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Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2023) Featured Review of Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen

by Shea Ernshaw

Publisher: Disney Enterprises, Inc

Imprint: Disney Press

Release date: August 2, 2022

ISBN: 9781368069601

Sally finally has her happily ever after; she’s married to her love, Jack Skellington, and crowned Pumpkin Queen of Halloween Town. However, being Pumpkin Queen isn’t as easy as Sally imagined. When she discovers a doorway to one of the ancient realms, Sally inadvertently unleashes the long forgotten Sandman on both the holiday and the human worlds. With the Sandman hunting her across the worlds, Sally must find a way to reverse his sleeping spell on everyone before it’s too late.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2023) Featured Review of The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat
Candlewick Press
Publication Date: April 12, 2022
ISBN: 9781536204957

Twelve year old Sai is assistant to Mangkon’s most celebrated mapmaker. No one knows that she has been harboring a secret; her father is a conman. When they set out on a journey to chart the southern seas, she has no idea that the ship may actually be heading to the fabled Sunderlands, a land thought to be guarded by dragons. As Sai struggles to conceal her identity aboard the ship, she discovers that she is not the only one with a secret.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2023) Featured Review of Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 15, 2022
ISBN: 9780593309032

Years of foster care have severely damaged Black, bisexual teen Bitter’s ability to trust anyone, but she has come to feel safe at Eucalyptus, a home for vulnerable teen artists. There, she is able to pursue her art and, occasionally, bring it temporarily to life by bringing it into contact with her blood. When Bitter starts to engage with teens from Assata, a social justice group, her fury at the wealthy white people in control of their town, Lucille, results in the creation of a monster that calls itself Vengeance. Horrified at what she has created, Bitter is forced to work through her anxieties in order to find a way to stop a bloodbath.