Happy summer! I know many of my Texas colleagues ended the school year last week. If you are among the lucky summer breakers, welcome to SUMMER! I hope you enjoy all the things and knock out some titles on your TBR over the next several weeks. You made it! I also know many schools are still in session into June (looking at you, Connecticut!). If that’s you…hang in there! You’ll be tackling your TBR before you know it! You will notice this week’s Spotlight includes a variety of publication dates in May. The Spotlights for May 7th and May 14th were crazy-huge, so I left some of them on my list t ..read more

Summer is Here by Renee Watson is a bright, colorful ode to summer days. A gorgeous book that I believe could be a Caldecott 2025 contender. Picture Book Summer Is Here Author: Renée Watson Illustrator: Brittany Jackson and Bea Jackson Publication date: May 7, 2024 Genre: picture book Recommended for: PreS-Grade 2 Setting: one perfect summer day Themes: summer, sensory language, personification, joy, seasons, onomatopoeia, rich vocabulary, alliteration Protagonist: young Black girl; background characters are diverse Starred reviews: Kirkus and Publishers Weekly Pages: 40 See it on Amazon ..read more

And Then…BOOM! by Lisa Fipps gives readers an inside look at child abandonment, hunger, and a young boy’s will to survive. The friendships are sweet, and the survival tactics heartbreaking. A must for every elementary and middle school library. Novel in Verse And Then, Boom! Author: Lisa Fipps Publication date: May 7, 2024 Genre: realistic fiction, novel in verse Recommended for: Grades 4-8 Setting: trailer park Themes: homelessness, hunger, parental neglect, superheroes, comics, dogs, grandmothers, parent in jail, depression, foster care, poverty, tornadoes, trailer parks, survival Protago ..read more

A huge thank you to all the condolences I received after our beloved dog Molly died last week. Our family was absolutely heartbroken because she was quite young and had already overcome so much. Your emails and virtual hugs really helped me feel supported and loved. I’m back at the Spotlight this week, and to be honest, the May 21st releases are not nearly as exciting as they were for the May 7th and May 14th lists. This is a good thing though because I had space to add some titles from the last two weeks that did not make the previous Spotlights. You will therefore notice the publication date ..read more

I read The Woman in Me by Britney Spears on a whim. I needed a short and quick audiobook to finish off my Spotify hours before they reset in a few days. I am surprised at how engaging this book is. I’ve seen mostly positive reviews, including from librarian friends, and I agree with those. History will not look kindly on Britney’s 13-year conservatorship. Britney was her father’s prisoner with the blessing of the US court system. That is just wrong on every level. Celebrity Memoir The Woman in Me Author: Britney Spears Publication Date: October 24, 2023 Genre: memoir Recommended for: Grades ..read more

So I have had a very hard week. We had to say goodbye to our beloved dog Molly on Friday. We took her to the vet Thursday when she was suddenly unable to use the bathroom and was having difficulty walking. We suspected she might have a urinary blockage, but nope. It was a large kidney tumor and lesions on her spleen. A second, more extensive ultrasound on Friday also revealed a large tumor in her heart. The vet said we could take her home overnight to say our goodbyes, but this poor baby couldn’t walk on her own or go to the bathroom. She wasn’t eating at all by this point. We called our boys ..read more

Holy moly, May 7th is a whopper date for new book releases for kids and teens! There is no way I can feature every amazing book this week. Titles I skipped this week are still on my list and may pop up on another week’s Spotlight this month. We have new titles this week from (*deep breath*): Samira Ahmed, Jennifer Donnelly, Paula Yoo, Kekla Magoon, Ying Chang Compestine, Traci Sorell, Lisa Fipps, Vera Brosgol, Lesléa Newman, Reem Faruqi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Renée Watson, Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Newbery winner Matt de la Pena. And this isn’t even all the new books I ..read more

Puzzled by Pan Cooke is a graphic memoir about the author’s struggle with OCD, which started at age 10. Highly recommended for middle and high school libraries. Graphic Memoir Puzzled: A Memoir about Growing Up with OCD Author: Pan Cooke Illustrator: Pan Cooke Publication date: April 16, 2024 Genre: graphic memoir Recommended for: Grades 5-8 Setting: Ireland Themes: mental health, anxiety, OCD, cognitive behavioral therapy, repetitive counting, peer pressure, trouble at school, eating disorders, changing friendships Protagonist: male (the author), white, Irish, starts at age 10 and goes int ..read more

Welcome to the New Release Spotlight for April 23rd! We’ve got lots of great new titles this week, including new books from E.K. Johnston, Alicia D. Williams, Wendy Orr, Brendan Wenzel, and a short story anthology edited by Hena Khan. YA looks strongest to me this week! This week’s top picks Off With Their Heads by Zoe Hana Mikuta (YA) Mid-Air by Alicia D. Williams (MG) Two Together by Brendan Wenzel (PB) PRESENTATION LINKS: All April Spotlight presentations are all designed in Canva. The three presentations linked below will grow each week in April. By the last Spotlight of this month ..read more

It’s New Release Spotlight day again! I’ve got 14 new titles for you this week… My top picks: Witch Hunt: The Cold War, Joe McCarthy, and the Red Scare by Andrea Balis and Elizabeth Levy (YA) A Game of Noctis by Deva Fagan (MG) Paige Not Found by Jen Wilde (MG) PRESENTATION LINKS: The downloadable Spotlight presentations are back this month! Just a reminder that all April Spotlight presentations are all designed in Canva. I really like this option better than Google Slides that I used previously because I have a lot more control over things like background colors and line spacing in Canva. V ..read more