Format: Chapter Book Fiction

The First State of Being

The First State of BeingThe First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly
on March 5, 2024
ISBN: 0063337312
Genres: Science Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
five-stars

An engrossing middle grade science fiction novel that masterfully weaves in realistic issues like first crushes, bullies, the anxiety of making new friends, food insecurity, and grief over the death of a mentor. Michael is a good, quiet kid, but he is dealing with a lot of anxiety over his living situation and the fear that his mother will lose her job. He transfers that anxiety to the looming crisis of Y2K, the fear that the world’s infrastructure will collapse with the change to the year 2000 due to computer glitches. Michael also has to dodge a local bully, navigate a crush on that bully’s sister, who is also his babysitter, and tangle with the idea of making friends with some kindly neighborhood boys.

The science fiction element is introduced with Ridge, a boy who shows up in Michael’s apartment complex looking very out of place. As Michael gets to know Ridge, he learns that he is from the future and wasn’t supposed to use the burgeoning technology of his own time to travel back to 1999. Pages from future texts cleverly fill in plot gaps between Michael’s world and Ridge’s and add to the suspense as his family races to fix the technology that will allow Ridge to return home to his own time.

The Y2K angle felt a bit forced though Kelly does well setting her books during times of emotional resonance and, since many people lived in fear that the world’s infrastructure would be drastically affected, it works to add tension here. Starting the book in the fall prior to the new year heightens and explains some of Michael’s behaviors and informs his questionable choices as Ridge fights to get home.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Falmouth Elementary School

five-stars

The Area 51 Files: Friend or UFO

The Area 51 Files: Friend or UFOFriend or UFO (The Area 51 Files) by Julie Buxbaum, Lavanya Naidu
Series: Area 51 Files, #3, #3
Published by Delacorte Press on April 16, 2024
ISBN: 0593429540
Genres: Fantasy
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
four-stars

Sky’s exciting and unusual life in Area 51 continues in the third book in this series.  In this novel, Sky and her friends (alien and human) must work together to find and rescue Sky’s grandmother, an FBAI agent, who has been kidnapped.  Together they put together clues and codes and determine she is stuck in Area 52, an alien portal almost impossible to reach. Meanwhile, Sky is excitedly preparing for her first Drop Day (when items from earth fall from the sky), but can’t shake the feeling she is being watched.  Upper elementary readers who have read the other two books in this series will enjoy this one as well, though readers do not need to have read those to appreciate this one.  Buxbaum’s fast pace and humorous style will continue to engage readers. Black and white cartoonish drawings are found throughout the novel, adding to its humor and suspense.  This is a fun book in a fun series for a school or public library.

Reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library

four-stars

Dawn of a Goddess

Dawn of a GoddessStorm: Dawn of a Goddess by Tiffany D. Jackson
Published by Random House on June 4, 2024
ISBN: 0593308859
Genres: Fantasy, Supernatural
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
four-stars

This young adult novel is an exciting and cinematic entry into the Marvel canon. Those familiar with the X-Men and Black Panther will enjoy reading this origin story that fleshes out Storm’s teenage years. The novel includes mild romantic elements and plenty of action. The overarching plot is somewhat predictable to those who are familiar with Marvel movies and comics, but the characterization of the main characters makes up for the common superhero tropes used in the plot.

Ororo Munroe is an orphan working in a Cairo street gang when everything changes. With no knowledge of where her unusual white hair and blue eyes came from, or why she can always predict the weather, Ororo is just trying to survive. One day everything changes when the Shadow King, a powerful villain, threatens everything she has ever known. Ororo must flee across Africa, following her instincts to uncover the truth about her heritage in the company of a young man named T’Challa. Can Ororo gain control of her mysterious weather powers and become who she was meant to be?

Rebecca Duquette – Pittston Randolph Consolidated School

four-stars

Liar’s Test

Liar’s TestLiar's Test by Ambelin Kwaymullina
on May 21, 2024
ISBN: 0593571789
Genres: Fantasy
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
three-stars

“Liar’s Test” is a young adult fantasy novel by Ambelin Kwaymullina. Bell is a treesinger, able to talk to trees in her grove. Unfortunately, the treesingers are subjugated by the ruling class and considered inferior. Bell hides her intentions and is selected to participate in the Queen’s Test to determine who will rule. The worldbuilding is deep, but readers will have to pay close attention because the writing is a bit twisty and the narrative moves fast. Similar in some ways to the Hunger Games, readers will root for Bell in this story of oppression and colonialism. A suggested additional purchase for YA collections where fantasy is popular.

Reviewed by Kate Radke, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, ME.

three-stars

Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista Flit

Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista FlitThe Many Faces of Ista Flit (Tidemagic #1) by Clare Harlow
ISBN: 0593806743
Genres: Fantasy
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
three-stars

“Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista Flit” is a middle grade fantasy novel by Clare Harlow, with illustrations by Karl James Mountford. Ista is a young girl searching for her father who has gone missing. She travels to Shelwich, a misty town by the water, to find him. Most people in this book have a magic called a tide-blessing, which is a magical ability given by the tide. Ista is a face changer and can change her appearance. She finds out that more people have disappeared in Shelwich. She befriends two other kids ,Ruby and Nat, and together they try to solve the mystery.

A fun and fantastical story with deep worldbuilding and interesting characters. Illustrations by Mountford at the beginning of each chapter are beautiful and the larger images interspersed throughout are striking. A recommended purchase for libraries where middle grade fantasy is popular.

Reviewed by Kate Radke, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, ME.

three-stars

Ferris

FerrisFerris by Kate DiCamillo
Published by Candlewick Press ISBN: 1536231053
Pages: 226
Genres: Humor, Magical Realism, Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
five-stars

The summer before fifth grade, Ferris Phineas Wilkey has a lot on her plate. Her beloved grandmother, Clarisse, is seeing ghosts. Her uncle Ted has moved into the basement to paint the history of the world (he got as far as a single foot). Her father is afraid there are raccoons in the attic, and her six-year-old younger sister gets (sort of) arrested for a brazen bank robbery attempt as part of her plan to get on a Wanted poster. And that’s just the beginning.

Ferris is full of DiCamillo’s trademarks: complex words used in charming ways, repeated phrases contributing to character quirks, big themes (here include death, grief), and a plain old unusual way of looking at the world. The ending is bittersweet; tears may be shed, but overall the reader knows things will be okay for the assortment of characters we have met.

Chapters are short; DiCamillo uses language with brevity and great effectiveness, neither talking down to her audience – in fact, expecting them to really lean in to the world she creates – nor making it inaccessible by not keeping things clear. A straightforward story that also manages to be profound. Readers will enjoy Ferris’ unfortunate hair “incidents” at Aunt Shirley’s hair salon and Pinky’s attempts to emulate Houdini, as well as the more mysterious elements (such as when Charisse interprets the ghost’s long held desire to see the dining room chandelier lit).

Highly recommend. Five stars.

-Jenny Martinez Nocito, Maine State Library, Augusta

five-stars

The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee

The Colliding Worlds of Mina LeeThe Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee by Ellen Oh
Published by Crown PRH on January 23, 2024
ISBN: 0593125940
Pages: 295
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
four-stars

Korean American Mina Lee is entering her senior year of high school, and more than anything she wants to apply to art school. But her emotionally distant father forbids it. He wants her to have a “real” career and, even more than that, art reminds him of Mina’s mother, who died three years earlier in an accident.

Mina decides to create a webcomic in an effort to prove to him not just that she is committed to art, but also that she can be a success. Her story is loosely based on her own high school, but in the webcomic version, students have superpowers and an evil villain, Merco, is trying to steal those powers. Then, one night during a freak lightning storm, she gets pulled out of the real world and into her webcomic. The first person she meets is romantic hero Jin, the teenage version of her childhood best friend, who died of cancer years earlier. He becomes a valuable ally as well as a love interest, as it quickly becomes clear that despite being the creator, she is also the heroine of the story – and the rules are changing quickly. Returning home is the only way to turn things back to where they should have been without her interference – but it also means leaving Jin.

This book will be popular with readers who enjoy stories about alternate worlds and humans with superpowers. Grief is a constant theme, with Mina’s mother and Jin both having died in her world. Some scenes skirt a fairly graphic line, with powered teens being experimented on by the evil supervillain, but don’t go into too much detail (and Mina ultimately saves everyone). Oh has fun playing with the standard tropes in this kind of novel, with Mina recognizing key upcoming moments that will be more dangerous – for example, she correctly predicts that the school dance will be a perfect scene for a climactic clash between factions of good and evil.

Characters and cast were diverse in both real and webcomic worlds, which was a positive; but given the sheer size of secondary cast members, few were fully realized. An enjoyable and fairly undemanding read that will probably circulate well in library collections given both the subject and the name recognition of the author.

– Jenny Martinez Nocito, Maine State Library, Augusta

four-stars

The Secret Language of Birds

The Secret Language of BirdsThe Secret Language of Birds by Lynne Kelly
Published by Delacorte Press on April 9, 2024
ISBN: 1524770272
Pages: 232
Genres: Animals, Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
four-stars

Lynne Kelly’s follow up to Song for a Whale is another beautiful coming of age story about a girl and her efforts to help an animal in need. Nina is one of five in her family, right in the middle, who often feels like the odd one out, preferring birds to people. She agrees to go to her aunt’s summer camp with the caveat that she can go home any time.  During an initiation exercise to an off-limits cabin that is supposed to be haunted, Nina does think that she sees a ghost. Turns out to be a whooping crane, which seems impossible since these endangered birds haven’t nested in Texas, where camp is located, for a hundred years. Nina eventually confides in her bunkmates, three lovely, feisty campers who have labeled themselves the Oddballs, and together they monitor the bird and his mate (spoiler: Nina stays at camp).

Nina tells wildlife authorities about the birds, but not her aunt or any other campers. The secrecy of the bird monitoring makes this feel more thrilling than a book about bird-watching might usually be. And there is a mystery too: the female whooping crane does not have any trackers nor does she appear in any of the databases as a known, live crane. Nina is determined to solve who she is. With a fantastic nod to Kelly’s first novel, Nina reaches out to Iris, her Deaf neighbor, and protagonist of Song for a Whale. Iris is able to manipulate the sound technology that she used to create a whale song to help Nina with the crane identification.

Many kids dread the idea of long-term summer camp, especially if they attend as older campers. This book uses that relatable worry along with fascinating information about an awe-inspiring bird to craft a story about friendship, acceptance, conservation, and finding one’s voice. Recommend for all upper elementary and middle school collections.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Falmouth Elementary School

four-stars

Bibsy Cross and the Bad Apple

Bibsy Cross and the Bad AppleBibsy Cross and the Bad Apple by Dung Ho, Liz Garton Scanlon
Series: Bibsy Cross #1
Published by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers on June 11, 2024
ISBN: 0593644417
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
four-stars

Bibsy Cross is an active third grader who loves to share her thoughts. Her teacher, Mrs Stumper, just thinks she goes on too much and that she is a bit extra, and not in a good way. Bibsy also loves her parents, her cat, and her best friend, Natia. She is excited when she and Natia, who is in Mr Moon’s class, not Mrs Stumper’s class, can work together on their science fair project together.Bibsy and Natia work through their project together and Bibsy’s feelings when Mrs Stumper makes her feel rotten for being too extra. Bibsy is an excellent communicator and models how to trust talking to your friends, parents, and teachers.

Bibsy Cross is a chapter book in verse that catches a reader’s interest and moves along quickly. The story has lots of action to maintain engagement until the end. Bibsy and her quandaries are relatable to students. The text is crisp and the pages are bright white making the story easier to read and comprehend for emerging chapter book readers. The illustrations, which are grayscale with pops of red to highlight, are interspersed effectively throughout the book to showcase main features in the story.

Reviewed by MaryAnn Lopes, Lewiston Public Schools, Lewiston

four-stars

Book Buddies: Roger Takes a Chance

Book Buddies: Roger Takes a ChanceBook Buddies: Roger Takes a Chance by Cynthia Lord, Stephanie Graegin
Series: Book Buddies #4
Published by Candlewick Press on 6/11/24
ISBN: 1536213578
Genres: Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure / General
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
three-stars

Cynthia Lord’s sweet Book Buddies series continues in Roger Takes a Chance.   Roger, a chick stuffed animal, and his mother Olive, are donated to a local library, where children can check out stuffed animals to read to them.  Roger yearns for adventure away from his mother and gets his big chance when 8 year old Liam accidentally drops him at the airport.  Roger realizes adventure isn’t all it’s cracked up to be as he is picked up by a dog and later almost gets stuck in an escalator.  Finally winding up in the airport’s Lost and Found, Roger feels lonely, until he meets Emmie, a penguin.  Liam and his family eventually check the Lost and Found, only to find Roger attached to Emmie with Velcro.  Liam takes Olive, Roger, and Emmie back to the library, where Emmie permanently joins Roger and Olive, showing children that there are different kinds of families.  This chapter book has black and white drawings on almost every page, which complement the simple text. This book is ideal for young readers who are just beginning to read chapter books independently.

Reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library

three-stars