Review of Goldfinches, by Mary Oliver, art by Melissa Sweet

Children's Nonfiction Review, Poetry, Starred Review 0

Goldfinches

by Mary Oliver
art by Melissa Sweet

Viking, 2026. 36 pages.
Review written April 20, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This little book is a poem by Mary Oliver – illustrated by Caldecott Honor illustrator Melissa Sweet. The poem about goldfinches shows the author observing in fields as goldfinches fly by and make their nests. Then a note at the back explains how Mary Oliver did just that – and Melissa Sweet imitated her to make authentic pictures.

I also enjoyed how the artist put a palette of colors at the front, labeled with phrases from the poem, and you can find them later in the book.

But of course what I love most is the poem, which grew on me more each time I read it – and Melissa Sweet’s illustrations helped me appreciate it more from the start.

Here’s how the poem ends:

Is it necessary to say any more?
Have you heard them singing in the wind, above the final fields?
Have you ever been so happy in your life?

This book has the power to fill you with peace and happiness and send you out to nature to find even more.

MaryOliver.com
MelissaSweet.net
Penguin.com/kids

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Review of Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert, by Bob the Drag Queen

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Historical, Science Fiction 0

Harriet Tubman

Live in Concert

by Bob the Drag Queen
read by the Author

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2025. 4 hours, 18 minutes.
Review written February 16, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review
2026 Alex Award Winner

I would have never listened to this audiobook if it hadn’t won an Alex Award. The Alex Awards are given each year to ten novels published for adults that will be of interest to teens. I hadn’t listened to any of the winners this year, so I was trying to make up for that – and I was completely enchanted with this book.

The story is told by Darnell, a hip-hop producer who’s been out of work for fifteen years when he meets his hero, Harriet Tubman, in real life.

We learn that people have been bringing back certain historical figures. I love that the book never explains why or how it’s supposed to work. Because that would rapidly get into ridiculous territory and as readers, we’d realize it doesn’t work. Instead, we’re caught up in the wonder of Darnell meeting his hero.

And what Harriet Tubman wants to do – along with “the Freedmen” she’s brought with her – is create a hip-hop album and go on tour to tell her story to the modern generation.

The process of Darnell learning more about Harriet’s life – from her own voice – and processing the lessons of it makes a simply lovely story. And along the way, Darnell needs to process his own coming-out journey, because Harriet senses that here, too, is someone she needs to lead to freedom.

I recommend listening to the audiobook performance of this book – especially because it ends with two of the songs written for Harriet to perform, consolidating lessons from her life.

bobthedragqueen.com

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Review of Relit, edited by Sandra Proudman

Fantasy, Short Stories, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Relit

16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories

edited by Sandra Proudman

Inkyard Press, 2024. 346 pages.
Review written December 26, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

Here’s a bit of the Foreword from the editor so you know what’s going on in Relit:

This anthology began with a hope, a dream, a spark of an idea that the contributing authors and I felt passionately about: to take some of the most popular classics out there (the novels, myths, and plays we’ve all read in class or seen adaptations of on TV and in movies)… and reimagine, reignite, remix them into some epic science fiction and fantasy tales, with Latinx characters at the center of all the action.

I’ve always loved a good retelling, and this authors of the stories in this collection bring creativity and a sense of fun to the originals. Some of my favorites: Anna Meriano starts off by giving us Pride and Prejudice as livestreamed from space. Monica Sanz gives us a version of Jane Eyre with witchcraft and some female empowerment. David Bowles writes a science fiction version of Hamlet with fighting in mech suits. And Sandra Proudman does a version of The Old Man and the Sea in the future barren desert of Nevada.

There’s lots more here, with a collection of stellar authors retelling tales as varied as “Bartleby, the Scrivener” and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” They all have a speculative fiction twist, and they all feature Latinx characters showing resourcefulness and creativity. It took me a long time to get this book read – it’s too tempting to put it down between stories – but that way I got to lengthen the fun.

sandraproudman.com

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Review of Two Artists, Grandad and Me, by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Two Artists, Grandad and Me

by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2026. 28 pages.
Review written February 20, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a sweet picture book about a little girl and her artist grandfather, and the joy she found making art with him in his studio, and how he’d gently guide her.

What makes it extra special is that this girl’s grandfather was the wonderful Jerry Pinkney – an amazing creator of children’s books, Caldecott Medalist, and a kind human being. (Yes, I’ve met him and heard him speak a few times. The man radiated goodness.)

This book pictures her as a little girl coming into Grandad’s studio, being greeted with love, given access to his paints and supplies, and shown how to use them.

He gives her her own sketchbook and gets her started filling it, drawing side by side.

“I don’t think I did it right.”
“There is no right way,” he assures me.
“Every artist sees the world differently.”

Hmmm . . . artist?

I’ve never been called an artist before.
I like the sound of it.
I have so many stories to tell.

May kids continue to be inspired to make art, continuing to build Jerry Pinkney’s generous legacy.

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Review of Halfway to Somewhere, by Jose Pimienta

Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Graphic Novel 0

Halfway to Somewhere

by Jose Pimienta

RH Graphic, 2025. 250 pages.
Review written February 17, 2026, from a library book.
2026 Stonewall Award Winner, Children’s Literature

Halfway to Somewhere is about a nonbinary kid named Ave who moves with their mother and little brother from Mexicali to Lawrence, Kansas, where their mother is teaching at the university. Every night, they talk with their big sister, hoping she and their dad will come join them soon.

Ave isn’t happy to be in Kansas. They don’t like speaking English and sounding like a toddler. Their little brother makes a friend from the house across the street the very first day.

Ave liked hiking in Mexicali, so they start walking around Lawrence, learning the place with their feet. And once they start school, there are folks who try to be friendly.

It’s one of those adjusting to a new place and figuring out how you fit in books. The fact that Ave is nonbinary is refreshingly in the background and not a big problem in the book, though how their dad relates to them does contribute to some of their identity questions. I’ve always said that graphic novels are a good fit for the emotional highs and lows of middle school, and this book effectively uses pictures to tell most of the story.

josepimienta.com

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Review of Sacred Belonging, by Kat Armas

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Sacred Belonging

A 40-Day Devotional on the Liberating Heart of Scripture

by Kat Armas

Brazos Press, 2023. 195 pages.
Review written April 14, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

I have a strong knowledge of Scripture – attending Christian schools since elementary school and memorizing large portions – but Kat Armas is able to get me looking at Scripture with new eyes and asking new questions and yes, making new applications.

There are 40 devotionals in this book, in nice bite-sized pieces to mull over as you go about your day. I read them during Lent this year, but they are appropriate for any time of year.

Let me quote from the Introduction to let you know the focus of these devotionals:

The bodily resurrection of Jesus is an invitation to be fully human.

That’s what this devotional is about: being human. And with our humanity comes the ability to inquire, to imagine, to dream, to create.

When it comes to Scripture, I wonder what kind of relationship many of us would have to the text if we had all been invited to do those things when we read it. Rather than viewing the Bible as a book of absolutes, what if we were to read it as a diverse book of stories and instructions relating to the human experience in all its messiness and beauty? Oe of my seminary professors once said that when we read the Bible, we should read it with resistance: constantly asking questions, wrestling with it the way Jacob wrestled with God.

She also talks about the way colonizers and imperialists used the Bible to further their own aims.

I argue that such a syndrome has permeated our being, causing us to view the world as fixed, linear, dichotomous, and functioning in hierarchical relationships of domination and submission. For many of us, the assumptions behind how we perceive the biblical text have brought us to a place of unlearning and unraveling – of decolonizing – where we find ourselves hungry for new, liberating insights into our faith tradition.

For me, she succeeded at bringing a fresh and refreshing approach to biblical stories. She succeeded in these goals she articulated at the end of the Introduction:

My hope is that these words will point you to a belonging deeper than you have dreamed of, that you will see and experience yourself being tethered to your ancestors, to God, and to every created thing. And in exploring this relationality, I also hope that you will get to know divinity as embodied – where you can find a God who is familiar with planting and sewing, good wine and lilies. This is the God to whom we belong: one who is wholly material and wholly spiritual. As close to us as our own skin and far beyond anything our minds can fathom. It is in this paradox where we exist, where our spiritualities find their home. This is where we find sacred belonging.

If you take up this book, I promise your devotional time won’t feel routine.

katarmas.com

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Review of A Constellation of Minor Bears, by Jen Ferguson

Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

A Constellation of Minor Bears

by Jen Ferguson
read by Julie Lumsden, Jesse Nobess, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett

Heartdrum, 2024. 8 hours, 51 minutes.
Review written March 2, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

So far, I love every book by Jen Ferguson I’ve read (or story – She had one in the award-winning Legendary Frybread Drive-in). I’m not quite sure what took me so long to get to this one, but it did help when we got the eaudiobook edition. As with all of her books, this is mostly about relationships between quirky characters who quickly find their way into your heart.

A Constellation of Minor Bears is about a group of teens hiking the Pacific Crest Trail after graduation. Well, that was the plan anyway. Molly and Tray did graduate, Molly at 17 years old, but Molly’s brother Hank had a terrible accident that caused a traumatic brain injury earlier in the year, so he didn’t graduate, and needs to do summer school instead. Tray is the best friend of both Molly and Hank, but Molly’s been angry with him ever since Hank’s accident. Because Tray was there and failed to stop Hank’s fall.

But Molly has been icily polite. They need to talk things out and figure things out – and the Pacific Crest Trail is a good place to do so. Though Molly’s doing a lot of hiding – including hiding from her parents that she’s planning to keep hiking and not actually go to college in the Fall. But would that break the bargain she made with various gods to become a doctor if her brother woke up?

So, yes, Molly and Tray and Hank (our three viewpoint characters) have plenty to work through. And then along the way they encounter a fat girl who quickly befriends them – but needs their help. This book includes profound thoughts on fat phobia and ableist thinking, all in a realistic story setting. As well as issues from Molly and Tray being Métis, and Molly not feeling like she knows enough about what that means.

But above all, this was a book about characters I quickly came to care about in a setting that challenged them emotionally and physically.

jenfergusonwrites.com

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Review of Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! by Catherine Thimmesh, illustrated by Shanda McCloskey

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll!

The Inventive Rube Goldberg

A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines

by Catherine Thimmesh
illustrated by Shanda McCloskey

Chronicle Books, 2025. 54 pages.
Review written March 24, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a picture book biography of Rube Goldberg, but it’s got so much more. You know Rube Goldberg? He was the cartoonist who diagrammed crazily complicated machines to do simple tasks. As a cartoonist, he never built the machines himself, but now on the internet, you can find hundreds of videos of people who actually built machines inspired by his cartoons.

This book tells his story – he went to college and studied engineering to please his father. He didn’t last long as an engineer, but looking at patent diagrams gave him the ideas for his famous cartoons.

But the book explains the six simple machines for the reader – the lever, the wheel & axle, the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw, and the pulley. We get explanations of how they work and tips for how they can be used in your own Rube Goldberg inventions.

Back matter tells you what to search for to see modern Rube Goldberg machines in action. The first one I searched, I couldn’t help but watch twice. And the main text of the book ends with steps for building your own, one of which is “Embrace Murphy’s Law.” I foresee kids having a whole lot of fun and creating amazing things, inspired by this book.

One note is that the print is very small throughout the book, and it begins with a Rube Goldberg-like diagram, which is a little tricky to follow and also has fine print. So this book is for upper elementary and middle school kids with good reading skills. Those who persist are sure to have their imagination sparked.

shandamc.com
chroniclekids.com

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Review of Bookshops & Bonedust, by Travis Baldree

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Bookshops & Bonedust

by Travis Baldree
read by the Author

Macmillan Audio, 2023. 8 hours, 24 minutes.
Review written March 27, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred review

I have discovered my new favorite genre! Okay, I’ve already read lots of books in this genre and loved them, but when I read a Writer’s Digest interview with this author and heard his books described as “Cozy Fantasy,” I knew I would like them. I was completely correct.

In fact, I think the adult Cozy Fantasy genre is exactly what I liked about Young Adult Fantasy when I started writing Sonderbooks 25 years ago. Okay, the current Cozy Fantasy has a little more sex, but not super graphic sex. Current Young Adult Fantasy has gotten a lot darker, in general, as well as getting sexier, and I still enjoy it, but it’s a little harder to find stories I love. I also sympathize a whole lot less with tropes like the good and noble prince with a terribly evil father ruling, but the prince falls in love with a commoner oppressed by his father. Or other tropes that I’ve seen before which aren’t so wonderfully healthy if you think about them very long. Cozy Fantasy, though, currently seems like a good bet I’ll like it. (Anyway, I’m going to test that out and search for Cozy Fantasy and see how long that lasts.) 25 years ago or so, I said I didn’t like adult fantasy too much because it was mostly epic quests and detailed world-building, and I preferred young adult fantasy which had a mythic element, simpler with a fairy-tale feeling. (I still love fairy tale retellings.) It seems to me that Cozy Fantasy has recaptured that simplicity, throwing a dash of magic into a world you might want to live in.

Okay, so this book is actually a prequel – described as #0 in the series by Libby – and I decided to read it first. I was completely charmed and will queue up to read the rest of his books. (And the author does a great job reading it.)

Our main character is Viv, an orc who works as a mercenary with an elite group of rangers chasing down a necromancer. In the prologue, she gets out ahead of her group, fighting and slaying some wights – when one of them gives her a severe leg wound. Viv has to stay in one place to recover, so she’s in a quiet sea village waiting for the rangers to come back for her.

As an orc, Viv’s an imposing figure, but Fern, the ratkin who owns the village bookshop, dares to recommend a novel to Viv – and a friendship is born, as well as a new habit for Viv. Fern’s bookshop, which she inherited from her father, is cluttered, has a smelly rug, and is in general disrepair. Viv helps Fern spruce things up and revive her business.

But while that is happening, someone comes to the village with the smell of death. Some articles owned by the necromancer turn up in their town, and it’s no surprise to the reader when the battle with the necromancer comes to Viv before she’s necessarily ready.

But most of the story is about the characters and relationships. Enough so that we’re super concerned for everyone in the village when the big showdown happens.

I do love the way an orc who turns out to love to read is our main character. Okay, she is a skilled mercenary, but there’s a lot more to her than that. I was completely charmed by this book and ready to read the other books about Viv and Fern reunited years later (with Viv married to a succubus) in another town. Cozy fantasy is the perfect way to describe this.

travisbaldree.com

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Review The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond, by Amanda Glaze

Historical, Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond

by Amanda Glaze

Union Square & Co., 2022. 362 pages.
Review written November 26, 2022, from my own copy, sent by the publishers for the Cybils Awards.
Starred Review

The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond is a historical paranormal novel about twins who inherited their mother’s gifts of interacting with the Dead who have crossed beyond the Veil. Violet can open the veil between life and death and communicate with spirits there, and Edie can cross into the spirit world. The Second or Final Death is when spirits go beyond. But spirits who have recently died often linger on the other side of the veil, and Edie and Violet can interact with them.

But the process isn’t without danger. Their mother was working with an unknown client a year ago, and Edie saw her use belladonna to force a spirit into the beyond — and her mother went with the spirit. After their mother’s death, their father threatened to save them by sending them to an asylum. That night, they tied bedsheets together and escaped.

Now they’re traveling with a company putting on shows of spiritualism. Most of what they do is fake — but not all of it. Part of Edie’s act is to deliver speeches on current issues — claiming to “channel” dead white men — whom people are interested to hear. (This was a real thing at the time!)

But their show has brought them back to Sacramento — close to the home they ran away from. A handsome young reporter is nosing around. And Edie senses something disturbing at the nearby asylum. She goes to a speech about the rights of women — and how a husband or father could consign a woman to an asylum with just his word.

And some Spiritualists are going missing. It comes close to home when a girl from their own traveling show goes missing, and Edie sees her beyond the veil.

It’s all put together in an absorbing way. I like all the actual history that’s thrown in — with an Author’s Note explaining it at the back. And I love her line in the Acknowledgments — “No librarians were harmed during the making of this book, but many were consulted.” I was impressed when I discovered this is a debut novel. I felt like there were a few too many coincidences as things came together, but on the other hand, everything was neatly tied together.

Overall, the theme of the connection between sisters made this a heart-warming book. I hope this author writes many more.

amandaglaze.com
unionsquareandco.com

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