Review: Silenced Voices by Pablo Leon

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Silenced Voices by Pablo Leon

Silenced Voices: Reclaiming Memories from the Guatemalan Genocide
Pablo Leon
HarperAlley
Published September 2, 2025

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About Silenced Voices

In this moving intergenerational tale perfect for fans of Messy Roots and Illegal, Eisner-nominated creator Pablo Leon combines historical research of the Dos Erres Massacre with his own experiences as a Guatemalan immigrant to depict a powerful story of family, sacrifice, survival, and hope.

Langley Park, Maryland, 2013.

Brothers Jose and Charlie know very little about the life their mother lived before she came to Maryland. In fact, Clara avoids even telling people she’s from Guatemala. So when Jose grows curious about the ongoing genocide trial of former military leader Efrain Rios Montt, at first the questions he asks Clara are shut down—he and Charlie were born here, after all, and there’s no reason to worry about places they haven’t been. But as the trial progresses, Clara begins to slowly open up to her sons about a time in her life that she’s left buried for years.

Dos Erres, Guatemala, 1982.

Sisters Clara and Elena hear about the civil war every day, but the violence somehow seems far away from their small village of Dos Erres, a Q’eqchi Maya community tucked away in the mountains of Guatemala. They spend their days thinking of other things—Clara, of gifts to bring her neighbors and how to perfect her mother’s recipes, and Elena, of rock music and her friend Ana, whose family had to flee to the US the year before. But the day the Kaibiles come to Dos Erres and destroy everything in their path, the sisters are separated as they flee through the mountains, leaving them to wonder…Have their paths diverged forever?

My Review

Kudos to authors like Pablo Leon who draw attention to important parts of recent history. The story begins in 2013 and shows the two brothers and their mother living in Maryland. As Jose becomes curious about his mother’s life in Guatemala and the Montt’s trial for genocide, we begin to see scenes from Clara and Elena’s lives as young women fleeing the violence.

The graphic panels keep the story moving, showing the characters’ emotional reactions and allowing readers to fill in some of what’s left unsaid about the terror and injustice they face. The story shifts between the past and present timeline smoothly. I didn’t find it confusing.

The author includes facts about Montt’s trial and the frustrating outcome. It also helps to add context to reasons people immigrate from places like Guatemala and how the U.S. involvement sometimes exacerbates instability in the region. Both the discussion about the real history and the context of these events when considering current issues like immigration are important. I love that this book offers this story inspired by real events as a graphic novel, making it very accessible to teen readers.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to genocide and warfare. Racist statements against indigenous people.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from the library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Hollow by Taylor Grothe

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Hollow
Taylor Grothe
Peachtree Teen
Published September 30, 2025

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About Hollow

Don’t Let the Forest In meets The Whispering Dark in a queer YA cult horror following a recently diagnosed autistic teen who becomes enmeshed in a community of outcasts harboring sinister secrets.

“One of the best horror novels of the year, full stop. Haunting, heartfelt, and downright creepy.” —Kamilah Cole, bestselling author of So Let Them Burn

After a meltdown in her school cafeteria prompts an unwanted autism diagnosis, Cassie Davis moves back to her hometown in upstate New York, where her mom hopes the familiarity will allow Cassie to feel normal again. Cassie’s never truly felt normal anywhere, but she does crave the ease she used to have with her old friends.

Problem is that her friends aren’t so eager to welcome her back into the fold. They extend an olive branch by inviting her on their backpacking trip to Hollow Ridge, in the upper reaches of the Adirondacks. But when a fight breaks out their first night, Cassie wakes to a barren campsite—her friends all gone.

With severe weather approaching and nearing sensory overload, Cassie is saved by a boy named Kaleb, who whisks her away to a compound of artists and outcasts he calls the Roost. As Kaleb tends to her injuries, Cassie begins to feel—for the first time in her life—that she can truly be herself. But as the days pass, strange happenings around the Roost make Cassie question her instincts. Noises in the trees grow louder, begging the question: Are the dangers in the forest, on the trail, or in the Roost itself?

In a world where autistic characters rarely get to be the hero of their own stories, Cassie Davis’s one-step-back, two-steps-forward journey to unmasking makes Hollow as much a love letter to neurodiversity as it is a haunting tale you’ll want to read with the lights on.

My Review

This book is such an intense read! I really appreciated how Cassie’s autism impacted how she navigated the story. She’s still reeling from some pretty intense bullying. She’s really nervous about reconnecting to old friends, yet really longs for those connections. She has questions about whether the friendships were real and whether she’ll have to mask her autism in order to have those people in her life. Her pain and her questions felt so real.

Sometimes when I read a story like this, about an old friend group someone is trying to reconnect with, I feel frustrated because I don’t think the friend group deserves them. In Hollow, I could see that Cassie’s friends weren’t perfect, but they also weren’t necessarily bad people. They’d been through their own hardships and really didn’t have a grid for why Cassie behaved the way she did. I didn’t blame them for not understanding, but I also didn’t blame Cassie for not trusting them. Threading that needle couldn’t have been easy, so kudos to Grothe (a debut author) for bringing that nuance.

The book also just oozes intensity. When Cassie finds the community in the mountains, it just feels… off. I kept waiting for the story’s monsters to reveal themselves. (They do! Just wait.)

The only thing that tripped me up at all is that one character basically has two lives, and I couldn’t work out how that would be sustainable for them. Was Cassie actually targeted? Was that just a wrong place, wrong time situation? It seemed like there was some targeting, but I guess I still had some questions at the end of the book.

None of that lessened my enjoyment, though. The emotional journey reading this book felt to me very much like the experience of watching an old Hitchcock film. Lots of eeriness. Lots of tension. It definitely has a moment where suddenly, you see the whole landscape of the story and you want to shout, “OMG, run!” to the main characters.

If you like suspense/horror/eerie stories in the woods, make sure you don’t miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
There is a paranormal element. Highlight the text below for spoilers.

One character makes puppets as replacements for people. This person has some control of the puppets, and there’s some connection from the puppet to their body, which is kept elsewhere.

Violent Content
References to bullying incidents that lead to a breakdown. Situations of peril. A ritual involves a cut across one’s palm. A storm creates dangerous conditions on a hiking trail. Two people are injured while hiking.

Drug Content
Someone gives injured people tea to help with pain relief. Highlight the text below for spoilers.

The tea also induces a kind of stupor and changes the person’s perception of things. The only thing available to drink is the tea.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

MMGM Review: North for the Winter by Bobby Podesta

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North for the Winter
Bobby Podesta
First Second
Published September 2, 2025

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About North for the Winter

From Pixar star animator Bobby Podesta comes a middle-grade classic holiday story about Virginia, a girl who must help one of Santa’s reindeer back to the North Pole before Christmas.

What would you think if you saw a reindeer fly? When this happens to Virginia, she isn’t sure what to do – she’s just lost her mom, she’s in a new city, and everything seems so hard. But when she reluctantly confesses what she saw to her neighbor, Benny, he’s convinced that flying reindeer can only mean one thing: this is Santa business.

In this stunning graphic novel debut from Pixar director Bobby Podesta, two kids and a lost reindeer go up against obsessive hunters, suspiciously convincing department store elves, and radar operators for the Continental Air Defense Command Center. No matter the odds, Virginia’s going to get Christmas back on track!

My Review

This sweet Christmas story begins with a girl and her father on a move from Arizona to Colorado. They’re moving in with Virginia’s aunt, her dad’s sister, to give them both some time to recover from her mom’s death in a car accident. On the way, they encounter a lost reindeer, who seems to form a special bond with Virginia.

Though the reindeer doesn’t ever speak, it licks Virginia’s nose and nods at her in answer to questions. She rides Donner into the sky to escape a trapper, something she finds terrifying at first, and then exhilarating.

Virginia’s relationship with Donner allows her to blossom. She invests in his return to Santa’s team and learns to depend on others and form a new community, too.

The inclusion of the military characters adds a funny note. They’re mystified by the presence of eight flight paths that appear to come from Canada every Christmas Eve.

If you’re looking for a snowy, feel-good Christmas story, put this one on your list!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Vague references to an adult swearing. One time this is represented by symbols in a speech bubble. A second time it’s just dashes and exclamation points.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Contains flying reindeer, elves, and Santa Claus delivering presents on Christmas.

Violent Content
A trapper pursues Donner, trying to catch him with a net. He fires the net from a launcher that looks a little bit like a gun. One perspective follows military personnel who track unidentified aircraft and send planes to investigate/potentially shoot down anything deemed dangerous.

Drug Content
An elf gives Virginia a powder that puts someone to sleep instantly. She uses this to incapacitate someone during a rescue mission.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle.

Review: The Rez Doctor by Gitz Crazyboy, et al

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

The Rez Doctor
Gitz Crazyboy
Illustrated by Veronika Barinova
Coloring by Azby Whitecalf
Lettering by Toben Racicot
Highwater Press
Published September 10, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Rez Doctor

Young Ryan Fox gets good grades, but he’s not sure what he wants to be when he grows up. It isn’t until he meets a Blackfoot doctor during a school assembly that he starts to dream big.

However, becoming a doctor isn’t easy. University takes Ryan away from his family and the Siksikaitsitapi community, and without their support, he begins to struggle. Faced with more stress than he’s ever experienced, he turns to partying. Distracted from his responsibilities, his grades start to slip. His bills pile up. Getting into med school feels impossible. And now his beloved uncle is in jail. Can Ryan regain his footing to walk the path he saw so clearly as a boy?

This inspiring graphic novel for young adults is based on a true story.

My Review

I didn’t realize when I read this book that it was inspired by someone’s life. The story follows Ryan as he struggles in school, navigates growing up in a Native community, and becomes inspired to go to medical school and serve his people as a doctor. He faces challenges both in and out of school and college, and nearly gives up more than once. Ultimately, he finds his way through school and family life and leaves readers with an uplifting message about achieving one’s dreams.

The story does show some alcohol consumption and some harmful consequences. For example, Ryan’s uncle comes home drunk with his face bruised. Later, Ryan visits him in jail. In college, Ryan goes out drinking with friends and quickly discovers his grades suffer if he does this, so he quits. I think those scenes make it a little tricky to find the right reader age group. The length of the book will appeal to younger readers, but the content seems targeted more toward older readers.

All in all, this is an inspiring story that shows the importance of resilience and persistence. It’s a really short book– only about 60 pages– and written in graphic novel format, so it’s great for reluctant readers. I could see this being a useful aid for a social studies or career-focused school unit.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One instance of mild profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
One image shows a couple kissing. Another image shows a couple at a wedding.

Spiritual Content
Ryan asks tribal leaders and Creator for help.

Violent Content
A man comes home with a black eye and tells Ryan he was in a fight.

Drug Content
References to a family member drinking and getting into trouble (happens off-scene.) Ryan and his friends go out drinking. At one point, a friend offers him some pills.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: How Girls Are Made by Mindy McGinnis

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

How Girls Are Made
Mindy McGinnis
HarperCollins
Published November 18, 2025

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About How Girls Are Made

Sex Education meets Euphoria in this dark contemporary novel that tackles perfectionism, emotional abuse, and the dark side of social media.

Fallon is a fixer. From planning prom to organizing her college applications, she’s got it all figured out… except for when her younger sister comes to her with very basic questions about sex. Shocked that she knows so little—and her fellow classmates even less—Fallon decides some practical education is in order. And Fallon isn’t above practicing a little civil disobedience by creating a secret, underground, off-campus group.

Shelby is a fighter. Having her nose broken is nothing new in her semi professional career… but this time it’s her boyfriend that threw the punch. Now her phone is blowing up with texts from a new guy, who tells her she’s perfect, she’s special, she’s everything he’s ever wanted… except for a few small details. Shelby’s happy to adjust for him, because isn’t that what a healthy relationship is about?

Jobie is a failure. She doesn’t have enough followers and her posts never go viral, no matter how hard she crushes challenges and applies exactly the right filter. But a friendly DM from a good girl just like her points her in the direction of a whole new audience of admirers. Guys who just want to talk. Guys who give her the attention she’s always wanted. 

The lives of all three girls intersect in Fallon’s secret class, rumors of which have parents up in arms. Fallon needs to keep herself anonymous, Shelby needs to keep her new boyfriend happy, and Jobie needs to keep her followers… who keep asking for more. Each girl finds herself trapped in an inescapable situation—that will leave one of them dead. 

My Review

Not gonna lie, this book is a hard read. It’s such a compelling story. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, even after I finished reading. These are hard topics to write about for teens, and I think the author does a good job scaling the topics to the audience.

I also really appreciate that each of the main characters seem, on the surface, like they’d be insulated from the kinds of trouble they face. Fallon’s conundrum felt the least unexpected, but Jobie and Shelby both read as the kinds of girls who pretty well stay clear of trouble. Shelby, as a wrestling athlete, is not easily pushed around. Her personality is big, frank, and unapologetic.

And yet, we watch her face intense, painful situations that her physical strength can’t spare her from. As much as she wants to shake off the hurt, sometimes she can’t. Her experiences remind us that having a reaction to trauma doesn’t make us weak. It makes us real.

The ending of the book unfolds at a wild pace, with all three girls in increasingly dire circumstances. Periodic italicized scenes from an omniscient point of view remind the reader that one of these girls doesn’t make it through these events alive.

This certainly won’t be a book everyone wants to read, but I’m so glad that there are books for a young adult audience tackling these topics. Education about abuse, intimacy, and online safety can quite literally save lives. I wish that the book included a note in the back offering resources for readers who need help navigating any of the situations that the main characters face. For example, RAINN, a nonprofit organization, offers help for abuse survivors.

Fans of Courtney Summers, especially Sadie or All the Rage will want to read this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently. Some scenes show cruel or disturbing social media comments or messages.

Romance/Sexual Content
Fallon and the girls in her club answer questions from other students about sex and sexual situations (pregnancy prevention, STI transmission, consent, etc.) The information stays pretty generalized. The group discusses the exchange of nude photos and how it’s illegal to send or receive them if the person photographed is under 18 (even if it’s a selfie).

Other references to sex. One scene leads up to a sexual encounter. Another scene leads up to a coerced sexual encounter. Later, someone discovers a video of this experience, obviously recorded without consent.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
One scene shows domestic abuse. The story catalogs an emotionally abusive relationship. Shelby practices wresling with a partner. At one point, someone body slams another person without their consent.

One scene shows an overdose. Another shows a serious car accident. Another shows a fatal accident.

Drug Content
Shelby drinks alcohol at a teen party. One character swipes someone’s pain medication and takes multiple pills.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Lord of Blade and Bone by Erica Ivy Rodgers

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Lord of Blade and Bone (Waking Hearts #2)
Erica Ivy Rodgers
Peachtree Teen
Published November 11, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Lord of Blade and Bone

A harrowing companion to the romantic fantasy adventure, Lady of Steel and Straw

The kingdom of Niveaux’s most vulnerable are being hanged—their bones mercilessly collected for an arsenal of wraiths. With young Prince Artus locked away and the Order of the Guardians driven from the capital, Cardinal Lorraine the Pure fixes her gaze on conquering bordering nations. To succeed, she’ll have to convince Captain Luc de Montaigne to embrace the power he’s been running from his entire life.

But even in chains, Luc yearns for the light of Lady Charlotte Sand. Proclaimed an outlaw, Charlotte and her lavender scarecrow Guardian, Worth, are staging rebellion with the underground network, the Broken Bird. Three new Guardians have also woken to aid their cause, but someone in their ranks is not who they seem. And with corruption spreading, the Guardians’ hearts are weakening. Can Charlotte trust Luc to abandon his former master and secure peace for the kingdom? Or will the darkness haunting Charlotte’s Guardian destroy any chance for reconciliation?

An exhilarating second installment in the Waking Hearts duology, this YA fantasy was inspired by The Three Musketeers and offers a beguiling dose of dark magic.

My Review

This book was at the top of my list of most-anticipated books coming out this year. I loved Lady of Steel and Straw. I don’t think I spotted the similarities to The Three Musketeers in that first book, but I definitely loved the whole magic system based on guardians with magical hearts that woke when placed inside a scarecrow body laced with herbs.

Lord of Blade and Bone started off a little rough for me, if I’m honest. It’s been a year since I’d read the first book, so I remembered the broad strokes but no details about the political scene or minor characters. The opening scene doesn’t include anyone I remembered from the last book. It sets up the action in this book nicely. Once I finished the book, I went back and reread that first chapter. It made a lot more sense.

There’s not a lot of recap in the opening chapters of this book, despite the fact that it’s almost 500 pages. While I love that I got to read the whole story at once, I wonder if the book would have been better as two novels so there was a little more time to catch up forgetful readers or introduce characters more slowly.

Because there are a LOT of characters, which is something I generally struggle with anyhow. It would have been cool to see a list of all the guardians and their herb-infused abilities somewhere, too.

Though the book started off a little rough, once I remembered who everyone was and what was happening, I didn’t want to stop reading. Charlotte and Luc’s slow burn romance is so sweet. Micah and Viggo are adorable, too.

The book has a lot of political intrigue and wrestling over whether magic abilities are good or evil. There’s a character recovering from addiction. It’s got a lot of intriguing elements.

Conclusion

Lord of Blade and Bone is packed with political intrigue and reads more like an adult fantasy that’s light on romance. If you liked King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo, definitely check out this duology. Be sure to start with Lady of Steel and Straw.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. References to sex.

Spiritual Content
Wielders use forbidden power to disturb dead spirits, raising them as wraiths who inspire fear, pain, and torment in others. Very rarely, when someone dies, they become a Guardian, or an immortal warrior bonded to a person who will fight someone wielding the dead or settle disturbed spirits as part of the Order of old gods.

Under the cardinal’s rule as regent, the people worship a new duo called the Silent Gods, and the old ways are forbidden.

One theme that emerges in the story explores whether the magical ability to wield wraiths is itself evil or whether it’s a neutral ability that can be used for good or bad.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle scenes. References to torture. References to the murder of civilians. Some brief descriptions of execution.

Drug Content
One character is recovering from a chemical addiction. A few references to alcohol served at social events or adults drinking socially.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.