcement himself. He’s got a PhD in the study of bones, and, well, he has a habit of getting mixed up in detective cases. The cover informs me this is the fourth novel about him. But since he’s in town, he gets called in to consult on the case, and notices plenty about the bones that escapes the attention of others.

And the skeleton seems to be from 1942, when some of the family members were in the Resistance, and some… weren’t. Tensions are still high 45 years later.

But as Gideon is looking at the bones, there’s a present-day murder, as well as attempted murder, and more people almost die in the bay of Mont Saint-Michel.

When I went on the tour, we learned how to escape quicksand. I asked the guide if the scenario of getting stuck in quicksand is realistic, and she confirmed that it can happen. I was glad I was with a guide! (It was SO cool!) The tide comes in very quickly, but we got out right after it went from ankle deep to thigh deep – and we were right near the island at that point.

Besides the amazing setting, this is a cozy mystery with fun characters and an interesting puzzle with historical roots. I may look up more books in this series.

Oh, one funny thing: The cover says this was the 1998 Edgar Winner, which didn’t match the publication date. So I looked it up, and the cover is wrong, it won in 1988.

aaronelkins.com

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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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