New Books

A Tiny Piece of Blue / Charlotte Whitney

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A Tiny Piece of Blue
By: Charlotte Whitney
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 336
Published: February 18, 2025
Publisher: She Writes Press
Dates Read: April 11, 2025 - April 16, 2025
Format: ARC / Paperback

In 1934 rural Michigan, the Great Depression was hitting everyone hard. After a house fire, Silstice Trayson finds herself homeless and abandoned by her parents. Nearby, aging farmers Edna and Vernon Goetz are pillars of the community, with Edna always up for helping and volunteering. But when Edna takes Silstice under her wing, Vernon digs his heels in – it’s the Great Depression, everyone is hurting.

With so many children leaving home to make it on their own, child trafficking has grown rampant as the kids are forced into labor and sometimes worse. Silstice worries about her two younger brothers, who disappeared from her grandparents house. Meanwhile, Vernon finds himself at risk of losing everything.

Narrated by Silstice, Vernon, and Edna, A Tiny Piece of Blue is a story about a community during the Great Depression with a backdrop of thievery, bribery, and child-trafficking.

This is a well researched novel with excellent characterization of multiple points of views. You definitely get immersed in this Great Depression, rural Michigan world that Charlotte Whitney writes about. Not only did I learn more about the ins and outs of farm life, but I also learned more about the roles of males and females and how this time changed a few things.

A big theme in this novel is also family, both blood and found, and the bonds that form and can be broken between them. I just knew Vernon, even with all his orneriness and bad temper, would still have a soft spot – well hidden of course, and only shown to those around those he chooses, but still.

Overall, this is an excellent historical fiction read about a small town during the Great Depression that is filled with page turning themes of hope, despair, family, secrets, survival, and community.

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

One Good Thing / Georgia Hunter

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One Good Thing
By: Georgia Hunter
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 432
Published: March 4, 2025
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Dates Read: March 27, 2025 - April 8, 2025
Format: ARC / Paperback

In 1941 Italy, best friends Lili and Esti are as close as sisters, especially after Esti’s son Theo is born. But then the war knocks on Italy’s doors and Mussolini’s Racial Laws have deemed Lili and Esti descendants of an “inferior” Jewish race.

The two women and Theo first flee to a villa in the countryside to help hide a group of young war orphans, then to a convent in Florence, where they pose as nuns and forge false identification papers for the Italian Underground. When the convent is raided, Esti ends up wounded and asks Lili to take Theo and run; to protect him.

Even though she’s terrified of traveling on her own, Lili heads south towards the Allied territory, travelling through Nazi-occupied villages, bombed out cities, and wide open fields, doing everything she can to keep Theo safe while they wait for both the war to end and to be reunited with Esti.

So, I feel like quite a few people who read We Were the Lucky Ones and immediately wanted this new novel from Georgia Hunter, so of course I asked for an ARC of it as soon as I saw it. As with the previous novel, Hunter did a fantastic job at crafting characters who were relatable and endearing. I felt like I was reading a letter from a friend as I followed Lili’s journey.

As I’ve come to slowly learn over the years, no matter how many WWII historical fiction novels I read, I’m constantly learning more and more about different parts of Europe and different experiences through every book. I’ve known Italy started off on the Axis side and then effectively switched sides after the Allied invasion, but I didn’t realize the treatment of Jews during this time.

Overall, an amazing character enriched historical fiction about one woman’s endurance during the WWII in Italy as she does everything to protect her best friend’s son.

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

Stoked for This: April 2025

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Y’all, it’s my birthday month so you can bet we’ve got some good stuff coming out! If you’ve been around for a bit, you’ll see some familiar authors I’ve enjoyed in the past and, as always, a few debut authors I can’t wait to see their talent.

April 1, 2025

From author Laurie Halse Anderson comes a historical middle grade fiction about thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper during the spring of 1776 struggling to survive not only the Revolutionary War but the smallpox epidemic as she searches for her missing father.

Rebellion 1776

By: Laurie Halse Anderson

Back with her third graphic novel, Huda Fahmy is ready for junior year – she’s going to join all the clubs, volunteer everywhere, and ace her ACTs but then she gets the news of her parents divorce and everything goes downhill from there.

Huda F Wants to Know?

By: Huda Fahmy

A Chinese-Filipino teenager whose world of daydreams is destroyed by a family secret that portrays the pains of growing up in this lyrical, mythology-tinged debut novel.

Sunlight Playing over a Mountain

By: Selina Li Bi

Video games, queer friends, and set in both 1998 and 2013 need any more information?

A/S/L

By: Jeanne Thornton

What else would you do after hearing about your terminal illness other than road trip to kill your estranged father?

Bad Nature

By: Ariel Courage

After the street cat, Cat, get sick in a Brooklyn, five strangers from around the neighborhood come together to help him.

Cat’s People

By: Tanya Guerrero

If you could completely erase your memories of a person, would you do it? What if a chance encounter later on makes you want your memories back?

Meet Me at Blue Hour

By: Sarah Suk

Three girls just found out they were dating the same guy, basketball star, Nate. After Nate is found bloodied and unconscious in the locker room after the big game, the girls are prime suspects. Now, they much form an alliance together to clear their name.

The Payback Girls

By: Alex Travis

April 8, 2025

Ollie is stuck between everything. They’re too girlie for their neighborhood hockey team, but not girlie enough for their boy crazy BFF, and when they have to write about “What it means to be a woman” they’re caught between fleeing and confronting their own fight for their own path.

Ollie In Between

By: Jess Callans

It’s 1954 and a former nun arrives at Gulls Next in search of answers after her pen pal’s letter mysteriously stops.

Murder at Gulls Nest

By: Jess Kidd

April 15, 2025

After a school shooting, Bea, a girl with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair must navigate the trauma in a world that wasn’t built for her.

Please Pay Attention

By: Jamie Sumner

I got an ARC of this one and you can read my review here 🙂

April 22, 2025

Lucretia and her mom have come to the tiny Candle Island, Maine to escape the memories of the car accident that killed her father. But the island has its own secrets, one that capture Lucretia in their wake.

Candle Island

By: Lauren Wolk

April 29, 2025

Imagine Pokémon, but with dragons and phoenixes in the skies of Seoul, meals magically appear based on your moon, and dream literally come to life.

Dreamslinger

By: Graci Kim

What would you do if you moved into a rental house with thirty feral cats? And, how would caring for them open the door for saving your home?

Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats

By: Courtney Gustafson

The sequel to Abeni’s Song where Abeni faces new challenges as she seeks to bring back the Golden Throne, evade the Witch Preist’s hunters, and find the disappeared people of her village.

Abeni and the Kingdom of Gold

By: P. Djèlí Clark

Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games #0.5) / Suzanne Collins

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Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games #0.5)
By: Suzanne Collins
Genre: YA, Dystopia
Number of Pages: 400
Published: March 18, 2025
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Dates Read: March 18, 2025 - March 23, 2025
Format: Hardcover

Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think about his chances at the fiftieth Hunger Games. This year, it’s the Quarter Quell and twice as many tributes will be taken to the arena to fight to the death. All Haymitch wants to do is get through the day, celebrate his birthday with cake and spending time with the girl that he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, his life is shattered and he’s pulled away from his family and his love, shuttled off to the Capital with three other District 12 tributes: a young girl who’s nearly a sister to him, an oddsmakers, and the most stuck-up girl in town. Haymitch quickly discovers he’s being set up to fail, but there’s something in him that wants to fight… not only for his life in the arena, but far beyond its walls.

It’s been three days since I finished this novel and I’m still not over it. This book is everything I wanted for Haymitch’s Hunger Games and so much more. It’s gut wrenching. It’s thrilling. It’s heart shattering – which, yes, is so much more than breaking, let me tell you!

The connections that Suzanne Collins makes in this that then interweaves into the original trilogy is phenomenal – there were pieces I didn’t even know were missing from the puzzle that she reveals. I don’t think I’ve ever had the strong desire that I’ve had after reading a book to reread an entire trilogy as I’ve had with this. Again, if that doesn’t showcase the talent of Collins’ writing, I don’t know what else you need. (Though the urge is still there to just sit and read the original trilogy, I did purchase the four movie set on DVD and have binging those).

Even though we all know what the outcome of Haymitch’s story is, it still didn’t stop this from being agonizing. You meet both new and old characters and no matter how much you try to shield your heart, that wall gets detonated.

Overall, Haymitch’s journey shows that not everybody gets to be the hero, especially at the start, and that change doesn’t happen overnight – it sometimes can be twenty-five plus years in the making.

Stoked For This: March 2025

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So this month is really gearing up for Poetry Month (April). Why? Because there are quite a few novel-in-verse books I’m stoked to be coming out! For a girlie who doesn’t really care too much for poetry itself, I will devour novel-in-verse books one after another. What are y’alls feelings towards Novel-in-Verses? Have you read them yet? What’s been your favorite??

Oh! – There’s also a new release from Georgia Hunter, an author I really enjoyed reading last year – I actually started it yesterday and so far so good!

March 4, 2025

A middle grade novel about 13-year-old Mo and his father’s fits of rage. This novel explores the impact of mental health on families.

The Strongest Heart

By: Saadia Faruqi

Author of “We Were the Lucky Ones” returns with the story of two friends during war torn Italy in the 1940’s and what they will do to not only survive, but to protect those they love.

One Good Thing

By: Georgia Hunter

This witchy romantasy where Charmed meets Gilmore Girls.

Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things

By: Breanne Randall

The newest graphic novel from K. O’Neill – that’s all I should really have to say! But, for just a tiny bit more: A ranger always protects, but what if they fail and get someone hurt?

A Song for You & I

By: K. O’Neill

March 11, 2025

A middle grade novel-in-verse that follows J, a young transgender from fifth grade to seventh grade as they use the video game, Coaster Boss, to help with their ADHD, isolation, and their relationship with their gender.

Glitch Girl!

By: Rainie Oet

March 18, 2025

After getting a tarot card reading from her best friend for her birthday, Camila struggles with the fear of the future.

Camila Núñez’s Year of Disasters

By: Miriam Zoila Perez

March 25, 2025

Told through the narration of the last residential building on its street – yes, the building known as the Odenburgh – works together with 12-year-old tenant, Prue to save the building from being demolished.

Once for Yes

By: Allie Millington

A novel-in-verse novel about Pearl as she struggles with depression as she tries to adjust to the fifth grade.

Octopus Moon

By: Bobbie Pyron

A Young Adult novel-in-verse about Diego and his best friend Lawson as the lines of loyalty are tested between them.

When We Ride

By: Rex Ogle

Everything is Poison / Joy McCullough

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Everything Is Poison
By: Joy McCullough
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 304
Published: January 14, 2025
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Dates Read: February 9, 2025 - February 12, 2025
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: Death, abortion, blood and gore, physical and sexual assault, domestic violence

As soon as Carmela turned sixteen, she was finally allowed into the workroom of her mother’s apothecary in the 17th-century Campo Marzio neighborhood of Rome, where her mother and two women make some of the most effective remedies for the community. But the workroom of La Tofana is no simple place and for every flowery suave and tonic, there’s another potion where the main ingredient is dried blood or something else unpleasant. And then there’s Aqua Tofana – the apothecary’s remedy of last resort and a secret Carmela never bargained for.

So, I knew of Joy McCullough from a middle grade book of hers I read years ago, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, so this was my first Young Adult book of hers. I picked it up both because of her and as well as a women run 17-century apothecary sounded amazing!

Carmela, though she was sixteen, still had a lot of growing up to do within these pages. I know sixteen was a decent age during the 17-century, but sometimes Carmela’s attitude towards patrons of the apothecary kind of annoyed me. She was there to help people, regardless of their life standing. I was glad to see her growth with her empathy by the end of the book, especially when it came to Violetta because I felt she was holding a childhood grudge that needed to be let go.

Overall, I loved learning about a time period in history where women were undermined badasses who helped each other right under men’s noses.

Stoked For This: February 2025

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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

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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

The Bones Beneath My Skin / TJ Klune

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The Bone Beneath My Skin
By: TJ Klune
Genre: Science Fiction
Number of Pages: 416
Published: February 4, 2025 (1st Published October 26, 2018)
Publisher: Tor Books
Dates Read: January 4, 2025 - January 16, 2025
Format: Paperback / ARC

In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he lost his journalist job in Washington DC. The only thing he has left is his dad’s old truck, and the family’s empty summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon. So he decides to go there to be alone – except, the cabin isn’t empty. A big gruff of a man named Alex is there. And with him is a young girl, who’s not really young, but oh is she extraordinary. She calls herself Artemis Darth Vader.

It becomes clear to Nate that he has two choices. One is to wallow in the memories of his past and drown. Two is the fight for a future he never thought possible. Because it wasn’t by chance Nate met this duo in his cabin, he doesn’t really believe is fate or destiny either – but they’re special, and Nate will do what it takes to keep them free.

Oh I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book! As always, I was not disappointed by anything TJ Klune writes; there’s found family, gayness, witty humor, and this time, bacon (all the bacon), conspiracy theories, and running from bad men!

I don’t know how Klune is able to write such realistic, multilayered characters that always end up stealing pieces of my heart and never letting it go, but he does so every single time. The little found family of Nate, Alex, and Art will live on forever in my head by the phrase, “How would Art experience this?” when going through life.

This book is more science fiction over Klune’s usual (recent) releases of fantasy, and there is a small spice scene, but I wouldn’t classify this as a sole romance. There’s more focus on the found family portion as well as Nate coming to terms with his past.

Overall, this is a wonderful, thrilling, fast pace, page turner filled with a blend of the supernatural and of the human experience that is a must-read for all.

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

My Week Late, Stoked For This: January 2025

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I know I’m a week (and a day) late in this, and there will be loads of books already out – but that means there’s loads more books already out (Trying to be a bit more positive this year)! I tried to get this done yesterday, but stuff happened and I couldn’t get back to this.

I’m also going to try something new with my formatting of this series. Let me know what you think! Do you like the new way? Prefer the old way? Have no comments or concerns?

January 7, 2025

Amber arrives home one spring afternoon on her bike. As soon as her mother sees her, she screams. Why? Because Amber’s been dead seven years – hit by a car on the very bike she pulled up to the house in.

After Life

By: Gayle Forman

Bletchley Park. London. 1923. Dragons soar through the skies, but Vivian Featherswallow isn’t worried, she’s going to study the dragon language and make sure her little sister doesn’t have to grow up in Third Class. But by midnight, civil war has started. Viv is recruited for a codebreaker job to save her family – but the more she learns, the harder it is for her to distinguish what what war she’s actually fighting.

A Language of Dragons

By: S.F. Williamson

A dystopian, water covered world where a family tries to save the history of humans while creating a settlement on top of New York City’s National History Museum.

All the Water in the World

By: Eiren Caffall

A sapphic YA debut novel that follows two girls has they fall in love, fighting for survival in an abandoned bookstore.

The Last Bookstore on Earth

By: Lily Braun-Arnold

January 14, 2025

Written in prose and verse, this YA novel following sixteen-year-old Carmela as she’s finally able to help in her mother’s apothecary in the Campo Marzio neighborhood of Rome. But the workroom is no simple place, for every simple ingredient, there is else even less pleasant, and Carmela begins to find out the secrets she never bargained for.

Everything Is Poison

By: Joy McCullough

What would you do if you found a magical bookstore that transports you back through time to be face-to-face with your teenage self?

The In-Between Bookstore

By: Edward Underhill

A multi-level, page turning murder novel about pyramid schemes.

Death in the Downline

By: Maria Abrams

January 21, 2025

Ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr is now at the reservation where her father grew up: they need a new tribal marshal to help with the women who have disappeared from the rez. Now, local college student is missing and Starr begins drown in memories of her own daughter’s murder. As she works on the cases, Starr can’t shake the feeling of a fearsome spirit watching her, one of a woman with antlers of a deer.

Mask of the Deer Woman

By: Laurie L. Dove