Picture Books
Go, Otto, Go! by David Milgrim
An easy reader about a robot who builds a rocket to go home, but the rocket doesn't work quite as planned.
Target Readers:
- Those Who Like Easy Readers with Substance: Easy readers are not known for having much comedy or plot or anything beyond easy to read words. The plot has a surprising amount of heart in its ending, along with some humorous twists and turns getting there. It made me smile.
- Art Fans: This book features some cute and unique illustrations (they are done colored woodcut style).
- Scifi Fans: What’s not to love about a cute little robot building his own rocket?
- Kids Learning Directional Word: The text features a lot of words like up and down for kids learning directional words.
Oh No!: Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World by Mac Barnett, ill. by Dan Santat
A little girl realizes some serious flaws in her science fair project robot just a little bit late. But never fear, she'll think up something to save the day...probably.
Target Readers:
- Humor Fans/Scifi Fans: This features all the hilarious ways a young inventor's rogue robot could go horribly wrong and start destroying the world. A humorous picture book take on the common scifi rogue robot story.
- Those Who Like Some Good Problem Solving: I love that the girl doesn't lose her head and is problem solving all the while. If at first you don’t succeed, keep on trying!
The Problem with Pelly (First Graders from Mars, #2) by Shana Corey, ill. by Mark Teague
Pelly gets teased at school for her fluffernobbin. All the other kids have tentacles on their head. Pelly decides to try and be like the others, but a visit from an opera star helps Pelly realize it's better to be herself, and it is ok to be different.
Target Readers:
- Kids Dealing with Teasing/Differences: This book deals with something all kids will deal with at some point or other. It offers a great conversation opener for kids about differences and teasing.
- Adults Who Like Picture Books with Some Morals: All of the books in this series feature a lesson for kids on some aspect social skills or self-acceptance.
- Scifi Fans/Read Aloud Fans: Kids will probably like the delivery of the message as it is wrapped up amongst funny Martian vocabulary (making this a fun read aloud) with alien characters and the Martian setting.
Lower Grade Graphic Novels
Brobots and the Kaiju Kerfuffle (Brobots, #1) by J. Torres, ill. by Sean K. Dove
The Brobots accidentally fish a monster...er, make that a giant out of the sea that starts terrorizing the city. They must capture the giant and save the city!
Target Readers:
- Japanese Monster Fans/Fairytale Rewrite Fans/Pun Lovers/Scifi Fans/Graphic Novel Fans/Beginning Readers: Take one part Japanese monster movie, one part Jack and the Beanstalk, throw in a dash of puns, and melt it down to be aimed at lower grade readers and this is the graphic novel you get. It's fun with simple text and one zany giant chase by robots. A great graphic novel pick for reluctant lower grade readers or robot fans. (It's also one of the most unique Jack and the Beanstalk twists out there.)
Middle Grade Graphic Novels
Catstronauts: Mission Moon (Castronauts, #1) by Drew Brockington
There's an energy crisis and World's Best Scientist has the solution. Send the CatStronauts to the moon, have them set up solar panels, and then use a special device to send the energy down to Earth. There's a limited supply of energy left, so the CatStronauts must train quickly and there's no margin for error on the flight or the Earth will go dark.
Target Readers:
- Humor Fans: loved the subtle and not so subtle humor (like the space program being called CATSUP - get it? - or the Saturn VI rocket coming in a monstrously huge kit box with "Easy to Assemble" on the side). The illustrations are great fun.
- Reluctant Readers/Beginning Scifi Fans: The plot is somewhat predictable but with just the right combination of tension racing the clock and humorous tidbits, making this a good pick for reluctant readers or a good intro to science fiction for kids. And good news for reluctant readers who get into this one, there’s already two more books out in the series with more in the works!
- Graphic Novel Fans: And of course, graphic novel fans will eat this up. The graphic novel format and language level used give this a broad range of appeal. I can see lower grade readers being able to approach it with the visual clues in the illustrations to help them, and middle grade readers will find it a sophisticated enough level of humor to keep them engaged too.
- Cat Lovers: This is a no brainer. All the characters are cats. Cat lovers will be delighted.
Star Scouts (Star Scouts, #1) by Mike Lawrence
After moving to a new town, Avani is struggling to make friends. Her dad thinks she'll find them at Flower Scouts, but the girls in Flower Scouts only talk about makeup and boys. Avani would much rather blow something up. When she gets accidentally collected by an alien Star Scout, Avani finds the perfect scout group for her. But can an Earth girl prove that she's got what it takes to be in the galaxy's finest scouting group?
Target Readers:
- Scifi Fans/Camp Story Fans: This is a great space adventure/scout camp adventure with lots of fun scifi elements.
- Indian Character Fans/Just about Anyone: I love that the main character is an Indian American. Our students from India will be psyched. I like the mass appeal with the mixture of female characters and a scifi techy setting, there's something for everyone in here and a good message about getting along with others.
- Readers Who Like Cameos/Easter Eggs: I recently was clued into the fact that you need to pay close attention to who is in the crowds at space camp. Missile Mouse, Bird & Squirrel, Zita the Spacegirl and others from the graphic novel universe make cameo appearances if you pay attention closely.
One Trick Pony by Nathan Hale
The Earth has been taken over by Pipers, horrible monsters that have ravaged the planet for all technology and metals. Inby, Auger, and Strata are three teens of a group of survivors who have taken it upon themselves to salvage what they can of humanity's technological and historical cultural history. Without permission, the three teens go out to scavenge. They happen upon a huge cache of hidden tech including a robot horse Strata discovers can understand speech. Unfortunately, the Pipers quickly sense the tech and are after the teens. As the chase ensues, a cattle rustler, ferals, and parents of the teens enter the scene. Strata is separated from the rest but she has the horse, Kleidi. But just what can one girl and a robot horse hope to accomplish?
Target Readers:
- Dystopia Fans/Scifi Fans/Graphic Novel Fans: It's a pretty bleak dystopian world Hale has set up so that comic relief provided by Inby and the feral goons is needed. Not to say that the set up isn't interesting. It is, and feels unique. I never saw the ending coming the way it did, but it works and fits the title. (And nope, I'm not telling anything more.) It feels sophisticated enough for teens but there isn't any content that would preclude middle graders from enjoying this either. A nice stand alone graphic novel scifi/dystopia for a broad age range.
- Those Who Like Stand Alones: There is a satisfying conclusion, and there doesn't seem a need for a sequel. So I think this will likely remain a stand alone.
Middle Grade Fiction
Randoms (Randoms, #1) by David Liss
Zeke has been chosen to be one of four delegates from Earth who will spend a year on the Confederation's space station and try to prove that Earth is worthy of becoming part of the Confederation. Of course the entire aliens and life in space thing is new for the Earthlings chosen, but the Confederation has been influencing scifi entertainment for years to try and prepare people for their encounters with other life in the universes. Zeke grew up as the son of a scifi nerd and TV show writer, so he is both nerding out about this opportunity and psyched to find elements from his favorite shows and books are real. But there are downsides. He's had to leave his sick mother alone on Earth, but hopefully this will help provide her with access to life-saving medical technology in a year. Also, Zeke is the one random choice for the Earth's delegation (the other three were chosen for their skills and IQ) and the others have decided their best option to succeed is to ostracize him and earn the points for Earth without his help. Not fun. Then, on the way to the space station an emergency arises and Zeke takes action to save the ship that some later interpret as an act of uncalled for aggression, even calling him a war criminal. With the fellow randoms from other worlds Zeke eventually befriends on the space station, he'll work to clear his name and prove his own worth (and the Earth's) in the coming year. It's certainly clear someone doesn't want him there and maybe issues aren't as straightforward as the Confederation is letting them believe.
Note: Some violence involved. (Click on the title for more details.)
Target Readers:
- Scifi Nerds: Liss has come up with the best explanation ever for why real space stuff was so similar to the way it has been portrayed in books and movies and TV shows. I thoroughly enjoyed venturing around space with Zeke and getting all his scifi references. And though I found a lot of the "big" plot twists easily predictable, oddly enough the smaller twists and turns managed to surprise me. I only had one qualm with the book: the fact that Zeke is 12 and in his own nerding out, Liss transferred several decades of his own scifi knowledge into a 12 year old boy not bothering to think through how much of his life Zeke would've been able to appreciate them or if he'd even have had the time to watch them all. But really that’s a very minor point, it's is a great scifi adventure that continues in the next two books.
The Firefly Code (The Firefly Code, #1) by Megan Frazer Blakemore
Mori and her friends are all gearing up for turning 13 and choosing their latency. They're typical kids of Old Harmonie, where most kids are genetically designed or at least tweaked, scientific advances have helped create a utopia, and their latencies will help make them even better contributors to the society when they become adults. When a new girl the same age moves into the Firefly cul-de-sac, she upsets the friendship balance a little bit. Mori has to figure out how to balance her friendship with Julia who she's known her whole life but is very different, and the new Ilana who appreciates going into the woods and working with plants like Julia never has. Ilana also awakes some mysteries for the Firefly kids who have grown up together. Where did she come from, and why does she seem a little bit odd? Why does she encourage them to go into the abandoned number 9 house of one of the founders, Dr. Varden (who for some reason left Old Harmonie but forbid anyone disturbing her house), and then later discourage it?
Target Readers:
- Light Scifi/Light Dystopia Fans/Mystery Fans: This is a relatively light dystopia for middle graders. I easily figured out one of the main mysteries way before the main characters by picking up on clues that seemed obvious to me from my experience with scifi stories, but I'm not sure if middle grade readers with less exposure to scifi will catch on as easily. I doubt it. I actually recently had a student ask me specifically for more of this type of story (it's similar to Haddix's Under Their Skin in the big reveal) so I'm glad to have this for her and others who like this type of thing as well as the dystopia fans. I wish I already had book 2 because there's a huge cliffhanger and more mysteries I did not figure out yet that need to be solved. A good pick for kids who like scifi, clean dystopias (there's no violence), or mysteries.
Young Adult Fiction
Squirrel Meets World (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, #1) by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale
Doreen Green is a pretty typical 14 year old girl, eager to make friends in her brand new neighborhood in New Jersey. She just has one tiny, itsy difference from most 14 year old girls. She has a tail. Oh, and some other squirrel traits, including the ability to communicate with real squirrels. She never lets anyone outside her family see the tail though. The groups at her new school are proving as tough as walnuts to get into, but Doreen does make one friend. Ana Sofía honestly doesn't at first welcome Doreen's olive branches of friendship, but Doreen's knowledge of American Sign Language does break down a little of the wall of this girl who can't hear all that well even with hearing aids, and then there's Doreen's relentless positive attitude. Doreen also makes some friends among the local squirrels when she destroys some crazy evil traps someone set up around town. When Doreen uses her squirrel powers (and squirrel friends) to help thwart a troublesome gang in the neighborhood, Squirrel Girl gets her first appearance. Doreen always admires the Avengers and other superheroes, but she's never really thought she could be one. Squirrel Girl saves the day a few more times in the coming days, and she gets the attention of local would-be super villain Micro-Manager. He wants to make a name for himself, and what better way to do so than to take down a superhero? Besides, Squirrel Girl has already annoyed him by messing with his rodent traps around town. Can Squirrel Girl really save the day, or is she just a girl with a tail?
Target Readers:
- Superhero Origin Fans/Thriller Fans/Humor Fans/Light Scifi Fans: This is a fabulous imagining of Squirrel Girl's origins. It's adventurous and exciting and hilarious to boot. Shannon & Dean Hale have captured all the best of North & Henderson's Squirrel Girl and made her a teenager. She's relentlessly loving, kind, and perky to a fault. And Doreen gives some great footnote commentaries that often made me chuckle.
- Friendship Fans/Hearing Impaired Character Fans/Fans of Solid Parent-Teen Relationships: Doreen’s spunk, big heart, and inability to be phased by someone’s disability means that misunderstood and slightly jaded Ana María’s tough exterior melts in not time. And Doreen has no idea what she’s accomplished in being Ana María’s friend, it just comes naturally. I absolutely love Doreen's relationship with her parents and the way they model great communication between child and parent for readers. (Her parents are both quite funny themselves, and you can definitely see why Doreen is the way she is when you meet them.)
- Squirrel Lovers: Tippy-Toe and the squirrels in the neighborhood get their own fair share of page time as they unite to help Squirrel Girl fight the weird stuff going on in the neighborhood, and even get their own Jersey squirrel dialect that sounds like a slightly hood version of a greasy-spoon diner order lingo plus short wave radio slang. Thankfully, Doreen's footnotes help translate any confusing sections and it definitely gives Tippy-Toe her own distinct voice. My favorite thing about the squirrels in this book is their complete adoration for babies. It provides humor during some tense moments.
- All Age Read/Read Aloud Fans: This is marketed as YA, but the content is safe for any age. This would make for a fantastic read aloud. I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series.
Carve the Mark (Carve the Mark, #1) by Veronica Roth
Welcome to a faraway galaxy. A galaxy guided, fed, and sustained by the current. The current provides special gifts to everyone as they come of age. On one certain planet in this galaxy, two cultures have divided the planet. The Thuvhe live in the frozen wastelands and cultivate ice flowers. The Shotet live close to the equator. They are nomads and scavengers, who have settled in hopes of getting the galactic Assembly to recognize them as a nation. Thanks to all the rumors of abductions going back and forth between the Thuvhe and Shotet over generations - rumors that have enough evidence to stick around - the two cultures live in fear and hatred of each other. It's a tenuous tension that has existed for decades. When the Assembly suddenly overthrows convention and decides to release the fates of all the elite in the galaxy (gathered by those who have the currentgift of being oracles), that tension comes to a boiling point. One of the Thuvhe oracle's children is fated to serve the ruling family of Shotet, another is fated to become an oracle, and both are therefore deemed prizes for the young dictator of Shotet, Ryzek. Especially since he's determined to evade his fate of falling to the family Benesit, which rules Thuvhe. He sends his men the same day the fates are released to kidnap these young men, Akos and Eijeh, and bring them back to the Shotet capitol of Voa. And the two of them will never be the same again. But this isn't only a story about Akos and Eijeh. It's also the story of Ryzek's little sister Cyra. She's grown up in a powerful and ruthless household, watching her dictator father groom her brother to take over, and when her currentgift comes as pain which torments her and can be transferred to others, her brother incorporates her into his power plays and politics. She's been forced to do horrible things in the name of her family and country. She's built a hard heart in order to survive. But when Akos arrives, bringing a relief to her constant pain and a new perspective, she starts to question the status quo. And her life is another that will never be the same.
So that's really just the barest of summaries with lots of minor plot things left out. The trouble with reviewing a 450+ page book is that there are building plot points and if you start talking about some of them you spoil previous ones so the best I could do is give you hints. What I actually liked most were some of the curious little plot twists Roth just hints at and you can miss if you aren't paying attention. This isn't the Divergent series, which was high octane and full of dramatic twists and turns that you couldn't possibly miss. This is more subtle and patient. There's more character development, the action sequences are there but separated by world building, politics, that character development and more subtle hints at future twists and turns. It isn't as high octane as Divergent, but that isn't a bad thing. This feels more sophisticated in some ways.
Note: Contains some language and a fair amount of violence. And a word of warning about the Shotet culture, after each kill they carve a mark in their arm. They do it as a memorial and honor to the person who died. It walks a very fine line between cutting and a cultural memorial. I do appreciate that Akos and Cyra viewed it as a way to never view killing as something light and a reminder that life is precious (they both try to avoid killing as much as possible). Still, those who struggle with cutting may want to avoid this book. Click on the title for more content details.
Target Readers:
- World Building Fans: I like visiting this galaxy that Roth invented. Some of Shotet's culture is borrowed from ancient Rome, but the Thuvhist feels quite new with an arctic farming culture.
- Scifi Fans/Dystopia Fans: There’s space travel, new worlds, and very different cultures which get explored. A lot of this book was spent building character and the world, it looks like the next book will do more of the revolutionary dystopian stuff.
- Solid Romantic Relationship Fans: What's the best part of the book? Hands down it's the healing Akos and Cyra's relationship brought to each of them. It's a very slow build. They start off as enemies. It then moves to barely tolerating each other, to teamwork, to a realization of feelings. I cheered on their unconditional love that comes as they get to know each others' hearts. A love that isn't based on physical attributes so it remains solid despite changes in those. A love that accepts and cherishes despite all the quirks and faults...and positive change flows from that revelation, not in any programatic "I'm going to change you" way. It's beautiful and right, and I really hope that teenage readers take that kind of love to heart as their own relationship goal. They get too many fluffy love pictures, it's good to see a more realistic and healthy version.
Black Light Express (Railhead, #2) by Philip Reeve
Picking up after the events of Railhead, Zen Starling and Nova are exploring the Web of Worlds beyond the new K-gate that Raven opened and the Prell family is plotting to take the empire out of the hands of Threnody Noon with the support of a Guardian. Soon Threnody finds herself on the run with Chandni Hansa, former con artist and thief (now for some reason hired as Threnody's lady in waiting). Back in the Web of Worlds Zen and Nova start to figure out that the Railmakers came from an area of the Web of Worlds known as the Black Light Zone. They are curious to explore the area, especially because Nova has a hunch there may be another K-gate there back to the Network Empire. But none of the residents of the Web of Worlds ever go to the Black Light Zone, something very bad happened there. Something so bad that their trains would rather die than go there. Is venturing there worth the risk? Sorry it's such a vague description there, but I can't summarize the book very much without giving away multiple minor reveals. Suffice it to say, eventually Zen, Nova, Threnody, and Chandni all run into each other and for reasons I can't talk about pretty much have to go into the Black Light Zone. It's a convoluted plot line but most satisfying when it all comes together. And Reeve is promising more to come in 2018 even though this felt wrapped up enough he could have ended it here if he wanted to.
Note: Some violence. Click on title for more details.
Target Readers:
- World Building Fans: The best thing about Railhead was the fantastic world building, and there's lots more of that in here too. Reeve is one very imaginative author.
- Scifi Fans: This series is good ol’ scifi at its best. Exploring new worlds, navigating new cultures, fascinating new tech, uncovering mysteries of the ages, and trying to navigate politics when cultures inevitably clash.
- Teen & Adult Readers: The writing and plot line in this series is sophisticated enough and the world building intriguing enough to draw in adults who may not normally read YA, but love scifi, and like something new.
Arabella of Mars (Adventures of Arabella Ashby, #1) by David D. Levine
After one scrape too many, Arabella is whisked away from the Mars she knows and loves by her mother to be "civilized" in England. Arabella is heartbroken, even more so when an express from Mars informs them that her father unexpectedly has died. Arabella adored her father, it is from him that she's inherited a deep fascination with the workings of automatons. When Arabella finds out that a bitter impoverished cousin has decided that now would be the perfect time to get himself a part of the inheritance and has set off for Mars with ill intent towards her brother, she must scramble to beat him to Mars somehow. Through a series of events, Arabella finds herself bound for Mars, disguised as a boy, hired by Captain Singh of the Mars Company aboard the ship Diana to be the captain's boy. Can Arabella quickly learn the ropes of interplanetary sailing, keep her true identity a secret, avoid catastrophe on the journey and make it to Mars in time to save her brother?
Notes: Swearing is mostly crossed out as it was in actual Regency period books. Some violence. Click on title for more details.
Target Readers:
- Those Who Like to Read Award Winners: I was scrolling through the Hugo award winners for 2017 and was shocked to discover that a young adult book I'd never heard of had won the Young Adult/Children's award. Part of my job is to keep up on all the middle grade and young adult books coming out and somehow this one slipped past all my book news sources. It also beat some stunning titles, so of course I had to look it up. The premise sounded quite intriguing so then I had to hunt it down and read it. And I'm so glad I did. It's well worth the read.
- Seafaring Adventure Fans/Scifi Fans/Steampunk Fans/Reimagined History Fans: This is a fun seafaring adventure...complete with cannon battles, mutinous crew, and navigational challenges…in almost zero gravity. Levine has reimagined the Regency era with Mars as England's gold mine in trade instead of the Americas in the early 1800s. Newton was inspired not by an apple falling but a soap bubble rising. Space is reimagined to be mostly breathable blue skies with wind currents. The French are still bitter enemies and they also ply the skies in sailing ships, so the crew of the Diana is always on the lookout for privateers and pirates. Quite a fun reimagined history/steampunk adventure on the high seas airways. And there’s a sequel too.
- Spunky Heroine Fans/TCKs: Besides the intriguing setting, Arabella is largely what makes this such a great read. She's a plucky, hard-working, smart heroine who also knows when to ask for help. I really appreciated that Arabella is pretty blind to race and species having grown up on Mars and taught to respect everyone regardless of where they came from or how they look. (The fact that the ship's captain is of Indian heritage irks some of the sailors, but not Arabella.) I also liked that because of her upbringing, she saves the day not only through her knowledge of automatons (the navigator on the ship is one) but also her knowledge of different cultures. In other words, her third culture kid qualities that made her such an oddball to many come in handy for saving the day, making this a great read for all those TCKs out there.
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