Shelley's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:53:57 -0700 60 Shelley's bookshelf: all 144 41 https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Reading the Bones: Homo Naledi and the Mysteries of Human Evolution]]> 228342284 High-stakes adventure meets cutting-edge science in this true account of the groundbreaking discovery of Homo naledi, which shocked the world of evolutionary science and redefined what it means to be human—for readers ages 10+.

In 2013, deep in a cave in South Africa, a team of intrepid researchers from across the globe discovered a previously unknown human ancestor who is changing how we see our past—and present. Later named Homo naledi, what remained of this 300,000-year-old species was only accessible through a harrowing labyrinth of razor-thin crevices, some as narrow as 7 inches. Once in the main Dinaledi chamber (translated as “chamber of stars” in the local Sesotho language), researchers found hundreds of bones and a mystery like no other. This unprecedented discovery would not only offer insight into the lives of these astonishing beings—and by extension our own origins—it would also catapult the expedition into international news and the scientific spotlight.

Written by Robert F. Sibert Medalist Marc Aronson and a nationally recognized educator, John S. Mead—both of whom have been intimately involved with the Homo naledi story from the start—this fast-paced and fascinating nonfiction book for young readers reminds us that our evolution is an ongoing exploration, full of boundless opportunity for new discoveries, new questions, and new ideas. Chamber of Homo naledi and the Mystery of Human Evolution is the perfect book to inspire today’s curious kids to become tomorrow’s daring anthropological adventurers.]]> 192 Marc Aronson 0374392315 Shelley 4 2026, youth, history
I was an arch. nerd as a kid, so I found this super fascinating and interesting. I appreciated how Dr Berger intentionally included the South African community and government in the dig and the learning, with the wonderful South African university archaeologists taking lead in a lot of the work. Quite the contrast to the typical white male European archs who would only work with the other white male European archs they knew and hid all their findings for decades until they had figured out all they could first. But Berger also was a showboater who did stupid things like send bones to outer space! The authors left a lot of room for questioning everything, which is a skill desperately needed these days. ]]> 3.48 Reading the Bones: Homo Naledi and the Mysteries of Human Evolution
author: Marc Aronson
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.48
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/09/10
date added: 2026/09/10
shelves: 2026, youth, history
review:
The story of the 2013 archaeological find of a new hominid, H. Naledi. This was an interesting way to approach the history, since the history is still in the process of being found, written, debated, etc. The co-writer is a 6th grade science teacher who collected the tweets and videos made by the archaeological crew (all women!) as they were on the dig, and used them with his students to understand real life science in action. Which is a lot of questions, very few answers, and learning how to interpret and change your thoughts when new information is found.

I was an arch. nerd as a kid, so I found this super fascinating and interesting. I appreciated how Dr Berger intentionally included the South African community and government in the dig and the learning, with the wonderful South African university archaeologists taking lead in a lot of the work. Quite the contrast to the typical white male European archs who would only work with the other white male European archs they knew and hid all their findings for decades until they had figured out all they could first. But Berger also was a showboater who did stupid things like send bones to outer space! The authors left a lot of room for questioning everything, which is a skill desperately needed these days.
]]> <![CDATA[Home to the Prairie (The Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Book 4)]]> 410017 Home is where the heart is.

When Pa comes to visit the farm in Missouri, he and Laura have so much fun reminiscing about the good old days that they decide to set out in search of their old homestead. But when they return to the prairie they see that things have changed—really changed. Trees have grown where there once weren’t any, the old creek is no longer there, and almost nothing is left of their prairie home. How could things have changed so much? And are their memories strong enough to last a lifetime?]]> 222 Thomas L. Tedrow 0840734018 Shelley 3 3.60 1992 Home to the Prairie (The Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Book 4)
author: Thomas L. Tedrow
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at: 2026/08/14
date added: 2026/09/10
shelves: 1992, 2026, historical, my-childhood, youth
review:
Unauthorized LIW fanfiction where Pa comes to Missouri a decade or so after he died IRL and he and Laura (or, as he calls her for some reason, Laurie) drive to find the Little House on the Prairie. And also there's a Reverend with wild children who scream a lot. Apparently these were only available for a year or so before LIW's estate got them pulled, but I read them all as a kid and loved them because, well, LIW fanfiction. She and Manly even got spoony on the page. I can see why I enjoyed them, but also, these are so bad, ha. And they changed the most random of details--Rocky Ridge became Apple Hill, things like that.
]]> <![CDATA[Mary Ingalls on Her Own (Little House Sequel)]]> 1203396
It seems like a dream come true. But it also means leaving her cherished family behind in Dakota Territory, including her sister Laura. Laura's feisty personality has always complemented Mary's quiet nature, and ever since Mary lost her sight, Laura has served as Mary's "eyes" to the world. Now that she's on her own, Mary must learn to get along without her beloved sister, and in the process realizes that she may have a bit of Laura's spunk in her after all.

For the first time, readers will get a glimpse into the life of Mary Ingalls and will discover a whole new side of this Little House sister they've gotten to know through Laura Ingalls Wilder's classic Little House books.]]> 192 Elizabeth Cody Kimmel 0060009055 Shelley 3
This was an odd rebranding period, where they actually included this and other authorized fanfiction in the series order. And the family is laughing and having fun on the Long Winter's photo cover. Like...wow.]]> 4.29 2007 Mary Ingalls on Her Own (Little House Sequel)
author: Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2026/09/09
date added: 2026/09/10
shelves: 2026, historical, youth, disabled-lead
review:
Authorized LIW fanfiction! This covers Ma and Pa taking Mary to the college, and her first two months settling in. I like that Mary got to be a spitfire, and not be perfect, and admit that she purposely made things look easier than they were to not be a burden. Very common disability experience. Plus, she realized that she had a community where her blindness is what helped her fit in, as opposed to how it othered her back at home, and she really loved that community. Mattie, who is slowly going blind and furious about it, was a made up character (unlike several other real life names) and I wish her story had been more nuanced. There was basically perfect sweet Blanche, feisty Hannah, and angry Mattie, and that's a shame.

This was an odd rebranding period, where they actually included this and other authorized fanfiction in the series order. And the family is laughing and having fun on the Long Winter's photo cover. Like...wow.
]]> Good Neighbors 410001 219 Thomas L. Tedrow 0840733992 Shelley 3 3.69 1992 Good Neighbors
author: Thomas L. Tedrow
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at: 2026/08/10
date added: 2026/09/10
shelves: 2026, 1992, historical, my-childhood, youth
review:
Another LIW fanfiction, but this one came with a blizzard and Christmas! Total Shelley catnip. Blizzards have isolated Mansfield and there's not enough food or any gifts for Christmas, and Rose is trying to get home because she loves her parents so much. The author tried really hard to show the harm of racism, and also wrote one of the worst disabled angel p0rn sequences that I've seen. Even as a kid, I side eyed it. But there was a blizzard and a potential Santa and so, I loved it.
]]> <![CDATA[Hazel's Best Day: A Story of Community, Accessibility, and Pride in Being Yourself]]> 228342379 From the author of Oshún and Me and the artist of Homegrown comes a joyful picture book that celebrates community and individuality, inspired by real people with disabilities everywhere.

Today is the best day of the PARADE DAY! It’s the day that Hazel’s city is a little bit shinier, everyone’s a little bit happier, and she gets to wear her sparkliest, coolest gear to celebrate and attend the disability pride parade.

As Hazel takes readers on an eye-opening journey through her city on her way to the parade, along the way they will see the various ways in which communities can evolve to be more accessible and safe for everyone. Whether it's putting dips in the curb for people using mobility aids, facilitating the use of service animals, or installing wheelchair accessible playground equipment, there are a lot of ways our communities can be made safer and more accessible for everyone.

Also by Adiba Nelson
Oshún and A Story of Love and Braids (also available in Spanish!)

Also by DeAnn Wiley
Homegrown
Double Dutch Queen]]> 32 Adiba Nelson 1250329027 Shelley 4 2026, disabled-lead, youth 4.15 Hazel's Best Day: A Story of Community, Accessibility, and Pride in Being Yourself
author: Adiba Nelson
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/09/08
date added: 2026/09/08
shelves: 2026, disabled-lead, youth
review:
A picture book about a disability pride march!!!!!
]]> <![CDATA[Hazel Has Her Hands Full (PAWS #4)]]> 211399798 More heartwarming and humorous adventures await in the fourth book of this graphic novel series that is the Baby-Sitters Club for pets!    Summer break is just around the corner, and the PAWS team is gearing up for a busy season full of dog-walking, travel, and fun! Gabby’s got a packed schedule with about a hundred different camps plus playing host to her mysterious cousin visiting from out of town. Meanwhile Mindy is headed to her dad’s house for a month-long stay. With so much going on, the girls are looking forward to scaling back and taking it easy this summer. . . with one exception.    When the opportunity to cat-sit two new fur babies arises, Hazel jumps at the chance. Their new client’s house is even wheelchair accessible! But when everyone’s hectic summer plans mean she would have to take on the job alone, Hazel knows her overprotective mother would never approve. On the other hand, managing a side business all on her own could prove that she is much more capable than her mom might think…    Hazel soon learns that juggling multiple cats and dogs along with her own physical therapy—while also keeping a big secret—is no easy task. When disaster strikes, will she have the energy to make everything right by herself, or will she be forced to reach out for help and risk getting into even more trouble?]]> 176 Nathan Fairbairn 059369578X Shelley 4 2026, disabled-lead, youth 4.34 2025 Hazel Has Her Hands Full (PAWS #4)
author: Nathan Fairbairn
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/09/08
date added: 2026/09/08
shelves: 2026, disabled-lead, youth
review:
Hazel is an ambulatory wheelchair user whose mother is overprotective and disabled-warrior-mama-ish, and she loves being part of a pet walking business. But her mother won't let her do anything alone, and no one else is around to go with her to cat sit, so she lies and does it solo. Mom, luckily, learns her lesson. Honestly, this surprised me in a good way; Hazel is a clear character with her own agency, and her disability isn't her focus nor is it ignored. I hope there are more Hazel books.
]]> Too Perfect to Die 237615224 "Bring It On", but with murder, this heart-pounding YA thriller follows Jonty, a star cheerleader forced to track down a killer and achieve her dream—before it's too late.

With competition this fierce, bodies are bound to hit the mat...

All Jonty has ever wanted is to lead her cheerleading team, The Exalted Ones, to win a NCA championship. Cheer is not just a sport, it’s her legacy. Her mother cheered for T.E.O. before she died, and Jonty would do anything to snatch the crown and honor her mother’s memory. This year she has a real shot, finally beating her rival Tommie and becoming the team captain.

But Jonty’s perfect season is shattered when Tommie shows up dead on the first day of practice. Now the team is down a flyer and everyone is convinced that Jonty killed her. Everyone except Adam, her co-captain, who was with her the night that Tommie died.

As the season progresses, girls keep dropping like flies, and one thing becomes Someone is sabotaging The Exalted Ones, and they're willing to commit murder to get their way. But with the police still convinced it’s her, will Jonty be able to save herself, her team, and her perfect season?

Tense and full of twists, Too Perfect to Die is perfect for readers who
• True Crime
• Competitive Cheerleading
• Scream Queens
• Holly Jackson Books
• Karen M. McManus Books]]> 352 Juliana Goodman 1250792940 Shelley 4 2026, mystery, youth 3.59 Too Perfect to Die
author: Juliana Goodman
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.59
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/09/02
date added: 2026/09/05
shelves: 2026, mystery, youth
review:
Jonty has trained her entire life to be captain of The Exalted Ones cheerleading team, just like her mother, and to take them to and win the Championship, which her mother never did. The murder of a fellow cheerleader and rival for captain derails that plan when she's the one the town and police suspect. I am a sucker for cheerleader murder mysteries (I read Christopher Pike and Fear Street at an impressionable age, ha), and this one genuinely kept me guessing. There were a lot of characters with plausible motives to rule out, and I figured out the murderer before Jonty did, which was fun. I really liked Jonty's path forward at the end--she deserves it.
]]> <![CDATA[Little House on the Prairie (Little House, #3)]]> 77767
Pa Ingalls decides to sell the little log house, and the family sets out for Indian country! They travel from Wisconsin to Kansas, and there, finally, Pa builds their little house on the prairie. Sometimes farm life is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her family are kept busy and are happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE is the second book in the Laura Years series.
--back cover]]> 335 Laura Ingalls Wilder Shelley 3 4.22 1935 Little House on the Prairie (Little House, #3)
author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1935
rating: 3
read at: 2026/08/12
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: 1990, 1991, 2026, historical, my-childhood, youth
review:
A reread after watching the new Netflix show. Man, could she write a good description.
]]> <![CDATA[Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography]]> 22212838 Pioneer Girl follows the Ingalls family's journey through Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, back to Minnesota, and on to Dakota Territory sixteen years of travels, unforgettable experiences, and the everyday people who became immortal through Wilder's fiction. Using additional manuscripts, letters, photographs, newspapers, and other sources, award-winning Wilder biographer Pamela Smith Hill adds valuable context and leads readers through Wilder's growth as a writer. Do you think you know Laura? Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography will re-introduce you to the woman who defined the pioneer experience for millions.]]> 400 Laura Ingalls Wilder 0984504176 Shelley 4 I had to return to this after watching the new Netflix Little House series! I saw the seeds of a lot of what they used to flesh the story out, including Uncle George. In reality, Laura was scared of him and he was never the same after the war. Which, apparently, he was about 10 years old when he joined for a few months and then spent a few years living rough with other former soldiers. No wonder he was scary.

This time I noticed how much more of Ma there was, far more than she put into the books. Ma could comfort her, Ma could discipline her, things that she and Ma did were given to Pa fictionally. Poor Ma. I could see how the show approached Ma through these stories and lenses, although I did wish they had kept a little more reserve.

Also, Laura was absolutely scared at various points, and said so. Various points that fictionally she wrote, "But Laura wasn't scared." More of her truth being different from facts, I guess. She wanted to give her family a happy story, and that didn't include Pa putting them into danger.

I really raised my eyebrow in the show where the one Independence family had a Victorian style house and servant in maid clothes, but I was wrong. Laura may not have gone to town to see, but in the one year they lived near it, it absolutely became a bustling town with multiple grocers, hotels, and stores, and many families did have a servant in their homes, per census records. Were they dressed like they worked for Eastern society families? Who knows, maybe they were in rich railroad families!

I was also struck that she and Rose kept trying to publish this. This was SO unpublishable! Like, there was never a chance of it. The first third or so, up until she was about 8, was very sketched out, rough, and choppy. By the time she got to her teens and older, it read very well, and I kept forgetting that I was reading Laura's words and not a biographer's.

Between that and how most of Rose's self-written fiction was poor copies of her mother's stories, I find it hard to believe that Rose was anything close to a ghost writer. She was an editor, and not always a good one.


2015:
The original manuscript, for adults, that Laura Ingalls Wilder eventually used as the basis for the Little House books. It was fascinating to read her story in her own words, before it got fictionalized. Most of it I already knew from my many reads of Donald Zochert's Laura, but there's something special about reading it in her own words. I usually adore footnotes and annotations, but these were crazy long. I feel like there had to be another way to format this - sometimes you'd leave the manuscript for several pages of annotations before getting back to it!! It was so distracting. I feel like I need to read this twice more - once just for the manuscript, once for the annotations. Trying to read them both together made it more of a mishmash than it needed to be.]]> 4.08 2014 Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography
author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2026/08/14
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: 2015, history, my-childhood, 2026
review:
2026:
I had to return to this after watching the new Netflix Little House series! I saw the seeds of a lot of what they used to flesh the story out, including Uncle George. In reality, Laura was scared of him and he was never the same after the war. Which, apparently, he was about 10 years old when he joined for a few months and then spent a few years living rough with other former soldiers. No wonder he was scary.

This time I noticed how much more of Ma there was, far more than she put into the books. Ma could comfort her, Ma could discipline her, things that she and Ma did were given to Pa fictionally. Poor Ma. I could see how the show approached Ma through these stories and lenses, although I did wish they had kept a little more reserve.

Also, Laura was absolutely scared at various points, and said so. Various points that fictionally she wrote, "But Laura wasn't scared." More of her truth being different from facts, I guess. She wanted to give her family a happy story, and that didn't include Pa putting them into danger.

I really raised my eyebrow in the show where the one Independence family had a Victorian style house and servant in maid clothes, but I was wrong. Laura may not have gone to town to see, but in the one year they lived near it, it absolutely became a bustling town with multiple grocers, hotels, and stores, and many families did have a servant in their homes, per census records. Were they dressed like they worked for Eastern society families? Who knows, maybe they were in rich railroad families!

I was also struck that she and Rose kept trying to publish this. This was SO unpublishable! Like, there was never a chance of it. The first third or so, up until she was about 8, was very sketched out, rough, and choppy. By the time she got to her teens and older, it read very well, and I kept forgetting that I was reading Laura's words and not a biographer's.

Between that and how most of Rose's self-written fiction was poor copies of her mother's stories, I find it hard to believe that Rose was anything close to a ghost writer. She was an editor, and not always a good one.


2015:
The original manuscript, for adults, that Laura Ingalls Wilder eventually used as the basis for the Little House books. It was fascinating to read her story in her own words, before it got fictionalized. Most of it I already knew from my many reads of Donald Zochert's Laura, but there's something special about reading it in her own words. I usually adore footnotes and annotations, but these were crazy long. I feel like there had to be another way to format this - sometimes you'd leave the manuscript for several pages of annotations before getting back to it!! It was so distracting. I feel like I need to read this twice more - once just for the manuscript, once for the annotations. Trying to read them both together made it more of a mishmash than it needed to be.
]]> <![CDATA[Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder]]> 8221 Courage, Adventure, Steadfast Love

From a little house set deep in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, across Indian territory and into the Dakotas, Laura's family moved westward right along the frontier.

Their true-life saga, beloved by countless millions of TV viewers and readers of the bestselling Little House books, is one of spirit and devotion in the face of bitter-cold winters, wilderness trails, and heartbreaking personal tragedy.

Here, for the first time, and drawing on her own unpublished memoirs is the endlessly fascinating full account of Laura's life — from her earliest years through her enduring marriage to Almanzo Wilder, the "farmer boy" of her stories.



Draws on documented records and Mrs. Wilder's unpublished memoirs to picture the people, places, and events that informed her ninety years and inspired her well-beloved Little House books]]> 241 Donald Zochert 0380016362 Shelley 4
After watching the new Little House on Netflix, I dipped back in to Laura's life to see where they got some of their ideas. The show's Uncle George plot was made up, but it had root in Laura being scared of him in real life, and the family talking about how he was never the same after the war.

I remembered the book having Pa leave Kansas before he would be kicked out, but in real life, they did leave because they weren't getting money from their Big Woods tenant anymore.

Always fun to compare fact and fiction!]]> 4.12 1976 Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder
author: Donald Zochert
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at: 2026/08/10
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: history, youth, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2026, my-childhood, re-read
review:
So this is the Laura bio I grew up reading. I love it, 70s romance covers and all!

After watching the new Little House on Netflix, I dipped back in to Laura's life to see where they got some of their ideas. The show's Uncle George plot was made up, but it had root in Laura being scared of him in real life, and the family talking about how he was never the same after the war.

I remembered the book having Pa leave Kansas before he would be kicked out, but in real life, they did leave because they weren't getting money from their Big Woods tenant anymore.

Always fun to compare fact and fiction!
]]> Thornbird 242253185 The highly anticipated young adult thriller about a serial killer's daughter and her race to solve the crimes of her family's twisted past before it's too late—from E. Kennedy, aka New York Times bestselling romance author Elle Kennedy!

The world is hunting for answers—but what if the truth leads straight to you?

Ten years after her father—the infamous serial killer Gabriel Thorn—was caught, Ryan Shipley is back in Starling, Tennessee, trying to lay low. No one can know who she really is. No one can know the truth about her past.

But as fresh eyes dig deeper into the case, old secrets refuse to stay buried. Cryptic texts, eerie coincidences, and a chilling note leave everyone wondering—does Ryan know more than she’s letting on? As the truth unravels, one thing becomes in a town full of secrets, Ryan might be the biggest mystery of them all.

Perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Jeneva Rose—get ready for a thriller packed with twists you won’t see coming.]]> 448 E. Kennedy Shelley 4
But the ending?? Wtf. Horrific. ]]> 4.01 2026 Thornbird
author: E. Kennedy
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2026
rating: 4
read at: 2026/08/17
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, mystery, youth
review:
3.5? Ryan's father is a serial killer whose last murder was her mother; she's been out of state and under a new name with her grandmother since she was 7. But now her grandmother is dead and her only remaining family is back in her old hometown where everyone is obsessed with the murders. This was enjoyable, and tense in all the right places. At the sentence level, the romances and several characters (especially Foster) didn't seem to have much root in logic. Things happened because they needed to happen: FBI guy is a jerk, FBI guy is a friend, because plot demanded it. But thinking back generally, it was a fun read with interesting beats that avoided some cliches.

But the ending?? Wtf. Horrific.
]]> The Making of American Girl 243489306 Explore the early days of the iconic American Girl brand, from developing key characters to opening the first store!

Go behind-the-scenes of the creation of one of America's most iconic brands, American Girl. From founder Pleasant Rowland's original business plan scribbled on a yellow legal pad to the culmination of her dream to add a store and a magazine, readers will discover never before seen art, letters, product designs, and so much more.

Includes material from the archives of American Girl - some of which have never before been seen by the public!

Packaged in a beautiful, sprawling coffee table book, get ready to immerse yourself in the history of Pleasant Company and American Girl.]]> 282 American Girl 1683372565 Shelley 4 4.70 2026 The Making of American Girl
author: American Girl
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.70
book published: 2026
rating: 4
read at: 2026/08/06
date added: 2026/08/06
shelves: 2026, historical, history, youth, my-childhood
review:
I love seeing the initial sketches, plans, fabric samples, research, etc from before Pleasant Company even began! It was originally Rebecca the Norwegian immigrant in 1865 and Megan in 1945 along with Samantha in 1905, for example. I also love having pages devoted to each of the six books and how the stories came about. I just wish this wasn't a coffee table book, but something manageable to hold and read, because I would absolutely buy that.
]]> <![CDATA[Perfect Enough (Good Different #2)]]> 239320059 Good Different.Selah is a dragon.Or at least, she feels like one. And she finally figured out how to spread her wings and soar.Armed with her sensory tools, her notebooks and poems, and her newfound knowledge about her autism, Selah is heading to writing camp for the summer. She's excited to work on her writing, perform at the final showcase, and to meet more kids like her.Things aren't so simple though. As soon as she arrives, she realizes that her bully from home is there too. Ezra is chaotic, attention-seeking, and always teasing her.Selah is determined not to let him ruin her summer. But soon it turns out that it's not just Ezra causing problems. . . . As kind and enthusiastic as Selah's new friends are, they don't fully understand her autism and how overwhelming this new environment is for her.Friend drama, classes, overstimulation, and her relationship with Ezra all start to feel like a lot. But surely Selah can make it through just a few weeks without reaching her breaking point again . . . right?]]> 352 Meg Eden Kuyatt 1546199748 Shelley 5 2026, disabled-lead, youth Good Different is one of my all time favorites, and I was curious to see what was next for Selah. I was not disappointed.

The writing in verse was crisp and excellent. Selah's assumption that someone else's neurodivergent brain (ADHD) would work like hers (autism) made perfect sense and it also makes perfect sense how that all fell apart. And then the struggle of rooming with friends who have different sensory needs than you do, or who don't even think about sensory needs at all--it's absolutely brutal, and the book nails the stress and fear and anxiety that go along with it. These are kids who are making mistakes and learning and practicing how to do their best, and I loved them all. But my favorite bit is the end, which I wasn't expecting but was exactly the right resolution. I needed that message as a kid, and I still do as an adult. ]]> 4.34 2026 Perfect Enough (Good Different #2)
author: Meg Eden Kuyatt
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/07/02
date added: 2026/07/31
shelves: 2026, disabled-lead, youth
review:
It's the summer after everything changed at school for Selah, and she's looking forward to writing camp with her new friends--but her old bully, Ezra, is there too. Good Different is one of my all time favorites, and I was curious to see what was next for Selah. I was not disappointed.

The writing in verse was crisp and excellent. Selah's assumption that someone else's neurodivergent brain (ADHD) would work like hers (autism) made perfect sense and it also makes perfect sense how that all fell apart. And then the struggle of rooming with friends who have different sensory needs than you do, or who don't even think about sensory needs at all--it's absolutely brutal, and the book nails the stress and fear and anxiety that go along with it. These are kids who are making mistakes and learning and practicing how to do their best, and I loved them all. But my favorite bit is the end, which I wasn't expecting but was exactly the right resolution. I needed that message as a kid, and I still do as an adult.
]]> Yaga 55333556
A detective finds himself in a small, isolated town asking, what does the disappearance of a young heir to a yogurt empire have to do with some random lore about an old witch? Matched by an apprehensive local sheriff, a university professor with a taste for younger men, and a whole cast of curious characters, the Slavic myth of Baba Yaga twists into a new labyrinth of secret lives, ancient magic, and multiple suspects.

This genre-bending comedic fairy tale meets thrilling whodunit gives voice to an antihero of epic proportions while interrogating how her story has historically been told by men. From now on, you'll remember the name Baba Yaga for the right reasons.]]> 144 Kat Sandler Shelley 4 4.15 Yaga
author: Kat Sandler
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2026/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]> Rosie and Michael 564627 40 Judith Viorst 0689712723 Shelley 3 1987, youth, my-childhood 3.93 1974 Rosie and Michael
author: Judith Viorst
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1974
rating: 3
read at: 2026/06/07
date added: 2026/07/07
shelves: 1987, youth, my-childhood
review:
I have always had a visceral memory of this books--I loved the plot and shipped them even as an elementary aged kid, but the scratchy art was also hard for me to look at. I could never remember the name of it. And then I was looking at Judith Viorst books a few weeks ago and there it was! I feel like I had this one from ages 3-7, maybe? Definitely one we owned.
]]> <![CDATA[Sorcery and Small Magics (The Wildersongs Trilogy, #1)]]> 199826249 Desperate to undo the curse binding them to each other, an impulsive sorcerer and his curmudgeonly rival venture deep into a magical forest in search of a counterspell—only to discover that magic might not be the only thing pulling them together.

Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics.

He can summon butterflies with a song, or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Such minor charms don’t earn him much admiration from other sorcerers (or his father), but anything more elaborate always blows up in his face. Which is why Leo vowed years ago to never again write powerful magic.

That is, until a mix-up involving a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime nemesis, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo’s complete opposite—respected, exceptionally talented, and an absolutely insufferable curmudgeon. The only thing they agree on is that getting caught using forbidden magic would mean the end of their careers. They need a counterspell, and fast. But Grimm casts spells, he doesn’t undo them, and Leo doesn’t mess with powerful magic.

Chasing rumors of a powerful sorcerer with a knack for undoing curses, Leo and Grimm enter the Unquiet Wood, a forest infested with murderous monsters and dangerous outlaws alike. To dissolve the curse, they’ll have to uncover the true depths of Leo’s magic, set aside their long-standing rivalry, and—much to their horror—work together.

Even as an odd spark of attraction flares between them.]]> 416 Maiga Doocy 0356523993 Shelley 4 4.27 2024 Sorcery and Small Magics (The Wildersongs Trilogy, #1)
author: Maiga Doocy
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2026/06/17
date added: 2026/07/07
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, fantasy, queer
review:
Leo focuses on small magics and deflecting after a traumatizing incident, which puts him at odds with best student of the year Sebastian--which means them accidentally ending up in a proximity spell is especially hellish. Romance ensues. This was a ton of fun, I enjoyed the world building, and these two idiots charmed me even when they were trying not to. I'm very intrigued by what will come next--because there were a lot of threads left dangling.
]]> <![CDATA[The Framed Women of Ardemore House (Netherleigh Mystery, #1)]]> 127975990 A sharp, savvy mystery about an autistic editor who inherits a crumbling English estate, only to find herself at the center of a murder investigation when a family portrait vanishes and a dead body turns up.

Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism.

After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect. At the same time, a peculiar family portrait vanishes from a secret room in the manor, bearing a strange connection to both the dead body and Jo’s mysterious family history.

With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper’s wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame and find the missing painting, unearthing a slew of secrets about the town—and herself—along the way. And she’ll have to do it all before the killer strikes again…]]> 336 Brandy Schillace 1335014039 Shelley 4 2026, mystery, disabled-lead 3.57 2024 The Framed Women of Ardemore House (Netherleigh Mystery, #1)
author: Brandy Schillace
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2026/05/16
date added: 2026/07/02
shelves: 2026, mystery, disabled-lead
review:
Autistic Jo has inherited a crumbling manor from her mother's family that hasn't been inhabited since 1908 and a cottage in an English village, so she moves countries and ends up with multiple mysteries and a murder. This was so engaging and fun to read. My big complaint is that Gwilym dropped out of the book without a goodbye, and I liked him a lot. I did suspect the villain about halfway through, so it was fun to keep picking up the clues and putting all of the people together. I really liked Jo, who was very relatable to my AuDHD self! I immediately put book 2 on hold.
]]> <![CDATA[Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven]]> 241673687 When Agatha Harkness finds herself yanked out of her mysterious past and plopped in a modern-day high school, the race is on to find the key to saving her coven while discovering first love and battling an ancient foe.

Agatha Harkness is a powerful witch stuck living amongst an untalented group of witches in 1690s Salem, Massachusetts. That’s all right—the dreary coven meetings and fake herbal potions will all be worth it once she finally gets her hands on one of the most magical artifacts in the Darkhold, a book of extraordinary power. But just as it’s within her grasp, disaster strikes the coven! 

Agatha is about to reluctantly save the day when she is rebuffed by the nosy, stuck-up Martha. Now, thanks to the interference, Martha, Agatha, and the Darkhold have been unceremoniously dropped in one of the most terrifying locations a witch has ever encountered—modern-day high school.

Armed with just her smarts and her spells, Agatha embarks on a quest to recover the Darkhold and an incognito Martha. Along the way, she encounters a meddlesome crow, a potential first crush, and a new coven. She almost starts to feel like she’s found her home, until Martha returns from the shadows—this time with dire consequences.]]> 348 Sara Shepard 0736447881 Shelley 3 3.17 Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven
author: Sara Shepard
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.17
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2026/05/29
date added: 2026/05/30
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, fantasy, media, youth
review:
I mostly read this out of curiosity. Agatha hops through time looking for the Darkhold, but has only even been able to go into the past (before 1700). When she's in Salem 1691, she figures out where it is but so does another witch, who spirits all three to Salem 2025. It's not like any Agatha I've read in comics or watched on TV, and somehow she has spells to do math and science and catch her up on basically everything she needs to know about the 300 years she missed? Also, she has a crush on a boy. :( I mostly wanted to see how it got resolved, but the resolution basically kept her changing into a modern teen and someone even less like Agatha than she began as.
]]> <![CDATA[The Dead Come to Stay (Netherleigh Mystery, #2)]]> 218267257 A delightful new cozy crime novel from the award-winning author of the "twisty, engaging, and thoroughly unexpected" (Deanna Raybourne) The Framed Women of Ardemore House

An amateur autistic sleuth. A wry English detective. A murder case that thrusts them both into the wealthy world of the rare artifacts trade...

Jo Jones can't seem to catch a break. She'd hoped that trading in her city life for the cozy, peaceful hills of North Yorkshire to take over her family estate would finally be her chance for a "fresh start.” Instead, she's been thrust further into the past than she thought possible. The estate property is littered with traces of ancestors that Jo never knew existed, including a mysterious woman depicted in a half-destroyed painting inside the estate – and also including Jo's late uncle, who may hold the key to her cryptic family history. Add to all this the gossipy town politics that Jo's forced to navigate as a neurodivergent transplanted American. And that's not even getting to the murder yet.

When the prickly town detective James MacAdams discovers a body in the woods with coincidental ties to Jo Jones, they're forced to team up on the case. The clues will lead them into the wealthiest locales of Yorkshire, from sparkling glass hotels to luxury property sites to elite country clubs. But below the glittering surfaces, Jo and MacAdams discover darker schemes brewing. Local teens, many of them international refugees, are disappearing left and right, and each case is somehow linked to a shady architectural firm – which also happened to employ the dead man from the woods.

What began as an unusual murder case plunges Jo and MacAdams into the underground world of rare artifacts and antique trading... and the murderer may not be finished yet...
 ]]> 368 Brandy Schillace 1335121870 Shelley 4
I really enjoyed the scenes with Arthur and Chen, getting to know Aiden, and Jo finding this lost part of what could/should have been her family. I wish there had been more details about Evelyn, Gwen, and William's lives after 1908, because I was so invested in them during book one.

The murder plot wasn't as engaging to me as in the first book, either, and I like Gwilym a little more than I do James. It was interesting enough, and I didn't predict the twist, but it was also just kind of sad.

But finally, I was genuinely shocked at the sheer amount of typos and errors in this book, consistently throughout. Spaces missing, punctuation missing, words misspelled, sentences that didn't make sense. I had to check to see if it was a small publisher or indie, but no--HarperCollins. Very poorly done.]]> 3.56 2025 The Dead Come to Stay (Netherleigh Mystery, #2)
author: Brandy Schillace
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/05/20
date added: 2026/05/21
shelves: 2026, disabled-lead, mystery, courtship-romance
review:
A year after book 1, Jo is settling in to her new cottage and town, and the Ardemore House gardens that she gave to the National Trust is having its grand reopening--unfortunately a dead body was found nearby. First, I love Jo and how her brain works and how she finds the patterns.

I really enjoyed the scenes with Arthur and Chen, getting to know Aiden, and Jo finding this lost part of what could/should have been her family. I wish there had been more details about Evelyn, Gwen, and William's lives after 1908, because I was so invested in them during book one.

The murder plot wasn't as engaging to me as in the first book, either, and I like Gwilym a little more than I do James. It was interesting enough, and I didn't predict the twist, but it was also just kind of sad.

But finally, I was genuinely shocked at the sheer amount of typos and errors in this book, consistently throughout. Spaces missing, punctuation missing, words misspelled, sentences that didn't make sense. I had to check to see if it was a small publisher or indie, but no--HarperCollins. Very poorly done.
]]> The Winter of the Dollhouse 222685866 “In the small-scale world of Laura Amy Schlitz’s novel The Winter of the Dollhouse, the emotional stakes are both intimate and enormous. . . . [She] is a masterly storyteller.” —The New York Times Book Review

This captivating coming-of-age story is touching, funny, and beautifully layered, with a fairy-tale ending that only Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz could deliver.

On a gloomy November night, eleven-year-old Tiphany Stokes saves an old lady from collapsing in the street. An antique doll named Gretel watches them, longing for Tiph to rescue her from life in a shop window. Though none of these three characters realizes it, their worlds are about to change: Gretel will no longer be a precious prisoner. The old lady—is she a witch?—will discover the secret hidden in her long-neglected dollhouse. And Tiph—whose parents rejoice that she is “never any trouble”—will become a thief, a dog walker, an actor, and best of all, a friend.]]> 400 Laura Amy Schlitz 153623608X Shelley 4 2026, fantasy, youth When the Dolls Woke, the dolls are alive when people aren't around, and they get up to their own parallel adventures. And of course, there's a magical ending for dolls and people. Heart eyes.

I adored Szilvia, the old lady that Tiph bonded with--they basically adopted each other. Tiph has a 3 year old disabled brother and a baby sister, and her stepmom Holly, who Tiph has always loved, is much more focused on them than her, and Tiph's dad is consistently described as Mr. Stokes in her narration, which was a very odd and/or pointed choice as to their relationship. I really disliked how their typical way of punishing Tiph was to withdraw and be cold; they would icily talk to her about lunch and time to go, but no smiles or hugs or engagement. At one point, she worries that they'll be so angry that she'll have to last the next 7 years until college without love, and honestly, I think that's a valid fear. I loved how Szilvia was able to broaden Tiph's communication styles so that she could get her parents to understand her, but seriously, they needed to be taking the lead on that. I wonder if kids will pick up on the comparison to Szilvia or Heather, and how the parents fell very short?

I know the author is a Betsy-Tacy fan, she's spoken at the Betsy Tacy Society's Writers Lounge before, so it made me smile that Szilvia told Tiph about Enrico Caruso and his stage fright!

Quote I liked: "Neni Szilvia listened, nodding. She didn't jump in right away with advice, and Tiph was grateful. Holly would have told her to just be herself and everything else would fall into place. Tiph never knew how to be herself. She never knew which part of herself she should be."]]> 4.30 2025 The Winter of the Dollhouse
author: Laura Amy Schlitz
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/05/18
date added: 2026/05/19
shelves: 2026, fantasy, youth
review:
11 year old Tiph doesn't feel like she fits in with her blended family or at her brand new school until she meets an old lady and her dog and a dollhouse. I was a sucker for dollhouse books as a kid, so it's nor surprising that I loved this--it alternates between Tiph's POV and Gretel, the doll she falls in love with. Like my childhood beloved When the Dolls Woke, the dolls are alive when people aren't around, and they get up to their own parallel adventures. And of course, there's a magical ending for dolls and people. Heart eyes.

I adored Szilvia, the old lady that Tiph bonded with--they basically adopted each other. Tiph has a 3 year old disabled brother and a baby sister, and her stepmom Holly, who Tiph has always loved, is much more focused on them than her, and Tiph's dad is consistently described as Mr. Stokes in her narration, which was a very odd and/or pointed choice as to their relationship. I really disliked how their typical way of punishing Tiph was to withdraw and be cold; they would icily talk to her about lunch and time to go, but no smiles or hugs or engagement. At one point, she worries that they'll be so angry that she'll have to last the next 7 years until college without love, and honestly, I think that's a valid fear. I loved how Szilvia was able to broaden Tiph's communication styles so that she could get her parents to understand her, but seriously, they needed to be taking the lead on that. I wonder if kids will pick up on the comparison to Szilvia or Heather, and how the parents fell very short?

I know the author is a Betsy-Tacy fan, she's spoken at the Betsy Tacy Society's Writers Lounge before, so it made me smile that Szilvia told Tiph about Enrico Caruso and his stage fright!

Quote I liked: "Neni Szilvia listened, nodding. She didn't jump in right away with advice, and Tiph was grateful. Holly would have told her to just be herself and everything else would fall into place. Tiph never knew how to be herself. She never knew which part of herself she should be."
]]> The Shots You Take 210202493 A sweet and sexy hockey romance about two ex-teammates and former best friends with benefits who are about to discover whether you can ever really have a second chance, from the USA TODAY bestselling author of Heated Rivalry and The Long Game.

After moving back to his hometown ten years ago, Riley Tuck thought he had left his major league hockey career—and his broken heart—far behind. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes, it brings ex-teammate and former best friend with benefits Adam Sheppard back into his life.

Coming to the small town of Avery River, Nova Scotia, might have been a mistake. Adam’s not sure he’ll ever win back Riley’s trust after the way they left things—and the attention he’s getting as a huge hockey star isn’t exactly helping. Yet the chemistry that crackles between them is undeniable, even now.

As Adam helps Riley navigate his grief, long-buried feelings start to resurface. But they’ll have to square off with their complicated past if they’re going to have a real shot at a new beginning.]]> 329 Rachel Reid 1335015329 Shelley 4 3.99 2025 The Shots You Take
author: Rachel Reid
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/05/02
date added: 2026/05/06
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, disabled-lead, queer
review:
NHL teammates and best friends Riley and Adam hooked up through their early years in the league, but only Riley could admit he was in love. 20 years of not talking later, Riley's dad dies, Adam comes to the funeral, and they slowly start to break down everything that went wrong and what could go right in the future. This was heavy with grief, and it was hard to see how Riley could stand navigating this all right after his dad's death, but it was a good read.
]]> <![CDATA[This Is Not the Abby Show by Debbie Reed Fischer (2016-07-12)]]> 142938240 0 Debbie Reed Fischer Shelley 4 2026, disabled-lead, youth 4.00 2016 This Is Not the Abby Show by Debbie Reed Fischer (2016-07-12)
author: Debbie Reed Fischer
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2026/05/02
date added: 2026/05/02
shelves: 2026, disabled-lead, youth
review:
ADHD Abby hates being forced into summer school after her genuinely awful English teacher failed her (grade wise, learning wise, accommodation wise, support wise, every way possible), but things get better when she makes some friends, starts medication, and a therapist helps her and her parents navigate their interpersonal misunderstandings. Abby is a fucking delight, and I was so glad she had she a great therapist to support her and explain things to her parents.
]]> <![CDATA[Being Autistic (And What That Actually Means)]]> 199613905 151 Niamh Garvey 1805011723 Shelley 4 4.64 Being Autistic (And What That Actually Means)
author: Niamh Garvey
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.64
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/05/02
date added: 2026/05/02
shelves: 2026, disabled-lead, graphic-novel-comics, youth
review:
4.5. A phenomenal guide to understanding autism for autistic kids, and their friends and family up through adults. Clearly written, excellent use of illustrations and comic panels, and very affirming. Highly recommended.
]]> Focused 34308552
It's starting to be a problem-not just in school, but when Clea's playing chess or just hanging out with her best friend. Other kids are starting to notice. When Clea fails one too many tests, her parents take her to be tested, and she finds out that she has ADHD, which means her attention is all over the place instead of where it needs to be.

Clea knows life can't continue the way it's been going. She's just not sure how you can fix a problem that's all in your head. But that's what she's going to have to do, to find a way to focus.

In a starred review, Booklist called Alyson Gerber's first novel, Braced, "a masterfully constructed and highly empathetic debut about a different kind of
acceptance." With Focused, she explores even further how, when life gives you a challenge, the best way to face it is with an open mind, an open heart, and the open support of the people around you.]]> 304 Alyson Gerber 1338185993 Shelley 4 2026, disabled-lead, youth 4.15 2019 Focused
author: Alyson Gerber
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2026/05/01
date added: 2026/05/02
shelves: 2026, disabled-lead, youth
review:
Clea is newly diagnosed with ADHD and is learning how to work with her brain while navigating school, chess, and a family that isn't understanding ADHD quite yet. Really great for ADHD kids, showing how Clea builds her supports and accommodations and also gets help with how to explain how her brain works to the adults around her, and equally great for non-ADHD kids to see what is underneath the visible parts of ADHD.
]]> Making It Up As You Go Along 251713051 Patricia Forde 1918353131 Shelley 4 2026, youth 4.00 Making It Up As You Go Along
author: Patricia Forde
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/05/02
date added: 2026/05/02
shelves: 2026, youth
review:
A really excellent guide to writing for kids, with information, examples, and prompts. Very well laid out, very approachable, kids are going to love this.
]]> Mandy 10332 320 Julie Andrews Edwards 0061131628 Shelley 4 2026, vintage, youth 4.27 1971 Mandy
author: Julie Andrews Edwards
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1971
rating: 4
read at: 2026/05/01
date added: 2026/05/02
shelves: 2026, vintage, youth
review:
10 year old Mandy has grown up in an orphanage and longs for a place of her own; when she stumbles on a small run down cottage, she adopts it as her own. This is charming, but also sad. I love the descriptions of how Mandy weeds and cleans and makes the cottage cozy for herself, but she's so lonely and sad despite that. It has a fairytale ending, but it took a lot out of Mandy to get there.
]]> Deep and Dark and Dangerous 541341
Ali figures she’ll find out while she’s vacationing in Maine with Dulcie and her four-year-old daughter, Emma, in the house where Ali’s mother’s family used to spend summers. All hopes for relaxation are quashed shortly after their arrival, though, when the girls meet Sissy, a kid who’s mean and spiteful and a bad influence on Emma.

Strangest of all, Sissy keeps talking about a girl named Teresa who drowned under mysterious circumstances back when Claire and Dulcie were kids, and whose body was never found. At first Ali thinks Sissy’s just trying to scare her with a ghost story, but soon she discovers the real reason why Sissy is so angry. . . . Mary Downing Hahn is at her chilling best in this new supernatural tale that’s certain to send shivers down her readers’ spines.]]> 187 Mary Downing Hahn 0618665455 Shelley 4 2026, mystery, youth What Happened ThenWhat Happened Then, only there's a ghost this time. Sissy was so creepy, and so manipulative and mean, but I am still glad that her spirit got what it needed.]]> 4.20 2007 Deep and Dark and Dangerous
author: Mary Downing Hahn
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2026/04/26
date added: 2026/04/28
shelves: 2026, mystery, youth
review:
Ali goes with her aunt and 4 year old cousin to the summer cottage the family hasn't visited since something happened there thirty years ago. Honestly, this is the same basic idea of last year's book What Happened ThenWhat Happened Then, only there's a ghost this time. Sissy was so creepy, and so manipulative and mean, but I am still glad that her spirit got what it needed.
]]> Look for Me by Moonlight 237117 192 Mary Downing Hahn 038072703X Shelley 4 2026, youth 3.79 1995 Look for Me by Moonlight
author: Mary Downing Hahn
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2026/04/23
date added: 2026/04/28
shelves: 2026, youth
review:
Cynda chooses to spend a year with her father, who she hasn't seen since she was 6, rather than go with her mom and new stepdad to Italy, but life in the inn he owns with his new wife/former student and their son isn't what she expected. This really felt more like a Lois Duncan than a MDH: Cynda is 16 and being seduced by 30/300 year old guest Vincent. If that wasn't creepy enough, he also started going after her 5 year old half brother. This was genuinely scary, both for the vampireness of it all as well as the demonstration of what manipulation and isolation of abuse victims looks like. I didn't read this one as a kid, it came out when I was in high school, and I really wonder what I would have thought about it.
]]> Daphne's Book 212612
But being forced to work with the class "weirdo", Jessica gets an even bigger surprise. Not only does Daphne talk to her, but she tells Jessica a terrible secret...one that Jessica knows could be very dangerous to keep.]]> 176 Mary Downing Hahn 0380723557 Shelley 4 4.11 1983 Daphne's Book
author: Mary Downing Hahn
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2026/04/21
date added: 2026/04/28
shelves: 2026, 1991, my-childhood, youth
review:
Jessica gets paired with outcast Daphne for a school project, and they become friends. I remembered that Daphne had a hard home situation that Jessica ultimately had to tell an adult about, but I didn't remember what it was even when I started reading. It's always interesting to read a non-horror MDH, but like the ones based on her mother's childhood, I enjoyed this. The kids felt realistic and I was rooting for the girls and Daphne's little sister.
]]> <![CDATA[Nell O'Dell Hates Quests (The Golden Crossroads #1)]]> 238226636 What happens when the quest finds you, despite your best efforts? A reluctant adventurer sets off on an unexpected journey in this broadly appealing fantasy at once earnest and self-aware, funny and heartfelt, and thoroughly charming.

Nell O’Dell yearns for a quiet life tending her garden and caring for her chickens. Unfortunately, her family runs the bustling Crossroads Inn—accommodating all species of patron from fairies to fauns to half-giants, most of them questers on their way to seek glory and fortune. What’s more, her parents are retired questers themselves, and everyone assumes that Nell will follow in their footsteps. Then the day comes when a letter arrives from the government, threatening the Inn and all that Nell holds dear, and someone needs to go on a short journey to the capital to take care of it. Nell is the only one available—but that's fine, because it's just a boring business trip, not a quest! Even if she does find herself up against an excitable travel partner, a thief in the night, a stolen treasure, and a mysterious knife . . . Lively black-and-white illustrations by the author embellish this breezy, bighearted adventure that will satisfy both longtime questers and first-time visitors to the genre.]]> 336 Emily B. Martin 1536243310 Shelley 4
Also, one of the characters has a disability, some form of hypermobility/Ehler Danlos, with great physical accommodations. I absolutely want more of that.]]> 4.27 2026 Nell O'Dell Hates Quests (The Golden Crossroads #1)
author: Emily B. Martin
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2026
rating: 4
read at: 2026/04/21
date added: 2026/04/22
shelves: 2026, fantasy, favorites, youth
review:
Nell is the daughter of two famous questers and as such, is determined to have a quiet life with her chickens and avoid all quests. Unfortunately, a "business trip" turns into the quest she never wanted. THIS IS SO FUN!!! I adore the world building, the characters, the tropes, the twisting of the tropes, and the quirky fun writing. (A bard writing a ballad of complaint rhymes meteor stream with pyramid scheme.) I very very much hope this becomes a series, because I need more Nell, Midge, Bevin, and Celeste in my life. Kids are going to go wild for it.

Also, one of the characters has a disability, some form of hypermobility/Ehler Danlos, with great physical accommodations. I absolutely want more of that.
]]> Angela and the Broken Heart 620585 144 Nancy K. Robinson 0590432117 Shelley 2 2026, youth
Also, so creepy that second grade boys were building things with mirrors to look up Angela's dress. :( There have been things that aged very poorly through the whole series, but honestly, this one horrified me.]]> 3.50 1991 Angela and the Broken Heart
author: Nancy K. Robinson
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1991
rating: 2
read at: 2026/04/20
date added: 2026/04/21
shelves: 2026, youth
review:
This one came out a few years after I'd aged out of short chapter books like these, so this was my first read. There was about a decade between this and the previous in the series, and this was a lot less charming. There were lots of little stories for all three of the Steele kids, but none of them felt very complete or had payoff except for Nathaniel and Lola.

Also, so creepy that second grade boys were building things with mirrors to look up Angela's dress. :( There have been things that aged very poorly through the whole series, but honestly, this one horrified me.
]]> Angela, Private Citizen 620548 160 Nancy K. Robinson 0590454102 Shelley 4 2026, 1989 3.57 1989 Angela, Private Citizen
author: Nancy K. Robinson
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at: 2026/04/07
date added: 2026/04/21
shelves: 2026, 1989
review:
In the 30-odd years since I read these, I did mix some of this up with Oh, Honestly Angela. I'd had it in my head that Angela mailed Stuffed Elephant off for their adopted underprivileged child, but nope--she actually mailed some money and a tax form to the IRS. Unfortunately, it was a tax form that her parents needed to mail in their taxes and this was 1989, so getting one and to the post office in time was actually a multi-hour effort. They were less than pleased, but it was pretty funny. She put her very best stickers on that IRS envelope!
]]> <![CDATA[Oh Honestly, Angela! (Apple Paperbacks)]]> 6352443
]]> 120 Nancy K. Robinson 0590403826 Shelley 4 3.85 1985 Oh Honestly, Angela! (Apple Paperbacks)
author: Nancy K. Robinson
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2026/04/06
date added: 2026/04/21
shelves: 1988, 2026, my-childhood, youth, re-read
review:
I have never forgotten Angela accidentally donating her beloved stuffed friend, Stuffed Elephant! Or her sister Tina obsessing on how to adopt an underprivileged child for $17 a month. There were a lot of funny bits, too--Angela doing the shopping before knowing how to read, and buying pet food instead of human food, Tina ordering eels at the restaurant with her rich friend's family because it was cheapest on the menu and earning the undying admiration of their French waiter, their mother dealing with jury duty. A delightful reread.
]]> Mom, You're Fired! 880082 108 Nancy K. Robinson 0590313967 Shelley 3 3.86 1981 Mom, You're Fired!
author: Nancy K. Robinson
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1981
rating: 3
read at: 2026/04/04
date added: 2026/04/21
shelves: 1988, 2026, re-read, youth, my-childhood
review:
Tweenage Tina is embarrassed by her hippie mom (1981), when her bff's mom is so cool and put together. This was pretty funny, and I absolutely remember Angela getting lost in the department store from when I was a kid. To be fair to Tina, her mom is sometimes over the top--who does show off newly purchased underwear to strangers? But other times she's pretty great, and Tina recognizes that, too. Tina's reactions and emotions are still relevant in 2026, but there is a lot of parenting here that kids and their caregivers would probably be shocked by, ha.
]]> <![CDATA[The Children's Illustrated Book of Tarot: An Adventure Through the Major Arcana]]> 208840755 Open the door to a world of wonder and self-discovery! The Children's Illustrated Book of An Adventure Through the Major Arcana invites young readers (ages 5+) and their grown-ups on a captivating journey through the timeless wisdom of the Tarot. This beautifully illustrated picture book brings the 22 archetype characters and symbols of the Major Arcana to life, helping children understand universal values like courage, empathy, and resilience.


Embark on an enchanting adventure! Follow The Fool, the Tarot's main character, as they navigate life's ups and downs, teaching children that they are the protagonist of their own unique story. Each vibrant, four-color illustration reveals a new character, from the brave Fool taking a leap into the unknown to the nurturing love of the Empress. Perfect as a read-aloud or a "read-together" experience, this book encourages young minds to explore their inner world.


Why this book is a must-have for every child's
-Taps into a Popular Introduce children to the wildly popular world of Tarot, a topic resonating deeply with parents from younger generations, especially on social media.
-Teacher-Authored Written by a former elementary school teacher, this book is expertly crafted to entertain, educate, and foster a child's development and skill-building on every page.
-Visually Dive into a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors and charming characters! The stunning illustrations not only captivate young readers but also playfully unlock the mysteries of the Tarot world.
-Empowering & Follow The Fool on a whimsical journey through the Major Arcana, exploring life's ups and downs through empowering narratives that build self-confidence and resilience. Can be read cover-to-cover or used for a daily practice.
-Boosts Emotional Intelligence & Critical This book uses universal themes and emotions to develop emotional intelligence and critical thinking, encouraging thoughtful conversations about empathy, understanding, and self-awareness between children and adults.
-Perfect Gift for Any With its rich storytelling and stunning illustrations, this magical picture book is an ideal gift for Halloween, spooky season, or any time of year!


Beyond the book, build a foundation for growth and connection. This 48-page picture book includes engaging back matter with questions for parents to discuss with their children, fostering meaningful conversations and deeper understanding. Whether read cover-to-cover or used for a daily practice like a Tarot deck, A Child's Book of Tarot is a magical gift that will inspire curiosity and self-reflection in young readers, making it a wonderful addition to any home or classroom library.]]> 56 Kristen Witte 1250370132 Shelley 4 2026, youth 4.46 The Children's Illustrated Book of Tarot: An Adventure Through the Major Arcana
author: Kristen Witte
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/04/15
date added: 2026/04/15
shelves: 2026, youth
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Long Game (Game Changers, #6)]]> 220966428 To the world they are rivals, but to each other they are everything. Ten years. That’s how long Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been seeing each other. How long they’ve been keeping their relationship a secret. From friends, from family…from the league. If Shane wants to stay at the top of his game, what he and Ilya share has to remain secret. He loves Ilya, but what if going public ruins everything? Ilya is sick of secrets. Shane has gotten so good at hiding his feelings, sometimes Ilya questions if they even exist. The closeness, the intimacy, even the risk that would come with being open about their relationship…Ilya wants it all. It’s time for them to decide what’s most important—hockey or love. It’s time to make a call.]]> 442 Rachel Reid 0369704436 Shelley 4 &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 4.51 2022 The Long Game (Game Changers, #6)
author: Rachel Reid
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2026/02/16
date added: 2026/04/09
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, queer
review:
<3 <3 <3 <3
]]> <![CDATA[Role Model (Game Changers, #5)]]> 220966685 The highly anticipated fifth novel in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series sees a grumpy professional hockey player meet his match in an out-and-proud social media manager…

The hits just keep coming for Troy Barrett. Traded to the worst team in the league would be bad enough, but coming on the heels of a messy breakup and a recent scandal… Troy just wants to play hockey and be left alone. He doesn’t want to be in the news anymore, and he definitely doesn’t want to “work on his online presence” with the team’s peppy social media manager.

Harris Drover can tell standoffish Troy isn’t happy about the trade—anyone could tell, frankly, as he doesn’t exactly hide it well—but Harris doesn’t give up on people easily. Even when he’s developing a crush he’s sure is one-sided. And when he sees Troy’s smile finally crack through his grumpy exterior, well… That’s a man Harris couldn’t turn his back on if he wanted to.

Suddenly, Troy’s move to the new team feels like an opportunity—for Troy to embrace his true self, and for both men to surrender to their growing attraction. But indulging in each other behind closed doors is one thing, and for Troy, being in a public relationship with Harris will mean facing off with his fears, once and for all.]]> 353 Rachel Reid Shelley 4 4.22 2021 Role Model (Game Changers, #5)
author: Rachel Reid
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2026/02/13
date added: 2026/04/09
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, queer
review:
HARRIS. CHIRON. ILYA. <3 <3 <3
]]> <![CDATA[Common Goal (Game Changers, #4)]]> 220966619 New York Admirals goalie Eric never thought his friends-with-benefits arrangement with much-younger Kyle would leave them both wanting more…

Veteran goaltender Eric Bennett has faced down some of the toughest shooters on the ice, but nothing prepared him for his latest challenge—life after hockey. It’s time to make some big changes, starting with finally dating men for the first time.

Graduate student Kyle Swift moved to New York nursing a broken heart. He’d sworn to find someone his own age to crush on (for once). Until he meets a gorgeous, distinguished silver fox hockey player. Despite their intense physical attraction, Kyle has no intention of getting emotionally involved. He’ll teach Eric a few tricks, have some mutually consensual fun, then walk away.

Eric is more than happy to learn anything Kyle brings to the table. And Kyle never expected their friends-with-benefits arrangement to leave him wanting more. Happily-ever-after might be staring them in the face, but it won’t happen if they’re too stubborn to come clean about their feelings.

Everything they both want is within reach… They just have to be brave enough to grab it.]]> 335 Rachel Reid Shelley 3 3.64 2020 Common Goal (Game Changers, #4)
author: Rachel Reid
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2026/02/09
date added: 2026/04/09
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, queer
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nightmare Hunter (Maxwell Dark, #1)]]> 216247466 Maxwell Dark is on a mission to help kids hunt down and defeat the nightmares haunting them in this chilling horror graphic novel filled with monsters and mayhem.

I'm Maxwell. Please don't call me Max. I have a gift that I was born with, although most of the time it feels like a curse.

That gift—or curse—allows twelve-year-old Maxwell to sense, experience, and enter other kids' nightmares. He drifts from town to town, drawn by the darkest dreams, till he can help people defeat whatever is truly haunting them. With seventy-three clients and counting, he's seen every monster there is to face.

Or so he thinks, until he meets Sid. Sid's dreams start off as typical nightmare fare, but soon they get weirder. Creepier. Impossible to ignore. As Maxwell goes deeper and deeper into Sid's nightmares, he starts to realize he may be trapped in one of his very own…]]> 208 Brady Smith 0593751132 Shelley 3 3.74 2025 Nightmare Hunter (Maxwell Dark, #1)
author: Brady Smith
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/03/09
date added: 2026/04/09
shelves: 2026, fantasy, graphic-novel-comics, youth
review:
3.5. Maxwell enters into kids' nightmares to help kids fight them and keep them from coming back--except when he's in Sid's nightmares, it seems like it might actually be his own. This was clever and fun, and I'm looking forward to #2 to see where it goes with the Big Bad.
]]> The Picasso Curse 222176531 What would happen if you accidentally bought a doodle worth millions? Edwin Hodge finds out in this middle grade novel by Dan Gutman, bestselling author of My Weird School series.

There were so many things Edwin Hodge didn’t know when he paid $10 for a cool poster of Kobe Bryant at the local flea market.

He didn’t know that hidden within the frame of the poster was an original drawing by Pablo Picasso, one of the most famous artists in history. He didn’t know the Picasso might be worth millions of dollars. He didn’t know that kids at school were going to treat him differently, or that he would become a world famous social media superstar.

And he sure didn’t know that people would tap his phone, follow him home, break into his house, or threaten to burn it down. He didn’t know the Picasso was going to ruin his life.

Have you ever had to make a decision--a really hard decision? A decision that would change the course of your life from that moment on? Edwin is faced with lots of crucial decisions in this gripping adventure, a blend of fact and fiction by Dan Gutman, an author who says, “I want my readers to think that reading my books is like watching a movie. One where you never know what’s going to happen next.”

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection]]> 192 Dan Gutman 0823453855 Shelley 4 2026, youth 3.58 The Picasso Curse
author: Dan Gutman
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.58
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/09
date added: 2026/04/09
shelves: 2026, youth
review:
Edwin bought a framed Kobe Bryant poster at a flea market, not knowing that there was an original drawing by Picasso tucked into the frame. The attention at school and from the world creates intense pressure that starts fracturing and ruining his life--the rest of his life hinges on one decision about how to deal with this drawing. It's an interesting read, with the plusses and challenges that come from going viral in real life and becoming a "public figure," but the ending is what really has stuck with me. What would you do?
]]> <![CDATA[Flash Gordon: The Girl from Infinity Vol. 1]]> 220160961 Sci fi and fantasy merge in this reimagining of Flash Gordon! Focusing on teamwork, adventures, cute critters, heroes, monsters, and the journey of leadership!

In the distant future, voyager Dale Arden discovers a shooting star — containing a girl named FLASH GORDON, Savior of the Universe! But Flash has no memory of who she is, and together, she and Dale must uncover her past, save Dale’s family, and rescue the alien planet of Omnia from the clutches of the cruel Emperor Azimuth! Join the adventure of a lifetime in this gorgeous reimagining of FLASH GORDON, written by NYT-bestseller Marguerite Bennett and illustrated by Bev Johnson!]]> 128 Marguerite Bennett 1545818983 Shelley 3 2.86 Flash Gordon: The Girl from Infinity Vol. 1
author: Marguerite Bennett
name: Shelley
average rating: 2.86
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2026/03/09
date added: 2026/04/09
shelves: 2026, graphic-novel-comics, sci-fi, youth
review:
This caught my eye because of the Flash Gordon comics and shorts of the 30s and 40s, but when I saw Marguerite Bennett was the writer, I had to grab it instantly. I've missed her comics SO MUCH, and it's been ages since I saw her name. This is a fun reimagining of the original, with Flash a young girl who had been in cryo through space until Dale came across her pod. I'm not quite the audience for this, but the writing is snappy and the story feels like an homage to the 30s futurism of the original.
]]> Dream On (Dream On #1) 208840738 Mega-bestselling graphic novel author Shannon Hale (Real Friends, Best Friends, and Friends Forever—over 2 million copies sold!) is back with a new middle grade graphic novel about hope, friendship, and heartfelt wishes, perfect for fans of Invisible Emmie and Click.

Something is missing from Cassie's life.

Her parents don't have much money, she has to share her bedroom (and bed!) with her sisters, and her family never seem to have time for her. To make matters worse, her best friend Vali is always busy with a new friend.

When Cassie gets a letter from a magazine sweepstakes with the words “YOU’RE THE WINNER” stamped on the front, she thinks it’s the answer to all her problems.

She could buy new furniture to replace their shabby old sofa. Or maybe a car so her family doesn’t have to take two trips to go places. Or maybe she can make Vali her best friend forever by taking her on a fabulous vacation. The possibilities are endless, like an all-you-can-eat buffet!

But will prizes really solve Cassie’s problems?

And what will she lose if she doesn’t win anything at all?

With bright and charming illustrations by Marcela Cespedes and Lark Pien, Dream On is a joyful story filled with imagination, big dreams, and wonder. This book is perfect for readers who want to enjoy a gentle and accessible friendship story, as well as anyone looking for SEL themes about empathy, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness.

This story also features children experiencing high sensitivity, big emotions, and feelings of sadness, making it a helpful tool to spark conversations and connections with young readers.]]> 240 Shannon Hale 1250843073 Shelley 4 4.01 2025 Dream On (Dream On #1)
author: Shannon Hale
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/11
date added: 2026/03/26
shelves: 2026, graphic-novel-comics, historical, youth
review:
Cassie's family doesn't have much time for her, and now neither does her best friend. When she enters a magazine content to win money, she focuses and obsesses over what she'll buy to help her family. Her anxiety felt so real to me, and the bit where she admits that she just needed something to believe in almost made me cry. I was this kid, in so many ways. I think a lot of kids will respond well to this.
]]> Return to Sender 214438343 Magic, mystery, and a marvelous mailbox take two kids on a surprising adventure and, even, to a new dimension in this illustrated middle grade from bestselling comics creator Vera Brosgol. Perfect for fans of Greenwild and The Lost Library.

Be careful what you wish for…

After everything they’ve been through, Oliver and his mom finally have a place to call home. But Oliver’s fresh start feels more like a dead-end at his fancy new private school, where kids fly in on helicopters, wear the latest and most expensive sneakers, and go on luxury vacations. Oliver is only there because his mom’s the school custodian.

Oliver wishes his life could be easier. And then one day, after slipping a wish into a mysterious mail slot, it suddenly comes true. Pizza for dinner? Yes! The rarest sneakers in the world? Yes! Everything he could ever want, without spending a cent? Yes, yes, yes!

Oliver’s dreams are finally within his grasp… but what happens when he discovers that his wishes don’t come for free?]]> 320 Vera Brosgol 1250292182 Shelley 4 2026, fantasy, youth 3.81 Return to Sender
author: Vera Brosgol
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.81
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/10
date added: 2026/03/26
shelves: 2026, fantasy, youth
review:
Oliver is glad to have a home after months on relatives' couches following his father's death, but he really wishes his mom wouldn't have enrolled him in a high tech prep school that is supposed to give him the edge he needs to succeed in life. The only thing that is good is the weird mail slot in their new apartment--when he drops in a note with a wish, it comes true. I super love this wish world and how it's run, and it shows so clearly how getting everything you want without question can be addicting and lead to entitlement. It's not afraid to go dark, either, and I think a lot of kids are really going to love this.
]]> Alice with a Why 231108779 Return to Wonderland in this extraordinary reimagining of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by one of our most brilliant storytellers

‘Spectacular!’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave

‘An absolute masterclass’ Hannah Gold

‘I absolutely loved it’ Katie Tsang

‘Beautiful and witty’ Pari Thomson

England, 1919. Alyce – with a Y – lives with her grandmother, the original Alice, having lost her father during the Great War. When a mysterious invitation to a tea party hits her square in the face, Alyce realises her grandmother’s strange stories of a place called Wonderland might have some truth to them after all.

But the land Alyce finds herself in feels different from the Wonderland of her grandmother’s stories – for it is trapped in its own war. The Sun King and the Queen of the Moon are fighting over a stolen hour, and soon Alyce is tasked with setting it right. With the help of the Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and a Sailor Fox, Alyce will have to solve Wonderland’s problems and, eventually, find her way back home.

Enter an enchanting adventure through Wonderland. Starring new characters and old favourites, Alice With a Why is both a celebration of Lewis Carroll's beloved original story, and a modern masterpiece.

*Includes bonus chapters from Anna’s epic fantasy, Chronicles of Whetherwhy and the original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland*]]> 240 Anna James 0593691997 Shelley 4 3.82 2025 Alice with a Why
author: Anna James
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/10
date added: 2026/03/26
shelves: 2026, fantasy, historical, youth
review:
Alyce, granddaughter of Alice in Wonderland, has survived the upheaval of WW1, but her father did not. Mourning her family and stuck with her grandmother, she finds herself in a Wonderland that doesn't match Alice's stories. This is a great companion to the original novels, but it also stands alone for those only familiar with the Disney movie or general idea of the plot. Wonderland is at war, and Alyce needs to broker peace before she can go home. Lots of the same whimsy and puns you'd expect, with great parallels to the war Alyce has just been through as well as the wars of the current day. Entertaining.
]]> <![CDATA[A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out]]> 223854725 Discover how Mount Tambora's catastrophic eruption plunged the world into darkness, altering the global climate and inspiring the likes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

The world was upside-down. The wind was fire. The sky was ash. The rain was rock.

When Mount Tambora, a volcano on the edge of the Indonesian archipelago, erupted in April 1815, it was the largest explosion in recorded history. The land around Indonesia was a hellscape of fire and smoke. In the months and years that followed, the fallout—a cloud of impossibly fine ash— spread through the atmosphere. It killed harvests on the other side of the world. It turned farmers into beggars and their children into orphans. It turned sunsets into molten nightmares.

That same year, eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley fled England with poet Percy Shelley. While sheltering from the worst summer in Switzerland’s history, she watched the explosive thunderstorms over Lake Geneva and caught the spark of an idea. Almost overnight, Frankenstein was written.

In this work of middle grade nonfiction, Nicholas Day traces the forward and backward of a single event, weaving in the many people, places, and things that were affected—and created and invented!—as a result, while tackling the ever-worrying issue of climate change.]]> 304 Nicholas Day 0593643879 Shelley 5 2026, youth, history 4.14 2025 A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out
author: Nicholas Day
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2026/03/10
date added: 2026/03/26
shelves: 2026, youth, history
review:
WOW. Mount Tambora, a volcano on the edge of the Indonesian archipelago, erupted in April 1815 and changed the world for the next year: it snowed in summer in the US, it rained every day in Europe, and inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. I could not put this book down; every new piece of information was fascinating, the arc was perfect, and the sentence level writing impeccable. I haven't been so deep into a nonfiction book in months. I hadn't ever heard of this eruption, and now I want to immerse myself in it. Super excited to put it on our recommended reads this summer.
]]> <![CDATA[Did You Hear What Happened in Salem?: The Witch Trials of 1692]]> 223296239 Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1692. When the first girl fell down screaming, the people of Salem Village thought it might just be silliness. Then a second girl started barking. A third and fourth began to shake uncontrollably. A doctor said “an evil hand” had come upon the girls, and everyone They were bewitched.

But who were the witches? Everyone knew that the unprotected residents of Salem—the poor, the elderly, the ones who were a little bit strange. Soon more girls were having fits and naming people as witches. The village erupted in accusations, suspicion, and fear. By the time the witch trials ended, dozens of lives had been ruined, and twenty people were dead.

And I saw it all.

With a snarky and surprising first-person narrator–a historical figure that played a major role in events–acclaimed writer Katie Kennedy offers a fresh new take on the greatest true-crime story in American history.]]> 192 Katie Kennedy 1523530049 Shelley 4 2026, history, youth 3.70 Did You Hear What Happened in Salem?: The Witch Trials of 1692
author: Katie Kennedy
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.70
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/09
date added: 2026/03/26
shelves: 2026, history, youth
review:
This is a great look at the events in Salem, very accessible and interesting, and also draws parallels to behaviors and things we're seeing happening in the world now. Very well done.
]]> Creaky Acres: A Graphic Novel 217245627 A heartwarming middle-grade graphic novel about being the new kid, making new friends, and learning to trust yourself through the power of horseback riding—perfect for fans of Victoria Jamieson's Roller Girl.

Nora is a prize-winning horseback rider in a suburban area, with a tight-knit circle of best friends. But when her mom gets a prestigious new job in a poor, rural area, she has to adjust to a lot of change: to being the only Black kid in a new class and a new barn called Creaky Acres, where her beloved horse, Hay Fever, will make his new home.

It’s there she meets sweet and geeky Laura, goofy and fun-loving Wilson, and fearless Dolores (aka Dizzy). With her rag-tag team of equestrians, Nora learns it’s okay to stand out and steps into her power as a leader, realizing that being a rider isn’t just about winning—or maybe that winning just might look different than what she’d thought.]]> 272 Calista Brill 0735230617 Shelley 4 4.21 2025 Creaky Acres: A Graphic Novel
author: Calista Brill
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/08
date added: 2026/03/26
shelves: 2026, graphic-novel-comics, youth
review:
Award winning Nora is upset when they have to move for her mom's job and her new barn doesn't do competitions. Absolutely hilarious with characters that I adored! The COW, the goat, the kids, this was a literal laugh out loud delight.
]]> A Little Too Haunted 222377142 Stonewall Honor-winning author Justine Pucella Winans returns with a middle grade horror about a haunted house and the stories we tell when real life gets too scary.

The only thing worse than having ghost hunters for parents is having fake ghost hunters for parents. Luna Catalano would know. Her moms are influencers who use their pretend psychic powers and interior design skills to turn spooky old houses into ghost-free modern homes—not that there were any ghosts in the first place. It’s bad enough her moms’ job means they have to move all the time, but just once, Luna wishes there was an actual, for real haunted house.

When they move yet again, Luna isn't expecting much. But this new place feels...different. Things start out innocent enough—flickering lights, strange noises—but this ghost is playing for keeps. And if Luna doesn’t find a way to stop it, she and her moms might end up haunting the house themselves.

With the help of her next-door neighbors, a cute girl Luna definitely doesn’t have a crush on, and a mysterious woman who seems to know a lot about the home, Luna starts to piece together who exactly this ghost is. But not everything is as it seems. And in order to save her family, Luna will have to get the story right before everything goes completely wrong.]]> 272 Justine Pucella Winans 1547616342 Shelley 3 3.5. 3.76 2025 A Little Too Haunted
author: Justine Pucella Winans
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/03/17
date added: 2026/03/17
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, fantasy, disabled-lead, mystery, queer, youth
review:
3.5.
]]> <![CDATA[Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave (Mystery James, #1)]]> 222323237 Born in a cemetery and raised in a funeral home, a girl who can see and smell the supernatural must solve the mystery of a priceless heirloom stolen from her family's business. Perfect for fans Netflix’s Wednesday and Beetlejuice!

13-year-old Mystery—who was abandoned in a cemetery and raised in a funeral home—is plagued by sleep paralysis and the smell of ghosts, but she's used to that. Even though her life might seem "strange" on the outside, she loves it.

That is until a priceless heirloom goes missing and her family's funeral home is in danger of being shut down. To clear her Tia's good name, Mystery embarks on an adventure to figure out what really happened to the misplaced necklace.

But to do so, she must contend with the angry patriarch of the town’s wealthiest family, a sleep paralysis demon, a graverobber, and the ghastly half-vampire, half-ghost that’s lurking in the Old Ellis Town Cemetery.]]> 320 Ally Russell 0593896912 Shelley 4 2026, fantasy, youth, mystery 4.10 Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave (Mystery James, #1)
author: Ally Russell
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/02/17
date added: 2026/03/17
shelves: 2026, fantasy, youth, mystery
review:

]]> What Happened Then 216879698 A house on a remote island. A broken family. A decades-old secret.


Avery is a firecracker. In a crayon box of colors, she’s the shocking pink and laser lemon, when all she wants is to be a quiet tan or soft cornflower blue. Her cousin, Jax, is a wall flower, because sometimes it’s better to stay quiet when the alternative is to be told that you’re doing or saying everything wrong. They seem to be the only ones who don’t know what happened years ago when their family shattered and went off in different directions.

When their beloved Aunt Robbie summons the large, estranged family together for a gathering at their broken-down family cabin on Crooked Lake, instead of getting the answer, Aunt Robbie delivers some devastating news. Avery and Jax learn that by the end of the summer, the island that’s been a part of their family for generations is going up for sale.

Forced to stay on the island with their estranged family to get it into shape to sell, Avery and Jax begin to dig through the history of the long-abandoned house and its contents… including a sprinkling of diary pages that were hidden around the island decades ago, the summer their family was torn apart.

In this alternating narrative by bestselling author Erin Soderberg Downing, two cousins are finally beginning to understand the joy of family--however cracked and imperfect theirs might be. But if they have any chance of gluing their broken family back together, they’ll have to first figure out what happened then.]]> 240 Erin Soderberg Downing 1546124985 Shelley 4 2026, mystery, youth 4.14 What Happened Then
author: Erin Soderberg Downing
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/09
date added: 2026/03/12
shelves: 2026, mystery, youth
review:
Aunt Robbie has summoned the whole, mostly estranged, family to their former island and summer house; cousins Avery and Jax discover a whole lot of buried family trauma and how its affected their lives decades later. Really sad and creepy, and a great mystery. I hope things get better for Jax now that his father has perhaps released some of his own longstanding trauma. Poor Jax. :(
]]> I Don't Wish You Well 234002444 A teen investigative podcaster decides to dig into the truth behind a grisly murder spree that rocked his hometown five years ago, but soon discovers that this cold case is still hiding deadly secrets—in this chilling thriller perfect for fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.

Five years ago, the infamous Trojan murders turned the small town of Moss Pointe, Louisiana into a living nightmare. Four teen boys—all star players on Moss Pointe High's football team—were murdered one after the other by a Trojan-mask wearing killer. 

Eventually, the murderer was unmasked. But the community has never forgotten—and some folks in town still wonder whether the police got it right.

Eighteen-year-old Pryce Cummings is one of them. An aspiring journalist, Pryce is pretty sure he just stumbled upon evidence that throws the killer's guilt into question. It's the perfect story for his own podcast, and a reason to go back to the hometown he's avoided since coming to terms with his sexuality while at college.

But in Moss Pointe, digging into the past is anything but welcome. There's so much more to what happened in there five years ago, and Pryce is ready to crack it all wide open . . . if he lives to tell the tale.]]> 400 Jumata Emill 059381102X Shelley 4 2026, mystery, queer, youth 4.08 2026 I Don't Wish You Well
author: Jumata Emill
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2026
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/10
date added: 2026/03/12
shelves: 2026, mystery, queer, youth
review:
College freshman and journalism major Pryce wants to use summer vacation to develop a podcast on whether or not the police really solved the murders of four high school football players five years earlier. This was SO FUN and engaging--I loved picking up the clues with Pryce, and uncovering the seedy underbelly of a small Louisiana town obsessed with football. I actually figured it out early, but the twists had me doubting myself until the end. I thought it was well paced and very well plotted, and I will absolutely be recommending this one a lot.
]]> <![CDATA[A Time Traveler's History of Tomorrow]]> 226747457 A time-bending love story between a prickly young woman and a carefree stranger, who are tasked with saving the universe—after accidentally destroying it in the first place.

Genevieve Newhouse and Ash Hargreaves weren’t supposed to meet like this. Unless it was always meant to be . . .

Gen is a fastidious science prodigy with a chip on her shoulder, and she can turn herself invisible.

Happy-go-lucky Ash has just escaped a sheltered (read: cultish) childhood, and he can manipulate time.

The gifted eighteen-year-olds cross paths at the 1934 Chicago World’s Fair, where Genevieve’s experimental physics project causes an apocalyptic explosion. Ash tries to avert catastrophe by gallantly rewinding time a few minutes, but instead, he transports them back to 1893. The duo finds themselves trapped in an unfamiliar, unwelcoming era, with no idea how to return to their own time—or if their own time even exists. Their cataclysmic leap across decades might have destroyed the world as they know it . . .

Fate and free will intertwine in this page turning historical romance that sets two irresistible strangers down a chaotic, potentially apocalyptic path. “Will they or won’t they” takes on a whole new meaning as Gen and Ash fight for survival while falling in love.

Hand to fans of Immortal Longings and Anatomy: A Love Story, and don’t miss companion novels Murder for the Modern Girl and A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection]]> 352 Kendall Kulper 0823458296 Shelley 3 3.81 2025 A Time Traveler's History of Tomorrow
author: Kendall Kulper
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/03/03
date added: 2026/03/09
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, fantasy, historical, youth
review:
Genevieve and Ash meet in Chicago's 1934 World's Fair and end up traveling back in time to the 1893 fair--can they get back and not end the world doing it? I love the premise of this more than the execution, but I also couldn't bring myself to return it without finishing it. I love the Chicago history, the realism of what women scientists throughout history have faced, and how cult leaders can develop. I didn't like how Ash promised not to turn back time on Genevieve and did countless times without her knowing and never even seemed to regret it. So I couldn't get into the romance at all, and wish it had just focused on different kinds of friendships.
]]> <![CDATA[Seattle Pioneer Midwife: Alice Ada Wood Ellis Midwife Nurse & Mother to All]]> 20832812 286 Susan Elaine Fleming 1494763524 Shelley 0 to-read 3.19 2013 Seattle Pioneer Midwife: Alice Ada Wood Ellis Midwife Nurse & Mother to All
author: Susan Elaine Fleming
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Where Only Storms Grow 215700910 The War That Saved My Life.
 
It’s been four years since rain fell on the Oklahoma Panhandle, and the closeness between the twelve-year-old Stanton twins has dried up as much as the land. Howe Stanton has been practicing running away and longs for the family to quit this land of dust and broken dreams. Despite the scoliosis that causes Joanna Stanton near-constant pain, she isn’t ready to give up like her brother. But when Daddy leaves the family behind to find work in California, saving the farm from ruin falls on Howe’s unwilling and Joanna’s uneven shoulders. 
 
To pay the family's debts, Joanna takes a job at the local hospital and discovers purpose helping others. Howe finds unexpected joy in caring for his father’s horse and by escaping in a borrowed book.
 
But then a tragedy in town reveals the dust’s deadly dangers. With the worst storm of the Dust Bowl bearing down on their home, Howe and Joanna must put aside their differences and work together, or everyone and everything they love will be lost to the dust.]]> 256 Alyssa Colman 0374392781 Shelley 4 4.47 2025 Where Only Storms Grow
author: Alyssa Colman
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/02/12
date added: 2026/02/12
shelves: 2026, disabled-lead, historical, youth
review:
3.5. Life for twins Howe and Joanna is not going well--their family is barely keeping up with the mortgage on their farm, it hasn't rained in years, their dad has to go to California to try and find work, their older brother severely breaks his leg, neither of them knows how to understand the other, and Joanna's untreated scoliosis means she can't help out the way she wants. These kids are Going Through It, holy crap. The hits just keep on coming, and neither is getting the support that they need. But Howe has his poetry to keep him going, Joanna stumbles her way into a nursing job, and eventually they connect again. The writing style is probably described as lyrical, which doesn't really match the tone or all of the characters very well, and isn't really my taste. Joanna is in constant pain, but it only comes up when she's in extra pain. I wish there had been gestures in between those moments to remind kids who are not used to chronic pain that it never goes away--all those little accommodations we figure out for ourselves for daily living. But the 1930s Dustbowl setting is absolutely superbly created. The dust and the imagery is visceral--I also will not be getting the image of a dead cow being cut up for meat and having its insides be absolutely full of dust. The dust storms were terrifying.
]]> I Am Not Okay 222801329
All the woodland creatures of Happy Forest (where even trees and flowers smile) go to Fluff Nugget, a fluffy, round critter of indeterminate species, when they need cheering up--he just sings them the "Goodbye Grumpy Grumps" song and they feel happy again! But when this happens too much...like, WAY too much…it starts to wear on Fluff Nugget, until he feels grumpier than anyone. After he lets loose a cry of "I AM NOT OK!" Fluff Nugget and his woodland friends must figure out a better way to boost the mood. Will the Happy Forest ever be the same again?]]> 112 David DeGrand 1454953314 Shelley 3 graphic-novel-comics, youth 3.57 I Am Not Okay
author: David DeGrand
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.57
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2026/02/12
date added: 2026/02/12
shelves: graphic-novel-comics, youth
review:
Everyone in the forest comes to Fluff Nugget to get them out of their grumps with his famous song, but who helps Fluff with his feelings? This was hilariously over the top, with poor Fluff getting closer and closer to his line in the sand with every new rendition of the song. His freakout was hilarious, his response to the new song was absolutely hilarious and perfect, and Spike the sticky burr was a hilarious voice of reason. I wish that the new song wasn't about sad being bad, because it's not! Otherwise this is a great book about setting boundaries and reciprocal care.
]]> X Marks the Haunt 234002548 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery of Locked Rooms , when a centuries old crypt key is lost—unleashing a dark force—it’s up to the son of the local crypt keeper to end the haunting for good.

Find the key. Put it back. Get rid of the ghost. It’s supposed to be simple…it’s not.

Thanks to his mother’s job at a local graveyard, twelve-year-old Will Stone has some unique talents. For one, he knows exactly how a burial vault works and why they’re used. For another, he’s great at genealogy and can decode centuries old records. Not your normal every day after school activities, that’s for sure!

But when a centuries old crypt key is lost, his normally peaceful existence at Graceland cemetery is shattered. Trees wither and die. The lake becomes covered with a sinister green slime that threatens to choke out anything living in it. And suddenly, the graveyard’s reputation isn’t the only thing in jeopardy . . . Will and his friends' safety is, too.

Suddenly, Will is forced to consider that the lost key might be an even bigger problem than he originally thought. A dark force has been unleashed within the cemetery gates, and along with his friends Stash, Michelle, and Henry, Will must use his unique skill set to figure out which restless spirit is draining the graveyard of life, and how to end the haunting for good.]]> 304 Lindsay Currie 0593811674 Shelley 4 2026, fantasy, mystery, youth 4.16 2026 X Marks the Haunt
author: Lindsay Currie
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2026
rating: 4
read at: 2026/02/08
date added: 2026/02/10
shelves: 2026, fantasy, mystery, youth
review:
4.5? Will loves living at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago with his mom, who runs the place, but when a key goes missing and the trees and lake start dying, he and his friends need to figure out whose grave got disturbed. This was SO CREEPY, I loved it so much! I also love how Will uses genealogy and historical records to solve this and several mysteries for families who have relatives there. I also love how the author always brings in local Chicago history, and tied this to one of her other cemetery books set in Forest Park!
]]> Beth Is Dead 235991966 Beth March’s sisters will stop at nothing to track down her killer—until they begin to suspect each other—in this debut thriller that’s also a bold, contemporary reimagining of the beloved classic Little Women.

When Beth March is found dead in the woods on New Year’s Day, her sisters vow to uncover her murderer.

Suspects abound. There’s the neighbor who has feelings for not one but two of the girls. Meg’s manipulative best friend. Amy’s flirtatious mentor. And Beth’s lionhearted first love. But it doesn’t take the surviving sisters much digging to uncover motives each one of the March girls had for doing the unthinkable.

Jo, an aspiring author with a huge following on social media, would do anything to hook readers. Would she kill her sister for the story? Amy dreams of studying art in Europe, but she’ll need money from her aunt—money that’s always been earmarked for Beth. And Meg wouldn’t dream of hurting her sister…but her boyfriend might have, and she’ll protect him at all costs.

Despite the growing suspicion within the family, it’s hard to know for sure if the crime was committed by someone close to home. After all, the March sisters were dragged into the spotlight months ago when their father published a controversial bestseller about his own daughters. Beth could have been killed by anyone.

Beth’s perspective told in flashback unfolds next to Meg, Jo, and Amy’s increasingly fraught investigation as the tragedy threatens to rip the Marches apart.]]> 400 Katie Bernet 166598869X Shelley 4 2026, mystery, youth 3.80 2026 Beth Is Dead
author: Katie Bernet
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2026
rating: 4
read at: 2026/02/07
date added: 2026/02/10
shelves: 2026, mystery, youth
review:
A modern Little Women where Beth still dies, but it's murder. This was super enjoyable, with a lot of great touches and easter eggs from the original novel, and a ton of tension. I liked the way chapters rotate through the characters, including Beth, before and after she's found, and how each character and their relationships are updated for modern times. Some of it didn't hang together when thinking about it (minors questioned by police without a parent or lawyer, for example), but it was still quick and fun. I suspected a lot of people at various times, but clocked it a bit before it was revealed. It was a satisfying conclusion.
]]> Tough Guy (Game Changers, #3) 220966547 They have nothing in common—so why does Ryan feel most like himself whenever he’s with Fabian?

Pro hockey star Ryan Price may be an enforcer, but off the ice he struggles with anxiety. Recently traded to the Toronto Guardians, he’s determined to make a fresh start in the city’s dynamic LGBTQ Village. The last thing he expects to stumble upon in his new neighborhood is a blast from his past in the fabulous form of Fabian Salah.

Aspiring musician Fabian loathes hockey. But that doesn’t stop him from being attracted to a certain burly, ginger-bearded defenseman. He hasn’t forgotten the kiss they almost shared back in high school, and it’s clear the chemistry between them has only intensified.

Fabian is more than happy to be Ryan’s guide to the gay scene in Toronto. Between dance clubs and art exhibits—and the most amazing sex—Ryan’s starting to feel something he hasn’t experienced in a long time: joy. But playing the role of the heavy on the ice has taken its toll on his body and mind, and a future with Fabian may mean hanging up his skates for good.]]> 303 Rachel Reid Shelley 3 3.59 2020 Tough Guy (Game Changers, #3)
author: Rachel Reid
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2026/01/27
date added: 2026/01/28
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, queer
review:
Sweet and anxious Ryan is nothing like the enforcer role he plays on the ice, and he is swoony when his teenage crush re-enters his life and turns out to be gay and into him back. This one didn't land as well for me, I think maybe because I didn't like Fabian as much as I liked his friends. And Ryan's personality was pretty much just "sweet." I wish we'd gotten to know him a little deeper. But I loved seeing Ilya, and it was meaningful for both characters when they connected at the end.
]]> <![CDATA[Heated Rivalry (Game Changers, #2)]]> 220966494
Pro hockey star Shane Hollander isn’t just crazy talented, he’s got a spotless reputation. Hockey is his life. Now that he’s captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he won’t let anything jeopardize that, especially the sexy Russian whose hard body keeps him awake at night.

Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov is everything Shane’s not. The self-proclaimed king of the ice, he’s as cocky as he is talented. No one can beat him—except Shane. They’ve made a career on their legendary rivalry, but when the skates come off, the heat between them is undeniable. When Ilya realizes he wants more than a few secret hookups, he knows he must walk away. The risk is too great.

As their attraction intensifies, they struggle to keep their relationship out of the public eye. If the truth comes out, it could ruin them both. But when their need for each other rivals their ambition on the ice, secrecy is no longer an option.]]> 372 Rachel Reid Shelley 4 4.22 2019 Heated Rivalry (Game Changers, #2)
author: Rachel Reid
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2026/01/24
date added: 2026/01/27
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, queer
review:
4.5? Shane and Ilya are generational hockey talents who can't admit that they've been in love practically since they met at age 17, romance ensues. I cannot get over how the tv show is exactly this book. I've never seen such a phenomenal adaptation that takes key elements and dialogues from the books and elevates them. I read this so fast, absolutely enamored, and then had to watch the show for the third time. It's a delightful book, and I know I'll be rereading it whenever I need a pick up but don't have time for the show.
]]> <![CDATA[Game Changer (Game Changers, #1)]]> 220965585 New York Admirals captain Scott Hunter takes his pre-game rituals very seriously. In this case, it’s not just a lucky smoothie he’s craving—it’s the man who made it.

Pro hockey star Scott Hunter knows a good thing when he sees it. So, when a smoothie made by juice bar barista Kip Grady precedes Scott breaking his on-ice slump, he’s desperate to recreate the magic...and to get to know the sexy, funny guy behind the counter.

Kip knew there was more to Scott’s frequent visits than blended fruit, but he never let himself imagine being invited back to Scott’s penthouse. Or kissed with reckless abandon, nevermind touched everywhere all at once. When it happens it’s red-hot, incredible and frequent, but also only on Scott’s terms and always behind his closed apartment doors.

Scott needs Kip in his life, but with playoff season approaching, the spotlight on him is suddenly brighter than ever. He can’t afford to do anything that might derail his career…like introducing the world to his boyfriend. Kip is ready to go all-in with Scott—but how much longer will he have to remain a secret?]]> 400 Rachel Reid 1488038678 Shelley 4 3.79 2018 Game Changer (Game Changers, #1)
author: Rachel Reid
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2026/01/22
date added: 2026/01/27
shelves: 2026, courtship-romance, queer
review:
3.75ish? Scott is a professional hockey player having a bad season until he meets Kip at a smoothie shop and romance ensues. I liked their episode on the Heated Rivalry show more than I liked the first half of this book, and I liked the back half of the book a lot more and wish we saw it on tv! I have read SO MANY Avengers fics like this and Kip and Elena were so fic!Bucky and Nat that I had a harder time getting into this. But I liked Kip and Scott very much, and loved seeing a little Ilya cameo. I also wish Scott Hunter Night at a gay club had also been in the show, ha.
]]> The Snowman Code 209823719 A beautifully hopeful, funny and heartwarming tale about the lasting power of love and friendship, from the critically-acclaimed and award-winning screenwriter behind Pixar’s Luca and Paddington 2.

In London, in a winter which shows no sign of ending, a unique friendship begins.

This is the story of Blessing, aged ten-and-a-half, and Albert Framlington, aged six hundred – an eccentric snowman who has seen many winters in many cities, and who is duty-bound by the Snowman Code to help any child in need. Together, Blessing and Albert must find a way to defeat Blessing’s bullies, win back Albert’s long-lost love Clementine, and even overcome the never-ending winter itself…

Perfect for fans of The Christmasaurus, A Boy Called Christmas, The Snowman and Paddington, The Snowman Code is a heartwarming, hilarious and unforgettable modern classic for families to curl up with on frosty winter nights.]]> 160 Simon Stephenson 0008668779 Shelley 3 2026, fantasy, youth 4.16 The Snowman Code
author: Simon Stephenson
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2026/01/23
date added: 2026/01/27
shelves: 2026, fantasy, youth
review:
Blessing is having a rough winter: her mom gets sad in the dark months and she worries she'll be taken away again, and a group of bullies at school led her to tell her teacher that she was moving to Australia, so she has to hide that she's not going to school to keep her mom from getting sadder. It gets worse when winter starts dragging on into March, April, and May. This is very British Whimsy, which grated on me a bit. There were fun moments and sweet moments, and I liked Blessing quite a lot, but the ending came far too easily.
]]> <![CDATA[Magical Map #2: Jungle Cruise (Disney Magical Map)]]> 213870653 128 Ridley Pearson 1368109888 Shelley 3 2026, fantasy, media, youth 3.87 Magical Map #2: Jungle Cruise (Disney Magical Map)
author: Ridley Pearson
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2026/01/23
date added: 2026/01/27
shelves: 2026, fantasy, media, youth
review:
Gemma and Torin found a hand-drawn map of Disney World, and can use it to jump anywhere in the park. When weird things start happening on the island in the Jungle Cruise, they vow to help their mother figure it out. This is such a FUN premise, and I really wish they had given it to a better author.
]]> A Little Holiday Fling 225820247
There are two things that Ruby Dhanji loves with her whole entire Christmas and anything to do with the UK. For Ruby the holiday season means joy, generosity, and warm memories with her late mother. And now she’s on the verge of realizing the dream she and her mom always moving to England and opening a cozy inn. The only problem, Ruby needs some hotel experience first. 
 
Rashid just doesn’t get all the holiday hype. But when he meets a woman dragging home a Christmas tree alone from the Winter Market, he has to offer to help—even if he soon finds Ruby adores all the things he dislikes. When Ruby discovers that Rashid’s family owns a luxury boutique hotel chain in Britain, she offers him a she’ll help him give his young nieces an amazing Christmas if he’ll facilitate an introduction to his family. 
 
As Ruby and Rashid get closer, she realizes that the great big grump loves his large, eccentric family fiercely. And when their friendship turns to something more, she’s afraid she’s falling for someone weeks before she moves across the Atlantic and she’ll soon have to decide which dream she wants to chase. ]]> 368 Farah Heron 1538725495 Shelley 4 3.75 A Little Holiday Fling
author: Farah Heron
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.75
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/01/01
date added: 2026/01/02
shelves: 2026, christmas, courtship-romance
review:
Ruby loves Christmas and the UK, and is so close to moving to London to pursue her and her late mom's dream of opening a B&B in the English countryside, and then she meets a Scrooge who might be her in to a wealthy hotel owning British family. I didn't love their meetcute or first outing--he was past thoughtless and into mean. But once he woke up a little to the consequences of his grumpiness, he was an absolute delight. I love Ruby realizing that she has friends and a support system, and that Rashid is absolutely part of it. Like Ruby, I love the togetherness and joy of Christmas, and the author did such a great job bringing that to life.
]]> From Anna 293695 From Anna, readers are sure to be touched by Anna Soldens's struggles with her new home in Canada, the unfamiliar language of English, and the realization that, in fact, there is a reason for her being such an awkward child. When it's discovered that Anna needs glasses and that her clumsiness is actually the result of being visually impaired, Anna's life changes completely. Suddenly her brothers and sisters see Anna in a new light and try to make amends for being unkind. From Anna is one of Jean Little's most popular novels, and it's little wonder. Readers will also want to check out the sequel, Listen for the Singing. (Ages 10 to 14) --Jeffrey Canton]]> 208 Jean Little 0064400441 Shelley 5 4.19 1972 From Anna
author: Jean Little
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at: 2025/12/24
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2005, 2020, christmas, classic, favorites, historical, my-childhood, re-read, youth, disabled-lead
review:
I can’t count how many times I’ve read this book and how much I love Anna, her teacher and her class. And how it’s so good the family left Nazi Germany, because Rudi would have been taken in very easily. What an ass.
]]> Holiday Ever After 231657155 Clara Davenport wants to solve Fraser Falls’s biggest problem. According to Jack Kelly, Clara is Fraser Falls’s biggest problem.
All Clara Davenport has ever wanted to do is climb the ladder at Davenport Innovation Creative, her family’s toy business. Everything was going according to plan, until the company was accused of stealing a doll design from an independent toy maker, creating a flurry of bad publicity. With a promotion dangled in front of her like a carrot to a reindeer, Clara is tasked with charming the locals of the small town to solve the PR nightmare, by any means necessary.

Jack Kelly would be happy to never hear the name Davenport ever again. Less than a year after a guy in a fancy suit appeared on his doorstep with a sleigh-full of promises, the company that once falsely claimed they wanted to sign him to their small business program has copied his design. So when Clara prances into town hoping to convince Fraser Falls that her company is not the enemy, Jack is determined not to be fooled by Davenport twice.

But Clara has a plan to win over the community only to realize that beneath Jack’s frosty demeanor lies the key to the town’s heart—and maybe her own.]]> 367 Hannah Grace 1668213737 Shelley 4 2025, courtship-romance 3.62 2025 Holiday Ever After
author: Hannah Grace
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/12/22
date added: 2025/12/23
shelves: 2025, courtship-romance
review:
Clara has been sent to Fraser Falls to do damage control after a video accusing her family's toy company of stealing a doll design from the locals. Honestly, this was charming. Very Gilmore Girls. Clara and Jack are both fixers with daddy issues and martyr complexes, so it was good to see them realize how harmful that was and grow. It was playful and Elf the dog was an absolute delight. I'd love to read more in this town! Tommy and Luke need some love.
]]> <![CDATA[A Jingle Bell Mingle (A Christmas Notch, #3)]]> 199531900
Part-time adult film actress/one-time adult film director/makeup artist Sunny Palmer has accidentally sold her very first screenplay to the Hope Channel. That was six months ago. Fast forward to a looming deadline, an uninspired Sunny has returned to the source of her inspiration in Christmas Notch, Vermont, to immerse herself in the local Christmas miracle on which her fever dream of a movie pitch was based.

Isaac Kelly, former boy band heartthrob and the saddest boy in the music biz, is the latest owner of the town’s historic mansion. After his years of heartbreak following his young wife’s death, Isaac’s record label is done waiting for new music. What better place to attempt his first holiday album than a snow-covered mansion where he can become a hermit in peace?

But after their best friends’ wedding leads to them waking up together in a freezing motel room with questionable wiring and a broken shower, Isaac takes a chance and asks Sunny to stay with him at his home. Surely the place is big enough that he’ll hardly see her or her unhinged cat. But when the two discover they’re both creatively blocked, they make a handshake deal: Isaac will help Sunny hunt down the truth behind the local lore, and Sunny will find Isaac a new muse.

And with these two opposites under one roof, there’s no way this jingle bell mingle could go off script…right?]]> 400 Julie Murphy 0063338211 Shelley 4 3.55 2024 A Jingle Bell Mingle (A Christmas Notch, #3)
author: Julie Murphy
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/12/21
date added: 2025/12/22
shelves: 2025, courtship-romance, christmas
review:
Sunny and Isaac ended up hooking up again at Bee and Nolan's wedding, leading to her moving into his new Christmas Notch mansion to get inspiration for her first Hope Channel script while Isaac tries to work on a Christmas album. A delightful end to this trilogy! I liked the little 1940s mystery they were solving, and they were cute together.
]]> We Got the Beat 158649590
So it’s a total blow when Jordan discovers that she not only didn’t get the editor-in-chief spot, but she’s been assigned the volleyball beat instead. And who is the star and new captain of the volleyball team? Mackenzie West. But words are Jordan’s weapon, and she has some ideas about how to exact a long-awaited revenge on her nemesis.

Then things get murky when forced time together has Mack and Jordan falling back into their friendship, and into something more. And when Mack confesses the real reason she turned on Jordan freshman year, it has Jordan questioning everything—past, present, and future. If Jordan lets her guard down and Mack in, will she get everything she wants, or will she be humiliated all over again?]]> 352 Jenna Miller 0063243385 Shelley 4 3.53 2024 We Got the Beat
author: Jenna Miller
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/12/19
date added: 2025/12/22
shelves: 2025, courtship-romance, youth
review:
Jordan is a nerdy junior who is crushed to be assigned to report on the volleyball team instead of being an editor--especially since the volleyball captain is the girl who ghosted her on the first day of HS and didn't stop the rumors that led to Jordan being called her summer stalker. I liked the nerdiness throughout, dropping Doctor Who and LOTR references among others, and I had a lot of sympathy for her and MacKenzie.
]]> Anna All Year Round 541522 131 Mary Downing Hahn 038073317X Shelley 3 3.86 1999 Anna All Year Round
author: Mary Downing Hahn
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2025/12/20
date added: 2025/12/22
shelves: historical, youth, my-childhood, 2011
review:
I saw this doing a search for another book, and thought it was one I had loved as a kid. But now, I don't think I ever read it! It's one year in the life of the author's mother, set in 1913. Anna was a whiny brat at times, but it was fun seeing her going through her days as something of a tomboy and her adventures with the trolley ride and town car, etc. Sweet and funny.
]]> Holly Jolly July 218267261 "We want to wrap this book up with a bow and leave it under everyone's tree this year. Lindsay Maple delivers a confection of holiday charm, small town quirk, tenderly sketched characters, and scorching heat." —Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, USA TODAY bestselling authors of A Merry Little Meet Cute

It's the hottest Christmas on record...

Like naughty and nice, Mariah and Ellie are complete opposites. Small-time actress Ellie is thrilled to be back on set of a cozy holiday film, while makeup artist Mariah only views the low-budget project as a stepping stone on her way to more serious movies. The pair definitely don't hit it off when they're introduced, but if they want to survive the summer heat—and Mariah's stifling Canadian hometown—they've got to keep it professional. Luckily, holiday cheer is Ellie's specialty, and she's determined to win stubborn Mariah over.

Mariah finds one bright spot in her forced second Christmas: hot hookups with an edgy local bartender. The romance even has her opening up to Ellie—who admits to crushing on her wholesome cottage-rental host. But when Ellie and Mariah realize the guys are cheating on them, they band together to get revenge. It's fun planning their own Home Alone–inspired pranks…until Ellie and Mariah realize they're actually falling for each other.

But the film shoot is too short to get serious, so they’ll have to decide: Was their romance simply a holiday fling or a real Christmas-in-July miracle?

“Full of hilarious hijinks and tenderness in equal measure, this holiday romance had me flipping the pages late into the cozy night. Come for the revenge, stay for the true love." —Ashley Herring Blake, USA TODAY Bestselling Author of Delilah Green Doesn't Care]]> 368 Lindsay Maple 1335016597 Shelley 4 3.64 2025 Holly Jolly July
author: Lindsay Maple
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/12/13
date added: 2025/12/16
shelves: 2025, christmas, courtship-romance
review:
Christmas loving Ellie is thrilled to be cast in a new Christmas romance movie, and is determined to win over less-enthused Mariah the hair/makeup person. This was fun, and I liked both of them. The revenge on the cheaters was so juvenile as to be baffling, but it was overall very charming and vibey.
]]> A Spell for Midwinter's Heart 222926017 In this holiday romance with an enchanting twist, a magic-averse witch returns home to save her small town’s beloved winter festival in time for the holidays with the help of her estranged coven and distractingly handsome childhood rival.

Rowan Midwinter has sworn off magic, and for good reason. A spell gone wrong back in high school left her with nothing but missing memories and regret, so she’s not exactly thrilled when she’s guilted into returning to her quaint mountain hometown for the first time in years. But it’s already Yule and much-needed snow still hasn't fallen, so Rowan reckons she can put up with her family, friends, and former coven if it means saving the town’s beloved winter festival from the megacorporation threatening to buy it out.

But Rowan’s plans to save the festival and make it through the holiday magic-free go awry when Gavin McCreery, prodigal son of the festival’s landlord, insists on helping, and their unwanted chemistry keeps setting off holiday lights…literally.

As the quest to keep the festival alive grows increasingly complicated, Rowan realizes she must reconnect with what she tried to leave behind--her family, coven, and even her memories--to let go of her fear of magic and let her heart lead the way.
]]> 336 Morgan Lockhart Shelley 3 3.54 2025 A Spell for Midwinter's Heart
author: Morgan Lockhart
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/12/09
date added: 2025/12/11
shelves: 2025, christmas, courtship-romance, fantasy
review:
Rowan has avoided practicing magic or going home for Yule since she messed up an important spell and lost memory of that night, but there's no avoiding it this year--or the guy from high school who keeps setting her magic off. Fun and engaging, although Rowan and her mom both had some pretty unlikable tendencies. But old friend Gavin also had some things to work through, and I did appreciate both of them working on things.
]]> <![CDATA[Raquel Reyes Saves the Wedding (Girl of the Year 2026) (American Girl® Girl of the Year™)]]> 224004632 Fun family adventures at the beach and in an old mansion feature wild dolphins, a hundred-year-old diary, a pickleball tournament, and a wedding! Read all about American Girl's 2026 Girl of the Year, Raquel, in this all-new original novel!

Raquel is excited about a big family reunion and wedding. She's looking forward to reuniting with her cousin Sloan. But instead of being as close as sisters, Sloan is moody and standoffish. What's troubling her. Raquel wants to earn her cousin's trust, but how? A dolphin discovery, an ancestor's diary, and a pickleball tournament bring the girls closer. Sloan admits that a letter from her birthmother has left her wondering where she belongs. Raquel assures her that family isn't just about history or blood—it's about love, loyalty, and showing up for one another.]]> 144 Angela Cervantes 1683372433 Shelley 4 2025, youth
It's interesting how the dolls have become popular with younger kids, but the book are much more complex and long now than they were originally. ]]> 3.93 2025 Raquel Reyes Saves the Wedding (Girl of the Year 2026) (American Girl® Girl of the Year™)
author: Angela Cervantes
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/12/09
date added: 2025/12/09
shelves: 2025, youth
review:
Raquel is excited to visit her mom's family for her cousin Harper's wedding, and ends up discovering things that belonged to her great-great grandmother Samantha Parkington at their family's home in Mount Bedford. As an OG AG fan from the 80s, I was excited to learn more about Samantha's future, and to have the clothes and furniture I remember so well be described. It's a sweet story, I like Raquel and her cousin Sloan, and I hope we learn more about Sam in the second book.

It's interesting how the dolls have become popular with younger kids, but the book are much more complex and long now than they were originally.
]]> <![CDATA[Dating and Dragons (Dungeons and Drama, #2)]]> 213197157 314 Kristy Boyce 0593899202 Shelley 0 to-read 3.95 2024 Dating and Dragons (Dungeons and Drama, #2)
author: Kristy Boyce
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Fake Skating 224004733 A #1 New York Times bestseller!

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Better Than the Movies Lynn Painter comes a heartfelt and banter-filled “feel-good rom-com” (School Library Journal) about childhood sweethearts whose icy reunion in their hockey-loving hometown unexpectedly thaws when they fake a romantic relationship.

Growing up, Dani couldn’t help but follow around the adorable son of her mom’s best friend. Funny, kind of nerdy, and a little soft, Alec was always down to hang with Dani when they were little. From play dates to sneaking into movie theaters, Dani and Alec were inseparable. Until Dani moved away. Alec promised they’d stay in touch—except, they didn’t.

Flash forward and Dani is back in Minnesota for her senior year, she and her mom living with her grandfather. Dealing with the fallout of her parents’ devastating divorce, Dani wouldn’t mind a nerd-out with the cozy and comforting Alec (and maybe a chance to confront him on his MIA status for all these years). But teenage Alec is nothing like the kid Dani remembers. He’s a hockey star in a town where hockey players are worshiped as gods. Dani’s place as his shadow has been taken up by drooling female fans…and he loves it.

Dani is resolved to ice out her former best friend until an unlikely series of events brings them together—and forces them to fake being a couple. Once stuck together, the former childhood sweethearts begin to reconnect, unearth complicated family secrets, and face their true feelings towards each other…including the real reason Alec has been pushing Dani away all these years.]]> 448 Lynn Painter 1665921269 Shelley 0 to-read 4.22 2025 Fake Skating
author: Lynn Painter
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Christmas at the Women’s Hotel (Women's Hotel, #1.5)]]> 223338529 New York Times -bestselling author Daniel M. Lavery returns to the fabulous world of Women's Hotel in this delightful and heartwarming novella about one especially boisterous Christmastime at the beloved Biedermeier.

Christmas at the Biedermeier Hotel means employment, and employment means walking-around money. For ten months out of the year, jobs come fitfully and infrequently to Biedermeier residents, but between Advent and Epiphany any girl who wants something to do between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. has her pick of Holiday window dresser, salesgirl at the card stores on 42nd Street, Broadway usherette, assistant laundress at the Lincoln Center Nutcracker, Pinkerton security at the World’s Fair exhibition halls in Queens.

Katherine considers the possibility of making amends with her siblings in Ohio after a Gaudete Sunday service at Old First Presbyterian. Lucianne goes into business for herself at last, trying to run a telephone-order male escort agency (strictly above-board and Social Register only) out of her room, while Mrs. Mossler attempts to solve the mystery of the Biedermeier’s skyrocketing phone bill and frets over Christmas tips for the hotel’s few remaining employees.

And while the three thieves who stole twenty-four gems worth three million dollars from the American Museum of Natural History on October 29th have recently been caught, not all of the jewels have been recovered—and Patricia and Carol have behaved terribly strangely for the better part of a month. Christmas is a season of wonder and mystery, after all.]]> 144 Daniel M. Lavery 0063455013 Shelley 4 2025, historical 2.76 2025 Christmas at the Women’s Hotel (Women's Hotel, #1.5)
author: Daniel M. Lavery
name: Shelley
average rating: 2.76
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/22
date added: 2025/11/24
shelves: 2025, historical
review:
We dip in to visit the residents of the Biedermeier Hotel for Women during December 1964, when we find Lucianne running a Society Register male escort business, Katherine's younger sister reaching out, stolen jewels, and stolen money. It was swift and engaging. I liked this more than the original.
]]> <![CDATA[Kindred Dragons (Kindred Dragons, #1)]]> 227786480 Anne of Green Gables meets How to Train Your Dragon in Kindred Dragons, a middle-grade graphic novel about a brave young girl and the dragon whose life depends on her

Alice has been unhappy ever since her parents sent her to Prince Edward Island to live with her strict grandmother. Alice is fanciful, prone to telling tall tales, and absolutely obsessed with dragons! Fairies deliver dragon eggs to a select few, known as Kindreds, but no egg has ever arrived for Alice.

While wandering the woods alone she finds and secretly befriends a mysterious, old dragon named Brim. Alice is excited to finally have a dragon friend of her own, but there’s something strange about him—he doesn’t have a Kindred. When Brim suddenly falls ill, Alice sets out on a desperate quest to save him.

As Alice searches for a cure, she discovers that her connection to dragons is unlike that of any Kindred—but will her new power be enough to save her friend?This heartfelt story of friendship, family, and learning to love who you are is perfect for readers who loved Snapdragon, Witch Boy, and the City of Dragons series.]]> 208 Sarah Mensinga 1419771159 Shelley 4 4.16 2025 Kindred Dragons (Kindred Dragons, #1)
author: Sarah Mensinga
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/22
date added: 2025/11/24
shelves: 2025, fantasy, graphic-novel-comics, youth, historical
review:
Anne of Green Gables with dragons! Alice is sent to live with her stern grandmother and kind aunt Frances and longs for a dragon of her own, but you can't predict what the fairies will choose. I loved Alice and her determination and earnestness, and the art is just wonderful. I hope there's more in this series!
]]> <![CDATA[True Colors: Growing Up Weird in the '90s]]> 222417573
Tweeny-bopper Elise knows she’s different, but kind of just chalks it up to being a weirdo. And in the 90s, who isn’t? Other girls might be shifting their attention to boys, but Elise is putting the freeze on all that adult stuff to get lost in play with her besties and pour her energy into making her art. Besides, what’s the point in rushing when being a kid is such a blast?

In True Colors: Growing Up Weird in the 90s, Elise invites readers into the pages of her diary and takes them back to a radically different time before smartphones and home computers. It’s a world where fun means going to the mall and making mix tapes on cassette, and where imagination reigns supreme! It’s also a world where making new friends can be confusing, nerve-wracking, and utterly mind-boggling.

Creative and curious kids, anybody dealing with anything from not fitting in, to anxiety―or even an ADHD diagnosis―will see themselves in the pages. And through it all, Gravel shows the power of art and creativity to transform, as we see Elise turning her differences into her superpower in this funny and encouraging artistic origin story.]]> 188 Elise Gravel 1770467998 Shelley 3 3.88 True Colors: Growing Up Weird in the '90s
author: Elise Gravel
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.88
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/11/14
date added: 2025/11/17
shelves: 2025, disabled-lead, graphic-novel-comics, history, youth
review:
Elise's bio growing up in the 90s with undiagnosed ADHD. Weird and charming, and very relatable to someone who was also a tween and teen with undiagnosed ADHD in the 90s!
]]> <![CDATA[Meesh the Bad Demon (Meesh the Bad Demon #1)]]> 61356492 A tale of unlikely heroes and myths is made real in this debut graphic novel series about a "bad" demon trying to find her place in the underworld. But she'll have to save it first!

Meesh is a bad demon. "Bad" meaning she always sees the good in those around her--which, strictly speaking, isn't how a demon is meant to feel or act.

Bullied by the other demons, twelve-year-old Meesh is more likely to be found poring over Fairy World's magazines and fangirling the fairy princesses. When disaster strikes and her family is threatened, Meesh must journey to the Fairy World to find a healing crystal that can save the underworld. And speak of the devil! She meets a fairy princess right away.

But things in the Fairy World aren't so perfect either. As Meesh makes surprising new friends and unites a band of outcasts--including her bully--she learns there's more to being a demon than being bad.

Sometimes the secret to real power is in loving yourself, faults and all.]]> 304 Michelle Lam 0593372867 Shelley 4 3.98 2022 Meesh the Bad Demon (Meesh the Bad Demon #1)
author: Michelle Lam
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/13
date added: 2025/11/13
shelves: 2025, fantasy, graphic-novel-comics, youth
review:
Meesh has never fit in with her demon peers--she loves flowers, fairies, and the Princess Nouna show. When the town's lava starts turning demons to stone, Meesh heads towards the princess's castle to get help to save the day. Charming and fun, and a good read for kids who love KPop Demon Hunters.
]]> <![CDATA[Holiday Gold: Western Christmas Anthology]]> 243887013 Christmas in Ruby Creek
Gabby is chasing her pregnant cousin and her cousin's outlaw boyfriend, across the country when a snowstorm halts her journey, and she seeks shelter in a stable. After discovering twin newborns in his livery stable, Turner Price is furious with the young woman he believes abandoned them. As the truth emerges, he realizes this may be his only chance to be a loving husband and father--just in time for Christmas.

Pistols & Pearls
Meredith Abbott has always dreamed of something grander than marriage to the politician her railroad tycoon father has chosen for her--and who is waiting in Denver to propose. When she's stranded in her father's Pullman in a heavy snowfall with two young stowaways, and gold robbers are bearing down on them, she finds all she needs with a handsome US marshal and her own ingenuity and courage.

Settle in with a cup of hot chocolate and your cozy socks. Cheryl St.John delivers two Christmas stories with the emotional punch, believable characters & real-life situations that readers have come to love and expect.]]> 224 Cheryl St.John 1736621343 Shelley 0 to-read 4.37 Holiday Gold: Western Christmas Anthology
author: Cheryl St.John
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/11/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Anne of Windy Willows (Anne of Green Gables #4)]]> 65700 they had wanted as principal of Summerside High School. But as she settles into the cozy tower room at Windy Poplars, Anne finds she has great allies in the widows Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty--and in their irrepressible housekeeper, Rebecca Dew. As Anne learns Summerside's strangest secrets, winning the support of the prickly Pringles becomes only the first of her delicious triumphs.]]> 315 L.M. Montgomery 0140368000 Shelley 5 3.87 1936 Anne of Windy Willows (Anne of Green Gables #4)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1936
rating: 5
read at: 2025/11/10
date added: 2025/11/10
shelves: 2025, classic, historical, youth
review:

]]> Neshama 217547901 A bullied girl who communicates with ghosts finds her inner strength in this haunting novel in verse that will resonate with anyone who has felt themselves to be different.

Anna sees ghosts. The spirits of her ancestors call to her from the shadows, and no matter where she is, Anna always answers. Kids in her middle school tease her. Teachers and parents are worried by her strange behavior. The only one who seems to understand is Anna’s beloved grandmother, Bubbe, who has always treasured Anna’s shayna neshama, her beautiful soul. Spending Shabbos with Bubbe is the only thing that gives Anna the sense of love and belonging that she needs.

But when a ghost named Ruthie appears at Bubbe’s house by the sea, Anna begins to uncover long-hidden secrets that reveal the mystery of her family’s troubled past. As Anna and Ruthie get closer, Anna must decide for herself whether being connected to a restless ghost is worth the risk. When it becomes clear that Bubbe’s life is in danger, Anna must face the horrible She alone has the ability to save her family and heal the wounds that follow them from one generation to the next.

National Book Award long-listed author Marcella Pixley brings her Jewish faith and her acclaimed sense of lyricism to this powerful story of bravery, forgiveness, and healing.]]> 368 Marcella Pixley 1536236616 Shelley 4 2025, fantasy, youth 4.16 Neshama
author: Marcella Pixley
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/01
date added: 2025/11/10
shelves: 2025, fantasy, youth
review:
Anna tries to hide the fact that she sees ghosts because it makes her father so angry, and the only one who understands is her Bubbe. I really enjoyed this novel is verse, with its very complicated characters. The ghosts were well done, and there were some really tense moments with Ruthie and her anger and fear.
]]> Come As You Are 217420830
When rumors and gossip about Evie's housing predicament spread like wildfire, she decides the only way to survive is to lean into her questionable new reputation... but she's definitely going to require help. Her grumpy emo dorm mate Salem Grayson isn't exactly her first choice, but he does need her help to repair his relationship with his parents every bit as much as she needs his to learn how to be cool. And so they make a pact - he'll teach her how to be bad, if she teaches him how to be good.

It's a flawless plan, except while Salem thrives academically, even romantically, and - annoyingly enough - even physically, Evie's quest feels like one dead end after another, and the girl she's becoming certainly doesn't feel remotely cool. But when Evie realizes what she wants more than anything, she'll have to contend with her thrice-broken heart and figure out how to become someone capable of chasing happiness.

Dahlia Adler’s Come As You Are is about refusing to accept less than you deserve, and realizing that the best relationships are with people who know exactly who you are.]]> 320 Dahlia Adler 1250871697 Shelley 4 3.70 2025 Come As You Are
author: Dahlia Adler
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/03
date added: 2025/11/10
shelves: 2025, courtship-romance, youth
review:
Evie is desperate to start over at her new boarding school, but it's not a good sign when she gets put into a boys dorm because her name is actually Everett. This was charming and sweet, and the characters had some great layers and depth. Fans of Stephanie Perkins will love this.
]]> <![CDATA[Hannah Edwards Secrets of Riverway]]> 207718283 Cheer on Hannah Edwards in this relatable coming-of-age story about neurodiversity, friendship, school, and family.

Hannah has a lot on her mind. Her father—the Canola King—is missing, and no one in her small town seems to care. With the support of her best friend Sam Castillo and their sidekick Tim the Hall Monitor, Hannah embarks on a journey to solve the mystery of her father’s disappearance. Along the way she uncovers secrets, confronts ADHD-related challenges in school, talks to a ghost, and learns the true meaning of determination and friendship.]]> 268 Ashley Hards 1944020918 Shelley 4
Hannah's ADHD, where she tried desperately to be perfect and not call attention to things she struggled with, was familiar and well done. I'm interested to see where this series could go from here.]]> 4.02 Hannah Edwards Secrets of Riverway
author: Ashley Hards
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.02
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/07
date added: 2025/11/10
shelves: 2025, disabled-lead, mystery, youth
review:
Hannah is upset that her father has been missing for months and no one seems to be looking anymore, and then her friend Sam runs into a ghost. This does not look like you're going to get a ghost story, and it sets you up to not trust the ghost story, and then surprise, it's all ghost story. This had great moments of tension, but the mystery aspect fell apart at the climax for me. The scenes with Ginger the counselor were honestly more tense and upsetting.

Hannah's ADHD, where she tried desperately to be perfect and not call attention to things she struggled with, was familiar and well done. I'm interested to see where this series could go from here.
]]> What Lives in the Woods 57528853
All Ginny Anderson wants from her summer is to relax. But when Ginny's father—a respected restoration expert in Chicago—surprises the family with a month-long trip to Michigan, everything changes. They aren't staying in a hotel like most families would. No, they're staying in a mansion. A twenty-six room, century-old building surrounded by dense forest. Woodmoor Manor.

Locals claim the surrounding woods are inhabited by mutated creatures that escaped a mad scientist over a hundred years ago. And some say campers routinely disappear never to be seen again.

When the creaky floors and shadowy corners of the mansion seem to take on a life of their own, Ginny uncovers the wildest mystery of all: there's more than one legend roaming Saugatuck, Michigan, and they definitely aren't after campers.

They're after her.]]> 320 Lindsay Currie 1728245729 Shelley 4 3.78 2021 What Lives in the Woods
author: Lindsay Currie
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/05
date added: 2025/11/10
shelves: 2025, courtship-romance, fantasy, mystery, youth
review:
Ginny is not thrilled when her parents drag her to Michigan for a month so her dad can restore an old house, and then she starts getting haunted, on top of it. Some very fun scary moments, some sweet romance moments, and overall a lot of fun.
]]> It Happened to Anna 201751821 This spine-tingling ghost story follows a tween girl who’s being literally haunted by loneliness until a new friendship upends her life. From the bestselling author of the Paola Santiago series!

"Absolutely haunting!"—Delilah S. Dawson, New York Times bestselling author of Mine

A BOOKLIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Sadie Rivera has been haunted all her life by a vengeful ghost—a ghost that doesn’t want her to make any friends. The moment she tries? Cue exploding lightbulbs, chilling gusts of wind, and slamming doors.

Last year, Sadie got fed up. Last year, she made a best friend, Anna. So when the ghost caused an accident that killed her best friend, Sadie knew it was all her fault.

Which is why she’s not going to make any friends this year at her new school. At least until mysterious cool girl Mal shows up, and the ghost doesn’t bother her for once. But Mal wants Sadie all to herself—and she’ll do anything to make sure it stays that way.]]> 224 Tehlor Kay Mejia 0593647033 Shelley 4 2025, fantasy, youth 3.55 2024 It Happened to Anna
author: Tehlor Kay Mejia
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/10/30
date added: 2025/10/31
shelves: 2025, fantasy, youth
review:
Sadie has been haunted by a malevolent ghost her entire life, a ghost who refuses to let her have friends. When Sadie tried, last year, the ghost killed her best friend. Now she's in a new school and determined to not make friends---until Mal. The supernatural elements of who Mal is, etc, are telegraphed multiple times, but as a story about toxic relationships, how they can start good and turn harmful, and how hard they are to leave, it's top notch.
]]> The Briar Club 181110045 A haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, D.C. boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.

Washington, D.C., 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; police officer’s daughter Nora, who is entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Bea, whose career has ended along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.

Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears apart the house, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: Who is the true enemy in their midst?

Capturing the paranoia of the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty put to the test.]]> 432 Kate Quinn 0063244748 Shelley 4 2025, historical 4.23 2024 The Briar Club
author: Kate Quinn
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/10/28
date added: 2025/10/29
shelves: 2025, historical
review:
Half a dozen women live in a cheap Foggy Bottom boardinghouse in the early 50s, leading to a murder in 1954. I really liked how each woman got a section where we could enter her mind and expand our knowledge of them, and the short 1954 interludes added tension. I liked or sympathized with the characters, and Grace would be a wonderful friend to have.
]]> <![CDATA[Orange Blossoms Everywhere: The Story of Maud and Delos Lovelace, 1953-1980]]> 18672565 52 061563477X Shelley 4 2025, history
It's interesting to me how she struggled with writing Betsy's Wedding--not just the stress of writing it out and editing it, but the weeks of physical and mental recovery that it took after. She also referred to difficulty with Great World, and with that in mind, it's no wonder she never wrote Betsy's Bettina.

I did love that she not only got her friends to share their memories and stories with her, but she borrowed their photographs! What a marvelous way to really bring the characters and places to life. ]]> 4.47 2013 Orange Blossoms Everywhere: The Story of Maud and Delos Lovelace, 1953-1980
author: Southern California Chapter of the Betsy-Tacy Society
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2025/10/25
date added: 2025/10/27
shelves: 2025, history
review:
I won this in the silent auction at the Betsy-Tacy Convention, Class Day 2025! It's a very slim accounting of Maud and Delos's life in California, with snippets of Maud's journal entries included. She had such a way with words, even in the privacy of her own diary. I'd love to read more of them.

It's interesting to me how she struggled with writing Betsy's Wedding--not just the stress of writing it out and editing it, but the weeks of physical and mental recovery that it took after. She also referred to difficulty with Great World, and with that in mind, it's no wonder she never wrote Betsy's Bettina.

I did love that she not only got her friends to share their memories and stories with her, but she borrowed their photographs! What a marvelous way to really bring the characters and places to life.
]]> <![CDATA[Dan in Green Gables: A Graphic Novel]]> 218460255 In this modern reimagining of Anne of Green Gables, effervescent extrovert Dan Stewart-Álvarez is surprised to find home and community in rural Tennessee.

Despite a life on the road with his free-spirited mother, fifteen-year-old Dan Stewart-Álvarez has always wanted to settle down. He just didn’t think it’d be like this: with his mother abandoning him in rural Tennessee with two strangers—his gentle grandmother and conservative, rough-around-the-edges grandfather. Here, he is forced to adjust to working the farm, entering high school, and hardest yet—reckoning with his queerness in a severe Southern Baptist community.

But even as Dan grows closer to his mawmaw, befriends fellow outsiders at school, and tries to make a new life for himself in Green Gables, he has to discover whether he can contend with intolerance and adapt to change without losing himself in the process.

From award-winning author Rey Terciero and Eisner Award nominee and illustrator Claudia Aguirre comes a new retelling of Anne of Green Gables about unconventional families, queer identity, and finding the meaning of home in the most unlikely of places.]]> 256 Rey Terciero 0593385586 Shelley 4 4.24 2025 Dan in Green Gables: A Graphic Novel
author: Rey Terciero
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/10/25
date added: 2025/10/27
shelves: 2025, graphic-novel-comics, youth
review:
Dan's free spirited mother has left him with his paternal grandparents, a gentle grandmother and conservative grandfather. There's lovely reflections of Anne in Dan, with his energy and optimism that he uses to move past his difficult, stressful childhood, but it's also very much his own story. It's called a reimagining vs an adaptation, and I think that's bang on.
]]> Vote for the G.O.A.T. 224003570 From the author of National Book Award-longlisted Free Period comes a new hijinks-fueled comedy about finding your voice, perfect for fans of Carrie Firestone and Lisa Yee!

Sporty Meg and fashionista Jo don’t have much in common besides being 7th graders at Somerset Middle School, where everyone is obsessed with being voted the Greatest of All Time and celebrated at the Harvest Ball. But when their mascot Somerset Babette (aka the world’s cutest goat) is kidnapped, Jo and Meg are wrongfully accused of being the culprits.

The burned-out soccer star and chronically-ill overachiever band together and assemble a rag-tag squad to steal the goat back. Banter, activism, self-care, double-crosses, big shenanigans, and even bigger feelings follow as the girls fight to change how animals are treated at their school and achieve true freedom for their four-legged, sweater-chewing friend in this laugh-out-loud middle-grade heist centering friendship and bodily autonomy.]]> 336 Ali Terese 1665960485 Shelley 4
Still, I did enjoy it, and will be recommending it. ]]> 4.12 2025 Vote for the G.O.A.T.
author: Ali Terese
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/10/18
date added: 2025/10/20
shelves: 2025, disabled-lead, queer, youth
review:
Meg is a star soccer player who doesn't remember life without pain, Jo is a chronically ill and disabled advocate, and they team up to save their goatnapped school mascot Babette. This was charming and funny, and has some great details about living life while disabled. But it all felt sort of surface-y: all of the characters had the same late 90s/early 2000s fandom type of humor and glib responses (which I enjoy! Don't get me wrong!) and some of the disabilities felt kind of pasted on. Like, we know Jo has different mobility aids for different days--awesome. But there was only once where we knew what she was using, when it feels like it would have been more natural for it to be built into what she was doing every time we were in her POV or she was interacting with Meg. None of her symptoms played a role in her daily life unless she was in pt or getting meds, when it would have come with constant fatigue, brain fog, etc. Meg's pain levels and the pressure she was feeling from the adults around her were glossed over, too, which I found disappointing.

Still, I did enjoy it, and will be recommending it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Man With No Shadow (How to Survive Camping, #1)]]> 220160818 Welcome to Night Vale meets The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook in a campy, cozy horror novel that will appeal to creepy folklore afficionados and spooky story lovers alike.

I am a campground manager. I don’t have a list of rules because I’m trying to ruin your fun…I’m trying to keep you from doing small, simple things that could result in your horrific and most agonizing demise.

Goat Valley Campground has killed generations of Kate’s family. The land is old, passed down through generations, but the campground’s reputation doesn’t just draw campers year after year. Creatures from folklore and horror have made Goat Valley not just their home, but their hunting ground.

As campground manager, Kate has rules to protect her campers—if the man with the skull cup offers you a drink, accept it or you will die a gruesome death; don’t buy ice from the children with no wagon; and of course, never ever follow the lights. Still, not every camper follows the rules…which means not every camper survives their stay.

Soon decapitated and exsanguinated campers are the least of Kate’s worries; one of the most dangerous inhabitants of the campground is determined to claim the land for himself. Meanwhile, something in the land is shifting, the tides are turning, and the curse that hunts members of her bloodline begins to close in…]]> 320 Bonnie Quinn 1668096498 Shelley 4 2025, fantasy, queer
"It wasn't possible to [control the monsters]. Winter was coming. Christmas was coming. The powers of this world converge in the winter, and ancients walk the land and they go where they will and they do as they want. The long nights hide a multitude of evil."]]> 3.85 2019 The Man With No Shadow (How to Survive Camping, #1)
author: Bonnie Quinn
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/10/18
date added: 2025/10/18
shelves: 2025, fantasy, queer
review:
Kate is latest in her family to be caretaker of the campground that is old land and contains so many monsters from around the world--but things are falling apart as they are managing to kill locals, anyway. This is creepy and entertaining, and Kate is a traumatized unreliable narrator. She is a little bit of a monster herself, and the monsters sometimes take care of her the way she tries to take care of them. I loved learning about the various worldwide monsters and who comes out in fall vs Christmas vs winter. I hope there are more monstrous adventures with Kate!

"It wasn't possible to [control the monsters]. Winter was coming. Christmas was coming. The powers of this world converge in the winter, and ancients walk the land and they go where they will and they do as they want. The long nights hide a multitude of evil."
]]> His Cinderella Duchess 221573393 Tina Gabrielle brings you a grumpy/sunshine, marriage of convenience historical debut.


An unconventional promotion from governess to duchess!

Brent Ainsley, Duke of Ravenwood, knows his ward needs a mother figure. But finding a love match is out of the question, as his experiences at Waterloo left him scarred and mistrustful. Yet when the sunny new governess arrives dripping wet at his estate, he can’t stop thinking about her...

Destitute Lena Harper needs this governess job — even if it means tolerating her grumpy new employer. Who she discovers is looking for a convenient wife...when Lena proposes a paper marriage, she’s surprised at her own boldness! What’s even more shocking is the duke’s answer...



Mills & Boon Historical — Your romantic escape to the past.]]> 272 Tina Gabrielle 1335831460 Shelley 4
Honestly, this was so delightful. Lena is practical, Brent is depressed, but they are each trying to help each other as well as themselves. Great pacing, things that should have been talked about were, I really enjoyed it. ]]> 4.00 His Cinderella Duchess
author: Tina Gabrielle
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/10/03
date added: 2025/10/06
shelves: 2025, courtship-romance, historical
review:
Lena needs a job and/or security, Brent needs a wife to provide and heir and help his niece come out into society. Love ensues.

Honestly, this was so delightful. Lena is practical, Brent is depressed, but they are each trying to help each other as well as themselves. Great pacing, things that should have been talked about were, I really enjoyed it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound]]> 221754272 Raymond Antrobus uses life writing, criticism, biography, and a poet's sense of images that bind and unbind argument, to create a groundbreaking and daring examination of deafness.

Raymond Antrobus was first diagnosed as deaf at age seven. He discovered he had missing sounds: bird calls, whistles, kettles, alarms. His teachers thought he was slow and disruptive. Some friends didn't believe he was deaf.

Moving from London to Jamaica and the United States, The Quiet Ear tells the story of Raymond's upbringing by an English mother and Jamaican father, his first experience using hearing aids, his troubled adolescence navigating his deaf identity, and the parallel mainstream and deaf education systems. It also explores how masculinity and race complicate the shame of miscommunication, his formative introduction to literature as a way to connect with the world, and how the deaf body is 'performed'.

Throughout, Raymond sets his remarkable story alongside those of D/deaf cultural figures, historic and contemporary, the famous and under-recognised—the models of D/deaf creativity he did not have growing up.]]> 208 Raymond Antrobus 0593732103 Shelley 4 2025, disabled-lead, misc
The shame associated with disabilities was a major theme through all of the stories, the shame perpetuated by society, feeling like a burden. It's all still too common and I hope this book explains to non-disabled people how deeply it harms us.]]> 3.87 2025 The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound
author: Raymond Antrobus
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/09/23
date added: 2025/09/24
shelves: 2025, disabled-lead, misc
review:
Writer and poet Raymond Antrobus writes about his life and experience being deaf, alongside the stories of deaf creators like singer Johnnie Ray and poets Dorothy Miles and Meg Day. He weaves the stories together beautifully, in and out of time with his parents and grandparents and d/Deaf people who came before him. I read it all in one sitting because I was so intrigued and interested in what he had to say and how he said it.

The shame associated with disabilities was a major theme through all of the stories, the shame perpetuated by society, feeling like a burden. It's all still too common and I hope this book explains to non-disabled people how deeply it harms us.
]]> Lucky Loser 11301705
Laure Fortescue has fame, fortune, and a ranking inside the top ten. She has everything she ever wanted. Everything except Sinjin Smythe. As a rule, Laure doesn't date other players. A rule she would gladly break if it means winning Sinjin's heart.

Both women reach Wimbledon desperate to claim tennis's crown jewel—Sinjin because it would be her greatest victory, Laure because it could be her last.

Where does love fit in a game that only one can win?]]> 288 Yolanda Wallace 1602825750 Shelley 3 3.63 Lucky Loser
author: Yolanda Wallace
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.63
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2017/03/09
date added: 2025/09/15
shelves: 2017, courtship-romance, queer
review:
3.5. Tennis players Laure and Sinjin compete against each other and fall in love. I liked the tennis details, because I played for a long time and watched a lot of the sport, but man, there was a LOT of tennis details. Maybe too much. And name dropping--I recognized half, so I'm assuming they were all real? The pacing was odd, with random time jumps, sometimes over what had been heralded as a bug plot thing. Once, there was a huge amount of pages and tension given to one game, and within two pages of the event ending, the game was rendered meaningless and the story just blithely continued on from there. Narratively, that was hugely annoying. But I liked the characters, and was amused by the Queen.
]]> The Reel Wish 216817022 After a panic attack prevents Florencia from performing as Clara in The Nutcracker and her best friend takes the lead, a new dance style helps her face her anxiety as well as a troubled friendship.

Ballet is Florencia del Lago’s entire world. After years of hard work, she is chosen as Clara in the winter production of The Nutcracker. Not only is she the youngest dancer to receive such an honor but also the first Latina. She’s on track to be recruited by the best ballet companies.

Unfortunately, she suffers a panic attack on opening night–on stage, in front of everyone. And then Selena, Florencia’s best friend, steps right into the role to replace her. Just like that, Florencia’s whole world falls apart–the ballet studio expels her, and her best friend turns on her, tormenting her on social media and in real life.

But even though the one thing she was driven toward has come to an end, therapy and family support help Florencia open up to new experiences. She notices people at school she’s never paid attention to before, and she even stumbles upon an Irish dance school and decides to give it a try. Can a new passion for Irish dance help Florencia find the joy of performing on the stage that she lost that fateful winter night?]]> 368 Yamile Saied Méndez 1643796437 Shelley 4 2025, disabled-lead, youth 4.06 2025 The Reel Wish
author: Yamile Saied Méndez
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/09/01
date added: 2025/09/09
shelves: 2025, disabled-lead, youth
review:
Florencia and her best friend have been doing ballet since they were tiny, but things start to change when Florencia gets cast as Clara and it takes over her life to the detriment of school and friends. They get even worse when she has a panic attack on her first night, her best friend replaces her as Clara and ditches her as a friend, and she loses sight of who she is if not a ballerina. Engaging writing, interesting characters, and the ending was realistic and hopeful.
]]> <![CDATA[Vampirita and the Angry Mob (Vampirita, Book #1)]]> 200643015 136 Mariana Llanos 1478880570 Shelley 4 2025, youth, fantasy 4.50 Vampirita and the Angry Mob (Vampirita, Book #1)
author: Mariana Llanos
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/08/29
date added: 2025/08/29
shelves: 2025, youth, fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[For Her Consideration (Out in Hollywood, #1)]]> 61193071 Perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Meryl Wilsner, a funny, heartwarming, and moving novel about bad breakups, found families, and embracing life.

A Buzzfeed LGBTQ Romance You’ve Got to Read

Since a crushing breakup three years ago, Nina Rice has written romance, friends, her dreams of scriptwriting for TV, and even LA proper out of her life. Instead, she’s safely out in the suburbs in her aunt’s condo working her talent agency job from home, managing celebrity email accounts, and certain that’s plenty of writing—and plot—for her life. But a surprise meeting called by Ari Fox, a young actress on everyone’s radar, stirs up all kinds of feelings Nina thought she’d deleted for good . . .

Ari is sexy, out and proud, and a serious control freak, according to Nina’s boss. She has her own ideas about how Nina should handle her emails—and about getting to know her ghostwriter. When she tells Nina she should be writing again, Nina suddenly finds it less scary to revisit her abandoned life than seriously consider that Ari is flirting with her. Between reconnecting with her old crew and working on a new script, a relationship with a movie star seems like something she’ll definitely mess up—but what could be more worth the risk?

Amy Spalding’s For Her Consideration is full of heat and heart as Nina learns that her story just might include the kind of love that lasts.]]> 320 Amy Spalding 1496739515 Shelley 4 3.70 2023 For Her Consideration (Out in Hollywood, #1)
author: Amy Spalding
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/08/04
date added: 2025/08/14
shelves: 2025, courtship-romance, queer
review:
Nina works for a big LA talent agency, managing celebrity email accounts, and her newest one is up and coming actress Ari. Romance ensues. Absolutely charming and delightful fun, and I enjoyed Nina' friends, too.
]]> <![CDATA[You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington]]> 51239966 In a genre overdue for a shakeup, Alexis Coe takes a closer look at our first—and finds he's not quite the man we remember

Young George Washington was raised by a struggling single mother, demanded military promotions, chased rich young women, caused an international incident, and never backed down—even when his dysentery got so bad he had to ride with a cushion on his saddle.

But after he married Martha, everything changed. Washington became the kind of man who named his dog Sweetlips and hated to leave home. He took up arms against the British only when there was no other way, though he lost more battles than he won. Coe focuses on his activities off the battlefield—like espionage and propaganda.

After an unlikely victory in the Revolutionary War, Washington once again shocked the world by giving up power, only to learn his compatriots wouldn't allow it. The founders pressured him into the presidency—twice. He established enduring norms but left office heartbroken over the partisan nightmare his backstabbing cabinet had created.

Back on his plantation, the man who fought for liberty finally confronted his greatest hypocrisy—what to do with the hundreds of men, women, and children he owned—before succumbing to a brutal death.

Alexis Coe combines rigorous research and unsentimental storytelling, finally separating the man from the legend.]]> 261 Alexis Coe 0735224102 Shelley 4 2025, history
I especially enjoyed the introduction, which pulled out quotes from the biggest Washington bios, how they'd interpreted things in the same way, and and wrote about Washington like they had a crush on his manliness and his thighs. I also loved the graphs throughout that really laid out a ton of information in a very digestible way--myths, diseases he survived, battles won and lost, quotes he wrote to his granddaughters about relationships and love, quotes from friends who became enemies, his schedules, his snarky comments in Monroe's book about his presidency.

She called out Chernow and his storytelling (very similar to the thoughts I had on his Hamilton bio), and reinterpreted GW's relationship with his mother and brothers in light of 1700s culture. This is short, easily readable, and gives a full picture of his life. I absolutely recommend it for high schoolers and adults. ]]> 3.73 2020 You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington
author: Alexis Coe
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/08/01
date added: 2025/08/02
shelves: 2025, history
review:
4.5. There have been three women who have written adult biographies of George Washington, including this one, approximately one a century. Alexis Coe goes back to the original sources to interpret Washington and the people around him, and avoid the hero worship stereotypes that have built around our first president. Like, did you know that he literally caused the French and Indian war by killing French soldiers unprovoked, while they slept? He also lost more battles than he won, and as president in 1799, he ignored the wishes of NJ's governor and Congress and called up 12,000 militia soldiers to take arms against 6000 NJ protestors. Who weren't even there.

I especially enjoyed the introduction, which pulled out quotes from the biggest Washington bios, how they'd interpreted things in the same way, and and wrote about Washington like they had a crush on his manliness and his thighs. I also loved the graphs throughout that really laid out a ton of information in a very digestible way--myths, diseases he survived, battles won and lost, quotes he wrote to his granddaughters about relationships and love, quotes from friends who became enemies, his schedules, his snarky comments in Monroe's book about his presidency.

She called out Chernow and his storytelling (very similar to the thoughts I had on his Hamilton bio), and reinterpreted GW's relationship with his mother and brothers in light of 1700s culture. This is short, easily readable, and gives a full picture of his life. I absolutely recommend it for high schoolers and adults.
]]> <![CDATA[Vanya and the Wild Hunt (Vanya Vallen Adventures #1)]]> 200982337 Amari and the Night Brothers meets Nevermoor in this enchanting middle grade fantasy, inspired by Indian mythology and British folklore, about a neurodivergent heroine, a mysterious school, and a world of magical creatures.

Eleven-year-old Vanya Vallen has always felt like she doesn’t fit in. She’s British-Indian in a mostly white town in England, her parents won’t talk about their pasts, and she has ADHD.

Oh, and she talks to books. More importantly, the books talk back.

When her family is attacked by a monster she believed only existed in fairytales, Vanya discovers that her parents have secrets, and that there are a lot more monsters out there. Overnight, she’s whisked off to the enchanted library and school of Auramere, where she joins the ranks of archwitches and archivists.

Life at Auramere is unexpected, exciting and wonderful. But even here, there’s no escaping monsters. The mysterious, powerful Wild Hunt is on the prowl, and Vanya will need all her creativity and courage to unmask its leader and stop them before they destroy the only place she’s ever truly belonged.

From the critically-acclaimed author of the Kiki Kallira series and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches comes an action-packed and magical middle grade fantasy, perfect for fans of J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan.]]> 288 Sangu Mandanna 1250899834 Shelley 4
It's hard to not compare fantasy boarding school-ish stories to HP, but I really enjoyed this world. I mean, libraries and archivists are as key as the archwitches who do the fighting! And I love how folk tales from around the world are woven in, along with archwitches from around the world. The end honestly surprised me, and I am very excited about book two and hopefully more!

Vanya has ADHD that is pretty well represented, and I really appreciated how adults around her pushed back on her internal ableism and helped her feel more secure in herself. Her friend Ben is autistic, with less visible traits overall. ]]> 4.11 2025 Vanya and the Wild Hunt (Vanya Vallen Adventures #1)
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: Shelley
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/08/01
date added: 2025/08/02
shelves: 2025, disabled-lead, fantasy, youth
review:
Books have been talking to 11 year old Vanya for a few years now, and now they are warning her of danger. But she never would have guessed that the danger came from her parents' history as archwitches and archivists, and that there are deadly monsters out there.

It's hard to not compare fantasy boarding school-ish stories to HP, but I really enjoyed this world. I mean, libraries and archivists are as key as the archwitches who do the fighting! And I love how folk tales from around the world are woven in, along with archwitches from around the world. The end honestly surprised me, and I am very excited about book two and hopefully more!

Vanya has ADHD that is pretty well represented, and I really appreciated how adults around her pushed back on her internal ableism and helped her feel more secure in herself. Her friend Ben is autistic, with less visible traits overall.
]]> Shaken 200982296 240 James Preller 125083449X Shelley 3 2025, disabled-lead, youth 3.99 Shaken
author: James Preller
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.99
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/07/06
date added: 2025/07/07
shelves: 2025, disabled-lead, youth
review:
13 year old Kristy is good enough at soccer that she plays on the high school team and has been featured in places like ESPN, so when she gets a concussion during a game and it doesn't get better, her whole life changes. This was interesting, watching her navigate through the loss of her identity as a soccer player and accept her disability and new normal, and how her parents deal with the loss of the daughter that they knew and pushed.
]]> <![CDATA[Avengers Inc.: Action, Mystery, Adventure]]> 194477914
Her name is Janet Van Dyne. His name is Victor Shade. She’s a hero. He’s a villain. She’s a celebrity. He’s an enigma. She’s hunting a killer. He…just got killed. And together, they’re out to solve every mystery in the Marvel Universe…starting with their own!

Avengers Inc. (2023) 1-5]]> 128 Al Ewing 1302953397 Shelley 4 2025, graphic-novel-comics 3.53 2024 Avengers Inc.: Action, Mystery, Adventure
author: Al Ewing
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/07/06
date added: 2025/07/07
shelves: 2025, graphic-novel-comics
review:
Janet Van Dyne is solving murder mysteries involving heroes and villains along side Vic Shade, a strange man who has inhabited the formerly dead body of one of her rogues. I loved the set up and the conceit, and enjoyed seeing Nadia again. Very entertaining and enjoyable!
]]> <![CDATA[Capwolf & The Howling Commandos]]> 194985992
When Captain America is transformed into a werewolf on the front lines of World War II, he’ll need the help of the Howling Commandos to take down a band of Nazi cultists who intend to use supernatural forces to turn the tide of battle. But can Cap control the skeptical, jaded Commandos when he can barely control himself? As they all struggle to decide the fate of the lycanthropic living legend, a miracle happens — and a new ally arrives. But their Nazi foes are about to make a call that could change the tide of battle…and the fate of the world!

CapWolf & The Howling Commandos (2023) 1-4]]> 112 Stephanie Phillips 1302947192 Shelley 4 3.39 2024 Capwolf & The Howling Commandos
author: Stephanie Phillips
name: Shelley
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/07/04
date added: 2025/07/05
shelves: 2025, courtship-romance, historical, fantasy
review:
WHAT IF Cap got bit by a werewolf when the Howling Commandos stumbled on Hydra's plan to win WW2 through supernatural means?? About as fun as you'd imagine.
]]>