Review: Nina Peanut by Sarah Bowie

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Nina Peanut loves making videos that involve potatoes and bananas and tips on how not to step in dog poop. She posts her videos online, where she has two people following her: her best friend Brian and her grandma.

Megan also posts videos online. Mostly about her super-cute pup doing tricks. Megan is popular, with lots of followers and Nina wants to have that too. When the two are paired together to make a video for class it’s no surprise when their styles clash. But Nina becomes more like Megan to gain popularity, which pushes her friendship with Brian to the background. Can Nina figure out how to focus on what’s important while also making room for new experiences in her life?

Nina Peanut: Creative Genius by Sarah Bowie tells Nina’s story in graphic novel diary-format. Nina is delightfully unselfconscious about her quirks and goof-ups. She’s also a sympathetic character in hoping to be popular while also wanting to stay true to her own style. The illustrations are fun and whimsical. Plus Nina has a cat who becomes famous for dong nothing and Megan has a dog who is a whiz at performing tricks. It’s all a lot of fun.

Nina Peanut will have readers laughing at Nina’s foibles and the ways she gets out of them. I recommend it for ages 8 to 11.

The publisher provided a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Owl Prowl Mystery by Diana Renn

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Miles really cares about the wildlife that lives around his home. He lives next to a wooded area and wildlife refuge that suddenly gets lots of attention for the owls spotted there. But when people flock to the area to get a sighting, they sometimes act in ways that stress the owls and can put them in harm’s way.

Also, by studying owl pellets, Miles and his friends discover that someone may be putting out bait so they can get closer to the birds. Finding out who’s responsible, and helping to inform people about the best way to help, is an adventure for the Backyard Rangers, which is what Miles and his friends call themselves.

The Owl Prowl Mystery by Diana Renn takes readers on a birding adventure where they learn a lot about owls and how to be advocates for them. For instance, Miles is putting up fake spider webs for Halloween when he learns that birds can get caught in the material and have difficulty getting out. And he goes along on a scientific expedition to band saw-whet owls so their movements can be studied.

Miles learns a lot from his teacher, who also recognizes that he sometimes has trouble concentrating on his work or speaking up in class. She helps him find his voice and a way to stay on task when completing assignments.

As Miles and his friends race to uncover the mystery of who might be harming owls, they push the boundaries of what their parents allow them to do on their own. In the process, they discover a lot about themselves and how to talk to their parents about important topics.

The Owl Prowl Mystery is a thoughtful tale that will lead young readers on an adventure while educating them in the process. I recommend it for ages 9 to 12.

The publisher provided a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Review: PetWizards by Kirk Scroggs

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Finch Eaglehawk is a petwizard, a human who can control animals. Petwizards have existed for centuries, but they’re supposed to be discreet, so no one knows about their special powers. But when the middle school musical is in jeopardy, and Finch’s crush Ken Chu needs help, Finch promises to provide a flock of seagulls for the performance. Trouble is, petwizards have specialty animals they control, and Finch doesn’t control seagulls.

Finch sets out to see if he can figure out how to expand his powers anyway, and a series of hilarious and unfortunate events unfold from his efforts. It’s all lots of fun in the graphic novel, PetWizards: Control Your Destiny by Kirk Scroggs.

Helping Finch out is his associate Aberdeen, who advises him by reading the book on petwizard rules, and a girl named Erica, who is hiding a secret of her own. The trio tries and fails at several attempts before foiling Finchi’s nemesis Lance, and coming up with a solution that works for everyone.

PetWizards is playful and fun. I recommend it for readers aged 9 to 12.

The publisher provided a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Cookie Crumbles by Tracy Badua & Alechia Dow

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Laila and Lucy are best friends intent on going to Sunderland Academy, an exclusive boarding school high school where Laila hoped to hone her baking skills and Lucy planned to learn more about investigative journalism. When a cookie baking competition comes up, it offers them both what they want: scholarships that will let their families afford the school.

The plan is for Laila to bake and Lucy to write about the competition. But when one of the judges collapses while eating Laila’s cookie, fingers point in her direction for foul play. As the girls become convinced that someone wanted the chef out of the way, they race to figure out who before someone else becomes a victim.

The Cookie Crumbles by Tracy Badua and Alechia Dow is a great middle-grade mystery that will have readers longing to munch on desserts while trying to figure out whodunnit. The authors tell the story with first-person accounts from the two main characters. As they dig deeper into what’s going on, they learn a lot about themselves, their fellow competitors, and even their own friendship.

The Cookie Crumbles offers just-the-right-amount of mystery for young readers to keep flipping pages while adding humor to a serious subject. I recommend it for ages 9 to 12.

The publisher provided a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Invisible Isabel by Sally J. Pla

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Isabel Beane lives in a house that’s hardly ever quiet. With five siblings and parents on the go, there’s always some hullabaloo. If anyone in her family stayed still long enough, she might tell them about the worry moths that flutter inside her, or the way the new girl at school has been mean to her and turned other girls against her.

Yet every time she tries, her words don’t come out loud enough to be heard. When she experiences an event in class one day, people finally slow down enough to listen. Can Isabel find her voice to make them understand how she feels?

Invisible Isabel by Sally J. Pla is a sweet tale about a neurodivergent girl who knows what she feels is real even when others tell her it’s all in her head. Isabel has quirks that others don’t understand and that sometimes make them feel uncomfortable. For instance, she hums or rocks to calm herself when she’s feeling overwhelmed.

The book is great at helping young readers see Isabel for who she is instead of the oddities she displays to help her cope with a busy life. The illustrations show Isabel in all her situations and appear in soft colors, which enhances the story.

I recommend it for readers aged 8 to 10.

The publisher provided a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Castles and Ruins by Rue Matthiessen

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When Rue Matthiessen was eight, her family spent a summer in Ireland in an idyllic setting near the ruin of a castle. Her parents were going through a difficult period, but Rue remembers that time as a reprieve from the stresses causing a rift. Her parents, author Deborah Love and famed naturalist and writer Peter Matthiessen, continued to struggle with their relationship until Deborah died of cancer while Rue was in high school.

Decades later, with a husband and child of her own, Rue sets out to find the last place she remembers her family being happy together. She tells about her trip and faces truths about her parents and their flaws in her memoir, Castles & Ruins: Unraveling Family Mysteries & Literary Legacy in the Irish Countryside.

As her guide, Rue carries a copy of the book Deborah Love wrote about that summer, Annaghkeen.  She intentionally seeks out some places her mother mentions and stumbles upon others. Through the lens of being a mother herself, she sees the actions of her parents in a new light.

Castles & Ruins is an interesting journey in two ways. There’s the physical meaning of Rue traveling around Ireland and discovering the landscape and people in a way she couldn’t as a child. There’s also a journey into her emotional past as she gains insights into the forces that compelled her parents to live the way they did. She’s open about their flaws as well as her own. Readers of memoir will appreciate her honesty while traveling with her through the book.

The publisher provided a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Sorry For The Inconvenience by Farah Naz Rishi

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When Farah Naz Rishi met Stephen while working on a class project in college, the last thing she thought is that they would become best friends and ultimately marry. For one thing, her first impression was that he was sloppy and inconsiderate. For another, she knew as a non-Muslim he would never be acceptable to her Pakistani American parents. But as she got to know him, a deep connection that turned into steady friendship grew. And over the years that connection became much more.

Rishi’s Memoir, Sorry For The Inconvenience, recounts how the relationship grew as well as gives insight into growing up in a family that is part of a close-knit community with high expectations for their children and how that affected those children. Rishi’s mother, in particular, was difficult to please and played an outsized role in how Rishi made decisions.

The memoir is at times painful to read, but Rishi’s voice is clear and honest as she recounts the struggles she goes through to find what she really wants from life and finds a way to be true to herself.

The publisher provided a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Alterations by Ray Xu

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Life is complicated for Kevin Lee. His single-mother mom always needs help at her alterations shop. His older sister is interested in life without her younger brother in tow. And his grandmother, recently arrived from China to live with his family, embarrasses him with her lack of English and strange ways.

Kevin also struggles to fit in at school, where others expect him to fit the stereotype of a typical Asian student. He wants to be seen and accepted for who he is, which is a kid who likes to draw comics, who misses his dad, and who wants time to just be a kid. A class trip to a local amusement park offers him the chance to be the hero of his own story. But will he be able to ditch the principal first?

Alterations by Ray Xu is a graphic novel set in the 1990s, when the author was growing up in Toronto. Kevin’s story draws on Xu’s own memories from childhood to capture the realities of middle school, particularly for children of immigrants. At turns funny, thoughtful and heartfelt, Alterations is great for readers aged 9 to 12.

The publisher provided a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

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