Month: March 2026

Hattie Mae Begins Again

Hattie Mae Begins AgainHattie Mae Begins Again by Sharon G. Flake
Published by Alfred A. Knopf on 1/13/26
ISBN: 0593650344
Genres: Historical Fiction, Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / Friendship
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
four-stars

In this companion book to Once in a Blue Moon, Hattie Mae is sent up north to Philadelphia to an elite boarding school during the great migration.  She doesn’t fit in with most of the rich girls at the school and finds herself getting in trouble and contemplates leaving the school entirely.  From day one she doesn’t get along with Lisa, and once Lisa finds out that Hattie is related to the headmistress, she blackmails Hattie into doing chores for her.  Eventually everyone finds out that Hattie is attending the school for free and several of the girls are pulled from the school.  The school receives bad press, and protesters gather outside the school.  Hattie Mae steps up and pulls together the remaining students and her friends from the local neighborhood and they work together to help save the school.

This historical fiction novel in verse would be great for elementary-aged readers.  Hattie Mae grows a lot throughout this book, learning from her many mistakes.  She builds confidence and emerges as a leader among the students. She stays true to herself and her roots while also having big dreams for herself.  Readers who enjoy books with happy endings will enjoy how this novel concludes with a successful campaign to save the school and an improving relationship with Lisa.

Reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library

four-stars

When I Redraw The World

When I Redraw The WorldWhen I Redraw the World by Audrey Vernick, Heather Fox
Published by Random House Studio on January 27, 2026
ISBN: 0593811283
Genres: Arts
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
four-stars

When our main character redraws her world she is able to make everything exactly how she would like it. Through our story we follow along with her imagination of frolicking, not fighting, animals, rainbows you can walk on, dogs everywhere, and so much more.

Bright, colorful and full of imagination this story triggers imaginations and joy!

Ages 4-7
Reviewed by MaryAnn Lopes, Elementary Librarian. Lewiston Public Schools, Lewiston, Maine.

four-stars

Two Artists, Grandad and Me

Two Artists, Grandad and MeTwo Artists, Grandad and Me by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
Published by Doubleday Books for Young Readers on January 20, 2026
ISBN: 0593571231
Genres: Arts, Family
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
five-stars

Art and music move hand in hand throughout this story featuring a granddaughter with her artist grandfather. The book is the depiction of memories the author has with her artist grandfather, Jerry Pinkney.
In his music-filled studio this young girl is given the creativity to explore her artistic side with the guidance of her grandfather’s skills and love.
The cadence of this book and liberal usage of onomatopoeia moves the reader along much as the music carries the author through her paintings with her grandfather.

Ages 4-7
Reviewed by MaryAnn Lopes, Elementary Librarian. Lewiston Public Schools, Lewiston, Maine.

five-stars

Teaching for Change: How Septima Clark Led the Civil Rights Movement to Voting Justice

Teaching for Change: How Septima Clark Led the Civil Rights Movement to Voting JusticeTeaching for Change: How Septima Clark Led the Civil Rights Movement to Voting Justice by Abigail Albano-Payton, Monica Clark-Robinson, Yvonne Clark-Rhines
ISBN: 0063251604
Genres: Biography/Autobiography
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
five-stars

Teaching for Change: How Septima Clark Led the Civil Rights Movement to Voting Justice is an important and engaging picture book biography that should be included in school and public libraries. The author beautifully balances quality information with keeping it accessible. Readers will learn a lot about Septima Clark and the Civil Rights Movement but in a digestible way. This would be a great text for a biography unit, a unit on the Civil Rights Movement, or a history class. This would be a best fit for readers in second through fifth grade, with a place in secondary classrooms studying these topics looking for a more accessible text or a starting place to study elements of biography texts or learning about this time period. This was a five-star read for me. Reviewed by Katy Jones, Gardiner Area High School Library, Gardiner

five-stars

Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches

Extraordinary Quests for Amateur WitchesExtraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches by Kayla Cottingham
ISBN: 0593814010
Genres: Fantasy
Format: Young Adult
Goodreads
four-stars

Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches is about a teen witch named Kieran who needs to go on a nearly impossible magical quest with the help of his twin and his friends to succeed in his calling and keep his magic. Throughout the story, we see that Kieran doesn’t believe in himself after being raised as a martyr for his family–a victim of a curse where he was supposed to die for their benefit–and has to learn as much about self-confidence as he does about magic. The characters are compelling, and readers will quickly be engaged in the story and charmed by Kieran’s wit, humor, and big heart. The author’s intention in the story is to show a variety of relationships, and I think she succeeds in that; we see a queer adult relationship with the captains of the ship, an immediate love with Briar and Delilah, and then a messy relationship and love triangle with Kieran and Ash and then Kieran and Sebastian. The romance is solidly YA and age-appropriate, and many readers will appreciate the positive portrayal of LGBTQIA+ relationships. Other readers will love the fantastical elements of magic, magical worlds, Kieran’s familiar–a teal otter, and a cursed vampire. This would be a good addition to any library that serves teens who enjoy fantasy.

One important note: Though this is not marketed as a series, it absolutely is. I went into this one not knowing it has a prior book (Practical Rules for Cursed Witches), and I wouldn’t recommend that. I think the author/publisher might have intended it to be interconnected standalones but I often felt like I was missing a backstory and finding that there was a book with Briar and Delilah that took place before this one made so much sense; I would strongly recommend reading that one first and including both in your library (and marking them as a series to help your readers). This was a four-star read for me (it may have been 4.5 or 5 stars if I had read the prior book first). Reviewed by Katy Jones, Gardiner Area High School Library, Gardiner

four-stars

Asterwood

AsterwoodAsterwood by Jacquelyn Stolos
on December 30, 2025
ISBN: 0593814843
Genres: Fantasy
Format: Middle Grade Fiction
Goodreads
four-stars

Asterwood is a middle-grade fantasy novel about a girl named Madelyn who lives with her father on the edge of a forest in New Hampshire. Madelyn and her father, Ezra, have only had each other for her whole life, but now, in middle school, she’s started to feel lonely and has more and more questions about her mother. Though her father has warned her not to go into the woods alone or down the “path of no return,” she finds she can’t help herself when her cat, Dots, runs down the path and shimmers out of view. On the other side, she discovers a group of kids who call themselves the “new hopefuls” and are trying to save the violet root (a source of power in their world — Asterwood). We discover that the antagonist is a group of “tree eaters” -humans who are trying to get all of the violet root possible to hoard the power of the root. As Madelyn learns more about Asterwood and the coming destruction, she finds out more about herself and her parents than she ever expected.

This is a great middle-grade fantasy that will appeal to readers who love magical worlds and especially those with an environmental interest. In many ways, it reminded me of a middle-grade version of “The Lorax” as the young children fight against the adults who are destroying the forest and Asterwood due to their greed.

One caution would be that the book includes a group of adults who are cannibals and steal young children to eat them. Though it is not graphically described, this idea could be upsetting to younger readers. This would be a good fit for readers in seventh grade and up, depending on the reader, and libraries that serve readers of that age. This was a four-star read for me; I loved Asterwood and the characters, but some aspects of it (ex. cannibalism) didn’t work for me. Reviewed by Katy Jones, Gardiner Area High School Library, Gardiner

four-stars

Crouton

CroutonCrouton: One Cat's Adoption Tale by Kristine A. Lombardi
Genres: Animals
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Goodreads
four-stars

Crouton is a shelter cat waiting for her forever family who finally finds a girl who wants to take her home. The story is told from Crouton’s perspective and flips the script on the usual adoption story by making Crouton the one who “adopts” the girl and is patient and kind with her new family.

Children who love animals will connect with this story and find it charming. Readers will love the typical cat behavior and giggle at the ways Crouton interacts with her new family. This would be a fun addition to any library serving young readers, especially those in Pre-K to 2nd grade who like animals. This was a four-star read for me.  Reviewed by Katy Jones, Gardiner Area High School Library, Gardiner

four-stars

Room to Breathe by Kasie West

Room to Breathe by Kasie WestRoom to Breathe by Kasie West
on January 6, 2026
ISBN: 0593897722
Genres: Romance
Format: Young Adult
Goodreads
four-stars

Room to Breathe is a quick read, realistic fiction, and romance teen novel about Indy and Beau. Indy’s life has been imploding and her close friends—Beau, Caroline, and Ava—have no idea what’s going on because Indy’s mom has sworn her to secrecy. With no one to turn to, Indy starts acting out and her friendships fall apart. Then Indy and Beau find themselves locked in a school bathroom. Can they finally talk and repair their friendship or is this really the end?

West weaves a compelling and engaging story. There’s a mystery around what’s happening with Indy and what led to the fallout with her friends and suspense with how West tells the story by moving back and forth in time. There’s romance in the will they or won’t they between Beau and Indy, especially with the forced proximity trope of them being trapped in a bathroom together. At 260 pages, this one will be a great addition to any library that serves readers 13 and up who enjoy romance. It’s a quick read with compelling characters, an engaging storyline, and a heart-warming romance. This was a four-star read for me. Reviewed by Katy Jones, Gardiner Area High School Library, Gardiner

four-stars

I Don’t Wish You Well by Jumata Emill

I Don’t Wish You Well by Jumata EmillI Don't Wish You Well by Jumata Emill
on January 20, 2026
ISBN: 059381102X
Genres: LGBTQ+, Suspense
Format: Young Adult
Goodreads
five-stars

I Don’t Wish You Well is a teen thriller with social justice themes. Pryce is an aspiring journalist in college who stumbles across a message board post expressing that the person the police said was responsible for the serial murders in Pryce’s town five years ago might actually be innocent. Intrigued, Pryce decides to investigate and start a podcast as a journalism project, but as he starts digging up old secrets, he realizes the consequences are very real, and the real killer might be after him.

School Library Journal suggests grades 10 and up, and I would agree with that age range; unfortunately, there are no content warnings at the beginning of this book. While some teens might be okay with murder and pick this up looking for a good mystery, they could be surprised by the heavy topics of sexual assault, abuse, rape, homophobia, and pedophilia that play a central role in the book.

Content warnings aside, Emill tackles many challenging topics with nuance and thoughtfulness. Themes of social justice, sports (particularly football) culture, privilege, race, intersectionality, sexuality, and coming of age are highlighted and make the reader think. There are also twists and turns the reader might not see coming and will keep them guessing. This would be a great addition to any collection that serves older teens and adults who love murder mysteries, serial killers, teens solving crime, or a page-turning read that you can’t put down. This was a five-star read for me. Reviewed by Katy Jones, Gardiner Area High School Library, Gardiner

five-stars

Don’t Eat Eustace!

Don’t Eat Eustace!Don't Eat Eustace by Lian Cho
ISBN: 006332184X
Genres: Animals
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Goodreads
two-stars

If you or your readers like dark humor, this one is for you! Don’t Eat Eustace is an early reader book that would be a good fit for students in first through third grade. In the story, Bear is fishing and catches Eustace, a fish, who pleads with Bear not to eat him. Bear agrees, though there’s some continuing tension where Bear talks about how hungry he is, and we’re not sure if he’ll change his mind. Bear’s lunch continues to be pushed back as he helps a shark and a heron. It seems like the story is going in a sweet direction and Eustace decides to go home, but then we see that the shark and heron they helped are now eating all of the fish, so Eustace decides to stay with Bear. Some kids will get a kick out of this story, but I think it’s pretty niche. The mention of Eustace having a girlfriend doesn’t seem age-appropriate for the level of text and pictures and all of the fish screaming and being eaten at the end will definitely be a turnoff to a fair amount of readers. I wouldn’t go out of my way to add this to my collection. The artwork is beautiful and the story is certainly unique, but I don’t think it has a very wide appeal. This was a two-star read for me. Reviewed by Katy Jones, Gardiner Area High School Library, Gardiner

two-stars