by Carly Anne York
A glorious celebration of silly science, The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog by Carly Anne York (Queens of the Jungle) is an intensely readable, funny book that treats its audience to a plethora of scientific discoveries. Each is described in its own bite-size chapter, making this a perfect beach read for the science-oriented set. With topics as wide-ranging as the discovery of penicillin and duck genitalia, York offers a fun fact for every occasion.
Why was the first recorded recipient of a bone graft
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by Meg Medina, illus. by Anna and Elena Balbusso
A cursed harpoon that can kill sea ghosts brings together a blacksmith's son and a forlorn spirit in the wondrous and enthralling middle-grade novel Graciela in the Abyss.
One hundred years ago, the "ruthless" fisherman Fernando Gonzalo and the "pitiless" blacksmith Ignacio Leon forged a weapon to kill sea spirits. Now, Ignacio's great-grandson, Jorge Leon, has found the weapon. The boy's unkind parents want to use it, but Jorge won't let them harm the spirits. He steals the harpoon with the intent to destroy
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by Evanthia Bromiley
Late in Evanthia Bromiley's debut novel, Crown, a woman looks out the window as the early morning train she is on hurtles past two half-dressed, unattended children dangerously close to the tracks. They are nine-year-old twins Evan and Virginia, born when Jude--now pregnant again--was 16. Jude, a waitress until the Covid-19 pandemic slowed and then stopped her income altogether, has stayed on the move, trying to shelter her family however she can, but now she must face two undeniable truths: they are being
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by James Kwan
I Come from Another Galaxy humorously, compassionately--and with a healthy dose of cuteness--relates the story of a dauntless young human who finds that things are very different away from Earth, where they are now the alien.
"Hello, friends." Intrepid adventurer James, who's zooming off to school in another galaxy, explains that they're writing in their little book to share "discoveries from outer space." Their new classmates are all aliens, adorned with slimy tentacles, big googly eyes, and noodle arms.
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by David Litt
A former speechwriter for Barack Obama chronicles the challenges of learning to ride the waves in It's Only Drowning: A True Story of Learning to Surf and the Search for Common Ground. David Litt (Thanks, Obama) braved New Jersey's cold Atlantic waves and unpredictable hours with his teacher: his conservative brother-in-law, Matt.
At 34, Litt felt isolated by the Covid-19 pandemic, had "situational depression," and struggled with "existential terror" for the future. In contrast, Matt, a Harley-driving, anti-vaxxer
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by Michelle Huneven
Michelle Huneven's sixth novel, Bug Hollow, is a glistening portrait of one California family from the mid-1970s onward: beset by losses but expanded through serendipity and friendship.
Readers are introduced to the Samuelson family--dad Phil, an architect; mom Sibyl, a fourth-grade teacher; and three kids--through the eyes of eight-year-old Sally. Sally's older brother, Ellis, moved to Bug Hollow, a hunting lodge-turned-student rental (make that hippie commune) in the Santa Cruz Mountains, to work in an ice
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by Olivia A. Cole, Ashley Woodfolk
In their nearly flawless first co-written YA novel, Olivia A. Cole (Ariel Crashes a Train) and Ashley Woodfolk (The Beauty That Remains) reveal that revenge isn't always a dish best served cold; in their talented hands, it's actually heartwarming.
Beautiful, biracial Maia Moon is newly single. Well, sort of. She has broken up with Tatum Westbrook three times in the last six months. In that time, she's been kissing badass white lesbian Beau Carl and flirting with Charm Montgomery, her Black trigonometry tutor.
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