Anticipated Releases I Read in 2022
We are the scribes by Randi Pink
Grief-stricken Ruth receives scrolls from Harriet Jacobs, a slave who wrote ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’ in 1861.
Contains: swear words, sibling death, parental abandonment, slavery, cruelty, PTSD, grief
The Vermillion Emporium by Jamie Pacton
Quinta, Twain, and a magical Emporium all meet and get entangled in starlight lace-making at their own peril.
Contains: sibling and parental death, abandonment, self-injurious behavior
Bloodmarked by Tracey Deonn
The 2nd in a series that follows Bree, a Black girl who on her first night at UNC Chapel Hill discovers magical beings fighting horrific beasts bent on destruction and death.
Contains: violence, kidnapping, abandonment
Orion & the Starborn by KB Hoyle
Orion is transported back to his home planet cluster to unravel royal intrigue and nefarious plots, but not all is resolved as there is a cliff-hanger indicating more to come for Orion.
Contains: marital infidelity, abandonment
Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan
The 2nd in a duology that follows Xingjin, who lived on the moon with her goddess mother until the day she decides to use forbidden magic and then has to flee to the Celestial Kingdom palace, where she cannot divulge who she is or from where she came.
Contains: kidnapping, violence, death of loved ones
Nura & the Immortal Palace by MT Khan
Our main character Nura is a child-worker in the mica mines of a Pakistani village in order to help her mother with supporting their family. Working in the mines is a dangerous job as Nura discovers when her friends get trapped and are presumed dead. Strong-willed Nura decides to go back in to the collapsed tunnel to find her friends. She ends up crossing into the world of the Jinn and despite her mother’s warning, she makes the mistake of attending a wild party at the Jinn hotel .I loved the inner-workings of the genie culture, the heavy focus on family and friendships, and I especially loved to see Nura grow and mature as a character. ‘Nura and Immortal Palace’ is an “own voices” book - as the author is Pakistani Muslim - which lends so much credibility and culture it to the story, as is evident by her description of the food and specialty mouth-watering desserts! I will absolutely recommend it to kids to read as a solid, captivating middle grade tale.
Contains: kidnapping, child labor, child exploitation
Darryl Openworld by Oliver Peru & Remi Guerin
As a prominent (legendary) journalist, Darryl has the ability to move through realms/worlds. And as he does so, he reports on various newsworthy occurrences. But lately there are some big shifts across the realms that have previously been thought to be "impossible." And so with the support of a rag-tag crew consisting of a fairy, an elf, a ghost, and a friend-girl who may want to be more than just friends, Darryl needs to unravel the mystery of who is behind it all before total collapse in all the realms. While this is inspired by a popular European YA series, I did not have any trouble jumping into the plot and being instantly intrigued. My only complaint - and it's a minor one - is that with the e-version of this graphic novel, it was a little difficult to tell the difference between the main character and the ghost character, especially when the viewpoint was extremely closeup.
Contains: violence
Wild is the Witch by Rachel Griffin
Iris Gray writes a curse on Pike Alder and just as she is attempting to burn it up - she didn’t really intend for him to be cursed! - a local owl swoops down and ingests the curse. As an amplifier, the owl has the power to inflict the curse on a much larger area than just Pike Alder. So Iris heads out into the woods to find the bird and get the curse back. Pike, naturally, goes with her as he is a ornithologist in training, but he is oblivious as to the real reason Iris is searching for the owl. After reading Rachel Griffin’s Nature of Witches, I felt thrown back in the same world but with different characters. The problem I had was that while the world is enjoyable to be in, the character’s personalities and banter fell flat. The resolution/ending was not satisfying either…can’t say much more without spoiling more.
Contains: parental abandonment, witchcraft
The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd Jones
Water Divination? Fae interference? A fairy tale retelling? I am here for it! The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones is a heist with a twist. I relished the slow uncovering of each character’s’ “why.” And for a reader who is not a huge fan of heavy or spicy romance, the subtle hints of love are perfect. It’s not distracting but rather adds to the mystery of what is really going on within this ragtag group of criminals.
This tale contains treachery-abound and with that comes the constant thought that every character is unreliable. Except for Trefor the sneezing Corgi. He seems to be the only one who deserves and maintains trust. The “found family" trope is also upended, which only adds to the mistrust of the characters.
Emily Lloyd-Jones’ fantasy world-building is phenomenal, as is to be expected. She regales the reader with picturesque descriptions of towns, cities, islands, caves…all the places to which the characters travel.
I loved the resilience that the main character(s) exhibit when faced with making-decisions and slowly coming the realization that “things” may not be as everyone expected.
The ending was phenomenal and the epilogue…I loved the connection to Bone Houses, a book published prior to The Drowned Woods. The “easter egg” connection enhanced the tale.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys YA fantasy and tough female characters.
Contains: LGTQ relationship (slight side plot), violence/death/extreme peril
The Very Irregular Society of Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Mika Moon has needed to hide her magic for her entire life. But she gets around the rules by posting videos of her pretending to be a witch. The videos are not meant to “out herself”…but they do. After receiving an invitation to act a magical tutor to three young burgeoning witches, Mika moves in to Nowhere House and meets another resident: Jamie. He is the grumpy to her sunshine (love that trope!) and he’s luckily also a handsome librarian who is very protective of his three young charges. Mystery and romance abound.
Contains: a bit of spice, a bit of cursing
Ravenfall by Kalyn Josephson
Annabella Ballinkay calls a magical inn home and soon Colin Pierce checks in as a guest. Both kids have supernatural powers and must figure out what happened to Collin’s family and defeat an ancient Celtic creature determined to destroy everyone and everything by Halloween night...
Contains: violence, parental death, animal resurrection, bodily possession
Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott
Thistlefoot is based on Slavic folklore of a house with chicken legs and Baba Yaga. I loved the character development and the four different first-person viewpoints the reader is given. The magical realism in the plot was masterfully built so the reader does not have to suspend his or her disbelief (other than a house with legs obviously). And the resolution was both surprising and satisfying. Isaac and Bellatine are raised in a family of professional puppeteers but things kind of break down when the kids each discover that they have special gifts. One of the kids’ gifts seems more prominent than the other and they seem to split up as a family. Years later, the siblings receive notice that they have an inheritance and discover the house with the chicken legs is now theirs to share.However, they soon discover that there is someone after them: the Longshadow Man who has these tendrils of evil that are able to impact humans and he begins to target those around Isaac and Bellatine. For their safety and for those around them, they need to unravel the mystery of why the house has chicken legs and why the Longshadow Man is after them. Unfortunately, the cursing halted the flow of the dialogue for me; the harsh language was jarring at times and pulled me out of the story. Otherwise, this is a thought-provoking tale and one that was emotionally moving. I thought a lot about the plot and what was happening when I wasn’t reading it and wanted to get right back into the tale to finish it.
Contains: violence, same gender relationship, infant death, suicidal thoughts, anti-Semitism, and death of loved ones
As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
After the revolution in Syria begins, Salama Kassab is a hospital volunteer with some medical training from previously being a pharmacy student. Life is now giving her far more medical skills experience than pharmaceutical school ever did as she helps heal her war-torn fellow country men and women. Through her ability to mend injuries, Salama even meets a young man, and seems to develop a chaste affinity for him. But Salama has a secret. Ever since she lost everyone in her family due to this war, except her sister-in-law Layla, she has been plagued by an imaginary visitor, Khawf, a vicious tormentor who is adamant that Salama needs to leave Syria. The way that internal coping mechanisms to handle grief and horrifying trauma are handled in this book are both fascinating and heart-breaking.
Contains: parental and sibling deaths, war and torture, assault, child abuse, food scarcity, PTSD, grief
Violet & Jobie In The Wild by Lynne Rae Perkins
Violet and Jobie, two sibling house mice relocated to the wilderness, learn how to live in the wild with the help of a grandfatherly mouse. I loved this story so much and the audio version is phenomenal.
Contains: sibling separation
Dreams Factory by Jerome Hamon
Indira is a child-worker at a local factory who has a little brother, Elliot, at home. One night when Indira arrives home, her brother is missing. She tracks him to a local toy factory and discovers other missing children who have all had their memories erased. She is determined to save Elliot whether he remembers her or not and whether she is placed in mortal peril herself.
While I enjoyed the steampunk vibe of the graphic art in this book and I really liked Indira as a character, I found myself confused periodically as characters just seemed to appear and then disappear. It was difficult to determine how everyone fit. I think the general plot is solid...it just needs a bit more drawn out explanations as to what is happening and who people are. The ending is also a bit confusing and I needed to go back and re-read it a couple times to figure out exactly what was happening.
Also, this may be marketed as a Middle Grade but it has a high level of gore and violence so I would place this in a Young Adult category.
Contains: violence, kidnapping
The Beekeeper at Elderflower Grove by Jaimie Admans
Kayleigh and Carey’s burgeoning relationship banter in an English town setting coupled with two dual timeline mysteries makes this the epitome of a cozy mystery.
Contains: war, fire trauma
An Arrow to the Moon by Emily XR Pan
This is another take on the Archer and Moon Goddess Chinese myth. Hunter and Luna (bet you can guess which character represents what in the myth with those names!) are high schoolers who discover that both their families know each other and both families have secrets. For me, this retelling was pretty unremarkable.
Contains: general peril
Shinji Takahashi & the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa
Shinji Takahashi is a normal homeschooled boy being raised by his aunt Yui. They travel all over the world seeking ancient treasures for her curiosity shop. But things go awry for Shinji when he seemingly awakens a magical guardian and receives its power. He is eventually captured by the head of the Hightower Corporation, which seems determined to access this ancient powers for evil. The best part of the book is the Shinji’s new friend, Lucy - who has as many secrets as she does tech skills - has a robot mouse, named Tinker.
I was highly anticipating this book and it was pretty disappointing.
Contains: creepy underworld setting (so creepy!), kidnapping, violence, torture
Lightfall 2 The Shadow of the Bird by Tim Probert
Bea is the adopted granddaughter of the Pig Wizard on planet Irpa. The artwork in this book is phenomenal and walking through the forests of Irpa with Bea is magical. Bea meets Cad, a Galdurian a race of creatures who Irpians thought was extinct. Together they discover that Bea’s adopted grandfather is missing and that there is an ancient danger that has awoken.
Contains: violence
The Fugitive Colours by Nancy Bilyear
Pairing an interesting subplot about the Huguenots living in England with the main character’s silk design business gives the reader insight into the weaving industry, as well as life, during the late 1700s. This is the 2nd book in a series and it seems our main character, Genevieve Sturbridge’s desire for a career as an artist is much stronger than many other desires in her life - possibly even that of wife, mother, friend, and business owner. And despite trying to overcome her poor decisions in the past, she seems to be dragged into the dark world of political espionage. I enjoyed this fascinating glimpse into Georgian England and while the first half of the book was a bit slow moving, the second half was exciting and intriguing as the mystery unfolds.
Contains: some physical attacks
Lines of Courage by Jennifer Nielsen
Written from the perspective of five young people during World War I, this book gives insight into the experiences of people with different backgrounds and residing in different nations. We are introduced to an Austrian-Hungarian Jewish boy, a lovely German girl who trains homing pigeons, a Russian boy named Dimitri who has come from nothing and is fighting a war without even one weapon, Kara who lives on a British Red Cross train, and Juliette who has lost her family in German-occupied France. Jennifer Nielsen expertly weaves all their tales into a satisfying culmination. Perfect middle grade for this era.
Contains: war, trauma, child abandonment, child exploitation, work camps, bodily harm due to war
Stealing Infinity by Alyson Noel
After agreeing to visit a mysterious nightclub with a friend, Natasha Clarke discovers something startling: a tombstone with her name written on it. Her odd response is to laugh. So upon waking the next day, she is given the opportunity to attend Gray Wolf Academy, located on a remote island and run by a secretive billionaire. This is YA Dark Academy at it’s best, with world-building and a magic system that includes time travel, art thefts, history manipulation, and all the political intrigue and mystery that naturally comes along. You never know who you can actually trust…
Contains: attempted rape, parental abandonment, violence
