Project MUSE®: Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books - Latest Articles
https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313
Project MUSE®: Latest articles in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.daily12026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00text/htmlen-USVol. 59 (2005) through current issue
Latest Articles: Bulletin of the Center for Children's BooksTWOProject MUSE®Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books1558-67660008-9036Latest articles in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Feed provided by Project MUSE®A Smile Like Yours by Emily Thomas (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990318
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College is often a time of rapid growth and self-discovery for young adults, a time of embracing newfound independence and pursuing passions while also encountering (newly) adult social anxiety and pressure to achieve academic success. In this month’s Big Picture, first-year Rhys navigates all of the many fun and messy moments of university life while also dealing with the emotional and social complexities brought on by having prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, a cognitive disorder where he has difficulty recognizing and remembering people’s faces. Playfully using the graphic novel format and incorporating some classic rom-com elements, author/illustrator Thomas creates a fully realized protagonist in
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallA Smile Like Yours by Emily Thomas (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USA Smile Like Yours by Emily Thomas (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®65202026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Monkeypig by Huw Aaron (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990319
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Content to live among the monkeys of the jungle, Molly has a secret that could end her days of dancing and playing and being silly—she’s a pig. Literally. The other monkeys haven’t noticed her porcine nature, but one day, Norman the head monkey calls a gathering and demands that a mysterious non-monkey scent be traced to the apparent imposter so that they may be banished forever. Norman arranges three tests that each monkey must take to prove their monkey-ness: the proper method of monkey eating (Molly tramples the bananas to mush rather than peeling them), monkey communication (Molly is louder than everyone else with her giggly oinks), and monkey transportation (Molly’s vine snaps and sends her tumbling down
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallMonkeypig by Huw Aaron (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USMonkeypig by Huw Aaron (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34672026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Perla and the Princess / Perla y la Princesa by Isabel Allende (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990320
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Perla, a tiny black-and-gray pup, takes tremendous pride in being “guard dog and best friend” to her human Nico, but she’s none too pleased when Nico develops a crush on a neighborhood girl and spends the better part of a year preoccupied by the “Princess,” distracted from his usual fun with Perla. When a Cinco de Mayo hide-and-seek game ends with Nico and the Princess trapped in a cellar, it’s up to Perla to save the day—donning her Zorro hat and cape, Perla gathers up her courage and gets the kids to safety. Allende’s English and Spanish versions individually sparkle with wit, charm, and an engaging tone, and while the two together may be a bit too long to read in one sitting for most younger kids, older Spanish
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallPerla and the Princess / Perla y la Princesa by Isabel Allende (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USPerla and the Princess / Perla y la Princesa by Isabel Allende (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34052026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12To Knit a Ghost by Z.B. Asterplume (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990321
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“Knitting a ghost is easy,” according to our little protagonist who, having consulted the how-to guide Knitting for Little Witches, is ready to collect the necessary materials and get started, all while a number of actual ghosts in her house supply commentary. She gathers her yarn and needles, makes a cup of tea, and checks on the mood lighting (“A big, bright moon is ideal,” advises one ghost); she also goes over the things that are not necessary to knit a ghost, including a clock, a cellphone, dolphins, and “a reason to knit a ghost.” She then stretches, bathes, grabs a snack, and feeds the cat, and finally, she begins. Although she starts off strong, she later must unravel part of the design to knit it again
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallTo Knit a Ghost by Z.B. Asterplume (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USTo Knit a Ghost by Z.B. Asterplume (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36912026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Happybaras by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990322
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This picture book’s capybara protagonists may be traveling to Alaska together, but it quickly becomes apparent that they’re having two very different journeys. For the “happybara,” it’s all a breeze, with a neatly packed suitcase and a window seat on the plane, while the other decidedly “unhappybara” must deal with broken luggage and a middle seat next to a particularly large, horned stranger. Upon arriving at their campsite, one of the oversized guinea pigs gazes in wonder at the snowy mountains (“Grand-ybara!”) while the other fearfully reads the various safety warnings posted (“unplanned-ybara”). On and on it goes, the two friends having wildly different experiences (sledding, ziplining, and hiking for one and
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallHappybaras by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USHappybaras by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35922026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Story Rug by Sophie Blackall (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990323
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At Margaret Bennett Elementary, Class 203 is in the middle of a braiding craze. Everyone is braiding something—their hair, their shoelaces, the mane of their toy pony—but Noah has nothing to braid until his teacher, Ms. Morena, cuts an old classroom rag into three strips. He quickly runs out of that cloth, so his dad cuts up an old shirt and Noah keeps braiding. His classmates join in, bringing their own fabric (faded curtains, stained tablecloths, an old sari) to add to the braid, which grows very, very long, running the whole length of a hallway. Over the weekend, the pals meet up at the public library and, following Noah’s directions, sew the braid into a big circular rug, which they bring to school on Monday.
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallStory Rug by Sophie Blackall (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USStory Rug by Sophie Blackall (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34072026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Lost Board by Alice Feagan (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990324
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When Lana sneaks her family’s special surfboard out of the shop in order to catch a perfect wave, the worst happens: not only does she wipe out, but she loses the board as well. While initially afraid of her family’s reaction, she tells the truth and her grandmother comforts her with the history of the beloved board—it first came to their family as merely a found item—and she reassures Lana that the board will go on to continue its adventures. Lana’s grandmother’s assertion is confirmed by pages showing the board encountering a squid, a whale, a flock of seagulls, kids on the seashore, a shipwreck survivor, a fisherman, and finally a new little girl, who takes the lost treasure and refurbishes it for her own
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Lost Board by Alice Feagan (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Lost Board by Alice Feagan (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34152026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12School Spirits by Charlotte Gunnufson (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990325
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Summer is ending, and our young Black protagonist is worried about school starting: what if the classes are hard and there are lots of tests? What if they don’t know which classroom to go to and have to talk to kids they don’t know? Or worse . . . what if the school is haunted? Their suspicions seem to be confirmed as woos, squeaks, and shrill “scrrreeeeeeeeeee” sounds follow the child through the hallways, and the haunting is soon made apparent when our protagonist wanders into the lost and found to discover the chaos-wreaking ghosts. The spirits make a mess, toppling chairs and flooding the bathroom, and our overwhelmed protagonist knows he’ll have to talk to the other kids to enlist their help. Together, the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallSchool Spirits by Charlotte Gunnufson (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USSchool Spirits by Charlotte Gunnufson (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36802026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12I Built a Rocket Ship by Anna Lazowski (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990326
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In this tender picture book, a child speaks to a beloved adult who has died, and the young kid builds a rocket ship from the cardboard robot the two of them once built together. Of course, it’s a fantastic dream of a project, but they’ve got carefully drawn plans, lots of supplies, and a yearning for connection that perhaps being among the stars will accomplish. Dad is always there to comfort, give room to mourn, and gently deliver advice about how complex building a rocket is. The child appreciates his presence, but Dad is not the one from whom the child needs reassurance: “You also said when you were gone, I’d still feel you near me. But I don’t. Not really,” they speak to the sky. The tone is quiet, almost
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallI Built a Rocket Ship by Anna Lazowski (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USI Built a Rocket Ship by Anna Lazowski (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35932026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Day My Brother Became a Tree by Xin Li (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990327
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Wendy’s little brother Owen loves their garden, particularly the trees. When it’s hot and the trees are thirsty, he waters them, and when it’s cold in the winter, he brings them scarves and mittens. He tells the trees stories and sings them songs. One day, Wendy and Owen’s parents tell them that the family will be moving, and Owen becomes so distraught that he runs outside and stays with the trees all night. When morning comes, Wendy goes looking for Owen, only to find that he has transformed into a “tree,” donning branches and leaves and refusing to budge. So, Wendy decides to care for the tree, soothing his big feelings and eventually reminding Owen that trees can talk to each other through their roots, even
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Day My Brother Became a Tree by Xin Li (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Day My Brother Became a Tree by Xin Li (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34642026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Watermelon Pool by Bonsoir Lune (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990328
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It is a blistering hot summer day in a tiny countryside village, so people young and old grab their swimsuits and inflatable swim toys, racing to a patch of gigantic watermelons where a house-sized watermelon has split, making a perfect fruity pool in which to cool off. They climb the ladder to the watermelon’s fleshy, sugar-sweet liquid, splashing, stomping, and soon even swimming. The scorching sun gets hotter throughout the day, but, fortunately, the cloud vendor arrives to sell clouds and rain-cloud umbrellas to offer shade and a shower. A grandchild and grandfather decide to make a slide by shoveling the watermelon rind for some additional fun, and other kids build watermelon castles. Everything must come to
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallWatermelon Pool by Bonsoir Lune (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USWatermelon Pool by Bonsoir Lune (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36052026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Whale, That Was Unexpected by Casey Lyall (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990329
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Seasoned mariner Maude departs from the docks with her yellow-slicker jacketed dog Claude for another unsurprising day on the ocean. But the shadow looming just under their boat has other ideas, and as its maw takes up a full spread, the creature swallows Maude, Claude, and their vessel whole in one gulp. What is a broad like Maude and a salty dog like Claude to do? Captain and canine keep cool: they decide to throw themselves a farewell party from the belly of the whale. Elegantly placing a respective hand and paw over their chests and looking to the narrator/reader, they request a eulogy that has a bit of pizzazz: “Farewell, Maude, a grand old dame. Farewell Claude, sixth of his name. Farewell, trusty little
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallWhale, That Was Unexpected by Casey Lyall (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USWhale, That Was Unexpected by Casey Lyall (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36322026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Together for Mama: A Story of Hope and Healing by Pooja Makhijani (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990330
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When Baby Maya arrives, little Asha takes to the role of big sis with ease, happily singing to, cuddling with, and helping care for the bundle of joy. Mama, however, seems less sure of herself, and her cheerful, happy demeanor is now replaced by someone distant, sad, and exhausted. Papa and Asha do their best to care for both Mama and baby, but when it becomes clear they need more help, Papa enlists the girls’ Dadi and Nani, and both paternal and maternal grandmothers quickly arrive with ready assistance and plenty of understanding. It takes a few weeks, but as Asha, Papa, Dadi, and Nani pull together to help sustain this newly changed family, Mama begins to feel better and is soon back to herself. This is a lovely
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallTogether for Mama: A Story of Hope and Healing by Pooja Makhijani (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USTogether for Mama: A Story of Hope and Healing by Pooja Makhijani (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36282026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Great Gathering Place by Naomi McIlwraith (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990331
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From this picture book’s opening spread, the narrator offers listeners an outstretched hand from the seat in their canoe: “Let’s go to the Great Gathering Place. Come, I’ll take you in my big red canoe.” The canoe’s destination isn’t just one place or time, however. It’s heading to an Indigenous celebration of life, family, and the Earth itself, spanning communities and generations, cued visually with a page turn that moves the big red canoe from a river to soaring on clouds over a vast expanse of fields. Yet for how big that concept is, McIlwraith keeps it accessible with short, simple sentences as the narrator explains how the gathering begins, first by thanking their grandfathers, like Sky and Buffalo, and
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Great Gathering Place by Naomi McIlwraith (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Great Gathering Place by Naomi McIlwraith (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35702026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The First Drum I Ever Heard by Randy Preston (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990332
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For a little boy and his mother, playing the drums brings a jubilant rhythm to their lives, and given all the drums his mother can play, the little boy wonders what sort of drum he heard first. It is not the bass drum that bumps in the living room, nor the snare drum that clunks in the concert hall, and most certainly not the timpani that booms in the town. He then recalls a very early memory of a steady “lub dub” sound that belonged to a drum from another world, one which “thumped out its rhythm from my very start, soothed my fears alone in the dark.” That drum was his mother’s beating heart, and though the sound grew faint when she cradled him on the day of his birth, it continues to echo softly even when they
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe First Drum I Ever Heard by Randy Preston (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe First Drum I Ever Heard by Randy Preston (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36092026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Tess’s Red Dress: Honoring Love and Family by Carolyn Roberts (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990333
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As the arrival of her new baby sister comes closer, little Tess has questions for Mommy, who also had a sister. At bathtime, Mommy recounts how she and Auntie would splash in the tub together and how Grammy would put them to bed with a story and hug. In the morning at breakfast, Mommy recalls with a laugh how Auntie would always end up snacking more than actually baking when it came to preparing meals, and when Mommy braids Tess’s hair for a march later that day, she talks about how she used to love her sister’s hair and what an honor it was to wear their hair in long braids. As they prepare to leave for the day, Mommy’s tears and the family’s destination reveal the unfortunate truth that readers will not get to
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallTess’s Red Dress: Honoring Love and Family by Carolyn Roberts (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USTess’s Red Dress: Honoring Love and Family by Carolyn Roberts (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34972026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Smile by Maya Shleifer (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990334
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A little boy and his mom are late again, hurrying through a dark and blustery city to the train. The boy wonders if everyone is late, “because no one seems happy,” but across the packed train car, a baby smiles at the little boy, and it starts a chain reaction. He smiles back, and then his mom sees and smiles as well. Now glowing with cheer, the boy and his mom smile at people when they get off the train, and the smile begins to travel—from the little boy to the fruit man, the fruit man to a woman on a bicycle to folks in the park. Soon, the smile spreads all over the city, maybe all over the world, because a smile is best when shared. This story, with few words, relies on its evocative, painterly illustrations
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallSmile by Maya Shleifer (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USSmile by Maya Shleifer (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®32572026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Greatest Bedtime Story Ever by Jessie Sima (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990335
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Sitting beside a glowing fire, a cheerful elf beckons the reader in: what if you could hear the greatest bedtime story ever? The elf’s tale-about-a-tale begins with a recounting of the time our diminutive protagonist followed caterwauls into an unknown cave and found a dragon in a state of sad sleeplessness. Blasting columns of flames and tears alike—and looming over our protagonist, knee-high to a grass-hopper—the dragon admits the only thing that allows it to rest properly is . . . a bedtime snack. As a “master storyteller,” the elf sees opportunity instead of a red flag, but listeners won’t hear the tale the elf told. Instead, they’ll be treated to a grandiose, self-congratulatory yarn about the far more epic
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Greatest Bedtime Story Ever by Jessie Sima (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Greatest Bedtime Story Ever by Jessie Sima (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®37272026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Uh-Oh, Hugo by Jonathan Stutzman (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990336
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A playful but klutzy small dog named Hugo and his human embark on an adventure on a beautiful day. As the little kid narrates in direct address to Hugo, the two say hi to their friends (though Hugo barks at Little Whiskers the cat). Then the adventure goes a bit awry with a series of mishaps, as Hugo is stung by a bee (“Ouchie!”), thinks a snake is a stick, gets skunked by a skunk (‘Uh-oh, Hugo. STINKY!”), and rolls in the mud. Through it all, Hugo seems only momentarily fazed by each ensuing incident before the child guides him on, though his fur becomes increasingly covered in whatever he runs and rolls into. After saying good night to his friends (including barking at Little Whiskers, of course) and taking a
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallUh-Oh, Hugo by Jonathan Stutzman (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USUh-Oh, Hugo by Jonathan Stutzman (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36582026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Next Shiny Object by Hudson Talbott (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990337
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A boy runs through his days with his curiosity manifesting as a dragon “because it was always draggin” him into different scrapes. School is especially tricky, as the yellow, glowing beast spits fire to get him out of his chair, which only results in a timeout, and bedtime is no easier, as the dragon sits atop him, spurring on his whirling thoughts. As writer and illustrator, Talbott brings whimsical fun to the story via wordplay and the newspaper-like cartoonish characters rendered in ink, watercolor, and colored pencil. While the text avoids any diagnostic language, saving a reference to Talbott’s experience with ADHD until an author’s note, the struggles the boy faces will be familiar to many kids with ADHD: the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Next Shiny Object by Hudson Talbott (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Next Shiny Object by Hudson Talbott (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®37032026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Umbrella by Sylvia Walker (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990338
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Zora is playing at the park when it starts to rain, but luck is on her side when she stumbles upon a pink polka-dotted umbrella. Once open, the umbrella is small and protects her perfectly, but as one kid comes over, then two more, then three, the umbrella expands to keep them all dry. Unfortunately, the wind flings the umbrella into a tree, and though the kids work together to form a human pyramid to retrieve it, the umbrella is blown away again. The kids form a search party, and the umbrella is located, but the rain has stopped, so Zora places the umbrella back under the bench where she found it. The next day, a new kid finds the umbrella, starting the cycle over. With rosy cheeks and adorably gap-toothed smiles
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Umbrella by Sylvia Walker (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Umbrella by Sylvia Walker (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35522026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Rostam Wrecks the Realm by Olivia Abtahi (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990339
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Rostam has done everything he can think of to avoid moving to another planet, from guilt-tripping his moms to pushing his luck with a flat refusal. It’s all to no avail, however, and when he lands on Pars-1, he barely has time to get used to this brown, dull planet that has no atmosphere (literally or figuratively) before he gets into trouble with new schoolmates. Rather than focus on making amends, Rostam instead stumbles into a deal with an ancient demon prince, Zahhak, who promises to fix all his problems if Rostam retrieves a golden mace and gives it freely to him. Rostam is familiar with The Persian Book of Kings, and he knows that he is named for a key character from it, but apparently, he does not have
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallRostam Wrecks the Realm by Olivia Abtahi (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USRostam Wrecks the Realm by Olivia Abtahi (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35042026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12You Only Live Twice by Autumn Allen (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990340
<p></p>
Seventeen-year-old Zakiyyah is so over her Boston high school—arbitrary rules and superficial teens who just want to party detract from her real longing, which is to study the Quran all day and learn Arabic. So, Zakiyyah creates her “2012–2013 Get Free Plan,” and starts attending community college and spending her spare time at the masjid, determined to live a life dedicated to Allah. However, when her best friend Asiyah starts talking about finding a husband, Zakiyyah becomes fixated on finding a life partner for herself, and though her family initially pushes back, they eventually begin to guide her in a halal pursuit of finding her future husband. This ultimately leads Zakiyyah to Musa—a nineteen-year-old Black
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallYou Only Live Twice by Autumn Allen (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USYou Only Live Twice by Autumn Allen (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35022026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Doe by Rebecca Barrow (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990341
<p></p>
Despite the cheer team not having enough resources to compete, captain and high school junior Maris and her teammates are fiercely devoted to their sport, working their bodies to exhaustion “because / what better way to hurt yourself / than in the pursuit of perfection?” That pursuit, however, doesn’t make them popular in school as no one is interested in “the too-intense / emotionally unstable / rage-filled / no-dreams no-money / no-future / girls.” Nonetheless, things with the team are going well enough until coach brings in Genevieve, a new student and former elite gymnast, who’s a little too rich and not enough like the others to fit in. Maris is quickly threatened by Genevieve’s closeness with their coach and
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallDoe by Rebecca Barrow (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USDoe by Rebecca Barrow (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36212026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12How to Lose Yourself Completely by Peter Bognanni (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990342
<p></p>
Sixteen-year-old Case is heading into the woods in northern Minnesota with four other teenagers and one adult guide to participate in Adventure Therapy, hoping it will ease his intense anxiety, exacerbated by the traumatic death of his brother Sean. Diana, one of the other teens on the trip, is Sean’s ex-girlfriend, and Case and Diana’s relationship is complicated beyond their shared trauma—Case is deeply in love with her, and the two kissed the night before his brother died. All five of the teens are working with various forms of anxiety, and frayed nerves turn to panic when their guide Silas disappears with all his belongings, most of the food and medication, and the map, leaving them deep in the woods. Thinking
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallHow to Lose Yourself Completely by Peter Bognanni (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USHow to Lose Yourself Completely by Peter Bognanni (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34532026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Pia in the Forest by David Bruggink (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990343
<p></p>
In this energetic graphic novel, Pia, its anthropomorphized puppy protagonist, is an explosion of energy, shouting from her canine dad’s doorway to wake him up so she can show him her art, badgering him to take her to the state park, and then barreling her way through the forest when they arrive. Her dad is obviously used to her chaos, gently nudging her to consider the impact she has on nature around her as she heedlessly leaves a trail of destruction behind her, but hunger breaks his patience when he realizes Pia has packed him a lemon instead of a granola bar to snack on during the long hike. An admonished Pia stomps off by herself, but an encounter with a friendly squirrel and some quiet time observing the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallPia in the Forest by David Bruggink (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USPia in the Forest by David Bruggink (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®33492026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-1213 Little Love Stories: An Anthology Inspired by Taylor Swift Songs by Elise Bryant (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990344
<p></p>
A who’s who of YA romance authors come together with thirteen love stories inspired by the songs of Taylor Swift to create an appealingly fluffy but mostly uneven anthology. There are some definite hits here: high school senior Deja is the superbly snarky, A-type narrator of Crystal Maldonado’s “Once Upon a Grad Night,” recounting the evening she fled the senior lock-in she had meticulously planned for a freefall night of adventure with the endlessly sweet and incredibly hot Luca. Sloan Harlow’s “Five Summers” offers an emotionally resonant look at friends-to-lovers-to-exes Alex and Will over five years, showing how young love evolves as priorities shift and goals change. Girlhood and platonic friendships are
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmall13 Little Love Stories: An Anthology Inspired by Taylor Swift Songs by Elise Bryant (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-US13 Little Love Stories: An Anthology Inspired by Taylor Swift Songs by Elise Bryant (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35502026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Encore! by Miles Toriko Burks (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990345
<p></p>
Clay and Aron’s childhood friendship fell by the wayside somewhere in middle school, but now as high schoolers, the two are thrown together when Aron is forced to join Clay’s theater class so he doesn’t get kicked off the swim team, and again later when they get paired up for a class project. Clay is shocked Aron is acting like they never stopped being friends and so initially resists Aron’s overtures, but the two eventually start spending time together outside of their schoolwork. Clay’s other friends, however, aren’t so keen on Aron, especially when he doesn’t show up to support Clay at a performance after he promised he would, and they get even more upset when they realize Clay ditched one of their DND sessions
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallEncore! by Miles Toriko Burks (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USEncore! by Miles Toriko Burks (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®37692026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Alex, By Proxy by Karen Myna Cantor (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990346
<p></p>
Alex had been sick for as long as he could remember; from the age of five, he recalls feeling worn out, throwing up, passing out, and even having seizures. After a cataclysmic event left him hospitalized and in a coma for months, a now sixteen-year-old Alex awaits trial day, where he will testify against his mother, who is accused of poisoning him for years in a case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Returning home from the hospital proves to be anything but normal: his neighbors are consumed with the “monster mommy” headlines surrounding his case, and his family dynamic is fractured, with a father who had been deployed overseas for most of Alex’s life suddenly his caretaker. Enduring permanent damage from the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallAlex, By Proxy by Karen Myna Cantor (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USAlex, By Proxy by Karen Myna Cantor (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34812026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12We Became Wild by H. D. Carver (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990347
<p></p>
An imposing sign in La Conchita, California, warns visitors mudslides could decimate the town. The childhoods of best friends Val, Lottie, and Messina have been marked by that threat along with other troubles: Val lost her mom to suicide, Lottie lives in a trailer with a grandmother who doesn’t want her, and Messina has been physically abused by her mom’s boyfriend (aptly nicknamed Jeffucker) for years. After Val is killed in a fall during a drunken night hike while upset at her cheating boyfriend, Messina finds her margin-filled copy of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, and after returning Jeffucker’s van late without permission, Messina quickly decides on a plan to finally run away before he can punish her. She and Lottie
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallWe Became Wild by H. D. Carver (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USWe Became Wild by H. D. Carver (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35952026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Breakout by Dhonielle Clayton (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990348
<p></p>
Last spring break, tragedy struck D.C.’s Thurgood Marshall Academy’s most powerful crew “the Six.” Although Keisha “Key” White’s death was officially ruled an accident, the remaining five members collectively hold secret parts of the puzzle around her death that could ruin all their lives. The friends/frenemies reunite for an exclusive trip on a private island in the Florida Keys on the anniversary of Key’s death—which they agreed never to discuss, though Noelle recently spoke to the press, stirring up emotions they’d rather suppress. When a tropical storm sets off a series of events that lead to more unexplained deaths, everyone seems suspicious; no one knows who can be trusted, but getting off the island alive
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallBreakout by Dhonielle Clayton (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USBreakout by Dhonielle Clayton (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®33882026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Pip & Pals: Otter Space by Jen de Oliveira (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990349
<p></p>
After a tangle with some seaweed turns Pip the otter green, his confused pals TJ, a cute little bird, and Herman, a no-nonsense crab, decide that the only logical explanation for this color change must be that Pip is, and always has been, an alien. Their mission now is to return Pip to his home planet, but first, they’ll need a rocket ship. Fortunately, their friend Gulley the seagull is something of a flight expert, and, after getting over his shock at the shamrock-shaded Pip, he instructs the trio to rummage through his workshop’s junk pile and “grab anything that screams ‘spaceship.’” A few hours of tinkering and a whole lot of glue later, Pip’s ride is ready, but as he packs his bags, he begins to wonder if
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallPip & Pals: Otter Space by Jen de Oliveira (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USPip & Pals: Otter Space by Jen de Oliveira (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®33932026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12All the Sunshine in the World by Caroline Brooks Dubois (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990350
<p></p>
Tolly starts eighth grade lonely, reeling from the death of her sister, her family’s quiet, grieving tension, and her friend group’s lack of support. No one is talking about her sister, and because Tolly was texting her around the time her car crashed, Tolly blames herself for the accident and is certain her parents do as well. Now phoneless (she lost it in the fog of mourning), she feels disconnected from her classmates, who are all glued to their phones, and from her parents, who have pulled away from her and each other. When the guidance counselor at school asks her to lead the newly formed Luddite Club, she begrudgingly accepts, but soon she finds herself opening up, discovering deeper connections with her new
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallAll the Sunshine in the World by Caroline Brooks Dubois (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USAll the Sunshine in the World by Caroline Brooks Dubois (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®32982026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Go by Deborah Ellis (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990351
<p></p>
Split into three parts (On Your Mark, Get Set, and Go), this collection of eleven short stories features children from around the world who come from different familial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds deciding for themselves how they want to move forward from challenges, despite what the adults in their lives have told them they should do. While the stories are mostly unconnected, each section returns to thirteen-year-old Brodie, sent to juvie for a crime he didn’t commit because his parents didn’t want Brodie’s favored older brother to lose his shot at a basketball scholarship. His lawyer overhears what occurred after the fact and visits Brodie, impressing on him that in a few years, he can make his own
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallGo by Deborah Ellis (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USGo by Deborah Ellis (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36172026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Medicine Wheels by Byron Graves (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990352
<p></p>
Soon to be sixteen, Bryce is starting his summer on the reservation where he grew up, staying with his grandmother after he and his mom escaped from mom’s latest abusive ex, only for mom to head back to jail for breaking her probation. Bryce’s deceased dad was a skateboarding star, and it’s only after Bryce picks up his dad’s old board and begins to skate himself that he discovers how freeing it feels. Bryce is a natural on the board, but he’s still an amateur, so he turns to his best friend Robbie and childhood friend Mikayla, who is now a viral skating star, for help. Bryce is in desperate need of support, his first-person narration balancing his complex emotions toward his mom and dad, processing his
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallMedicine Wheels by Byron Graves (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USMedicine Wheels by Byron Graves (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®33622026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Raven, Rising by Christine Hartman Derr (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990353
<p></p>
In the aftermath of Raven’s parents’ death, she and her Aunt Coral move to Bear Creek Falls, where Raven starts middle school amidst rumors that she’s a witch. Admittedly, she does have an unnatural baking ability, as ingredients call to her with swirly tendrils that only she can see, but she’s mostly earned the reputation after pretending to curse a bullying classmate in Cherokee. Despite her instinct to withdraw, she actually ends up making friends with two other girls who also seem to have a touch of magic, and with the support of her new pals, her loving aunt, and a family of stray black cats, Raven bakes for the first time since her parents’ deaths. This fills her with the strength to stand up not only to the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallRaven, Rising by Christine Hartman Derr (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USRaven, Rising by Christine Hartman Derr (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34792026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Behind Five Willows by June Hur (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990354
<p></p>
Behavior is closely scrutinized and reputation is everything in Joseon Dynasty Korean, so village girl Haewon finds freedom in reading and, as the scribe Magpie, making copies of books for a secret shop peddling illegal works. Seojun, the noble son of a government official, likewise finds escape in reading—and in writing scandalous, incredibly popular novels under the pen name Black Lotus. A government ban on immoral fiction threatens their beloved occupations, and the pair—not knowing they have been exchanging heartfelt, confiding letters as author and scribe—clash when Haewon’s older sister and Seojun’s best friend fall in love. Nods to Jane Austen abound in this historical romance, primarily toward Pride and
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallBehind Five Willows by June Hur (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USBehind Five Willows by June Hur (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35602026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Our Fair Share by Sarah Marie Jette (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990355
<p></p>
Middle schoolers Avory, James, Serafina, and Cassi always look forward to their summers together at the fair where their parents work, but this year, they’re all bringing a little extra baggage with them. Still one of the smallest kids in their class even at twelve, Avory can’t seem to shake their insecurities about their height. James left for a new school where he didn’t make any friends, which made his dissolving friendship with Serafina feel that much worse. Serafina didn’t plan to ignore James, but she’s recovering from a terrible car crash that left her with a broken arm and struggling with serious anxiety. Meanwhile, Cassi is on the outs with her dad after a cheating scandal at the horse races endangers
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallOur Fair Share by Sarah Marie Jette (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USOur Fair Share by Sarah Marie Jette (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35612026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990356
<p></p>
Seventeen-year-old Syrian American Jihad lost more than her mother a year ago as her dad has retreated into his own cocoon of grief since. Things only get worse when he decides to send her to an expensive private academy for the rest of her senior year, where she encounters a dangerous and violent Islamophobia. There’s a boy, earnest and respectful, who adores her and does his best to protect her, but Jihad endures taunting, indifferent administrators, destruction of her property, and physical assault in a relatively short period of time. She pours out her pain in her mother’s old sketchbook, a family heirloom that holds enough magic that her sketches become murals that appear throughout the city, anonymous and
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35392026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Spindlewood by Freddie Kölsch (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990357
<p></p>
When Lilac’s uncle freezes during one of his séances, Lilac jumps in to help, saying she is getting a message from the beyond—even when she is most definitely not. What follows happens startlingly fast as her elated uncles reveal that they have been waiting for years for her to demonstrate that she has this extraordinary talent and that she will now attend Spindlewood, a school to develop her Seeing abilities. Of course, Lilac has no such power, but she does have a few different motivations for lying: she doesn’t want to disappoint her uncles, she wants to learn more about her parents and she thinks the school may hold information, and she sure as heck doesn’t want to have her memory wiped, which is exactly what
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallSpindlewood by Freddie Kölsch (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USSpindlewood by Freddie Kölsch (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34672026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Song of the Yellow Dragon by Ying Ping Low (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990358
<p></p>
Twelve-year-old Mengyao wishes nothing more than to become a Divine Healer for her isolated, tiny village in the Vale, but as her birthday is approaching, she thinks there is no hope: at thirteen, most children of the empire forget magic is real, losing any skills they may have in it. A different possibility for Mengyao opens up when she discovers an injured boy inside the Vale and realizes he is twelve-year-old Kai, a young emperor once confined to his palace who has now run away after finding out his advisors killed his family to claim the throne. Mengyao’s name is mentioned in the Yellow Dragon legend that Kai believes will lead him to Dragon’s Pulse, and so Kai decides to let her join him on his search for the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallSong of the Yellow Dragon by Ying Ping Low (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USSong of the Yellow Dragon by Ying Ping Low (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35672026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12To Dance the Moon and Stars by Tasia M S (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990359
<p></p>
Myra has been training her whole life to take over as High Priestess for her grandmother but has yet to receive her vision from the god Alrun. Frankly, Myra is not even sure she’s fit for the role in the first place, especially as her grandmother is constantly reminding Myra that her love of dancing is illegal as it could “unleash unspeakable evil.” Meanwhile, Prince Eyden, Myra’s childhood friend whom she hasn’t seen in ten years, is being pushed by his father to take up his position as heir, even though Eyden would prefer to live a simple life. When Myra’s grandmother falls ill, Myra must take on the High Priestess responsibilities of preparing for the upcoming Navo Versano festival, and Eyden needs to get ready
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallTo Dance the Moon and Stars by Tasia M S (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USTo Dance the Moon and Stars by Tasia M S (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36722026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Free Girls by Kristen McCallum (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990360
<p></p>
Sixteen-year-old Jasmine spent the last year in an all-girls detention center for a stupid mistake, and she’s ready for a fresh start upon her release. Unfortunately, her mom already began that new life without her—getting married, moving to a different town, and inheriting a stepdaughter, Kayla. Now, Jasmine’s been thrown in the deep end, struggling to stay afloat in a situation she didn’t expect. At her mom’s request, Jasmine keeps her incarceration a secret, and eventually she starts to feel like her life is looking up; she’s making friends, getting along with Kayla, and things are going well with her crush, Deanna. When a girl from the detention center reaches out after she’s released, Jasmine must figure out
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallFree Girls by Kristen McCallum (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USFree Girls by Kristen McCallum (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35542026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Coming Out Perfect by Richard Mercado (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990361
<p></p>
Kevin just came out to his parents over dinner to little fanfare, making him feel as invisible at home as he does at school. He’s not one of the popular kids, and only his closest friends, Gaby and Anton, know he’s gay, but after a chance encounter with the school’s most popular gay guy, Raymond, Kevin finds himself running alongside him for student body vice president in return for Raymond’s help in elevating Kevin’s social status. As Kevin starts ignoring his besties, Raymond drags him along on a romcom style makeover that makes the two boys nearly indiscernible, and he’s also outing Kevin left and right, taking that opportunity away from Kevin. When it becomes clear that Raymond doesn’t have a platform for his
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallComing Out Perfect by Richard Mercado (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USComing Out Perfect by Richard Mercado (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36792026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Goldenborn by Ama Ofosua Lieb (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990362
<p></p>
Akoma doesn’t trust magic, yet she’s part of InterMag, the International Magical Crime Alliance Group, which works to keep magic a secret from normal humans and ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Using InterMag’s advanced technological resources, Akoma searches for information about the bright ball of light that put her dad into a coma a year ago. Now a case involving stolen Ghanaian artifacts seems to be intersecting with her dad’s mysterious condition, and Akoma is finding herself in increasingly unfamiliar territory involving heretofore unknown magical ancestry, trickster gods, and her Grandma Esi’s attempts to solve a spree of murders. And the clock is ticking: if Akoma’s powers don’t manifest before
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallGoldenborn by Ama Ofosua Lieb (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USGoldenborn by Ama Ofosua Lieb (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®32072026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990363
<p></p>
The once-thriving, now-occupied kingdom of Gyldan is a brutal place for Corin and her sister Elly, who mostly survive by selling junk after losing their mom to an illness and their dad to suicide. There’s a legend that prosperity could be brought back to Gyldan if someone can awaken Princess Amelia, who was cursed over one hundred years ago, and so a desperate Elly runs away to look for Amelia in Gyldan’s hidden tunnels. Corin follows her, and both girls end up in a dreamworld where they do indeed find Amelia (now going by Briar Rose) living a simple life, having abandoned her throne to avoid an undesirable political marriage to immortal Prince Ezran. The demon who supposedly cursed her, Malicine, is actually the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36002026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Little Monsters by Máire Roche (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990364
<p></p>
The March sisters in Roche’s middle-grade horror outing are hardly Alcott’s little women: Jo sprouts fur, Beth has bat wings, Amy turns into the scary kind of mermaid, and thirteen-year-old Meg is just trying hide it all from their foster mother, Marmee. But when a vicious creature starts stalking the town of Salem, Massachusetts, and Meg wakes up in the woods, nails and teeth long and twisted, she’s not sure if she is the beast responsible for a recent spate of suspicious incidents or if the March girls aren’t the only monsters around. The cute new boy, Brooks, breaks through some of Meg’s trauma-based defenses, and while she doesn’t share her secret, the two decide to find the monster together. But when those
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallLittle Monsters by Máire Roche (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USLittle Monsters by Máire Roche (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34272026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Tell Me My Future by Eileen M. Ruvane (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990365
<p></p>
Sixteen-year-old Kessen Turner has moved around with her mom nearly a dozen times since her dad left them when she was four. Accustomed to suddenly packing her bags and uprooting her life, Kess is disappointed but not surprised when she has to relocate to small-town Pennsylvania, living at a psychic shop belonging to a friend of her mother’s. With the psychic friend in the hospital after an accident, Kess takes over the shop, lying as she always does to her new classmates about her actual living accommodations, her backstory, and her nonexistent psychic ability. Kess joins the school’s desperate field hockey team and makes a peppy, popular-girl enemy and also a fellow outcast friend. But a head injury while
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallTell Me My Future by Eileen M. Ruvane (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USTell Me My Future by Eileen M. Ruvane (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35762026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Skeleton and the Cat by Brandon James Scott (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990366
<p></p>
Content with a cup of tea and a good book, the titular skeleton of this amiable set of five illustrated vignettes is initially hesitant to let in the little black cat who shows up on the doorstep of her sprawling manor. The persistent kitty wins her over, however, and he makes himself right at home in the kitchen, preparing two sardine sandwiches, both of which he gets to devour when it becomes clear that Skeleton doesn’t need to eat nor knows how. Next, they spend some time in the garden, where the fanciful feline convinces Skeleton to dance, and later, they read in the library, where Skeleton learns the universal truth that “all books are better when you have a cat on your lap.” They end their evening together
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Skeleton and the Cat by Brandon James Scott (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Skeleton and the Cat by Brandon James Scott (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36682026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Unnamed Bones by Lora Senf (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990367
<p></p>
Despite her gut’s strong warning that she should absolutely not go to the mysterious island that recently appeared on the lake where her father drowned years ago, sixteen-year-old Harrow still musters up some misguided courage, wrangles a few friends, and convinces her almost-uncle Mike to take her there by boat. Upon arriving, the wrongness that Harrow has felt in her bones is immediately reinforced—the boat, along with Mike, sinks, their cell phones don’t work, there are ominous sounds everywhere, and it becomes clear pretty quickly that most, if not all of them, won’t escape. Attacking trees, rapidly spreading infections that not only harm bodies but also warp brains, terrifying bridges that lead to even worse
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallUnnamed Bones by Lora Senf (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USUnnamed Bones by Lora Senf (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®34702026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Midsummer Sisters by Niki Smith (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990368
<p></p>
In this contemplative, poignant graphic novel, Kenzie and Quinn have always been best friends and the closest of stepsisters, but they are forced to become each other’s only support system when their parents’ arguments become forceful, bitter, and loud. Luckily, Gramma swoops in and whisks the girls to the Outer Banks, giving them a refuge to stay out of the worst of the fighting. That sort of tension does not leave the body quickly, however, and the girls snap at each other more than usual and chafe at the isolation and slower pace of living with a grandparent, especially as time passes and it becomes impossible to ignore that this isn’t a quick, or even fixable, problem between their parents, and the girls are
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallMidsummer Sisters by Niki Smith (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USMidsummer Sisters by Niki Smith (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35562026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls by Jessica Spotswood (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990369
<p></p>
By the summer of 1947, Grace Harrow’s cruel and incompetent father has mismanaged the Harrow Home for Wayward Girls so horrendously that they’ve had to sell the former maternity ward to a wealthy financer who plans to transform the grounds into a fancy hotel. The Harrows will be kept on as staff, and Grace and her twin brother Cooper’s first task is to entertain the buyer’s daughters, Rose, Ella, and Lou when they arrive for a summer stay as renovations begin. A normally guarded Grace does not anticipate finding a friend in Rose, who, to Grace’s relief and astonishment, can see and feel the angry ghost that has been haunting Grace for months. They’re convinced that it’s the spirit of a teen mother who came to the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Harrow Home for Wayward Girls by Jessica Spotswood (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Harrow Home for Wayward Girls by Jessica Spotswood (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35782026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Haven and the Fallen Giants by Jen Xu (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990370
<p></p>
In this graphic novel, the first in an intended duology, Haven has never known an easy life, but she knows she is better off than some, with a guardian who loves her as well as an ingenuity that has helped her make useful things out of items that are considered junk to anyone living in the walled city of Raqmu. However, that doesn’t dim her rage at her place within a wildly unjust system where even water is scarce, and when she gets the chance to steal something far more valuable than spare mechanical parts, she jumps at it. As she flees the city’s guards, she is lucky to encounter Lan, a wealthy girl chafing under her strict father’s rules; something about Haven sparks rebellion in Lan, who decides to help Haven
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallHaven and the Fallen Giants by Jen Xu (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USHaven and the Fallen Giants by Jen Xu (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36472026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12A (Dead) Thing Like Me by E.G. Young (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990371
<p></p>
Hot Dog can’t remember how she died (or even if she died), but she’s mostly content to haunt a hot dog stand outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One night, however, she suddenly finds herself in Florida, summoned there by a slightly witchy Logan, who was hoping to contact her friend Avery, who died shortly after the two BFFs got into an argument. Hot Dog is pretty sure she’s not Avery, but she does finally admit she’s been lonely and so decides to be Logan’s new best friend, chatting, having sleepovers, watching Logan’s favorite movies, and even convincing Logan to throw a Halloween party. But unfortunately, Hot Dog’s presence has attracted a demon with questionable motivations, a ghost eater with decidedly
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallA (Dead) Thing Like Me by E.G. Young (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USA (Dead) Thing Like Me by E.G. Young (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®32012026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Silence Sounds Simple: A Day in the Life of John Cage by Gary Golio (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990372
<p></p>
In this tribute to John Cage, Golio refers to the eccentric composer as a “sound sorcerer,” a man who could not only make music from a collection of sounds or materials, but who could also help listeners find music even in the absence of it. This is more a sonic exercise than a true biography, inviting readers to find newness in sounds so familiar that one may not even hear them anymore, and introducing larger conceptual ideas, such as “everything needs the otherthing to give it life.” Young listeners who aren’t quite ready for that degree of ambiguity will likely focus on the art and flow of the text, letting the occasional complexity float past like a bit of ambient noise. The illustrations are a reflection on
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallSilence Sounds Simple: A Day in the Life of John Cage by Gary Golio (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USSilence Sounds Simple: A Day in the Life of John Cage by Gary Golio (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®33652026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12The Elephant and the Piano by Colette Hiller (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990373
<p></p>
Bonti the elephant lives in an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, a natural refuge where elephants are provided long-term care after facing immeasurable challenges in the wild. Everyone, including the other elephants, keeps a safe distance from Bonti due to his withdrawn and hot temper, yet a visiting English musician named Paul believes Bonti is misunderstood and just needs some reassurance he is safe. With permission from the elephant sanctuary director, Paul sets up his piano in the sanctuary to play a gentle, stirring Beethoven piece. As Paul’s hands glide across the keys, Bonti starts to relax and sway to the music, even using his trunk to plink and plonk the instrument. In the following days, Paul builds a piano
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallThe Elephant and the Piano by Colette Hiller (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USThe Elephant and the Piano by Colette Hiller (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®35622026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Do You Know the Dark?: Exploring the Unseen, Unknown, and Unusual by Roz MacLean (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990374
<p></p>
For kids who love the world most when the sun goes down, this radiant picture book explores the wonders of the dark, whether deep in a cave, in the ocean depths, or in a backyard. The text honors human connection to the dark as a recurring time to reset, explore, and experience new and different things than during the day, but it also presents the ways that for many other living things, the dark is their only experience, a permanent state rather than a cyclical one. The staggering glow of the stars, the cozy sharing of space between earth burrowers and small, sprouting seeds, and the fluid movements of the unusual and wonderful creatures that have adapted to live thousands of feet under the water’s surface—all are
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallDo You Know the Dark?: Exploring the Unseen, Unknown, and Unusual by Roz MacLean (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USDo You Know the Dark?: Exploring the Unseen, Unknown, and Unusual by Roz MacLean (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®32832026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Suffer a Witch: A Memoir by Joy McCullough (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990375
<p></p>
In this searing gut-punch of a memoir, McCullough, author of the brilliant Enter the Body (BCCB 3/23), recounts the sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of a trusted youth pastor in her Presbyterian youth group in high school. The daughter of a preacher, Joy grew up with a fundamental trust in the church, so when the new leader of her Bible study took a special interest in her, she saw him as a confidant and friend, someone who would listen to her anxieties about her body, her friends, and school without judgment. Along the way, however, he began to prey on her insecurities, sexually abusing her over a period of three years while convincing her what they had was romantic. It was only after she broke from their
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallSuffer a Witch: A Memoir by Joy McCullough (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USSuffer a Witch: A Memoir by Joy McCullough (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®37322026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12A Language of Stitches: The Radical Quilts of Rosie Lee Tomkins by Constance Moore (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990376
<p></p>
Growing up picking cotton in the South in the 1940s was a hard life, so little Effie Mae found joy where she could in her home in a small farming community in Arkansas, playing with her siblings and quilting with her mama, until she was finally old enough at twenty-two to leave and make the trek to California. There she started a family and began a career as a nurse, until a mental health crisis led to a hospital stay. Quilting became a way to reconnect to both herself and her past, and soon she was inventing new styles and creating fabric creations that told stories about Black culture, history, religion, and people. Eventually, her art caught the eye of quilt collector Leon Eli, who went on to show her work in
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallA Language of Stitches: The Radical Quilts of Rosie Lee Tomkins by Constance Moore (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USA Language of Stitches: The Radical Quilts of Rosie Lee Tomkins by Constance Moore (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®37062026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Sharks in Kansas: The Ancient Sea in the Middle of America by Melissa Stewart (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990377
<p></p>
Kansas is known for its corn, cattle, and pigs—but what about its sharks? Author Stewart brings her prolific nonfiction skills to prove that, yes, there are indeed sharks in Kansas (though they’re certainly no longer swimming) and takes readers back 85 million years to when the state’s endless, flat fields were actually the bottom of an ocean in what is known as the Western Interior Seaway. There, readers would have spotted a Scapanorhynchus, a shark with a knife-like nose, cruising the waters looking for a yummy meal in a Hesperornis, a flightless water bird. The prehistoric waters were teeming with all sorts of life such as marine cephalopods, bony fish, and aquatic reptiles, but perhaps two of the most
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallSharks in Kansas: The Ancient Sea in the Middle of America by Melissa Stewart (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USSharks in Kansas: The Ancient Sea in the Middle of America by Melissa Stewart (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®37822026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12A Taxi for Everyone: How Roy Velásquez Fought for Equality by Debbie Zapata (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990378
<p></p>
When Roy Velásquez and his family moved to Austin, Texas, in 1924, the fourteen-year-old boy already knew what it was to work hard, having toiled alongside his father in a quarry. So, he understood how exhausted the working Black and Mexican adults in his new community were and how segregation and whites-only policies made things more difficult. As a grown-up, Roy decided to use what he earned at his construction job to buy a car, and, recognizing the discriminatory practices of the city’s taxi companies, decided to start his own taxi service, helping workers, especially those of color, get to their jobs. His outings made him all too aware of the racial and class injustices in Austin, and he eventually became
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallA Taxi for Everyone: How Roy Velásquez Fought for Equality by Debbie Zapata (review)2026-05-12text/htmlen-USA Taxi for Everyone: How Roy Velásquez Fought for Equality by Debbie Zapata (review)2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®36902026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12Subject and Use Index
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/990379
<p></p>
Keyed to The Bulletin’s alphabetical arrangement by author, this index, which appears in each issue, can be used in three ways. Entries in regular type refer to subjects; entries in bold type refer to curricular or other uses; entries in ALL-CAPS refer to genres and appeals. In the case of subject headings, the subhead “stories” refers to books for the readaloud audience; “fiction,” to those books intended for independent reading.Abuse—fiction: SpotswoodADHD—stories: TalbottAlaska—stories: Bardhan-QuallenAnxiety—fiction: Bognanni; CarverArt and artists—fiction: KatouhAunts—fiction: Hartman DerrBeaches—fiction: Smith, N.BIOGRAPHIES: Golio; ZapataBlack people: MooreBlack people—fiction: Bagley; Barrow; Clayton;
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-14T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/313/image/coversmallSubject and Use Index2026-05-12text/htmlen-USSubject and Use Index2026-05-122026TWOProject MUSE®78292026-05-14T00:00:00-05:002026-05-12