Stunning. The cadence of only a few words, combined with brilliant illustrations, conveys so much and evokes so many memories and feelings.
Tea Is Love by Adib Khorram, (List Price: $18.99, Dial Books, 9780593618530, November 2025)
Reviewed by Jennifer Sauter-Price, Read Early and Daily (READ) in Arlington, Virginia
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With magical prose and a fun cast of quirky characters, middle-grade readers are sure to be swept away by this heartfelt adventure story.
The Last Ember by Lily Berlin Dodd, (List Price: $19.99, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 9780374393120, November 2025)
Reviewed by Cindy Otis, The Stacks Bookstore in Savannah, Georgia
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Go on Luna’s journey of self-growth as she navigates a life-changing move across the country with her father, surviving a new middle school while still mourning her long-deceased mother and getting to know her seemingly aloof grandmother, along with her very rigid rules. I devoured Winging It by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter in one sitting because the character development was so good that I was instantly invested in Luna’s well-being, relationships, and her nature-hunting ways. Beautiful illustrations, great storyline, and a satisfying feel-good ending! Now I’m off to search for the ever elusive Luna Moth…
Winging It: A Graphic Novel by Megan Wagner Lloyd, (List Price: $14.99, Graphix, 9781338818529, October 2025)
Reviewed by Barb Rascon, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina
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Lian Cho is such a talent! Her art’s personality can be seen from a mile away, with Eustace trying to desperately convince his captor that he should NOT eat him! The storybook panels and Eustace’s creativity make this the type of fable where you can’t predict what is coming next. The script was flipped way before you even realized it. (Bear is such a cutie I want 20 of him please, “Bear Town Party” next?)
Don’t Eat Eustace by Lian Cho, (List Price: $19.99, HarperCollins, 9780063321847, October 2025)
Reviewed by Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Those three years of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade are a time of learning who you are as a person. They’re still kids. They play kickball, pull pranks on each other. But they’re also having their first serious relationships, starting to drink or experiment with drugs, questioning their place in the larger world….I want to teach empathy. I want people to understand the viewpoints of others, and that we are better together than apart. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that 10 years ago. It took me writing a few books—and coming to that theme every time, naturally, as a writer—to understand.
― Alan Gratz, Interview with Scott Simon, Publishers Weekly
What booksellers are saying about War Games
I read this on my way to Berlin, and everything came to life! We may have been taught about the Holocaust, but what was the significance of how everything came to be? A stark warning not to repeat history. This book delves deep and gives a true glance at all the little things people may have missed in the rise to Hitler’s control. Should be read by everyone.
― David Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina | BUY
As a former tour guide in Berlin, I was impressed with the research and detail that Gratz has put into this gripping and thought-provoking thriller. We are plunged into the heart of Nazi Germany through the eyes of Evie, a US gymnast at the infamous 1936 Berlin Games, who makes both friends and enemies, both of whom gradually reveal to her the thinness of the veneer of respectability which the games have given Germany. A gold heist is the vehicle for a deeper delve into questions of morality, sacrifice and teamwork, and a surprisingly gripping vehicle too. Should keep any reader on the edge of their seat, and keen to learn more.
― Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana | BUY
About Alan Gratz
Alan Gratz is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of several highly acclaimed books for young readers, including Heroes: A Novel of Pearl Harbor, Two Degrees, Ground Zero, Allies, Grenade, Refugee, Projekt 1065, Prisoner B-3087, Code of Honor, and Captain America: The Ghost Army, an original graphic novel. Alan lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest. Look for him online at alangratz.com.
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This book’s organization and illustrations are a 10/10. Love it! And the message is precious! I honestly think this would be a great book to get to for a child who is about to become a big sibling!
Buffalo Fluffalo and Puffalo by Bess Kalb, (List Price: $18.99, Random House Studio, 9780593810309, September 2025)
Reviewed by Samantha Steele, Plenty Downtown Bookshop in Cookeville, Tennessee
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Broken is a gentle story of a little girl with big feelings rendered in soft layered colored pencil. This story is simple, but soothing, and a reminder that what’s broken can always be fixed (and to perhaps not trust cats, who are always up to something).
Broken by X. Fang, (List Price: $18.99, Tundra Books, 9781774882009, October 2025)
Reviewed by Julie Jarema, Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg, South Carolina
This one is all the things I love in a kid’s story — adventure, magic, daring, and wonder. Seven Ways Through the Woods offers the reader just that, seven ways to get through the woods…but perhaps that’s not the point…to get through the woods. Maybe the point is to linger, explore, and marvel.
Seven Ways Through the Woods by Jenn Reese, (List Price: $19.99, Greenwillow Books, 9780063356269, September 2025)
Reviewed by Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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As a kid who felt deeply that all my stuffed animals had distinct personalities and interests, this book really brought that to life. This is a story about the Second Chance Home and how it helps lost and abandoned stuffed animals find another home. We have our bold leader, the small but mighty Pocket Bear, and his friend and ally Zephyrina — a feline friend! But when a new stuffed animal finds its way into the home, Pocket Bear faces a difficult choice of what to do to help Second Chance and protect this new addition. Perfect for fans of Toy Story meets Puppets of Spellhorst!
Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate, (List Price: $17.99, Feiwel & Friends, 9781250904362, September 2025)
Reviewed by Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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If you make a call on a banana phone, a gorilla will probably answer. What will happen next??? Well, over a long, happy day of telling jokes, asking questions, and sharing secrets, you might learn that a friend can be made across ANY distance. A sweet little fable about how to approach others with kindness and curiosity, this book is silly, warm, and beautiful to look at!!!
If You Make a Call on a Banana Phone by Gideon Sterer, (List Price: $19.99, Clarion Books, 9780063375222, September 2025)
Reviewed by Charlie Monroe, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Being the star athlete and leading your team towards an undefeated season is a dream. But when one of your biggest fans is brutally attacked by the police, your focus shifts. You want to be there for him and not just under the Friday night lights. What you don’t expect is for the town to turn on you, treating you like you’re “just a football player” and nothing more. This story feels so real and so now, especially with the way athletes, young and old, are standing up against injustice and police brutality. Powerful story and an on-time read.
The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes, (List Price: $17.99, Viking Books for Young Readers, 9781984836755, September 2025)
Reviewed by Morgan Gayles, The Book Worm Bookstore in Powder Springs, Georgia
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This story had me hooked! I loved following Eugenia Wang after a bonk to the head gives her dreams/visions of impending doom leading up to her birthday, which is on the 4th (a bad omen in Chinese culture). Not to mention, she loves drawing and wants to go to an art camp that her mother deeply disapproves of. And she has a pesky younger brother who seems set on getting her in trouble. In short, this one hits on it all things: secret crushes, brilliant best friends, comics, and also important themes of the immigrant experience and how our family’s attempts to protect us might also hurt us. Oh, and Peanut the pug is pretty cute.
The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang by Stan Yan, (List Price: $14.99, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 9781665943321, September 2025)
Reviewed by Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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Ready for adventure? Pack your bags and join Cabin Head and Tree Head as they save the world without losing their heads. The playful comic book-style illustrations paired with hilarious stories will have you falling head over heels with laughter! A truly unique picture book about once-in-a-lifetime friends.
Cabin Head and Tree Head (Cabin Head and Tree Head, Book #1) by Scott Campbell, (List Price: $13.99, Tundra Books, 9781774885055, September 2025)
Reviewed by Laura Hoefener, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia
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This story is beautiful and worth reading for many reasons. What I love most is it feels like a fulfilled promise to our younger selves, quite literally being a story ND Stevenson began writing at the age of 12 years old. They would set it down, forget about it, but eventually come back to it. And you can feel that sense of being young, a bit fearless, a bit brave, and hopeful. I had so much fun with these characters, with this epic adventure of a story, of found family, and mystery, of pirates, and so much more.
Scarlet Morning, Book 1: Scarlet Morning by ND Stevenson, (List Price: $19.99, Quill Tree Books, 9780063210349, September 2025)
Reviewed by Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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Ghost Circus has beautiful illustrations! I loved the characters in the Circus and I hope we see more of the creepy girl and find out more about her and her memories! I am also super excited her friend Casey gets to come back and see her more and they can uncover more of the mystery of the creepy girl!
Ghost Circus by Adrienne Kress, Jade Zhang (Illus.), (List Price: $24.99, Union Square Kids, 9781454948285, August 2025)
Reviewed by sarah dimaria, Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, Louisiana
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