Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
As the subtitle indicates, A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez by María Dolores Águila (published 2025) tells the story of a young person, in a poetry-in-verse format, who stood up for civil rights in 1930s San Diego. In this middle grade historical fiction novel, the young Mexican-American Roberto narrates his story
Medieval China and 1931 Chinatown echo each other in The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Van Glaser (published 2025). Both of the child protagonists face financial struggles and a challenge of their own, and their related stories nicely complement each other. Chinese culture and traditions are a unique part of their lives,
The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman (published 2025) tells the story of Clare, the fox who is an Usher for dead animals to the afterlife, and his search for meaning in his undead existence. Clare had a very brief life, and now he has spent six years in between life and death
The nonfiction picture book Zero! The Number that Almost Wasn’t by Sarah Albee (illustrated by Chris Hsu; Charlesbridge, 2025) captures the interesting history of the concept of nothing in mathematics. Although it’s a nonfiction book about a real concept (or non-concept as the case was for a long time), it reads smoothly and clearly like
Max in the Land of Lies by Adam Gidwitz (published 2025) is a continuation of Max in the House of Spies. Now Max must fulfill his spy mission in Berlin while also secretly searching for his parents. His story is surprisingly partially educational but foremost it is an action-packed historical fiction story about a clever
The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri (published 2025) is a historical fiction middle grade book about two orphans in Iran trying to find their place in a world confused by war and occupation. As a “World War II” novel (as the subtitle states), The Teacher of Nomad Land provides a unique look at
Candle Island by Lauren Wolk (published 2025) begins with an epigraph by James McNeil Whistler: “As music is the poetry of sound, so is painting the poetry of sight and the subject-matter has nothing to do with harmony of sound or of color.” This book is a gorgeous middle grade fiction novel with an overarching
One familiar name in children’s literature, from my childhood until now, is Jane Yolen. From middle grade novels to picture books and poems, her works have now influenced generations of children. In the deceptively simple picture book Janie Writes a Play: Jane Yolen’s First Great Story (illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight; Charlesbridge, 2025), Jane’s daughter Heidi
The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter (published 1953) tells the story of a boy raised by Indians in Colonial New England who must come to terms with his dual nature upon reaching his teen years. After being kidnapped from his Pennsylvania fields during a raid, John Butler has been renamed True Son and
The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2025) somehow seamlessly ties trauma from 9/11 with the pandemic of COVID-19, all while supporting a mischief-making boy as he finds new meaning in his life. For Finn, losing his firefighter dad in New York City during the early months of COVID-19 (two years before)
I got an introduction to the sport of fencing in It’s All of Nothing, Vale by Andrea Beatriz Arango (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2025), a middle grade novel about a young women struggling to come to terms with her injured leg, which stops her from excelling in her favorite pastime. Written in free
Will’s Race for Home: A Western by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Little, Brown and Company for Young Readers, 2025) captures the excitement of the Kansas land rush in 1889 from the perspective of a young Black boy and his father. Sharecropping in Texas doesn’t feel any different from slavery for the family, so now Will and
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