Rosemary Kiladitis

Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Beware the Accursed Vampire! (Not really…)

Posted on August 4, 2021August 3, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Accursed Vampire, by Madeline McGrane, (July 2021, Harper Alley), $12.99, ISBN: 9780062954343

Ages 10-13

Dragoslava is a vampire kid who works for the mean witch who cursed him ages ago. The witch wants her stolen grimoire back, so she dispatches Dragoslava and their two friends, Quintus and Eztli, to a town called Baneberry Falls, where the kids discover life in a small Michigan town around Halloween, and befriend Ayesha, the witch who has the grimoire in her possession – and her vampire partner, Sara. Posing as travelers interested in learning magic, Dragoslava wants to gain their trust and grab the book, but Quintus and Eztli are enjoying their new surroundings and suggest that maybe Dragoslava cut ties with the witch making their life miserable? The book, however, is too powerful to be contained, and there’s another being in Baneberry Falls keeping an eye on Dragoslava and their friends. A fun story with a few thrills and lots of adventure and humor, The Accursed Vampire will appeal to readers who like their spooky books on the funny side. It’s a story about found family and learning to stand up for oneself, with a diverse cast: Dragoslava is nonbinary, referred to with “they/them” pronouns; Quintus is a male child of color, from vampire society; Eztli is a Latinx female, likely from Mesoamerican mythology: the bird feet bring to mind the feathered serpent, quetzalcoatl, and the name Eztli originates from the Aztec word for “blood”.

The Accursed Vampire has a starred review from School Library Journal. Find more of Madeline McGrane’s artwork (and more Dragoslava!) at her website.

picture books

Barn at Night: The best things happen before the sun comes up

Posted on August 4, 2021August 3, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Barn at Night, by Michelle Houts/Illustrated by Jen Betton, (Sept. 2021, Feeding Minds Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781948898058

Ages 5-7

This rhyming tale is all about the bustling life on a farm as a child and her father get up before dawn to tend to the animals. By the time the girl and her father enter the barn, the animals are already awake and waiting for them, complaining about the cold air they’ve let in, getting underfoot and gently demanding to be fed. The family moves on to the rest of their day, but will come back to tend the animals once again later on: “When darkness falls / and animals call / we’ll go out and feed them again”. One night, the girl wakes up to spy her father heading to the barn to greet a new life as a foal makes his debut. It’s a quiet, lovely tribute to the hustle and bustle of farm life and caring for the animals within. Endpapers show the farm at night and in the pre-dawn hours as the sky gets lighter. The paintings make every spread warm, inviting the reader to feel the enveloping safety of the barn and the animals. Readers will love seeing the familiar animals – ask about colors, animal sounds, and baby names like foal, chicks, and kittens – and will learn more about what each animal eats and how they sleep. They’ll learn about some of the jobs on a farm, like the need to get up early and feed the animals. Michelle Houts’s engaging rhyme makes for great read-alouds and her comfort with nature writing just comes across so easily. A wonderful addition to your Farm and Animal Storytimes.

Feeding Minds Press publishes books that seek to educate readers about agriculture: where our food comes from, and who grows and cares for it. The Press is a project of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, and their website offers more information about their mission and their books (including the Little Ag series, which I’ll be writing about soon!). The Barn at Night book page features free coloring pictures to download, too.

Graphic Novels, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

It ain’t easy being a superhero’s kid: I Am Not Starfire

Posted on August 3, 2021August 3, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I Am Not Starfire, by Mariko Tamaki/Illustrated by Yoshi Yoshitani, (July 2021, DC Comics), $16.99, ISBN: 9781779501264

Ages 13-17

The latest original DC YA graphic novel, by YA rock star Mariko Tamaki, is all about the fraught relationship between (Teen) Titan’s Starfire and her teen daughter, Mandy. Mandy’s been raised by her mom – no word on her dad’s identity, although everyone around her sure has opinions they don’t mind sharing with her – and she is NOT like her mother at all. She isn’t sparkly. She isn’t a tall, alien superhero with superpowers. She’s a goth chick who dyes her hair black, wears combat boots, and looks at just about everyone her with total disdain, except for her best friend, Lincoln. When Mandy is paired with “in” girl Claire for a school project, the two hit it off – so well that Mandy, who’s just walked out of her SAT and decided to run away to France rather than go to college – may be interested in sticking around after all. But Starfire’s family unrest follows her from Tamaran to Earth, and Mandy finds herself facing a fight for her life – or her mother’s.

I Am Not Starfire is all about the up-and-down relationships between parents and kids. Are parents aliens to teens? Possibly. Are teens aliens to grownups? Heck yes (speaking for my two, exclusively). The relationship between Mandy and Starfire is recognizable, whether you have a parent that expects too much from you, or that you just can’t relate to for a moment in time, but that you still love and want to be loved by in return. It’s about family secrets, starting over, and discovering ourselves for who we are, sparkly powers notwithstanding, and it’s about relationships with our friends, nurturing a crush to see where it goes, and the (sometimes) explosive relationships we have with family. Yoshi Yoshitani’s artwork is amazing, and Mariko Tamaki is one of best writers in comics right now. Together, they create a great book for your teen graphic novel collections.

Graphic Novels, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

A YA graphic novel about honoring your authentic self: Needle and Thread

Posted on August 3, 2021August 3, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Needle and Thread, by David Pinckney, Edited by Chris Sanchez/Illustrated by Ennun Ana Iurov, (Oct. 2021, Mad Cave Studios), $17.99, ISBN: 9781952303234

Ages 12 to 16

Noah is a high school senior who dreams of being a costume designer, but his parents are dead-set against his “hobby” being a viable career and pressure him to apply to more traditional colleges and think of a more “reasonable” career. Azarie is the daughter of a politician determined to show a perfect family picture to the public. Azarie is the lead cheerleader and the perfect student, a young woman who’s in with the in crowd, and nurses a secret love of comic books and a desire to be an actress. The two bond over their shared interests, and Noah introduces Azarie to his friends, who welcome her into their circle – much to the chagrin of the Mean Girls in Azarie’s school social circle, and her image-obsessed parents. When introducing Noah’s family to Azarie’s, her father insists that Noah and his first-responder parents (a firefighter and police officer) enter through the back door – the racial implications, atop the social, cannot be denied. But more than a story about an image-obsessed family of social climbers, Needle and Thread is a story about embracing your passions, honoring yourself and your dreams, and pursuing a supportive community. Azarie is welcomed into Noah’s artistic, cosplaying community and grow with that community’s encouragement, while hitting some bumps along the way. Characters are diverse, the story and artwork are interesting and work together to create a full narrative that YA readers will dive into.

Fiction, Middle Grade, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Another good middle grade mystery! Coop Knows the Scoop!

Posted on August 3, 2021August 3, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Coop Knows the Scoop, by Taryn Souders, (July 2020, Sourcebooks Young Readers), $7.99, ISBN: 9781492640189

Ages 8-12

I pulled Coop Knows the Scoop off my TBR yesterday morning, and I finished it this morning. That’s how good this middle grade mystery is. Cooper Goodman – call him Coop, please! – lives with his mom and grandfather in Georgia, where he helps out in his mom’s bookstore/coffee shop when he’s not in school. His dad, a Marine, died in action, and his Gramps is the retired town doctor. It’s small town life, where everyone knows one another, and it’s pretty idyllic, until the morning a skeleton is discovered buried at the playground. After some DNA testing, the skeleton is revealed to be Coop’s grandmother, Tabby, whom everyone thought left Gramps years ago, when Coop’s dad was little more than a baby. When Gramps falls under suspicion – they always suspect the spouse, right? – Coop enlists his best friends, twin siblings Liberty and Justice, to help him search for clues and exonerate Gramps.

Written in the first person from Coop’s point of view, I could not put this book down. It’s got all the elements of a good whodunnit: a scandal, a quirky cast of local characters, smart dialogue, fleshed out characters with good backstories that make just about everyone a suspect, and an impending sense of danger that you just know is going to explode when you get these elements mixed together. You and your readers are going to want to know what the real scoop is, and that’s going to keep all of you reading this book until you get to the end, and its very satisfying conclusion. Put this on your mystery lists, for sure.

Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade

The Ocean Strikes Back in Super Sidekicks #2!

Posted on July 30, 2021July 30, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Super Sidekicks #2: Ocean’s Revenge, by Gavin Aung Than, (July 2021, RH Graphic), $12.99, ISBN: 9780593175125

Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

The second book in the Super Sidekicks graphic novel series is all about the sidekicks standing on their own. The world’s leaders and the superhero grownups have been captured by The Mother of the Sea, who’s sick and tired of the damage us humans are wreaking on the planet, and it’s up to Junior Justice (JJ), Flygirl, Dinomite, Goo, and Ada, the most intelligent belt buckle in the universe, to save things and start the world on a better path. Mother of the Sea has put together a Trash Titan – a giant monster created out of all the trash from the Pacific Ocean – and wants to destroy all the land dwellers, so talking her down is going to take all of the skills the Sidekicks have at their disposal!

This is a perfect series for readers who are moving up from chapter books. It’s a fast-paced adventure story with fun superheroes who show the adults a thing or two about respecting kids and the planet. Illustrations are colorful, and the beginning of the story carries incredible weight: drifting trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch; seagulls feeding plastic bottle caps to their babies; a sea turtle swimming with a plastic soda ring around its neck. Watching the Trash Titan form from the tons of junk polluting the waters, you kind of want to root for the Mother of the Sea. Naturally, the adults are all clueless, but the kids know what’s up! Empowering kids to save the world one piece of junk at a time, Super Sidekicks: Ocean’s Revenge includes tips on reducing our trash footprint, and tips on how to draw Dinomite and Goo.

Super Sidekicks: Ocean’s Revenge is a winner of the Environment Award for Children’s Literature. See more of Aung Than’s artwork and learn about his other work at his website.

Fiction, Middle Grade, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

A fun Summer mystery! Saltwater Secrets

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Saltwater Secrets, by Cindy Callaghan, (Apr. 2021, Aladdin), $7.99, ISBN: 9781534417434

Ages 9-13

Originally published in hardcover last year, the paperback release of this fun Summer mystery is perfect for beach reading while ruminating on how water ices can save the world. Half-sisters Josie and Stella spend every summer together: Josie lives in Australia with her mom, while Stella lives in New York with her mom and stepdad. They share their summers – and their dad – together at the Jersey Shore, where they have their rituals. This year, Stella is pushing back against those rituals, because she’s on the verge of high school and wants to act more adult; Josie revels in their childhood memories. What starts out as a story where two sisters are growing up yet afraid of growing apart gets infinitely more interesting when you realize that chapters alternate between the sisters’ story and a debriefing at a police station. Something big has happened, as the story unfolds through each chapter, and it has to do, somehow, with the new smoothie store that took the place of Josie’s beloved water ice shop; a pop star coming to perform a concert at the pier, and the jellyfish population, currently undergoing a marine life crisis. This family story becomes a co-plot to an environmental mystery that brings the sisters back together to solve as they work out their growing pains, and it is guaranteed to keep readers glued to the pages. There’s a fun cast of supporting characters, great pacing and dialogue, and an eloquent statement about the environment and how we affect it, for better or for worse. Put this on your shelves with other summer books like Kayla Miller’s graphic novel, Camp, Mae Respicio’s Any Day With You, Melissa Savage’s Lemons, and – naturally! – Rita Williams-Garcia’s One Crazy Summer.

Non-Fiction, Tween Reads

Win your own copy of UNFORGOTTEN: THE WILD LIFE OF DIAN FOSSEY!

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Step right up and enter this Rafflecopter giveaway! It’s your chance to win your own copy of Unforgotten: The Wild Life of Dian Fossey and Her Relentless Quest to Save Mountain Gorillas by Anita Silvey.

This is a perfect addition to your biographies, naturalist, and STEM/STEAM collections, or a perfect gift for a burgeoning explorer and researcher/animal lover. Just enter the Rafflecopter giveaway here. Good luck!

U.S. addresses only, please. No P.O Boxes, please!

Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

Unforgotten: The Wild Life of Dian Fossey remembers a conservationist icon

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Unforgotten : The Wild Life of Dian Fossey and Her Relentless Quest to Save Mountain Gorillas, by Anita Silvey, (June 2021, National Geographic Kids), $18.99, ISBN: 9781426371851

Ages 8-12

Primatologist, conservationist, and advocate for mountain gorillas, Dian Fossey, brought to the screen by Sigourney Weaver in the 1988 film Gorillas in the Mist, is introduced to new audiences with Unforgotten: The Wild Life of Dian Fossey and Her Relentless Quest to Save Mountain Gorillas. Companion to Anita Silvey’s books on Jane Goodall (Untamed) and Biruté Mary Galdikas (Undaunted), Unforgotten is a testament to Dian Fossey’s life advocating for mountain gorillas and fighting against the poachers who would slaughter them. The book touches on Dian’s special connection to the gorillas, with gorgeous photos featuring Dian with them, cuddling and carrying orphaned babies and interacting with guides and children, all in her quest to educate everyone around her about the amazing creatures we share the planet with. The book discusses her murder and the work that continues to this day, in her name. Colorful maps and profiles on apes that Dian befriended, like Uncle Bert and Poppy, run throughout the book, as do callouts and spreads on the lives of mountain gorillas. Back matter on Dian’s legacy and her gorilla fund, a gorilla scrapbook with photos and biographies of the gorillas she lived with, and a timeline of Dian Fossey’s life will give readers an understanding and, hopefully, a love for the world Dian Fossey fought to protect. An excellent biography and book on conservationism.

Unforgotten has a starred review from Shelf Awareness. Read more about Dian Fossey’s Gorilla Fund here, and at the Gorilla Fund.

Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Teen, Tween Reads

Know all the tropes! The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor, by Shaenon K. Garrity/Illustrated by Christopher Baldwin (July 2021. Margaret K. McElderry Books), $14.99, ISBN: 9781534460867

Ages 12-16

This hilarious sci-fi/gothic romance novel is perfect for a YA audience. Haley is a high school student who loves gothic romance novels, from the Brontës to Henry James. Her teacher is exasperated: no more castles! No more brooding heroes! Find a different genre to write about! As Haley heads home, she spies someone drowning, and jumps into the river to save him, awakening in a place that seems to hit on a lot of her gothic tropes: stately manor with hermitage. Three brothers, two of whom are broody, and one carefree dilettante. A surly housekeeper. A ghost. She’s in Willowweep, a pocket universe that’s fighting to keep an alien force called The Bile from taking over and entering our own universe! Haley has to call on her own skills – hey, she’s a gothic heroine, right? – to help the three brothers save their universe, and our own!

What starts as a funny story loaded with gothic romance tropes becomes an hilarious sci-fi, gothic romance mashup with steampunk elements and characters you’ll recognize and love. Haley is a heroine who is equal parts smart, funny, and one step ahead of everyone because she knows her gothic tropes. Artwork easily blends science fiction/steampunk devices and glowing ooze with rambling moors, brooding heroes, and… possessed woodland creatures. It’s worth it, I promise you. The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor is great fun for YA fans, and may get them reading that copy of Wuthering Heights a little differently now: hey, it worked for Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies!