Tag Archives: friendship

MMGM Review: The Big Bad Wolf Murder by P. G. Bell

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The Big Bad Wolf Murder by P. G. Bell

The Big Bad Wolf Murder
P. G. Bell
Feiwel & Friends
Published January 20, 2026

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About The Big Bad Wolf Murder

A girl accused of killing a famous wolf must solve his murder while on the run, in this twist on Little Red Riding Hood!

At twelve years old, Ruby Calvino is the youngest human player in the Tooth & Claw championships. It’s her fast legs and even faster mind that leaves her as the last player left during the final game, and she’s ready to claim victory. But when the undefeated Alarick— the wolf player hunting her— is finally upon her, he…drops dead?

With poison found in Ruby’s bag, all fingers (and paws!) point to her. Desperate to prove her innocence, she teams up with a young wolf accused of helping her commit the crime. But figuring out who killed Alarick certainly won’t be easy while on the run from cops and another vicious wolf.

Luckily, Ruby’s Tooth & Claw training just might come in handy!

My Review

This is the first I’ve read of P. G. Bell’s books, but I will absolutely read more. I loved this mystery-laced twist on Little Red Riding Hood and the game the characters compete in during the book. The Tooth & Claw Championship is a little bit like capture the flag. One team’s goal is to cross the field without being captured and to raise their flags, while the other team (made up of anthropomorphic wolves) wins by capturing all players. Alarick’s murder interrupts Ruby’s team’s potential championship win.

The elements of the championship and the game were easy to understand and very well integrated into the story. In order to track down Alarick’s murderer, Ruby even had to use some of her best Tooth & Claw moves. I also enjoyed Ruby and Fillan as a team. They have very different backgrounds and personalities, and it takes them some time to learn to trust one another. Once they do, though, they make a powerful team.

At 224 pages, this fast-paced story is easy to read. Give this to readers who enjoyed The Great Texas Dragon Race by Kacy Ritter or who enjoy stories where fantasy and sports themes or mysteries intersect.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Ruby witnesses a wolf dying from poisoning. A wolf bites a girl in an attempted robbery. A wolf hunts Ruby and Fillan, clearly intending to kill them. Ruby and Fillan face other potentially fatal threats.

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.

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: Lunar Boy by Jes and Cin Wibowo

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Lunar Boy
Jes and Cin Wibowo
HarperAlley
Published May 14, 2024

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About Lunar Boy

For fans of The Witch Boy and Squished, Lunar Boy is a must-have heartwarming coming-of-age graphic novel about a young boy from the moon who discovers a home in the most unlikely places, from debut twin creators Jes and Cin Wibowo.

Indu, a boy from the moon, feels like he doesn’t belong. He hasn’t since he and his adoptive mom disembarked from their spaceship—their home—to live on Earth with their new blended family. The kids at school think he’s weird, he has a crush on his pen pal who might not like him back, and his stepfamily doesn’t seem to know what to do with him. Worst of all, Indu can’t even talk to his mom about how he’s feeling because she’s so busy.

In a moment of loneliness, Indu calls out to the moon, begging them to take him back. And against all odds, the moon hears him and agrees to bring him home on the first day of the New Year. But as the promised day draws nearer, Indu finds friendship in unlikely places and discovers that home is more than where you come from. And when the moon calls again, Indu must decide: Is he willing to give up what he’s just found?

My Review

I’m sure I saw a review of this book somewhere or saw someone posting about it on social media, but I’m terrible at keeping notes on that, so I can’t remember who told me to read this book. If it was you, thank you.

Lunar Boy is an unusual story. Indu begins alone on the surface of the moon. He hears a voice in his head that he identifies as belonging to the moon. The voice warns him that being alone is safe, and that forming connections to others opens a person up to the possibility of pain and heartache. Indu decides to leave anyway and lives as a part of a blended family. He and his mom move to a newly colonized planet where he learns a new language and attends school.

He faces some big adjustments, and learns to navigate different conflicts, both external and internal. He also explores his identity and encounters others coming to terms with their own identities. The book handles this very gently. There is one spot where someone misgenders Indu. He apologizes and is supportive after the fact, though.

I really liked the elements of found family/adoption in the story. It was also interesting that Indu faced being part of a blended family after acclimating to a smaller family with just him and his adopted mom.

I could see readers who enjoyed The Infinity Particle by Wendy Xu or The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang liking this one a lot. I’m eager to see these authors create more books.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to an older couple in a dating relationship. One panel shows two characters kissing.

Spiritual Content
Indu hears the Moon speaking to him about the risks of forming relationships with others and living in community (loneliness and pain). At one point the Moon tells Indu he can come home at a certain cycle of the moon. References to ceremonies to honor coming-of-age for boys and girls.

Violent Content
Some homophobic or transphobic statements. One instance of misgendering. (The person apologizes and promises to do better in the future.)

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 public library. All opinions are my own.

Review: I, in the Shadows by Tori Bovalino

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

I, in the Shadows
Tori Bovalino
Page Street
Published January 13, 2026

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About I, in the Shadows

Liam has been dead for ten months, haunting the house he used to share with his family, and facing intermittent and terrifying encounters with an eldritch entity called The Beast, who seems determined to consume his soul. Besides that complication in Liam’s new existence, he’s actually adjusted well enough to boredom. But all of that changes when a new family moves in and Liam finds himself sharing a room with Drew Tarpin, who is all of the things Liam never was when he was athletic, queer, and effortlessly cool.

Except, Liam and Drew do have something in their hopeless attraction to Hannah Steward, the nerdy captain of the school mock trial team. After Drew stands in to protect Liam from the Beast, he agrees to help her win Hannah over if Drew keeps Liam from spending the entirety of his afterlife as demon food. It shouldn’t be hard, since Liam was in unrequited love with Hannah for his entire natural life, and her best friend until his untimely death. But the Beast will not be satisfied no matter how much Drew fights back on Liam’s behalf—and when Hannah catches on that Liam might not be totally gone, it puts all of their lives at risk.

My Review

I kept seeing books by Tori Bovalino around, so I’ve been wanting to read one, and I’m excited that I finally did.

The ghostly parts of this story follow a pretty well-traveled path. Drew can see ghosts, and so can other family members. Her sibling has been a lot more involved in helping ghosts move on. Usually, Drew steers clear of ghost work, but she’s now the only child at home, and the ghost lingering in the house is attracting dangerous creatures.

Once she agrees to help the ghost, Liam, move on, she becomes entangled in Liam’s old friend group. The group felt like a cohesive unit, and Drew’s experience hanging out with them reminded me of similar experiences I’ve had as an outsider with a group like that, so I thought it was pretty realistic.

I also liked the slow development of Drew’s feelings for Hannah. Drew’s promise to help Liam move on quickly complicates Drew’s possible relationship with Hannah. I liked that the feelings didn’t trump the mistakes made. I thought Bovalino did a nice job making space to address the conflicts.

Readers who enjoy stories about ghosts and falling in love will definitely want to check out this supernatural mystery-slash-romance.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Someone shares their romantic (unreciprocated) feelings with a friend. A girl describes feeling pressured to have a romantic relationship with a boy because of a loss they share and his strong feelings for her.

Spiritual Content
Drew and a few other family members can see and interact with ghosts. They’re supposed to help ghosts move on to the afterlife. If ghosts linger in this world too long, they become husks, hollowed-out, hungry, ghostly creatures with no memories of their previous existence. An octopus or spider-like creature made of shadows appears to devour husks. Husks and this shadowy creature can harm living things, too.

Violent Content
References to a car accident that killed a teenage boy. Journal entries reference the death of another family member.

Drug Content
References to drug addiction. (Not shown on the page.) References to a party where teens drank alcohol that happened before the story began. Teens drink alcohol at a party.

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: A Barista’s Guide to Love and Larceny by Caroline Bonin

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A Barista’s Guide to Love and Larceny
Caroline Bonin
Feiwel & Friends
Published January 13, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About A Barista’s Guide to Love and Larceny

This cozy fantasy romance combines magic, college life, and first love into a sweetly brewed and delicious read about a girl roped into investigating a company’s dangerous product!

Dani Lionet is no stranger to working hard. But now she’s attending her dream university, and must manage classes, shifts at the local cafe, and maintaining her partial scholarship—all while trying to keep her unique ability under wraps. That way, no one else can take advantage of it like her parents used to.

So when a visiting professor calls Dani out on her ability, she’s terrified. Yet, it seems Professor Silva just wants to pay her to use it to help investigate a soon-to-be-released lucid dreaming product with horrible side effects. Dani is hesitant, but she needs the money, and it would help her new friend who was part of the product’s clinical trials. Meanwhile, she has a swoony distraction in Kass, her endearingly cute new regular at work.

But then Silva’s plan evolves into stealing the formula. Can Dani help with this “group project,” learn to embrace her ability, and get to know Kass? Or will it all fall apart?

My Review

I really enjoyed the magical college atmosphere of this book. It’s set in the real world, but with magical abilities and disciplines. The main characters attend a magical college, which I love as a concept. Dani also works at a coffee shop, which added even more cozy vibes.

My favorite thing about the book is how well all the different elements integrate into the story. Truthfully, I’d call the romance part of the book more of a subplot compared to the heist/group project that Dani and her friends commit to. I love that Dani’s romantic relationship doesn’t eclipse her other friendships. The story strikes a great balance, showing Dani falling head over heels while still anchoring her in other relationships, in part because she’s on this heist team and they have a tight deadline.

Dani has an unusual magical gift, which she feels ashamed of early on in the story. As the book progresses, though, she learns to think about her ability differently. Her feelings were so relatable. How often do we have a weird talent that seems useless or embarrassing? It takes courage and effort to reframe how we feel about that stuff, and her journey with that was really cool.

I almost wish this book had come out in November, since the story wraps up at Christmas. It would have been a really fun one to read leading up to the holidays. That said, I think it works perfectly as a cozy story to read on a chilly day or evening while bundled up with a mug of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa.

If you’re looking for a wintry, magical heist in a college setting with a strong romance subplot, definitely put A Barista’s Guide to Love and Larceny on your reading list.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Some characters can do magic. One character has fae ancestry.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A few scenes show characters trapped in their nightmares, acting out what happens in their dreams.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a bar and at a party.

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: Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulsen

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , ,

Garlic and the Witch
Bree Paulsen
Quill Tree Books
Published September 6, 2022

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About Garlic and the Witch

Bree Paulsen’s brave little protagonist, Garlic, is back in this charmingly illustrated standalone companion to Garlic and the Vampire, serving up another tale of friendship, magic, and self-discovery. Give both books to readers who fell in love with Tidesong or Witch Boy!

Garlic loves spending time with Witch Agnes, Carrot, and her new friend, the Count, who has proven to be a delightful neighbor to the village of vegetable people rather than a scary vampire. But despite Agnes’s best attempts to home-brew a vegetarian blood substitute for Count, the ingredient she needs most can only be found at the Magic Market, far from the valley.

Before she knows it, with a broomstick in hand, Garlic is nervously preparing for a journey.

But Garlic is experiencing another change too–finger by finger, she appears to be turning human. Witch Agnes assures her that this is normal for her garden magic, but Garlic isn’t so sure that she’s ready for such a big change. After all, changes are scary…and what if she doesn’t want to be human after all?

My Review

It’s been a while since I read Garlic and the Vampire, but I loved the sweet setting of the story and the way that it explored anxiety. Paulsen brings the same tender exploration to this novel, too.

At the beginning, Garlic notices a change to her hands. She now has five fingers on each hand, where she used to have four. She worries about what this means. As she learns more, we get to see some backstory and learn how the witch brought the vegetables in her garden to life and what will happen to them next.

Garlic also continues to help her friend Count, whom familiar readers will remember from Garlic and the Vampire. The two head out on a brief adventure, offering Garlic even more new experiences. (Her favorite.)

I love the coziness of the story world and the gentle storytelling. The characters are so cute, too. Garlic has other anthropomorphized garden friends, like Carrot and Celery. There’s a little hint of romance, but it is a minor note in the overall story.

I got this book from the library last summer for my littlest to read, and she quite enjoyed it. She ended up reading it to me, which was an excellent bonus. I think fans of K. O’Neill or The Baker and the Bard by Fern Haught will enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief reference to a romance between two characters.

Spiritual Content
A witch used magic to turn vegetables from her garden into veggie-people. She makes potions for other people in the village to help them with various problems.

Violent Content
Garlic gets lost in the woods and feels anxious about her problems.

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 public library. All opinions are my own.

Review: This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

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This is Not a Test: The Definitive Edition with Please Remain Calm
Courtney Summers
Inky Phoenix Press/Bindery
Published January 13, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About This is Not a Test: The Definitive Edition with Please Remain Calm

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High, but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self.

To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed, and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live.

But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways, and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside.

When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

My Review

This is Not a Test is one of the only Courtney Summers novels I hadn’t yet read. (The only one I still haven’t gotten to at this point is Fall for Anything.) This version includes both This is Not a Test and Please Remain Calm, a novella from the love interest’s perspective that takes place after This is Not a Test.

This book was so intense that I literally read it in one session. The threat of zombies is everpresent, but that’s not the only threat the characters face. The tension between members of the survivors Sloane hides with just keeps going up. One group blames a person for the deaths of others. The group disagrees on how to treat a new survivor discovered within the compound. Sloane herself begins the story intending to end her life, so she is a danger to herself for quite a stretch of the narrative.

Throughout the story, Sloane thinks about her missing sister and her father, who abused her. I had a theory about where that thread of the story was going, but I was wrong. I do appreciate that the author wraps up the unanswered questions there in a way that allows Sloane to move on. I also like that she finds a connection to Rhys, a boy from the group of survivors she was with in the school.

As you’d expect from a Courtney Summers novel, this story is sharp, smart, and deeply moving. I don’t even know if I blinked through some of the chapters. I didn’t want to miss a single second.

If you’re looking for a zombie story packed with social commentary and exploring the connection between sisters and girl friends, definitely do not miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Vague reference to someone walking in on a couple having sex. A couple starts making out, intending to have sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Mentions of and brief descriptions of domestic violence and child abuse. Suicidal ideation and a vague attempt. One scene shows a character ending their life. Several scenes show zombies attacking one another and anyone still alive. Some members of the group blame another group member for the deaths of others. One person essentially sends others into a fatal situation, hoping it allows the others to escape.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol.

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.