Gutman, Dan. The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle June 4, 2024 by Holiday House E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus A mother, who is a storyteller, is hanging out with her kid, and the two end up in Central Park near the Cleopatra's Needle obelisk. The kid isn't really interested in the impressive monument, but the mother proceeds to tell a story about it. Starting in about 1425 BCE, we meet Zosar Zubeir, who likes in Aswan, Egypt with his family. They are enslaved people from Syria, but the father is a talented stonecutter who is approached to work on constructing the obelish. It ..read more

Torres, Jennifer. Vega's Piece of Sky June 11, 2024 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus  Vega lives in Date City, near the desert, with her brother Felix, who is taking classes at the local community college, and her mother, who runs Tia Clara's market. Her cousin, Mila, is spending the summer with the family, since her parents have decided she needed a change of scenery. Because Vega's grandfather is struggling after an injury, the mother is thinking of selling the store to developers who want to build a cottage community. When there is a fireball ..read more

Lyall, Casey. Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities May 28, 2024 by Greenwillow Books E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus Kimmy is learning from her Grandma Bev how to bring people back from the dead, albeit briefly, so they can fulfill their last wishes. This is a service above and beyond what most funeral homes offer, and Kimmy is doing fairly well. She knows to have low lights and a soft voice, and to do what she can to assure the recently departed that all will be well, even if it means adopting Mrs. Waters' cat. Her mother knows about this, and Kimmy's father was killed by his own ..read more

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday  at  Always in the Middle  and #IMWAYR day  at Unleashing Readers Badua, Tracy and Dow, Alecia. The Cookie Crumbles June 11, 2024 by Quill Tree Books E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus Laila is bound and determined to enter the Sunderland Academy Golden Cookie competition so that she can win a scholarship to the prestigious boarding school, since her best friend Lucy has been accepted into their journalism program, since the two would not be districted to the same school the next year. Laila's mother is a busy nurse, and her father pas ..read more

Riley, Ronnie. Asking for a Friend June 4, 2024 by Scholastic Press E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus Eden Jones is a white, nonbinary tween who has social anxiety, something their mother thought might be lessened with a move to a new school. Eden has been lying to their mother, telling her that they have plenty of friends, so when the mother makes plans for a 13th birthday party, Eden panicks, since their are no actual friends to invite. Duke Herrera, a Filipino trans boy with ADHD, does make some overtures and is nice to Eden, who is very wary of anyone, given experiences from the past. Whe ..read more

Agarwal, Veronica and Durfey-Lavoie, Lee. Sink or Swim June 4, 2024 by Random House Graphic E ARC provided by Netgalley This companion novel to Just Roll With It can be read independently of that book. It centers on Ty, who suffered a broken arm that kept him from competitive swimming, an activity that he shared with longtime best friends, twins Max and Heather. Feeling sad and overwhelmed by his injury and unsure how to keep up his friendship without the common activity, Ty has retreated a bit. Even after the cast is off, he finds it difficult to answer texts from his friends, since he feel ..read more

Arnold, Marie. A Place to Shine June 11, 2024 by Versify E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus Ten-year-old Sundae "Sunny" Williams and her brother Milan have been living with their grandmother, Nanna Jo, in their Chicago neighborhood since the death of their parents in a car accident. Sunny has a best friend, Folake, who lives with her large and supportive Nigerian family, but also has to deal with mean girls like Tessa Graves at school. When she accidentally runs into Tessa, she is challenged to a fight, but manages to avoid one when she tells Tessa that she must have a "battle bracelet" to go ..read more

Chan, AY. The Legendary Mo Seto June 4, 2024 by Aladdin E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus Modesty "Mo" Seto is twelve, and hugely involved in Taekwondo. She is especially small for her age, so finds it hard to compete with people like Dax, who is larger. When she is momentarily distracted by her father stepping outside during her competition, Dax exploits her weakness, and she ends up with second place in the tournament. This is all part of a downward slide that has her worried, but when she finds out that there is an open audition for a role in a film starring her idol, martial arts expert C ..read more

Ebbeler, Jeffrey. Jerry, Let Me See the Moon May 7, 2024 by Holiday House E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus Jerry and his father have led a peripatetic life, living all over the world. When their most recent move takes them to a boring, cookie cutter, gated community, Fort Phylum, in the middle of nowhere Ohio, he's very confused. The residents all seem a bit quirky, and have all just moved in. They call his father "professor". When Jerry ends up having to babysit new neighbor, Pearl (who has been burying all of her family's possessions in the back yard), her mother tells Jerry not to let her ..read more

Calin, Cassandra. The New Girl: A Graphic Novel June 4, 2024 by Graphix E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus Lia and her family move from Romania to Montreal, leaving behind grandparents. It's a tough transition for Lia, although her younger brother seems to have fewer problems. The language is a barrier, and while Lia understands more French than she can speak, some of her school day is hard to navigate. She shares a locker with Ivana, who doesn't even talk to her. There are lots of students from other countries at her school, and she's thrilled when Bogdan arrives from Romania and they can tal ..read more