Megan E. Freeman

Stoked for This: September 2026 (and a small life update)

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

So, as I’m sure you have noticed and/or have seen here on my website – I am behind on my reviews and posting. I’ve been through a couple of life changes recently and I feel like I may just now be getting on slightly more stable ground to be standing on. There was a separation, a move, school starting (I’m going back for my Masters in Library Science), and my oldest cat has been diagnosed with Kidney Disease – there’s been a lot of changes! I’m slowly put surely getting my reviews written and posted so hopefully you will see those shortly.

Thank you all those who have stuck around with me. I greatly appreciate it and hopefully I can get this website back up and running properly here soon.

Now, one of the things that has fallen so horribly into wayside is my Stoked for This, so without further ado…

September 1, 2026

When a late night at the office leads to witnessing an exorcism Brie’s life takes a very drastic turn.

I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell

By: Mackenzie Reed

Three kids join together to game the Make-A-Wish foundation to get three epic adventures.

Wish You Well

By: Jamie Sumner

The follow-up to Titan of the Stars is here and I’m so excited to see where Dominic and Ren’s story go from here.

Demon in the Sand

By: E.K. Johnston

To read my review of the book before this you, you can find it here.

In this companion graphic memoir, Pedro Martín talks about family hijinks, immigration patrols, and musical daydreams in his year of youth.

Mexikid Dreams: A Graphic Memoir

By: Pedro Martín

September 8, 2026

A middle grade novel about a 12-year-old girl with OCD who finally gets the help she needs to push back.

Hijacked by Goats

By: Ann Braden

A historical fiction novel inspired by the life of Grace O’Malley, an infamous Irish sea captain and folk heroine who risked everything to protect her people against the powerful Elizabethan regime?! Yes please!!

The Pirate Queen

By: Ariel Lawhon

A middle grade novel in verse about two sisters caught in a blizzard alone.

Sisters Alone

By: Shifa Saltagi Safadi

Sooo, I probably won’t read this one anytime soon because written from a cat in heaven’s perspective to their owner about always being there even after death. but I will absolutely be purchasing my own copy.

I’m Still Here: A Cat’s Purpose Forever

By: Cathryn Michon

September 15, 2026

A new Emily St. John Mandel you say?!

Exit Party

By: Emily St. John Mandel

AND a new novel in verse from Elizabeth Acevedo?!

Anger Is Only a Shadow

By: Elizabeth Acevedo

AND a new novel in verse from Megan E. Freeman?! What a blessed week we shall have!!

The Secret to Belonging

By: Megan E. Freeman

September 22, 2026

This is a really fun sounding YA about the teen daughter of an infamous serial killer must prove she isn’t the one behind recent copycat murders.

Dead Girls

By: Beck Kubrick

This novel is an exploration of grief, mothers and daughters, and the beautiful complexity of women’s lives and identities.

Female Life on Planet Earth

By: Laleh Kahadivi

John Green’s first adult novel?! Say less!!

Hollywood, Ending

By: John Green

September 29. 2026

A new book by Lois Lowry where the power of books will save the day.

Building 903

By: Lois Lowry

Tales from my favorite cozy fantasy series Legends & Lattes?!

Tales from the Territory

By: Travis Baldree

Stoked For This: February 2025

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

Alright, alright, I know I’m late again! This time, it really was NOT my fault, I tried to get this done last night and my oldest cat, Mushi, was not having it. She was smacking at my iPad’s screen, which kept reacting to her little kitty paws – and every time I tried to type anything, she’d start smacking my hands! I don’t know what she had against me finishing it this, but she was on one!

This month there’s seventeen titles I’m stoked to be released, two of which I’ve already read and reviewed 🙂 There’s quite a few novel in verse titles as well as some silly ones (three novels deal with aliens in someway form or another).

Are you excited for any of these titles??

February 4, 2025

A sci-fi where two men protect a special little girl at all cost – written by one of my favorite authors of all time.

The Bones Beneath My Skin

By: TJ Klune

*This was my first book of 2025 and I absolutely loved it!! Read my review here 🙂

An anthology about the “The Event” – the night the runaway alien posing as Hollywood star, Max Spencer’s rescue turns into an unintentional invasion. 

Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology

Edited By: Rosiee Thor and Vania Stoyanova

A historical fiction meets mystery in both multi-POV and multi-timeline (1940s & 1980s Germany and 2020 New York) YA filled with rebellion and sacrifices.

Under the Same Stars

By: Libba Bray

In this newly Japanese translated novel, a restaurant’s resident cat will transport you back in time to reunite with a departed loved one. Cue the tears and the tissues.

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen

By: Yuta Takahashi

An action-packed, unflinching examination of the impacts of transphobia adventure intertwined with elements of Jewish mythology. 

A World Worth Saving

By: Kyle Lukoff

A memoir about the love of reading and writing and the relationship between the books that shaped us – aka a book I’m probably going to see myself in within so many pages.

Bibliophobia

By: Sarah Chihaya

February 11, 2025

A novel in verse about a young girl finding her way back after a life changing accident.

It’s All or Nothing, Vale

By: Andrea Beatriz Arango

A novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore with inherited magic and the price we pay for the life we desire.

(S)Kin

By: Ibi Zoboi

Gothic horror novella with sapphic monster romance – only 160 pages!!

But Not Too Bold

By: Hache Pueyo

A companion novel to the ah-mazing novel in verse, Alone, where we’re following kids from their homes into the evacuation camp.

Away

By: Megan E. Freeman

*This was my second book of 2025, you can read my steller review here.

A novel with neurodivergent characters, quirky friendships that explores identity, belonging, and the wonder of being different.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien

By: Alice Franklin

February 18, 2025

A book for nature lovers to meditate on the impact trees have on our lives.

Treenotes: A Year in the Company of Trees

By: Nalini Nadkarni

This book needs no other introduction other than it’s title: I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com

I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com

By: Kimberly Lemming

A historical novel that follows a homeless teenage girl as she struggles to survive during the Great Depression.

A Tiny Piece of Blue

By: Charlotte Whitney

A young adult debut novel about a young woman’s journey to heal from the trauma of trying “to be fixed”.

I Am the Cage

By: Allison Sweet Grant

With elements from The Little Mermaid and Cinderella, this historical fantasy is about one young woman’s love for the sea.

Upon a Starlit Tide

By: Kell Woods

February 25, 2025

A lake monster bands together with a human after the witch is thrown into her lake by her village.

Greenteeth

By: Molly O’Neill

Away / Megan E. Freeman

/ Alisha Helms / 1 Comment 
Away
By: Megan E. Freeman
Genre: Middle Grade, Novel in Verse
Number of Pages: 480
Published: February 11, 2025
Publisher: Aladdin
Dates Read: January 19, 2025 - January 20, 2025
Format: ARC / Paperback

Told in multiple POVS with a mixture of novel in verse, movie script, production diary, letters, and newspaper articles, this companion novel to Alone, Away follows a group of kids who were placed in the same evacuation camp after the imminent yet unnamed danger that forced them out of their home. When the group of kids has an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist, they begin to dig into the reasoning as to why their world was turned upside down.

As they begin to investigate, they start to discover there’s more of a cover-up operation going on than there is an actual immediate threat. Can the group get to the root of the conspiracy and tell the adults in a way they’ll be believed before it’s too late?

I absolutely adored Alone when I read it back in 2023, so I immediately tried to get my hands on Away as soon as I could. This novel is not a full novel in verse but jumps around between different styles depending on which character it’s focusing on at the moment – though Grandin and Ashantae’s are in verse, Teddy’s is written in movie script or production diary, and Harmony writes letters to her Aunt and essays in new reports.

I think this fast paced story would be fun for middle school readers, especially those who like to prove kids can be just as absorbent, if not more, than adults. The charge to question what is really going on begins with the kids and they’re the ones who shine the light on it in order for the adults to finally see what’s happening.

Are some of the scenarios in this unrealistic? Yes, but it didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying it as I’m sure many others will.

You don’t have to have read Alone in order to understand what is happening in this novel as it is a companion novel and not a sequel.

*Thank you Aladdin and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review