Girl standing on a hill with arms held out. She's facing fields and mountains. Her shadow looks like a bird. A dog stands next to her.
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Kestrel Takes Flight

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Kestrel Takes Flight* (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2026) by Joy McCullough is such a good read. This novel is written in verse and can be read very quickly, but contains important truths.

It’s the middle of the night and Kestrel’s mom sneaks them out of the house where they live with Grandpa. The two fly from San Diego to Montana for the summer. Kestrel is puzzled over the secrecy and doesn’t understand why they didn’t say good-bye to Grandpa. Or why Mom didn’t tell her about the trip ahead of time. On the plane Mom explains she is going to work at a bear institute. Well, really a dog institute. And Kestrel hates dogs. If Karelian dogs hunt bears, what will they do to a girl?

Intersperses with the poems are letters Kestrel writers in her journal to her grandfather. She plans to show them to him when they get back. In them we see how she changes. (I did feel some of the initial changes happened too quickly.) I love how the first and last poems bookend the story, and how she shows Kestrel’s life experiences expanding. I want to say more, but don’t want to give anything away.

Read about Joy and see some of her books here. On this site you can check out her young adult books. Somehow I’ve only read one, Blood Water Paint, and it was fantastic.

*I received a copy for review from the publisher. Thoughts are my own.

fantasy style cover showing four children - one with knitting needles and yarn (Peri, main character), a girl with a magical wand, a boy with a dagger, and a girl with a bow. Behind them is a lit house on a cliffside with bare spooky looking trees.
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Socks & Secret Quests

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Socks & Secret Quests: The Wandering Shop, Book 1 (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2026) by Triona Murphy and illustrated by James Firnhaber is a fun light-hearted fantasy. The author describes it as “Howl’s Moving Castle meets Dungeons & Dragons.” I’d definitely wondered if she’d been inspired by Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl books.

Peri is an apprentice in a magical shop that moves around and supplies adventurers with what they need. She worries that her magical abilities have not shown themselves. Although she’s a bit concerned about how fast she can knit sometimes. Then when a dark wizard takes the master shopkeeper, Peri goes out to find the closest adventuring team to get help. However, that team is really bad at cooperating. Can she pull them together to help her rescue Master Hema?

I really like how the story uses a mundane skill for so much more.

The book is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection for 2026!

This is the author’s debut book* that just came out the end of September. Obviously, it’s a series, so we can look forward to more about Peri. Read about Triona here. (Yes, she does knit–her patterns are here.)

See the some of the illustrator’s work here and here. Read about James here.

*I received an advanced paperback copy from the publisher. Opinions expressed here are my own.

Cover has words Little then Women scratched out followed by Monsters and shows silhouettes of 4 sisters in a spooky night setting
Posted in MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Little Monsters

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Little Monsters* (Aladdin, 2026) by Máire Roche has a fantastic cover. This story is perfect for the spooky season. Or for anytime really.

It starts out very similar to the classic book, Little Women, but it’s Halloween and no costumes that Jo is grumbling about. Meg at almost 14 wants to make it special for her younger sisters–just if she can earn enough money. But she has deeper problems. Like not upsetting their current foster mother, Marmee, so the March sisters don’t have to move yet again. Speaking of upset, that’s when Meg’s monstrous magical abilities appear. Plus there are rumors of a strange creature roaming around the town at night. Then there’s the new boy, Laurie’s cousin, and she must keep everything monstrous hidden from him. So many secrets!

Readers familiar with the classic will be amused by this twist, but the story is more than a twist. Meg’s struggles feel real in this fantasy world. I had so much sympathy for her as she tries to protect her family. I loved watching her grow.

Read about the author here and check out her other books here.

*I received a copy of the book from the publisher for review. Opinions my own.