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Review: Postscript by Cory McCarthy

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Postscript by Cory McCarthy

Postscript
Cory McCarthy
Dutton Books for Young Readers
Published February 17, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Postscript

From Stonewall Honoree Cory McCarthy, a heartbreaking, joyful, read-it-in-one-sitting YA novel about the last of us.

“I’m not sure the how-pocalypse changes anything. I don’t think about it; this is hard enough.”

This is a depopulated archipelago off the coast of Massachusetts, home to a tiny handful of sapiens sifting the remnants of civilization for scraps of comfort and joy. 

There’s no sense in trying to figure out exactly how humans got to this place of endless gray skies and so many mass graves—that’s a very long letter no one has the heart to read again. What matters is this fleeting postscript, a strangely joyous house of bones built by an unlikely quintet of survivors.

My Review

I haven’t read a book by Cory McCarthy in a while, but as I started reading this one, I immediately remembered why I love their work so much. They have this incredible ability to summarize so much in a few cleverly chosen words. I kept having to stop and marvel at the writing.

The book isn’t all that long, and the story feels lean, but in a really good way. It’s almost like the story cuts right to the heart of what’s happening with each character, which feels right in an apocalyptic story.

The characters, like the setting, are a little strange. You can feel the marks the trauma they’ve faced has left behind on them. Despite the grim landscape, the story is filled with these unexpected bursts of joy, from someone meeting a dog to falling in love for the first time. There’s also raw, messy grief and misunderstandings. For a short book, this story captures a lot!

While the unusual topic and tone of this story probably won’t appeal to everyone, I think fans of Before Takeoff by Adi Alsaid or They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran will really enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief descriptions of sex. Reference to sex work.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to human trafficking. Suicide (not shown on page). References to death. Death of a loved one.

Drug Content
One character is an alcoholic.

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: The Greenies by Emma Mills

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The Greenies (The Greenies #1)
Emma Mills
Henry Holt & Co. Books for Young Readers
Published March 3, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Greenies

The Baby-Sitters Club meets The Breakfast Club in this fun and fresh graphic novel about a girl who reluctantly joins the Environmental Club at her new school–and finds friendship and community where she least expects it.

After her parents’ divorce, seventh grader Violet is forced to start all over.

Now the new kid, at a new school, in a new town, she must navigate unfamiliar territory. Luckily, Violet falls in with a new group of (maybe?) friends. But when they wind up in detention, they’re forced to join the under-attended Environmental Club—and mischief ensues. What will become of this rag-tag group?

Fans of Raina Telgemeier will love this hilarious and heartfelt story about making friends, making mistakes, and making it up as you go along—until you end up just where you were meant to be.

My Review

I’ve been a fan of Emma Mills for years. Her young adult novels always have really engaging characters and memorable friendships. When I saw that she was writing this middle grade graphic novel, I immediately jumped at the chance to review it.

Just like her other stories, this one boasts realistic, memorable relationships. When Violet starts going to a new school, she only knows her quirky cousin (ask her to tell you about Jupiter). Pretty quickly, though, she makes some new friends. Her new friends have history with each other that Violet doesn’t know about, which creates some interesting tension in the group.

The description comparing this book to The Breakfast Club is spot-on, though there’s far less angst here. Overall this is a fun collision of characters who reluctantly pull together as part of an after-school environmental club. Perfect for readers interested in an upbeat friendship tale.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Violet’s cousin tells her a rumor about a zombie eighth grader roaming the closed-off fourth floor.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

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: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

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Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle #1)
Tracy Deonn
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published September 15, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Legendborn

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so-called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

My Review

This series has been on my reading list for a long time, but I finally made the time to read Legendborn this year. I’d heard great things about it, so I was excited to get straight into the story.

Right away, I loved Bree. She’s still processing her mom’s sudden death, which happened right before the story began. All the way through the story, she’s driven by this yearning to connect to her mom, to understand what happened, and why. I found that intensely relatable.

The magical world that she infiltrates is deeply ritualistic and tradition-centric, and very white, as you might expect from something based on King Arthur and his knights. I loved the way that Tracy Deonn unapologetically relates Bree’s experience as a Black girl in those spaces. Connecting that history down through the American colonies and the Confederacy, all the way to Bree’s present, gave the story a rich, sometimes painful, context.

I also love the character arcs between Bree, Nick, and Selwyn. I think I know where the story is headed, and I love that the shifts in the relationships feel natural and experiential. I’m so eager to read more of this series. All the praise I’ve heard has been well-deserved.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Several different branches of magical ability exist and are conducted in different ways. One group borrows power from ancestors, repaying it with their own energy or sacrifices. Another group steals power from elsewhere, accruing a debt that will someday come due.

A line of magic wielders descended from King Arthur and his knights continues to use magic to fight demons who slip through gates from other worlds.

Violent Content
Brief racist statements and microaggressions. References to a car accident that killed Bree’s mom. (Happens off scene.) Situations of peril. Battles against creatures called demons made of dark magic from another world. References to assault (not shown on scene).

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol at formal social gatherings.

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: Queen of Faces by Petra Lord

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Queen of Faces
Petra Lord
Henry Holt & Co.
Published February 3, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Queen of Faces

This dark academia fantasy follows a desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy who faces a choice between life and death: become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, Brandon Sanderson, Lev Grossman, and R.F. Kuang.

Anabelle Gage is trapped in a male body, and it’s rotting from the inside out. But Ana can’t afford to escape it, even as the wealthiest in Caimor buy and discard expensive designer bodies without a thought. When she fails to gain admittance to the prestigious Paragon Academy—and access to the healthy new forms the school provides its students—her final hope implodes. Now without options, Ana must use her illusion magic to try to steal a healthy chassis—before her own kills her.

But Ana is caught by none other than the headmaster of Paragon Academy, who poses a brutal ultimatum: face execution for her crime or become a mercenary at his command. Revolt brews in Caimor’s smog-choked underworld, and the wealthy and powerful will stop at nothing to take down the rebels and the infamous dark witch at their helm, the Black Wraith.

With no choice but to accept, Ana will steal, fight, and kill her way to salvation. But her survival depends on a dangerous band of renegades: an impulsive assassin, a brooding bombmaker, and an alluring exile who might just spell her ruin. As Ana is drawn into a tangled web of secrets, the line between villain and hero shatters—and Ana must decide which side is worth dying for.

My Review

I wasn’t sure I totally understood what kind of book I was getting into from the cover copy. However, once I got into the story, I was really into it.

The chapters alternate between Ana and Wes, who plans to use Ana as a means to get back the life he was booted out of. A few chapters from other viewpoints appear as well, but mostly we alternate between those two.

In the story, a human body is an external, swappable thing. One’s personal identity, memories, magical ability, and intelligence, or Pith, can be transferred from one body, or chassis, to the next.

It’s an interesting mechanic that allows the author to explore the difference between biological gender and gender identity. The characters don’t all have the same experience with switching to new bodies. Ana, for example, identifies strongly as female, so being in a male-presenting body is upsetting and troubling to her. Wes, who has recently switched from a female-presenting to a male-presenting body, is much less troubled by the change. Each character has an individual experience with this, which felt very organic to me.

I also really appreciated that Lord brought Ana’s strategic thinking to the page in an engaging way. I’ve read books where the main character is supposed to be a very strategic thinker, but where I felt like I was simply supposed to take the author’s word for it. Here, we see Ana think things through and analyze in real time, but without slowing down the story. I thought that element of the book was particularly nicely done.

Queen of Faces is the start of a series. I’m eager to see where the story goes next. I think fans of stories like Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo or books that explore gender in a more unconventional way, like Every Day by David Levithan will appreciate this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Vague references to characters spending the night with a partner. (Not shown on scene.)

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. In the story world, characters revere prophets of old.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to torture. (Not shown on scene.) A few scenes show characters experiencing cruel/abusive treatment by their employers or mentors. Battle scenes with some extensive injuries.

Drug Content
One minor character uses a powerful drug in the form of a worm.

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: Mallory in Full Color by Elisa Stone Leahy

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Mallory in Full Color
Elisa Stone Leahy
Quill Tree Books
Published November 19, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Mallory in Full Color

A funny, poignant middle grade novel about a tween who navigates questions of identity and friendship when her anonymous web comic goes viral, from the acclaimed author of Tethered to Other Stars.

Mallory Marsh is an expert at molding into whatever other people want her to be. Her true thoughts and feelings only come out in her sci-fi web comic, which she publishes anonymously as Dr. BotGirl.

But juggling all the versions of herself gets tricky, especially when Mal’s mom signs her up for swim team. Instead of being honest about hating competitive swim, Mal skips out on practice and secretly joins the library’s comic club. There Mal meets Noa, a cute enby kid who is very sure of who they are. As Mal helps Noa plan a drag queen story time, she tries to be the person she thinks Noa wants her to be—by lying about her stage fright.

Then Mal’s web comic goes viral, and kids at school start recognizing the unflattering characters based on Mal’s real-life friends. With negative pushback threatening the drag queen story time and Dr.BotGirl’s identity getting harder to hide, Mallory must reckon with the lies she has told.

If she reveals her full self, will her friends, her parents, and her new crush accept the real Mallory Marsh?

My Review

I want to highlight so many things about this book. Mallory has this really sweet moment with her grandmother that I loved. Her grandma surprises her by having a nonbinary friend, so when Mal tries tell her about Noa, whom Mal has a crush on, she doesn’t have to stop and explain about Noa’s pronouns.

I also loved how even though Mal’s friends are upset at discovering they appear as characters in Mal’s webcomic, what Mal points out to them is that those characters have incredible strengths. Instead of the narrative twisting to be about Mal secretly making fun of her friends, it shows that the webcomic helps her process how she feels about those relationships and remind herself about the great qualities her friends have. Not just the annoying moments.

I also love that Leahy includes a drag queen story time. At first, Mal isn’t sure about this as a kid-friendly activity. But when she talks to a friend about it and then meets the drag queen, she feels differently. It’s a big celebration of books and dress-up and affirming who you are. It’s really sweet.

There’s also a little romance between Mal and Noa, whom she meets at the comic club. It’s sweet and mostly consists of blushing and butterflies-in-the-tummy with one kiss. As Mal examines her feelings for Noa, she feels pressure to label herself. Ultimately, though, she decides she isn’t sure what label fits, only that she has romantic feelings for them. I liked that she makes clear that it’s okay not to know all of who you are in middle school. It’s okay not to label yourself. Kids definitely need that message, because the pressure is real.

Another wonderful surprise about Mallory in Full Color is that it’s a companion novel to Tethered to Other Stars, the author’s debut. I loved seeing more of Wendy in this book and seeing the friend group from another angle.

There’s so much to love about this story. Each chapter opens with a page showing part of Mal’s webcomic. The robots and sci-fi elements add a lot of appeal. Readers who enjoy manga and graphic novels will enjoy reading about the creation process and the comic club discussions.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
One kiss.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some brief instances of homophobia and transphobia. Mallory is hurt when her family members say something homophobic and her dad doesn’t push back.

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: Mouse and His Dog by Katherine Applegate and Jennifer Choldenko

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Mouse and His Dog (Dogtown #2)
Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko
Illustrated by Wallace West
Feiwel & Friends
Published September 17, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Mouse and His Dog

Mouse lives in Dogtown, a shelter for real dogs and robot dogs, where the kibble is plentiful, and the rafters hide a secret community of mice. His unlikely best friend is Buster, a big-hearted real dog who attracts trouble like a burr to fur.

Determined to help Buster find his forever home, even if means losing his best pal, Mouse embarks on a bold quest with three of Dogtown’s “unadoptables”: Buster, Stewie–a huge, lovable dog whose ex-owner said he was mean, and Smokey–a robot dog hardwired with a smoke alarm he can’t control.

But Mouse is just a mouse, and the world is big and complicated. How’s a little guy supposed to find homes for the dogs he loves?

My Review

I have only read parts of the first book in the series, but I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to read this one, too. Mouse and Buster appear in the first book as side characters, so I love that this one gives us a closer look at them as characters.

The story really celebrates the work that dog shelters do, even while acknowledging that they’re not perfect. Dogtown hosts a community program called Reading Buddies, in which children get a chance to read to one of a selected group of dogs. It sounds like such a sweet program. I love that idea. The story also brushes by some of the challenges that the shelter faces, including not having enough kennel space for all the dogs that need homes. They also face a backlog of dogs needing to be evaluated by their trainer.

The true focus of the book though is on Mouse and his relationship with a golden retriever named Buster who can’t seem to find an adoption that will stick. The story shows two examples of dog adoptions that go awry. Adult readers will be able to read between the lines and note that in both instances, the people adopting the dogs weren’t making well-thought-out decisions. One couple wanted a dog at their wedding. Another wanted a dog for protection. In both instances, the adoptive person wasn’t thinking about the needs of the dog they’d be adopting.

All the adoption and shelter business aside, the story highlights a small community of misfits in the sweetest way. Rather than hiding all the time and maintaining nocturnal habits, Mouse forms bonds with the dogs and even a tentative connection with a few humans. Goofy, lovable Buster has poor impulse control, but champions the other dogs kept in the Dogtown basement.

Like the first book, this one contains a robot dog. This time, the dog is Smokey, a dog with a smoke alarm signal in his wiring. He’s also a sweet dog who has some things to learn. The story of Mouse seeking homes for his friends is heartwarming. I love that we get to see one of those special instances in which the dog chooses the human, too, and it’s a perfect fit. I definitely got choked up reading that part. (And I’m not a dog person.)

Conclusion

All in all, this is such a sweet story. The chapters are super short (most just a page or two), and the text is illustrated, so this has worked great for our family as a transition from chapter books to middle grade titles. I highly recommend it for dog lovers and/or younger middle grade readers.

You don’t have to read both books in order. I do recommend both, though I haven’t read all chapters of Dogtown. (I’ve read most of the book.)

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Mouse worries that if humans discover mice living in Dogtown, they’ll call in the cats to exterminate them. Mouse worries about Buster and Stewie being euthanized if he can’t find families to adopt them.

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 my local library. All opinions are my own.