Tag Archives: grief

Review: Wilderness Hacks by Joslin Brorsen

Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , ,
Wilderness Hacks by Joslin Brorson

Wilderness Hacks
Joslin Brorsen
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published March 31, 2026

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About Wilderness Hacks

Hatchet meets Survivor in this high-action, humor-filled middle grade adventure about two kids stranded in the wilderness, whose annoyance with each other rivals the roaring rapids and ferocious predators they must face.

12-year-old Sadie Hahn didn’t plan to eat grubs on camera to win a contest. And she definitely didn’t plan to win first prize—a guest appearance on a Youtube show hosted by America’s favorite 13-year-old survivalist Radley Shaw. But she’ll do anything to cheer up her little brother Silas, who’s too young to qualify.

Rad has millions of followers and exactly zero real-life friends, so the contest is a great chance for him to hang out with kids his own age. But it’s hate-at-first-sight when Silas throws a wrench in his plan and Sadie decides Rad is just a clueless poser who doesn’t know the first thing about survival.

Disaster strikes when their scripted rafting trip turns into a real fight for survival. Lost in the mountains, Rad and Sadie must find shelter, build a fire, forage for food and try not to become food for a hungry predator. But can they stop bickering long enough to hack it in the wilderness? And will that be enough to keep them alive?

My Review

I love it when a story with two points of view features characters whose personalities are very different from one another. In this book, Sadie is cautious and methodical, while Rad is working really hard to be cool on camera. Both of them are working through big feelings about their dads. Sadie is grieving her dad’s death. Rad misses his dad, who seems increasingly absent from his life.

The friendship between the two gets off to a rocky start. Sadie clocks Rad as attention-seeking and spots him cutting corners rather than practicing real survival skills. (For example, the fish dinner Rad’s team prepares includes a store-bought, filetted fish instead of the fresh catch Sadie pulled from the river.) Rad feels like he can’t get a break. No matter what he does, Sadie is angry with him.

Once the two are truly lost in the woods, they must put aside their grievances and find a way to work together. Sadie realizes that Rad knows a lot about survival and challenges him to showcase it more authentically on his channel. Rad encourages Sadie to explore her complicated feelings about being in the wilderness after her dad’s death.

I liked the character growth in both Sadie and Rad. The bond they formed through their experience felt authentic. There’s a scene near the end that reminded me a lot of Hatchet, which was a nice moment. I’m a little puzzled by the comparison to the show Survivor, since there is no competition element here. I guess it’s meant to be a reference to being in the woods with a stranger?

In any case, Wilderness Hacks is a fast-paced, entertaining story that will make a perfect summer read.

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. Sadie and Rad witness the death of an adult and find the body of another person. They hear what they think might be wolves eating someone’s remains. They don’t see anything, but they’re pretty creeped out. A mountain lion attacks hikers. Some brief description. References to the death of a parent.

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: Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Pet (Pet #1)
Akwaeke Emezi
Make Me a World
Published September 10, 2019

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About Pet

A thought-provoking and haunting novel about a creature that escapes from an artist’s canvas, whose talent is sniffing out monsters in a world that claims they don’t exist anymore. Perfect for fans of Akata Witch and Shadowshaper.

There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother’s paintings and a drop of Jam’s blood, she must reconsider what she’s been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster–and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption’s house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also uncover the truth, and the answer to the question How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?

In their riveting and timely young adult debut, acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi asks difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial.

My Review

Pet has been on my reading list for quite some time. I picked up a copy of it at the bookstore in 2025, and since it’s such a short book, I decided to jump right into it as I started the new year.

It’s a really unusual story. There’s a bit of profanity in the text, and some themes that make it better suited for middle school students. To be honest, it reminded me a lot of The Giver by Lois Lowry.

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which everyone is supposed to be safe from monsters. The main character, a trans girl, is able to freely live as herself and make autonomous decisions about her body. Shadows of the past horrors still linger. For instance, Jam’s mother’s name is Bitter, and Jam knows she was named this because her birth was the result of “monsters monstering.”

Throughout the story, Jam wrestles with big questions about the world she knows. She has to decide when adults are telling her the truth and when there’s more to the story than they are ready to tell her or face themselves.

After Pet, a large, winged creature, emerges from Jam’s mother’s painting, Jam agrees to help him find the monster living in her town. He repeatedly calls her “Little Girl”, which only bothered me because he does it so frequently and doesn’t refer to her friend in a similar way, like calling him “Little Boy.” I suppose it’s meant to affirm Jam’s identity and reinforce the idea that Pet isn’t human and doesn’t think like one.

Conclusion

On the whole, I thought this was a deeply thought-provoking book. It’s so easy for us to assume that we’ve blocked all available pathways between danger and our kids, when, really, that isn’t the case. Sometimes, assuming we don’t have to be vigilant lets trouble in. Pet would make a great discussion book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 to 14.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Vague references to sexual abuse. (Nothing shown on the page or described in any detail.)

Spiritual Content
Pet emerges from a painting Jam’s mother made. He is from another world and has come with instructions to hunt down and stop a monster.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. It’s unclear what Pet will do once he finds the monster, but it’s assumed that he may kill them. References to a past revolution that stopped monsters from harming others, but at great cost.

References to a child with unexplained bruises. Late in the book, one scene shows someone bound to a chair and hit repeatedly.

Brief references to a trial for child abuse.

Drug Content
In one scene, adults drink alcohol as part of a celebration.

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: Song of the Yellow Dragon by Ying Ping Low

Blogger's Favorites, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,

Song of the Yellow Dragon
Ying Ping Low
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Published May 12, 2026

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About Song of the Yellow Dragon

Two children search for a legendary dragon’s magic in this enchanting fantasy, perfect for readers ages 9-13!

There is a secret that every child knows: Magic is real. But by the time children turn thirteen, they forget that magic is anything but make-believe.

Mengyao wants to remember. Born in a village nestled in a secluded vale, Mengyao wants to hold on to magic and become a Divine Healer. But with her thirteenth birthday fast approaching, she is losing hope.

Young emperor Kai is on the run from traitorous advisors. He’s searching for the fabled Dragon’s Pulse, a magic capable of defeating his enemies. On the brink of his thirteenth birthday, Kai doesn’t have much longer. So when he meets Mengyao—the girl whose name is mentioned in his legend—he forces aside his instinctual distrust and recruits her to help him on his quest.

On their perilous journey, Kai and Mengyao find aid in unexpected forms like a jade hare, a moon goddess, and a handful of promises. But as enemies close in and time runs out, secrets that will reshape the fate of their kingdom forever come to light.

My Review

This is such a charming book. I loved the voice it’s written in. At times, the narrator speaks directly to the reader or reminds readers about something happening far from the main characters. The tone is almost playful, keeping the story light even though some serious events occur.

I loved the bond between Kai and Mengyao. They have very different personalities, so at first, I wasn’t sure how they could get along. But it made sense that their differences would work together to make them a strong team. I enjoyed watching them push each other and keep each other safe, even as they pretended to ignore one another.

As the story reaches its most desperate moment, many threads weave together, revealing new elements that reshape the narrative as a whole. I love it when that weaving together is well done, as it is here.

I also enjoyed the way that the story uses magic. In the book, children know and recognize magic around them until they turn thirteen. They can ask the wind for help if they’re lost. Mushrooms will tell them whether they’re poisonous. But once a child turns thirteen, they look back on those experiences as childish and overly imaginative. That looming forgetting of magic created an interesting deadline for Kai and Mengyao. I loved how the author used that to add tension and keep the story whimsical.

I have a feeling this is going to be one of those books that doesn’t get nearly enough visibility as it deserves. If this isn’t already on your reading list, please check it out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 9 to 13.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
References to spiritual beliefs and practices. Supernatural beings offer help in times of need. An ancestor has a power that can help in a crisis. A deity intervenes to protect someone.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to murder (happens before the story begins). Someone tries to poison children. Soldiers burn down a building. References to a murder plot. Soldiers chase children with intent to harm them.

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: Journey to Tomioka by Laurent Galandon and Michaël Crouzat

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

Journey to Tomioka
Laurent Galandon
Art by Michaël Crouzat
Translated by Anne and Owen Smith
First Second
Published June 9, 2026

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About Journey to Tomioka

For fans of This Was Our Pact and Hayao Miyazaki films comes a breathtaking graphic novel about siblings who risk everything to return their grandmother’s ashes to her home inside the Fukushima Exclusion Zone.

Osamu hasn’t been the same since that day. When the tsunami hit Fukushima prefecture, it killed his parents, destroyed his home, and triggered one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters. Now, all Osamu has left is his grandmother, Bā-chan, and his big sister, Akiko. As he withdraws into his own world, he befriends friends yōkai―spirits only he can see.

Then, tragedy strikes again, and Bā-chan dies. Osamu and Akiko are determined to return her ashes to their family farm in Tomioka, a town within Fukushima’s forbidden zone. There, the siblings will face dangerous radiation and yōkai, both friendly and deadly―but they’re willing to risk it all to make it home.

My Review

This book draws attention to the victims of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The story follows Osamu, a young boy who shows kindness toward the yōkai, mythical creatures that live in his home and community. When his grandmother dies unexpectedly, he convinces his sister that they should bring her ashes home to her farm in the area still evacuated since the nuclear disaster.

Along the way, they meet a man who lives in the forbidden zone and cares for the animals living there. The story gently encourages readers to question our relationship with nature and our short attention spans for tragedies happening elsewhere.

At one point in the story, Osamu’s sister notes that his personality changed in the wake of the tsunami. He went from being an outgoing kid with lots of friends to being much quieter and more internal. A doctor, she says, diagnosed him with Autism, but she feels that’s inaccurate, because he used to have friends. I think I get what she’s trying to say, but I kind of wish this had just been left out of the book. It’s a small comment, and there’s so little context. I could see people feeling like this is saying that people with Autism can’t have friends or be friendly, which isn’t true.

All in all, I appreciate the author for bringing the Fukushima nuclear disaster to the forefront of conversations through this book and for highlighting some of the victims who are too often neglected, namely, children and animals.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 9 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Osamu believes in the existence of yōkai, mysterious supernatural creatures and spirits from Japanese folklore. He speaks to some who live in his home and leaves an apple for one living near a tree. He later encounters a being representing radiation.

Violent Content
References to the death of a grandparent and caregiver. References to the deaths of parents in the tsunami. These are not shown on the page.

Osamu breaks a window in an abandoned shop. He and his sister evade rescue workers and their cousin’s fiancé, Seiichi, and venture deeper into contaminated spaces, risking exposure to radiation.

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: The Genius Under the Table by Eugene Yelchin

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Memoir, Middle Grade 8-12, Nonfiction, , , , , , ,

The Genius Under the Table
Eugene Yelchin
Candlewick Press
Published October 5, 2021

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About The Genius Under the Table

An Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Honor Winner

With a masterful mix of comic timing and disarming poignancy, Newbery Honoree Eugene Yelchin offers a memoir of growing up in Cold War Russia.

Drama, family secrets, and a KGB spy in his own kitchen! How will Yevgeny ever fulfill his parents’ dream that he become a national hero when he doesn’t even have his own room? He’s not a star athlete or a legendary ballet dancer. In the tiny apartment he shares with his Baryshnikov-obsessed mother, poetry-loving father, continually outraged grandmother, and safely talented brother, all Yevgeny has is his little pencil, the underside of a massive table, and the doodles that could change everything. With equal amounts charm and solemnity, award-winning author and artist Eugene Yelchin recounts in hilarious detail his childhood in Cold War Russia as a young boy desperate to understand his place in his family.

My Review

I read I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This by Eugene Yelchin last year, and then had the unexpected and amazing opportunity to interview him earlier this year. I’d wanted to read this book before the interview, and couldn’t make that happen, but I bought a copy to read at my earliest opportunity, and now, here we are.

It’s interesting to see the difference between the way that I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This, which is for an older audience, is written versus The Genius Under the Table. Each story has an underlying current of humor and playfulness. The young adult memoir brings some of the frightening aspects of living in Soviet Russia to the forefront, whereas they’re kept a little more in the background in the middle grade memoir, though they’re still present.

As a former ballet dancer, I found the descriptions of Yevgeny’s mom’s work and her connection to Baryshnikov really interesting. I felt deeply for Yevgeny, who internalized pressure from his parents to find his artistic talent in an artistic family at a time when that could mean a huge difference to a family. I loved how that talent made itself known.

It was cool to see Yevgeny’s mom and grandmother and the similarities and differences in their characters in both books. His grandmother is probably my favorite character.

All in all, I am really glad I read this book. I loved the pairing of the text and illustrations, and the narrative’s inquisitive tone.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Yevgeny and his family are Jewish.

Violent Content
References to persecution against Jewish people in Russia.

Drug Content
One character smokes cigarettes.

Spoiler (highlight the text below to reveal the spoiler.

Death of a parent. Yevgeny’s dad dies in a chapter late in the book.

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

Review: The Danger of Small Things by Caryl Lewis

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

The Danger of Small Things
Caryl Lewis
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published March 24, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Danger of Small Things

Set in a world where bees are at risk of extinction, this startling YA dystopian is perfect for fans of Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now and Sarah Crossan, described by the author as a love letter to her daughter. 

Imagine a world where honeybees have died out. It’s a patriarchal world where famines are rife. It’s a world without art, without books, without plays. Girls are sent away from home, forced to pollinate crops by hand with brushes and to marry as soon as they can. Inhabiting this world is Jess and her friends Cass, Deva, and Ruth. But even if one fourteen‑year‑old knows that brushes weren’t invented for pollinating, can she really stoke a revolution?

Caryl Lewis: ‘As a beekeeper, I am acutely aware of the interconnectedness of everything and have long been frightened of how we, as humans, set ourselves apart from nature. We do not seem to understand that in destroying nature, we destroy ourselves. My daughter is growing up in what feels like a much more hostile environment facing climate instability, the rise of misogyny and the roll back of women’s bodily rights. I wanted to comfort and empower her and let her see that our greatest weapon in a floundering world is the imagination.’

My Review

I’m really fascinated by the fact that the author is herself a beekeeper, and that her experience inspired the story. Certainly, exploring the extinction of bees and its impact on global food supply is a timely one. In this story, Lewis connects this with a society that uses the food shortage to create a government system that uses its girls and women as labor before pressuring them into a life of raising the next generation of laborers.

Some elements of the story left me wanting more information about the larger world beyond the town where Jess lived. Where did the leaders go when they left the village? Who did they trade with?

I was a bit worried about Jess’s relationship with the guard. I think she was supposed to be thirteen or fourteen, and he was seventeen or eighteen. Nothing romantic happens between the two of them, though, and it doesn’t seem like Jess thinks of him in that way.

All in all, I think the concept of this book is very relevant. I could see readers who enjoy dystopian fiction liking this one a lot.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to kissing. Vague references to sexual abuse. (Not shown on the page.)

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to riots and political unrest. Some instances of homophobia.

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.