Tag Archive | mothers

He is a PRINCE AMONG PIRATES – chosen family, intrigue, love? by Katie Abdou (YA fiction book review)

Jul9
Against a background of sunset at sea with tall sailing ship, a smiling young man holds onto his fancy hat with trailing red plume. He's wearing a ruffled white shirt, embroidered sleeveless waistcoat, knee breeches & white hose. He grasps the arm of a taller young Black man who wears a gold earring, dreads bound with a blue ribbon, tall boots, and holds his longsword pointed downward. They gaze at one another above book title A Prince Among Pirates, by Katie Abdou.

Got to get away,
be himself,
become more than expected…

His university years done and an arranged marriage looming, flirtatious Christopher-Henry impulsively escapes a life of boredom in 1700 by boarding the first ship leaving England and becoming Kit.

No stateroom for Kit aboard Deliverance; luckily Captain Steele needs a clerk so the young lordling doesn’t have to work the decks.

Kit makes friends among the misfit crew as they trade at sea and in port, wonders why his father hates half-Turkish Kit so much, watches the debonair Black captain watching him…

Oh, by the way, the Deliverance is no merchant vessel – they’re all pirates! Pirates who gleefully liberate the enslaved from any and every ship they encounter.

When saving his captain and crewmates exposes Kit’s true identity to outsiders, suddenly he’s wanted by the Crown…

Why did the ship’s former clerk leave without a word to anyone?
Why does the Duke want Christopher-Henry back in England?
Why would Kit ever leave his Deliverance friends or the Captain? (especially the Captain…)

Found family, slow-burn romance, swashbuckling exploits – and a secret that the swoony book cover doesn’t reveal.

Your favorite pirate tale?
**kmm

Book info: Prince Among Pirates / Katie Abdou. Atheneum, 2026. [author site https://katieabdou.com/] [publisher site https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/A-Prince-Among-Pirates/Katie-Abdou/9781665984775] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Donor kids misheard becomes THE DOUGHNUT CLUB of brother & sister – wait, how many more half-siblings out there?! by Kristina Rahim (MG fiction book review)

Jul1
On book cover, title The Doughnut Club is written around a huge frosted doughnut in center. Above is is author's name Kristina Rahim. Below are 3 kids, a blonde girl with green eyes looking to the left with her arms crossed, a red-headed freckled green-eyed girl holding book "Do you have to be alike to be a family?" and pencil while looking straight ahead, and a darker skinned boy with brown hair and eyes looking at the redhead and waving his left hand.

Books or surfing?
Sketching or rock-climbing?
Her choices are clear!

Finally on their way to their annual shore vacation, Quinn wonders why she prefers quiet to the rest of her family’s go-go-go activity style.

She and Olly have always known they were donor-conceived – the red-headed 12 year old born by their Mama and her younger dark-haired brother by their Mom.

Never really interested in their biological dad, until Mom tells them a website shows they have 16 other donor siblings (sixteen!) but they’ll have to wait till they’re older to contact them.

Now it’s all that Quinn can think about – even after an accident sidelines her from all water activities (yay – no surfing!) and snobby rich Monika teases her (like every summer).

Can she get into that website and see more about their donor siblings?
Will she finally get to choose classes that she likes at the resort?
Why is Monika picking on her so much?

Quinn has always fainted at the sight of blood, so a crisis only she can respond to truly tests what she can do in an emergency!

Do you know folks who are donor conceived?
**kmm

Book info: The Doughnut Club / Kristina Rahim. Nosy Crow, 2025. [author site https://www.kristinarahim.com/] [publisher site https://nosycrow.us/product/the-doughnut-club/] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher via Publisher Spotlight.

Is this place the best SPACE FOR SAFFRON, her interests, and her moms? by Rie Neal (MG book review)

Jun24
A red-headed tween girl wearing hearing aids, jeans, and backpack holds a volcano model in doorway of a bakery on book cover of Space for Saffron, by Rie Neal.

Constantly in motion,
dreaming of science,
needing her own space in the world.

Saffron didn’t plan for her volcano experiment to make such a mess up, but the mean boss fires Mama and says the 10 year old has to pay to clean up the diner!

Not many jobs in their small Iowa town, so when Gran calls to ask her moms to run the family’s cafe in California while she travels, it’s worth a try. Mimi says she can get construction work there, if Saffron is willing to move before the school science fair.

So they pack up (volcano included) and drive to Oakvale where they’ll live above the cafe (Saffron on a couch-bed for now) – wow, so much work needed downstairs to bring customers back in.

Different schedule and classes, finding new friends, explaining her hearing aids and ADHD, but the science fair at Saffron’s new school is still ahead – another chance for her volcano!

Uncle Toby helps when he can, but the cafe needs something special to compete for customers here in Silicon Valley, where Granpy worked with NASA scientists.

Oh, her classmates have planned projects with robots and coding and computers – will her simple volcano be enough?
They help her brainstorm for STEM ideas that will make the cafe stand out – will the grownups agree?
If Gran wants to run the cafe again after her vacation – where will Saffron and her moms go?

Family and friends, volcanos and space – maybe Saffron can find a space that’s truly hers!

What was your favorite science fair experiment?
**kmm

Book info: Space for Saffron / Rie Neal. Aladdin, 2026. [author site https://www.rienealwrites.com/] [publisher site https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Space-for-Saffron/Rie-Neal/9781665972529] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

ALICE ECLAIR, SPY EXTRAORDINAIRE: Recipe For Trouble! by Sarah Todd Taylor (MG book review)

Jun17
A young French teen girl in red hat runs alongside a steam train at night, followed by a white cat. Above them is series title Alice Eclair, Spy Extraordinaire in a puff of pink smoke, below them is the book title A Recipe for Trouble, by Sarah Todd Taylor

Code-breaking,
puzzle solving,
spy training?

When she’s not making intricate creations of sugar and chocolate for Maman’s bakery, Alice follows mysterious messages through Paris – puzzles, secretive package exchanges. So much like the tasks set by her late Uncle Robert, gone for two years now.

The 13 year old goes undercover as a maid to retrieve microfilm from a spy and is most surprised at who she delivers it to!

Aha! The spy will be traveling on the luxurious Sapphire Express to the coast, carrying documents that will endanger brave French agents if they reach their destination – Alice must find a way to be on that train…

Her pastry-making skills get her on board, a chance encounter with a lively British teen girl gives her a potential ally, and she watches all the first-class passengers for clues – only a few days to figure it all out.

Twin dancing brothers are nervous when a fancy resort is mentioned, a glamorous woman insists that the pianist play only her sheet music, and a professor is taking mysterious notes.

Who is the spy?
Can Alice recover the papers?
Can she keep her job on the train while she tries?

As Europe watches Germany with great worry in the mid-1930s, a young spy-in-training must decide who to trust and what her true mission is. Followed by A Spoonful of Spying, A Sprinkling of Danger, and A Dash of Daring, as Alice’s amazing adventures continue.

Have you ever traveled on an overnight train?
**kmm

Book info: Alice Eclair, Spy Extraordinaire: Recipe for Trouble / Sarah Todd Taylor. Nosy Crow, 2025. [author site https://sarahtoddtaylor.com/alice-eclair-spy-extraordinaire/] [publisher site https://nosycrow.us/product/alice-eclair-spy-extraordinaire-a-recipe-for-trouble/] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Her past lives, her SOULMATCH now, no future? by Rebecca Danzenbaker (YA book review)

Jun16
Book cover of Soulmatch, by Rebecca Danzenbaker, features a porcelain bust of a young woman with her eyes closed, elaborately adorned with many flowers, golden crown, and velvet choker with large pink jewel.

Control and power,
self-determination and destiny,
past and future…

The test must be wrong! Of course she has past lives on record, just like everyone else in these days of peace, two centuries after World War Three!

Like every 18 year old, Sivon reports for her kirling, when her soulid is matched with its past lives whose inheritance can provide a great start to this life.

Hopefully, she isn’t a Bad Soul, immediately marched to prison to finish her past self’s sentence! Or worse yet, be Flavinsky who commits suicide immediately after their kirling – 11 times so far…

Whoa, how can this be? Sivon is a New Soul, no soulid match at all, no past lives, no heritage or inheritance! She renames herself Carrefour from her new soulid, echoing the x in circle she always dreams, but others say Creature – a miracle, a messiah, a menace to all society?

The Prime Minister wants her to work on his re-election team, prompted by his nearly-18 nephew Janus, and will guard her artist mother’s safety.

Her bodyguard Shepherd’s soulmate is due to be kirled soon – their love has endured across many lifetimes. She can’t be attracted to him, she can’t!

What secrets lurk in The Fringe lands, among those who don’t trust kirling or the government?
Will she ever be safe again, ever have a soulmatch?
Are the ones calling her Creature the prophets?

Trust her instincts, guard her heart, seize her power – advice from the Institute is so hard to follow!

Do you believe in soulmates?
**kmm

Book info: Soulmatch / Rebecca Danzenbaker. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025. [author site https://www.rebeccadanzenbakerbooks.com/] [publisher site https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Soulmatch/Rebecca-Danzenbaker/9781665963701] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

MINNOW, who speaks for the orcas in peril! by Willie Poll & Emily Graceanna Pearson (MG Graphic Novel review)

Jun10
A large orca and a First Nations girl with fish tail swim beneath the nighttime waves, a city silhouetted against hills behind them and graphic novel title Minnow, by Willie Poll & Emily Graceanna Pearson below.

Called to the sea,
concerned about its creatures,
what can she do?

As Minnow walks the Vancouver shoreline, picking up trash on the beach as she always did with her grandmother, the grieving young teen is certain that an orca just offshore is following her. But that can’t be true – orcas stay in deeper safe waters, right?

Mom takes her to the aquarium, where the fish follow Minnow as she walks along their huge tanks and the sea lions flee in the middle of feeding time – very strange.

There she meets Celia, new here from the Great Lakes. When they use the aquarium’s equipment to listen to the captive orca there, Celia hears screeches and clicks, but Minnow hears words!

Their summer times together include days at the beach, where Minnow’s feet turn to flippers in the water and her eyes become as black and deep as an orca’s – what is happening?

Minnow’s mom tells her the ancestral story of this gift handed down by countless generations of grandmothers – the ability to communicate with water creatures and the responsibility to speak for them to the human world.

Gran has been missing for 74 days, last seen at the proposed pipeline site on the shoreline, but investigating the disappearance of indigenous women isn’t a priority for Canadian authorities.

Time to find Gran’s journal and decide how a pair of young women can help the remaining group of orcas, before it’s too late!

This debut graphic novel by First Nations author and illustrator duo celebrates the power of community and connections for change.

Which sea creature would you like to hear speaking to you?
**kmm

Book info: Minnow / Willie Poll; art by Emily Graceanna Pearson. Medicine Wheel Publishing, 2026. [author site https://www.williepoll.com/] [illustrator site https://emilygraceannapearson.ca/about/] [publisher site https://shop.medicinewheelpublishing.com/en-us/products/minnow1] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher, via Publisher Spotlight.

Summer of new friends, new enemies, THE ENDLESS GAME, by J. D. Amato & Sophie Morse (MG Graphic Novel)

Jun3
A tween boy looks back as he runs in front of his friends, while others on hillside ride bikes & are lookouts. On hills behind them rise towers with different flags, on either side of book title The Endless Game. Graphic novel written by J D Amato, art by Sophie Morse

His family moved again!
What’s there to do around here?
Oh, capture the flag – all summer!

Lakeside is divided by more than the stream running through the middle of town. For 75 years, the Uphill versus Downhill feud has been channeled into the kids’ summer-long game of Capture the Flag, with each side having a ‘castle’ and a king and a flag and a jail.

When Fred moves to the Illinois town in 1998, his frazzled mom with baby forces the quiet middle schooler to go outside and meet neighbor kids who introduce him to the game which is still going on because no one has ever captured the flag.

The Council of homeschooled kids is neutral and sets the rules: no adult help allowed, tagged kids stay in the other side’s jail from 11 a.m. till the evening streetlights come on every day for the rest of the summer or until rescued!

Downhillers know that cheater Uphill king Jamie caused their king Mike to get sent away for the summer, so they want Uphill to lose more than ever.

While Fred waits for his dad to get transferred from their old town, he’s busy making new friends, learning what skills he’s good at (or not), and trying to help Downhill finally win the game!

Travel Lakeside’s woods and streets with resourceful tweens in this graphic novel of cooperation, competition, and confidence.

What’s your favorite outdoor summer game?
**kmm

Book info: The Endless Game / J. D. Amato; art by Sophie Morse. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2026. [author & illustrator interview https://smack-dab-in-the-middle.blogspot.com/2026/05/interview-with-jd-amato-and-sophie.html] [publisher site https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Endless-Game/J-D-Amato/9781665927154] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Be sweet, be silly, ALWAYS BE MY BIBI, by Priyanka Taslim (YA book review)

Jun2
A Bangladeshi-American teen girl wearing large earrings, many bracelets and bright neck-scarf holds a glass of tea and winks over her heart-shaped rosy sunglasses in front of a terraced hillside and the book title Always Be My Bibi, by Priyana Taslim.

No phone, no fun, no boys,
bummer summer ahead –
until big sister’s big news!

Bibi the flirty fashionista tries to get around Abbu’s archaic rule about her not dating until older sister Halima is married, but the rising senior got caught going to prom and now is grounded for the summer.

Suddenly, big sis and Sunny announce their plans to marry this summer, in both families’ hometown in Bangladesh, and stay there! Is she giving up her dream of being an environmental lawyer?

Abbu is a famed entrepreneur in their Bangladeshi-American Muslim community in New Jersey, but the undisputed royalty in his hometown is Sunny’s family with their tea garden and resort here. So stiff, so formal, even the groom-to-be’s younger brother…

Despite their differences, Bibi and Sohel agree that their siblings aren’t right for each other and scheme to break them up, before it’s too late.

Oooh, a date with Sunny’s rich friend Akash is thrilling! Of course, they are properly chaperoned at all times, just like Halima and Sunny until their wedding.

Why aren’t Sunny and Sohel as close as Bibi and Halima are?
Why is Bibi beginning to enjoy being around Sohel at the tea gardens that he cares for so much?
Is it too late to stop making the engaged couple unhappy with each other?

When her beloved grandmother reveals a secret from her own university days, Bibi wants to solve the mystery, with Sohel’s help…

Releasing in paperback today! (6/2/26)

Got a favorite family wedding story?
**kmm

Book info: Always Be My Bibi / Priyanka Taslim. Salaam Reads, 2025. [author site https://priyankataslim.com/always-be-my-bibi/ ] [publisher site https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Always-Be-My-Bibi/Priyanka-Taslim/9781665901130] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Her family is like ALL FOUR QUARTERS OF THE MOON, but where is she? by Shirley Marr (MG fiction book review)

May27
In front of a large full moon, a young Chinese girl cups her hands around those of her little sister who holds a paper rabbit. Above them is book title All Four Quarters of the Moon by Shirley Marr. In the foreground below are trees, animals, and a barn, all cut from paper.

New country,
new expectations,
old worries.

It’s good that Ba Ba doesn’t have to work every day of the week as he did in Singapore, but in their new Australian home there are no aunties down the hall for Ma Ma to visit or play mahjongg with Ah Ma.

No cousins to play with, so it’s even harder for 11-year-old Peijing to keep her impulsive little sister Biju in check, as their very traditional family expects.

Speak only English at school, only Chinese at home. Speak up when answering the teacher, never talk back to their parents. Peijing is always worried about doing something wrong.

Thankfully, the sisters can escape to the paper world that they’ve drawn and cut out, where Biju retells the rabbit in the moon story and more.

Ma Ma feels trapped at home with her limited English, Ba Ba gets to do more with the family now, and grandmother Ah Ma has begun forgetting.

How can Peijing help her new schoolfriend Joanna, always hungry?
Why does she have to take Biju wherever she goes, even to a birthday party?
When will Ma Ma ever appreciate her artistic skills?

Peijing feels like her four family members with their varied temperaments are like the four quarters of her favorite mooncakes of the Mid-Autumn Festival, as she tries to work out where she fits in at home and at school.

Another rich and tender story of a family from another country finding their new life in Australia but the author of Glasshouse of Stars , recommended here: https://booksyalove.com/?p=12451.

Where are you in your family’s order of birth?
**kmm

Book info: All Four Quarters of the Moon / Shirley Marr. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, hardcover 2022, paperback 2023. [author site https://www.shirleymarr.net/] [publisher site https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/All-Four-Quarters-of-the-Moon/Shirley-Marr/9781534488861] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Who is MAKING WAVES now?! tween cruise ship drama, by Lee Heart (MG book review)

May20
Silhouetted against the ocean and setting sun, a tween girl with ponytail and tween boy are talking on cruise ship deck, below book title Making Waves by Lee Heart.

First the beautiful wedding,
now the cruise all together –
it’ll be perfect, right?

Since their widowed mom and her divorced dad started dating, Hannah and Lucy have constantly teased Emma.

Now they’re all on a cruise in the Caribbean to bond as a family after the wedding. The twins mock Emma’s enthusiasm for all the ship’s activities and that she’s taller at 12 than they are at 13, but she tries to take it in stride.

Oh, the cutest boy dances with Emma at the bon voyage party! Hopefully they can spend some time together, but it’s a such a huge ship…

Their parents tell the girls to stick together in the evenings and absolutely no Teen Club, but Hannah and Lucy go there anyway!

Emma makes friends at Kidz Korner and sees Justin a few times – only a few days to figure out if he likes her or is just being polite.

Why is Lucy being so mean to her?
Do the twins always disobey their mom?
Will she ever get to spend some time with Justin?

The ship is sailing smoothly, but Emma’s life isn’t!

Has your family been on a cruise together?
**kmm

Book info: Making Waves (a Spotlight Sprinkles book) / Lee Heart. Simon Spotlight, 2026. [publisher site https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Making-Waves/Lee-Heart/Spotlight-Sprinkles/9798347103584] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.