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.

Both Hooray for Lolo and Here Comes Lolo are easy-to-read chapter books brimming with the exploits of this charismatic youngster. She has a lot going on. There are matters of conscience when she finds a  beautiful gold ring and later attempts to rescue a neglected dog. She bravely faces surgery for appendicitis and learns about misunderstandings when she doesn’t receive an invitation to a classmate’s party. Mother and grandmother gently help Lolo learn to confront fear, conflict, and injustice.

Because the series is set in South Africa, readers will encounter some regional vernacular. For example,  Molo is a common Zulu greeting and the Zulu name for grandmother is Gogo.  A punctuation mark located at the end of a sentence is referred to as a full stop. Illustrations and contextual cues help youngsters decode the meaning of unfamiliar terms.

Lolo is a little charmer whose stories will enchant readers. More Lolo books please.

Bo teams up with these bestiary creatures to rescue a baby dragon who is in the clutches of her brothers.  The boys have captured this little dragon and are behaving monstrously. Bo saves the dragonling from danger and rehabilitates her siblings. All ends well, thanks to Bo's courage and caring.

Woolvin's signature style is marked by bold graphic designs and a limited color palette. Instead of one primary color contrasting with black and white, this story uses a different color scheme. Illustrations are teal with  contrasting pink and orange. The coloring add a fairy tale quality.

As with all of the author's  picture book tales, girls are smart and strong. Never helpless. Sometimes devious. Inevitably problem solvers. Hurrah for Bo the Brave.

Want more of Woolvin's witty retellings of traditional fairy tales?  Try Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel. These fairy tales are ever-so-much-more.

Pink. Look at all the pink! Love the warm, positive vibes this color embodies. This trio of books for middle grade readers feature stories of Muslim girls living in a world where they are frequently a minority. These narratives explore discovering and embracing one's religious and cultural identity. Delightful. Thoughtful. Read one. Read two. Read all three!

Allie must determine who she is and what she believes. How will she dress? How will she handle her growing attraction to a young man when her faith forbids personal contact? At what point will she inform her father of her changing views on religion? She must answer for these questions for herself.

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

​Other Words for Home is a 2020 Newbery Honor Book. The lyrical free verse is richly textured, layered with sensory imagery, poetic language, and astute observations. Jude speaks eloquently to the plight of a young Syrian refugee adjusting to a new home and culture. This is also a story for anyone who has felt left out, trying to fit in when belonging seems impossible. Ultimately it’s a story of hope.

​Audiobook accessed via Overdrive.

Eventually she opens the forbidden door. To her horror she finds the bodies of all the Count's former wives, hanging from the ceiling, their blood staining the room a violent red. The horrific truth dawns on Eve: He has killed all his wives. She is trapped inside the home of a murderer and she will be his next victim.

Meanwhile in the village Eve's older sister Anne has disappeared. Tom worries about Eve as there has been no communication from her. Tom suspects foul play and decides to take action. He recruits Eve's brothers to help him storm the castle, locate Anne, and rescue the two sisters.

Metaphrog, is an award-winning graphic novelist team known for imaginative stories, resplendent art and stunning use of color. I became acquainted with Metaphrog about ten years ago when I picked up a curious little graphic novel, Louis-Night Salad. I had never encountered a book quite like this one. The approach is unique with classic art, luscious coloring and innovative story twists. Bluebeard continues that tradition of excellence.

Vivy feels safe speaking candidly with her baseball hero. She shares her triumphs: The community youth baseball coach invites her to become a pitcher for his team. Vivy is the only girl on the team roster. She convinces her over-protective mother to allow her to play baseball. The team's catcher becomes her good friend.

She also discloses her setbacks: The coach's son is a bully who torments her whenever his father is out of earshot. She is struck by a ball and receives a minor concussion. Her father's hands-off parenting style is confusing. He withdraws, wanting his wife to make all decisions. ​Her older brother Nathan is a puzzle. He used to enjoy playing catch with Vivy. But those days are gone. He vanishes for long periods of time. Vivy wonders, does he no longer like her?

Vivy has a lot of questions to consider. Should she report bullying to the coach or try to solve the problem herself? Will she reach a reasonable compromise with her parents that will allow her to play? Can she get back her confidence after her head injury and return to the pitcher's mound?  Can she figure out why her brother is so distant? Can she maintain her correspondence with VJ when both experience defeat and disappointment?

Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen is a story of baseball and bullying. It's a realistic look at living with high-functioning autism. It's a story of a girl breaking into a male-dominated sport. It's a story of dreams deferred. It's a story of getting up and trying again. It's a story with heart. Readers will cheer for Vivy.

​​​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

Ruth loved her mother, who taught her to work hard, think for herself, and act independently.

The well-researched profile highlights Ginsburg’s scholarship, her efforts to overcome inequities she experienced firsthand and witnessed in the lives of others, her marriage and family, and the crowning achievement of her professional life: nomination to the Supreme Court. Rappaport supports the narrative with interesting details.

Velasquez' stunning images of Ruth begin with a tender girl and conclude with a joy-filled group portrait of the four women who have served or are currently serving as Supreme Court Justices. Intervening pages reveal Ginsburg's developing maturity and gradual aging.  Her innate girlish shyness is replaced with growing resolve, and and quiet confidence. Facial expressions and body language reflect her evolving self-assurance.

Rich back matter includes a timeline of events, author's note, illustrator's note, selected bibliography with additional resources, acknowledgements, and source notes. This excellent introduction to a remarkable individual, Ruth Objects: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a worthy addition to classroom and children’s library collections.

The two loners combine their shared resources and talents to create roboTown, an intricate metropolis for robots, complete with multilevel buildings, lights, and a battery-operated elevator. ​One night they discover that the robots have come to life.

In the process of attempting to reclaim and repair broken relationships and the lifeless toys, Penny Rose makes her own discoveries: What does it mean to be friend? What is science? Can all mistakes be fixed?

Crimi brings the story to a satisfying conclusion, including a miraculous recovery of one robot and a repaired friendship. But she leaves a few threads open. Does this mean that there will be more adventures for Penny Rose, Lark, and their robots? Count my vote for an absolutely, positively, without a doubt yes. More Weird Little Robots. More Penny Rose and Lark. Please.

There are so many things to love about this charming little tale of friendship and creativity, science and magic. The girls are interesting and interested in the world around them. But it's the robots who steal the show. There's iPam, made from a cell phone. Her cracked screen displays text messages to the girls. Fraction, the friendly bot, is an old calculator with a heart-shaped sticker, Clunk with a meat thermometer head atop a transistor radio takes over plugging in the lights. Sharpie created from a pair of old dentures, can sometimes be a bit grouchy. Data with a marble eye keeps watch out the window. She can see the future.
​I absolutely adore these robots!

Luyken's full page illustrations accentuate the story's magic. She captures the essence to the two girls and the distinctive personality of the robots. Images of roboTown glow with the wonder of the girl's imaginations and cast a bewitching spell over the tale.

Zuri eventually realizes that this needs to be a team effort. With coaching from his daughter, Daddy gets to work, fashioning the perfect look for his girl. Mom approves the result. ​

Harrison's illustrations feature faces with over-sized expressive round eyes. They become "window to the souls" of this father/daughter relationship. She adds distinctive touches: dad concentrating on a braid with a mouthful of hair ties, Zuri's gap-tooth smile.

Rocky the cat has an important cameo role. This feline, peering over Zuri's shoulder, causes the tablet to tumble onto the tile, setting a critical story element in motion.  But it doesn't stop there. His expressions are priceless. They run the gambit from dreaming of an opened can of tuna and checking out sleeping dad to studying an array of possible coiffures.  His reactions to dad's styling attempts steal the show.

​Hair is only a small part of the story. It's the bond between a girl and her father that make this story sparkle.