In her previous novel, the Newbery Medal-winning The One and Only Ivan, Katherine Applegate tackled issues of animal welfare while offering readers the opportunity to expand what they typically expect from traditional storytelling. In Crenshaw, Applegate once again tackles big issues with plenty of heart and humor.

Almost-fifth-grader Jackson literally can’t believe his eyes when he sees a giant, smart-alecky cat. Again. The last time he saw his “imaginary friend” Crenshaw, Jackson was just a little kid, and his family was going through some pretty tough times—so tough that they had to live in their minivan for a while. Now Crenshaw is back—but so are Jackson’s family’s money problems.

As Jackson’s parents try to make ends meet, Jackson struggles to figure out what Crenshaw’s reappearance means and how Jackson can help his family finally tell each other the truth.

Despite the fact that one of its central characters is a giant talking cat, Crenshaw is a surprisingly somber book at times, with a so- phisticated narrative structure that shifts back and forth in Jackson’s life story. By adding elements of fantasy and whimsy, however, Applegate is able to address issues such as poverty and food insecurity in a way that kids will respond to, perhaps thinking about their friends and neighbors—or, like Jackson, even themselves—with greater sympathy, generosity and understanding.

This article was originally published in the October 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Margi Preus has a remarkable ability to create fascinating, page-turning stories that transport young readers to faraway times and places. Whether she’s evoking Norway during World War II or 19th-century Japan, Preus combines impeccable research with strong characterization and plot—the very elements that draw readers into history and spark the curiosity to learn more.

Fans of her Newbery Honor-winning Heart of a Samurai will be delighted to discover that Manjiro (based on the historical figure of Nakahama Manjiro) also appears in Preus’ new novel, The Bamboo Sword. The actual Manjiro was rescued from a shipwreck at age 14 by an American whaling ship and spent time in America before re- turning to Japan. Although initially arrested, he was released shortly before Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Edo Bay in the summer of 1853, and as the only Japa- nese with firsthand knowledge of English and Westerners, he was an important figure in the opening of Japan to the West.

In The Bamboo Sword, readers experience the arrival of those first strange ships through the eyes of a fictional 13-year-old servant boy named Yoshi, who harbors the dream of becoming a samurai himself, a path not open to someone of his class. But events conspire to put a sword into Yoshi’s hand and to intertwine his fate with both Manjiro and a young member of the U.S. expedition, Jack Sullivan, inspired loosely by pioneering war correspondent and photographer Timothy O’Sullivan.

With its compelling story, block prints, historical photographs, glossary and substantive author’s note, The Bamboo Sword is historical fiction at its best.

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Courage & Defiance.

This article was originally published in the October 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

BookPage Children's Top Pick, October 2015

With one action, Daniel Ellsberg became the most celebrated, most reviled and most dangerous man in America. Most Dangerous, by award-winning author Steve Sheinkin, tells the story of how Ellsberg, an unknown government analyst, compiled and then released 20 years of governmental records, reports and documents about the Vietnam War. These became known as the Pentagon Papers, revealing deception that ran across four presidencies and forever altered the way the American public viewed politicians.

Sheinkin once again offers a story that is compelling and eminently readable, while also being informative and immaculately researched. Labeled at the time as “the greatest story of the century,” this exposure of the Vietnam War—and the fallout from the release of the Pentagon Papers—has now been relegated to a dry chapter in history books. With themes of patriotism, free speech, honesty and power, Most Dangerous draws readers into this pivotal moment in American history and shows them how one act of bravery, or treason, can change everything.

This article was originally published in the October 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Sisterly bonds are often far-reaching, but in Melanie Crowder’s A Nearer Moon, that sibling union transcends worlds.

This hauntingly beautiful fantasy unfolds through two storylines. The first takes place on a swampy Earth-like planet where stilt houses are connected by swinging bridges. Danger lurks just below the still surface of the marsh, and anyone who swallows the water is cursed, doomed to die in 21 days. Luna and her younger sister, Willow, are boating in the eerie fen, having a great and joyous time and refusing to let the ominous atmosphere spoil their fun. But when a swamp monster tips the boat, water splashes into Willow’s open mouth, and thus begins Luna’s quest to save her sister.

The other storyline follows twin water sprites, sisters who can sense each other through the thumping of their hearts, whether near or far. In the old days, sprites populated the world and shared their magic with people. But humans’ mining has created a hostile environment for the sprites, and they must leave Earth through a magic door to a new world. However, one of the twins fails to make it through the door and is left behind.

The real magic of this tale lies in how the storylines intertwine, through the unbreakable ties between the sets of sisters.

Debut novelist Kevin Sands is off to a roaring good start with The Blackthorn Key, which unfolds during six consecutive springtime days in 1665 London. Historical settings can be a bit off-putting to a young reader—they’re generally convinced that it’s going to be too “historical,” and without technology, how exciting can it be? But Sands imbues the story with all the realities of 17th-century England and still keeps the pace tripping along.

Christopher Rowe is an apprentice to an apothecary named Benedict Blackthorn, and after the horrors of the orphanage, Christopher is eager to learn and please his benefactor. Blackthorn, recognizing his young student’s potential, teaches him everything from chemistry and Latin to church history and cryptography. It’s well that he does, as Christopher will need all his wits and knowledge to solve the mystery of the murdered apothecaries happening around him.

Full of codes and puzzles, action and adventure, trials of friendship and growing up, the lurking menace of murderers and secret societies, The Blackthorn Key is not easy to put down. Some descriptions of murders and other injuries may not be suitable to a reader as young as 8, but it won’t bother older children. Sands doesn't leave the story hanging—thankfully—but readers will hope he writes another book soon.

Jennifer Bruer Kitchel is the librarian for a Pre-K through 8th level Catholic school.

Ten-year-old Christa Adams has a problem. Her parents are making the disastrous mistake of selling the family cabin in Wisconsin’s north woods, where Christa has spent every summer of her life. In the past, she might have had help reasoning with her parents from her sister, Amelia—but she’s been replaced by Amelia-the-Princess, who only seems to care about texting and tanning. Luckily for Christa, her new friend Alex might have a solution buried in his family’s past.

Alex’s family has moved to Hayward to help his grandfather run the family restaurant, Clarks Pizza. Clarks is famous for its glory days in the 1920s, when it was known as Clarks Fine Dining, and Al Capone himself would do business from his regular table. Most of Hayward believes the rumors about the Clarks, that they hid a chunk of Capone’s loot and Grandpa Clark knows where it is. If Christa and Alex—and their adventuring alter egos, Chase Truegood and Buck Punch—find Capone’s loot, Christa can save her family’s summer home.

Finders Keepers is infused with the magic of summer but also the bittersweet realities of growth and change, as Christa learns to see her family differently and to separate their priceless memories from the cabin itself. Christa is funny, confident and every inch a tomboy. Alex is shy and smart, but with a healthy dose of 11-year-old cheek. Their realistic friendship—and Christa’s passion for the Northwoods—captures the instant nostalgia of childhood summers and makes Finders Keepers a perfect escape from the school year.

“It happened overnight.” On April 9, 1940, German forces invaded Denmark, where they would remain until surrendering in 1945. Also overnight was the start of a Danish resistance movement—not the result of government initiatives, but rather the selfless actions of individuals who risked their lives.

Through anecdotes, accompanying quotes and archival photos, award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson tells the stories of some of these heroes in Courage & Defiance: Stories of Spies, Saboteurs, and Survivors in World War II Denmark. For example, Tommy Sneum was a young flight lieutenant in Denmark’s air force until it was grounded, at which point he turned to gathering information and discovered a new German Freya radar system. With harrowing events rivaling any Hollywood thriller, Tommy evaded death many times to take this information to Great Britain, where he was asked to serve as their first wartime spy in Denmark. Other resisters include Niels Skov, who started as a lone saboteur, using a screwdriver and matches to set German vehicles and buildings on fire, and student activist Jørgen Kieler, who was influential in an illegal newspaper and sabotage group.

In between their stories, which sometimes intersect, Hopkinson weaves big-picture historical information. The author also devotes portions of the book to resisters’ efforts to help 7,220 of Denmark’s 7,700 Jews escape to Sweden and the concentration camp internment of arrested resisters. She reveals moments of light in a dark time and encourages readers to ask themselves, what can one person do?

George looks and dresses like a boy, but inside, she’s not a boy. Her family doesn’t understand, but George knows that she’s a girl. It’s hard pretending to be a boy, but it’s even harder when the class bully picks on her and starts fights. 

When it’s announced that the fourth-grade classes will put on a production of Charlotte’s Web, George decides to audition for Charlotte, so she can finally play a girl’s role in front of her friends and mother, but mostly so she can feel like her secret self is out in the open. Her best friend helps rehearse, and eventually George confides in her that she’s really a girl. Kelly is supportive and encouraging, but their teacher insists George can’t play a girl’s part. Fortunately, an open-minded principal shows readers that being transgender is just another part of being human, and that there are people who understand.

Debut author Alex Gino beautifully addresses the struggles of being a transgender youth. It’s an intense conflict to be one sort of person on the outside but feel like someone else on the inside, and this book recognizes and straightforwardly discusses LGBTQ issues, including family misunderstandings, peer support and public acceptance. Readers going through a similar experience will feel that they are no longer alone, and cisgender (non-transgender) readers may gain understanding and empathy. 

Positive messages echo throughout George and to the reader: Be you, whoever you are. 

This article was originally published in the September 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Brian Selznick won the 2008 Caldecott Medal for his innovative 533-page picture book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, in which much of the tale is told in full-page black-and-white drawings that weave in and out of the story told in prose. Wonderstruck (2011) followed, with a similar format—460 pages of original artwork intertwined with two independent stories set 50 years apart. 

The Marvels opens with 400 pages of drawings telling the story of the fictional Royal Theatre in London and five generations of a family of actors. In 1766, young Billy Marvel runs off to sea, stowing away on the Kraken, the ship on which his older brother Marcus is a sailor. The ship sinks, and Billy is the sole survivor, along with his dog, Tar. Making his way eventually to London, Billy gets involved with the Royal Theater and becomes the progenitor of several generations of Marvels, great stage actors all. 

The story of the Marvels, related in black-and-white drawings, gives way to a seemingly unrelated prose story of young Joseph Jervis, who runs away from boarding school in 1990 and comes to dark and snowy London in search of his friend Blink and his estranged uncle, Albert Nightingale. His uncle lives in a magical house with smells of food and fireplaces, lighted candles, muffled voices, tables set with dirty plates and half-empty goblets and napkins carefully placed on the floor.

Unlike Selznick’s previous volumes, there is no weaving of pictures and text here, but the stories do connect, and the mysteries, large and small, will absorb readers young and old. Inspired by a living house museum in London known as Dennis Severs’ house, The Marvels is an enchanting tale of a young boy finding a home and a home finding a future. 

This article was originally published in the September 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Half-Japanese, half-black, Mimi Yoshiko Oliver loves looking at the moon and wants to be an astronaut. In January 1969, she moves from California to the frosty Vermont town of Hillsborough, an unwelcoming place. The farmer next door is always rude, and Mimi is teased at school. Even after she forms a tentative friendship with a girl named Stacey, she’s not invited to Stacey’s home. Then there’s the matter of shop class. Mimi would rather take shop than home ec so she can use power tools to work on her science project, but girls are supposed to “learn how to cook and sew so they can be good homemakers.” 

Slowly, Mimi and her family discover small moments of harmony, like finding the first crocuses in the snow. When Mimi and Stacey decide to challenge the exclusion of girls from shop classes, their courage inspires the entire eighth grade to an act of civil disobedience. 

Told in evocative free verse, Full Cicada Moon is a lyrical portrait of a strong family at a time of immense change, perfect for that budding scientist who loves to look at the stars.

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Courage & Defiance.

This article was originally published in the September 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

As a teenage boy who loves fashion, Francis is used to being teased and bullied at school, and he feels totally alone until he meets Jessica, a girl who shares his untraditional interests. But Jessica has a peculiarity of her own: For all her good spirits, she is thoroughly, completely and definitely dead. Francis is the only person who can see or hear her.

Francis and Jessica become fast friends and soon befriend two other loners: Andi, a girl with a reputation for picking fights, and Roland, a 300-pound giant who refuses to go to school. The four form a close bond unlike anything they've ever experienced before.

Then Jessica discovers that she died by suicide and that each of her friends has considered it. She has been left to roam the earth, befriending those in need and keeping other teens from hurting themselves. Someone needs Jessica’s help—but who?

Through these deftly-drawn, realistic characters, author Andrew Norriss pulls the reader into a story that makes this difficult subject accessible. Friends for Life is a vital book, emphasizing the power of friendship and the importance of reaching out to others when in distress. It will resonate with any young reader who suffers the isolation of feeling “different.”

Billie B. Little is the Founding Director of Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

There’s no doubt that Louis Sachar, the Newbery Medal-winning author of Holes, knows how to draw in his readers. His latest book, Fuzzy Mud, reads like a middle school version of Contagion―it’s a thriller that will have readers quickly turning its pages.

In this case, the culprit isn’t a virus, but a mutant microbe of an amazing new biofuel that’s somehow multiplying like crazy in the woods next to Woodbridge Academy. Three Woodbridge students end up in these woods one afternoon when seventh-grader Marshall Walsh takes a shortcut to avoid a fight with bully Chad Hilligas. Fifth-grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi has followed as well; she always walks home with Marshall, her neighbor.

The trio has no idea that a strange mutation under their feet threatens to become a world crisis, but Sachar inserts short portions of secret Senate hearings between chapters to enhance the big picture. Then Tamaya unknowingly dips her hand into the mutant microbe (which she calls Fuzzy Mud) and flings it at Chad’s face. Tamaya and Marshall run home, but the next day they’re dismayed to hear that Chad is missing. Meanwhile, Tamaya’s hand is covered with a bloody, blistering rash that is spreading like wildfire. Tamaya and Marshall face a moral crisis about whether to return to the woods to try to help their lost enemy. Their ensuing search is so dramatic that readers will genuinely fear that none of them will make it out alive.

Although the novel’s imagined biological catastrophe seems far-fetched and the biofuel inventor never becomes more than an eccentric caricature, the heart and soul of this book belongs to Tamaya, Marshall and Chad, and their compelling journey from hatred to friendship.

In Jennifer Bradbury’s exciting new work of historical fiction, River Runs Deep, 12-year-old Elias is suffering from tuberculosis in 1842. He’s sent from his home in Norfolk, Virginia, to recover in an underground hut in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. He will be cared for by the real-life Dr. John Croghan, who during one winter ministered to 16 tuberculosis patients, who sought the benefit of the cave's dank air and lived in small rooms built by slaves.

As the world’s longest known cave system, with more than 400 explored miles of passages, Mammoth Cave is a fitting setting for this middle grade adventure. As lonely Elias lies in bed recuperating, he feels like he’s dying of boredom, but soon he meets a cast of characters who draw him into a web of intrigue involving a group of slaves hiding in a large secret chamber and a bounty hunter determined to find them.

Elias befriends several real-life slaves (Stephen Bishop, Materson and Nick Bransford) who show him many of the cave’s wonders and pitfalls, such as the Star Chamber and the Bottomless Pit. As Elias begins to recover, his strength and energy become vital to uncovering a fellow patient’s nefarious scheme to capture the hidden slaves. Elias’ own questioning of his attitudes toward his family’s slaves provides readers with just the right touch of moral perspective.

A map at the beginning helps readers follow the mounting action, and suggestions for further reading are helpful. Bradbury, who grew up near the cave, has created a thrilling underground adventure that’s jam-packed with fascinating historical tidbits.