Star Wars: The High Republic debuts with A Test of Courage. Sixteen-year-old Vernestra Rwoh has recently completed Jedi Knight training and received her first assignment. She is to accompany a senator and her impetuous daughter as well as a delegation of ambassadors to witness the launch of the Starlight Beacon,  symbol of hope that will serve as a Republic temple and sanctuary.

Ireland keeps the story moving forward with action, intrigue, and a host of futuristic technologies. There are pirates, a heart-stopping light saber battle, and a massively destructive explosion.   Sign me up. I'm ready for this to join with the High Republic.

Camila constructs an elaborate charade to conceal from her family her passion for fútbol and her identity as La Furia. She tells her mother that she is with a friend when she participates in games and team practice. So that she can’t be contacted, she allows her phone to run out of minutes. She waits until no one is home to wash her uniform and pretends to study for an upcoming medical school entrance exam.
Her life is further complicated when a childhood friend, now an international fútbol star, returns to Argentina for a brief visit. It is apparent to both that this is more than friendship. The attraction is mutual. Camila faces a heart wrenching dilemma. Does she abandon her dream of becoming a world class athlete and follow the guy who makes her heart sing? Or does she remain focused on her life-long ambition and reject his offer of a life together?

This story is about choices. Hard choices. Camila agonizes over her decisions, recognizing that with each choice, she may be closing a door. Will she choose to follow her passion for fútbol or succumb to her desire to be with the boy she loves? Can she stand up to her abusive father? Will she remain silent? Can she confide in her mother?

Narration moves fluidly between Spanish and English. Madariaga flawlessly differentiates the varying degrees of English fluency among her Spanish-speaking characters. Singing flows beautifully as a natural extension of the narration. The longing, indecision, frustration, and passion of an older teen is clearly evident in this performance.

The author obviously knows and loves the sport. The play by play descriptions bring readers onto the pitch, delivering immediacy and fierce intensity to the narrative. Méndez storytelling is a polished gem. Her characters are multifaceted. The narrative reveals their sparkling qualities as well as inherent flaws. Their lives are messy. There are no simple solutions. Things are not perfect. However, there is hope.
Furia is intense, filled with desires and dreams, heartache and disappointment, pain and passion. Camila is a girl of my heart.

​​​This young girl faces an uncertain and frightening existence. She must adjust to a new city, new home, new school, new language. She is angry with her father who mysteriously vanishes for long periods of time. She resents her mother for what she perceives as abandonment of her children. She feels that she must accept responsibility for Willy and be the mother he no longer has. This is a heavy burden for a young girl to carry.

When her life in Juárez is forever gone, she makes a startling discovery.
Her father is more than a courier. He is a hit man.
​Julia is devastated. Her pain bleeds across her diary pages.

She enters an American high school with a few glimmers of hope. She makes a friend and shares with him her shameful secrets. Her great grandmother becomes a source of constancy and comfort. After her husband dies, Mamá reunites with Julia and Willy in the United States and takes tentative steps to reconnecting with family. 

The Everything I Have Lost is a story that is bleak and often terrifying. It paints a picture of survival and finding hope when things seem hopeless. Zéleny's prose is poignant and piercing in its honesty and humanity. A story that readers will not soon forget.

"Hold on to your dreams...When times get tough, hold on tight and don't let go."
Reyna Grande

There is ongoing tension between generations of women in the Hush family. Grandmother flees from an oppressive community and creates a new protective world. Mother rejects this exclusive society of witches and chooses to live among humans, never using or speaking of her latent powers. Moth is intrigued by her newly discovered identity. She wants to learn more about herself and her magical abilities.

This graphic novel can be enjoyed on several levels. The Okay Witch is an entertaining story of a girl discovering her true nature.  It's a fascinating examination of the mother-daughter dynamic. Readers will also find similarities to historical accounts of early New England witchcraft.

The tale is chock full of delightful tidbits: references to classic movies " I don't think we're in Massachusetts anymore," clever asides "I don't do 'safe.' You've seen me eat expired yogurt,” and interesting visual clues. It will take several readings to catch all the goodies Steinkellner packs into every page.

While the book is marketed for middle grade readers, it has wide-range appeal. Libraries will want to feature this comic in Halloween book displays. Classroom teachers searching for a fresh fictional companion to the study of Salem Witch trials can ditch the well-worn play and add The Okay Witch to the curriculum. It would also make a thought-provoking selection for mother-daughter book clubs.

 Steinkellner's graphic novel debut is smart, quirky, and clever. 

This may be the summer of the field guide. Three recently-published novels for teens and young readers use this clever approach. Each narrative features a young person venturing into unfamiliar territory and creating a record of personal observations. The settings are markedly different: two college-bound students traveling by train, a high student attending school in a foreign country, a young girl attempting to accurately draw a shark.

​Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Bahni Turpin skillfully offers a range of character interpretations from the street smart to the affluent. She shines in dialogue between individuals, each with a distinctive voice. I'm in awe of her Caribbean accent in Tracey Baptiste's "Gravity." Listeners hear the uncertainty and dread which evolves into determination and pride at telling one's own truth in Leah Henderson's "Warning: Color May Fade." Raw grief pierces the narration in Dhonielle Clayton's "The Trouble with Drowning." The final piece, Ibi Zobi's "The (R)evolution of Nigeria Jones" brilliantly moves Nigeria from mocking and questioning to fear and eventually to a new-found confidence. She truly evolves!

Ron Butler's dialogue among characters offers unique voices that ring true. It is easy to picture a group of boys walking down the street on a hot summer afternoon, trying to one-up each other in dreaming up the perfect sandwich in Jason Reynold's "The Ingredients." Note: Henceforth I will refer to bacon as the Michael Jordan of all meat. "Whoa!" Rita William-Garcia's speculative fiction tells of a young model ​and fashion designer who, in a strange twist of fate, meets a slave from the past. Butler reveals the lives of both characters with humor and pathos.

Seventeen stories from seventeen authors plus two narrators equal a listening experience not-to-be-missed.

Kat and Robin meet at a Boston church youth group. They are invited to spend the summer in Kolkata. working with an organization that fights human trafficking and rescues young children. Both teens have their own reasons for deciding to go to Kolkata. ​Through alternating voices, Kat and Robin share their hopes for this summer of service in India.

Robin was born in Kolkata and longs to meet his birth mother and understand his history. Kat is struggling to overcome a traumatic assault. She reasons that teaching young girls to defend themselves will help heal her anguish and calm her fears. Interestingly, neither accomplishes his/her stated purpose for traveling to Kolkata. However, each finds the summer in India to be a turning point in their lives.

Perkins builds the story to a heart-pounding, potentially terrifying climax that will keep readers swiftly turning pages. The conclusion is open-ended, bittersweet yet satisfying.

This search for identity and recovery is a sweeping saga that explores the serious problem of international human trafficking. Gripping storytelling, eye-opening adventure in a faraway city, Forward Me Back to You packs an emotional gut punch that lingers long after the final page. A story not to be missed.

​When people I love are out of reach, I offer some kindness to another that I can’t give my dear ones. It brings peace to me.

The Moon Within by Aida Salazar

Celi's mother is thrilled that her daughter will soon have her first period.  She excitedly shares this news with friends and family and begins planning a tradition ancestral celebration to honor her daughter's first menses. Celi is mortified and feels that her privacy has been invaded. A clash between generations, cultures, and expectations leaves both mother and daughter at odds. Celi's internal dissonance extends to relationships with her peers.

She examines her feelings when Magda reveals her gender fluidity, requesting that family and friends refer to her as Mar because "I feel more boy than girl at the moment and because I can be both."  In addition, Celi develops a crush on skate boarder and capoeira dancer Ivan. Sadly, when Ivan and his friends mock Mar, Celi remains silent, refusing to speak in defense of her friend. ​​She finally realizes that she will have to take a stand. She must decide where her loyalties lie.

Salazar lyrically weaves several themes throughout this poetic first-person account. Reading becomes a sensory experience though explorations of rhythm "dancing bomba feels like warm Caribbean water swishing and swaying happiness inside of me," hearts "a locket in my heart ... holds all of the questions that do cartwheels in my mind,' and of course, the moon "I look into the dark and sway with Luna's moonbeams..."

Ultimately, Celi acknowledges that her Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage are an important part of her identity. She accepts and appreciates the biological changes taking place in her body. She celebrates the girl she is and the woman that she is becoming.

A timely reminder of the universal nature of menstruation and cultural differences:  "Period. End of Sentence" won a 2019 Oscar Award for Best Short Documentary.

​​"So listen, Jones," he said. "Things will get sorted out." 
"You mean in cricket?"
"In cricket, too."

Returning to the story...

Sixth-grader Carter slowly reveals the family's deep-seated wounds: the death of his younger brother and his parent's dissolving marriage. A distinctive voice makes this first-person narrative stand out. ​​Australian tropical thunderstorms, a treasured green marble, and unanswered emails expose his aching heart.

​Carter's offers wry commentary on wide range of topics:  the dog's choice of his neighbor's day lilies to do his business, a mandatory excursion to the ballet with his sisters, driving the Butler's Bentley, and taking the "unpatriotic" side in a class assignment.  ​
Keeping it real, Master Jones. Thanks for keeping it real.

Like The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now, Pay Attention Carter Jones is a story of getting along, helping out, and standing up. Of growing up.
​Read it alone. Read it with a friend. Read it aloud. Read it while eating Irish steel-cut oatmeal or pizza. It works any way and every way. Pay attention to this one!

Note: Schmidt scatters little Easter Eggs throughout the text. Nods to children's literature and current events abound. The family lives in Marysville, New York. The middle school principal is Mrs. Swieteck. See Wednesday Wars. Principal Swieteck lived in England for a few years when her husband was studying art. And... her name is Lilian. See: Okay for Now. Krosoczka is not a common name. Perhaps Coach Krosoczka is related to the famous comic creator Jarrett Krosoczka. See: Lunch Lady series and Hey Kiddo. Was the name for the Cricket-playing Butler Bowles-Fitzpatrick inspired by New York Jets former head coach Bowles and Jets quarterback Fitzpatrick?

Interesting to note three covers feature the lower half of blue jeans ending in a pair of sneakers.

We have a saying in Farsi. It translates ‘your place was empty.’ We say it when we miss somebody.

Michael Levi Harris' delivers a nuanced performance. He expertly moves the narrative through the voice of vulnerable young Darius with palpable anxiety and fragility. Supporting characters receive stellar treatment with unique character accents in English, broken English, and Farsi. Harris nails the personality of each: Laleh's exhausted whining, Trent Bolger's taunts, and grandfather Babou's proud yet often blustering confusion. However, it's the emotional interactions of Darius between friend Sohrab, grandmother Mamou, and father Stephen Kellner that bring the story into sharp focus.
Harris' narration invites listeners into the world of Darius the Great is Not Okay. It's an experience as rich and satisfying as an elaborate Persian meal. The memories will linger long after the final literary morsel is consumed.

I experienced both the print and audio versions of Darius the Great is Not Okay. I enjoyed each for different reasons. Reading names of Iranian attractions is helpful in locating and picturing specific places: Dowlatabad, Atashkadeh, Jameh Mosque. (They are stunning sites. Take a look.) Thanks Dial Books and Adib Khorram for an outstanding young adult novel! Hearing Farsi phrases is a bonus. I appreciate the decision to have all Persian-speaking characters place a vowel sound between initial consonants. Thanks Michael and Listening Library!

• How many times has Khorram watched Star Trek? Does he keep some kind of record of his favorite episodes?
• Precisely how particular is Khorramabout about his tea?
• Where did he come up with all of the detailed descriptions of the food? Did he grow up with Persian food? How much eating was involved in the development of the book?
• Is the version of Rook that I learned to play as a child similar to the game played in Iran?

Release date: August 28, 2018, 2018 Publisher: Listening Library

​Audiobook accessed via Overdrive