It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.
Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link-up and share your reading!
I have fallen hard for fall reading time. There are so many books I want to finish before the end of the year, and so many books are sooo good right now! I was lucky enough to have time to chat last night with my online reader friends, who hooked me with a new book club title, Evamar by Margarita Engle.
As you may know, I love everything Margarita Engle writes, and she and I were on the same panel for “Bringing the Light…” during NCTE 2022. I’m so happy to read and discuss this new Young Adult novel-in-verse.
Another YA book I need to talk about more is The Closet Thing to a Normal Life by my friend, Michael Méndez Guevara (Piñata Books, 2025). Readers will fall in love with Ethan-Matthew, a 17-year-old high school senior who lives with his grandparents in San Antonio, TX after his journalist parents are killed in a terrorist attack in Spain. There’s nothing normal about his life, even writing for the school newspaper. When Ethan-Matthew’s story ideas are ignored, he starts an online alternative newspaper so he can write about real, raw, and… racist (?) events. The drama! The prejudice! The violence! (Trigger warning: definitely YA themes here.) The book has twists, turns, and “whoa!” moments that will keep the reader engaged to the very end. I love this realistic high school story, the family atmosphere that surrounds the protagonist and his friends, and the timely topics.
Back in the middle school library, I shared two favorite picture books recently. Caboose by Travis Jonker and illustrated by Ruth Chan (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2025) is a favorite back-to-school tale. Remember how to “line up?” I do! Who is the line leader? That was the hot “job” in elementary school, right? What about the back of the line? The Caboose? This hilarious learning adventure begins and ends with lessons you learned when you were there. A guaranteed read-aloud hit!
The Whale’s Tale and Otter’s Side of the Story, by Kate Messner and Brian Biggs is “a book to read from front to back AND back to front.” Using the same words for both points of view, the authors have fun creating two different stories. “Whales are the best!” and “…Otters are absolutely positively cooler than whales.” You have to read this one out loud, several times! I think I liked it better than the students.
When Tomorrow Burns is an important middle-grade read that really matters, so much that the publisher (Random House) made a donation to One Tree Planted (onetreeplanted.org) in honor of the publication of this book. In the Author’s Note, Tae Keller promises a portion of the net proceeds will be donated to Earthjustice, an organization that protects and defends the environment. The main characters in the book, Nomi, Vi, and Arthur fight fire, destruction, and failing friendship in this timely novel that I hope every middle schooler reads.
NetGalley: I’m almost finished with Licorice by Kara LaReau.
Libro.fm: I’m almost done listening to The Misfits: A Sea Monster Conundrum by Lisa Yee (narrated by Cindy Kay). This is a new favorite series in my middle school library!
It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?
