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<\/a><\/figure>\nWelcome to the fifth and final installment of this year\u2019s Gift Guide! I apologize that it has taken me so far into December to finish these round-ups. Putting this Guide together every year is a bit like childbirth. When it\u2019s over, I quickly forget how grueling it was. Then, smack into the middle of the following fall, I think, holy heck, why have I agreed to do this again?! I\u2019m mostly kidding, because I do love the process of reading through fall releases, looking for standouts for different types of readers and different types of gift givers, but the thorough written reviews are in themselves a huge undertaking. I thank you for bearing with me!<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s list includes both upper middle-grade titles, a new but rapidly expanding category aimed at the tween reader (ages 10-13), and books on the softer, gentler side of YA (ages 13+), something not so easy to come by in a category only growing edgier in its aim to catch the attention of adult readers as well. To be clear, there is no difference in reading level across YA books; the age distinction is based entirely on how graphic the content is around sex, violence, or drugs, so don\u2019t assume that an older teen wouldn\u2019t like some of these selects, too!<\/p>\n
For those of you straddling traditional middle grade (ages 8-12) and upper middle grade (10-13), be sure to check out the previous installment of this year\u2019s Guide<\/a>, too!<\/p>\n Speaking of older teens, I won\u2019t be doing a list specifically for them this year, but I can direct you to the one my colleagues helped with at the bookstore<\/a>, because their taste is impeccable. Many of these are being gifted to my own daughter (who just finished and adored the holiday romance, Make My Wish Come True<\/a><\/em>! And, as always, if you keep your eye on my Instagram account<\/a>, I do occasionally share reviews for older teens alongside all the other books I read and love.<\/p>\n As always, please consider supporting my work at Old Town Books by using the links below to purchase your books from us, either in person or online, though if you have an indie bookstore near you that you love, by all means give them your money! Our communities need its bookstores\u2014places of escape, discovery, and inclusion\u2014arguably now more than ever.<\/p>\n The books below are presented roughly in order from youngest to oldest.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When two of your favorite historical writers team up to tell a story of cryptanalysts, spies, codebreakers, and investigators during WW2, does it deliver? You better believe it! Welcome to Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin\u2019s The Bletchley Riddle<\/a><\/em>, a novel set in the summer of 1940 at Bletchley Park, inspired by real figures and history but with one sassy, secrets-studded family of their own creation.<\/p>\n Sepetys and Sheinkin could have set out to tell another story of cracking the Nazis\u2019 Enigma cipher, the covert work of Bletchley House credited with turning the tide of the war, but while the codebreaking work at Bletchley factors heavily into the work of one of our protagonists, 19-year-old mathematical recruit Jacob Novis, the central plot here concerns an investigation that Jacob and his younger sister, the fiery red-haired Lizzie, mount to uncover the truth about their mother, who disappeared and was presumed dead years earlier after a trip to Poland just ahead of Hitler\u2019s invasion. The siblings\u2019 investigation, relayed in alternating points of view, takes them on deciphering missions of their own in and around the Shoulder of Mutton Inn & Pub (a real place!), revealing shocking secrets about their mother and her role in the war, while also pushing to near combustion the strain that has characterized their own relationship since their mother\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n A broad cast of memorable supporting characters, from those who hang around the Mutton to the genius minds inside the Bletchley House (including the delightfully enigmatic Alan Turing!), creates a rich tapestry for the well-paced plot twists, but it\u2019s the two protagonists who lend humanity and pizazz to material we thought we already knew.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve ever laughed so hard reading a graphic novel! In How It All Ends<\/a><\/em>, Emma Hunsinger has penned 295 pages of comics gold, an astute account\u2014equal parts hysterical and heartwarming\u2014of one girl learning to navigate the jungle that is High School.<\/p>\n Thirteen-year-old Tara is supposed to be going into eighth grade when her school decides to bump her and a few others up to 9th. Suddenly, with no time to process and never mind that she still loves playing make-believe with her little brother, she\u2019s riding the school bus with her older sister to their massive high school. Sure, she\u2019ll be able to have pizza for lunch every day, but will she find her classes before the maze of hallways swallows her up? If she admits to liking a certain singer, will the cool kids think she\u2019s a baby? Will she survive the terror of the boys in her English class?! Group projects, first crushes, peer pressure, self-discovery, learning to read the room and unapologetically embracing who you are: it\u2019s all in these pages, and it\u2019s all so cringingly, vulnerably, joyfully relatable.<\/p>\n Visually, the freely drawn vignettes call to mind last year\u2019s Junior High <\/em>by Tegan and Sara or even the Heartstopper<\/em> series. Hunsinger effectively adopts a two-toned palette: one color for the events unfolding in real time and another for the fanciful flights or doomsday scenarios that Tara makes up in her own imagination. Don\u2019t miss this one! (Also, you\u2019ll never look at corn the same again.)<\/p>\n Content note: there is more language here than we typically get for middle grade, though no actual profanity.<\/em><\/p>\n This year has seen some spectacular first romances for the upper-middle-grade audience\u2014Laurie Morrison\u2019s Keeping Pace<\/a><\/em> being another I loved off the Summer Reading Guide<\/a>\u2014and what makes them work for tweens isn\u2019t just that they\u2019re heavy on the swoon and light on the steam, but that they weave in romance alongside other coming-of-age themes prevalent in middle school life. Here, in Bye Forever, I Guess<\/a>,<\/em> amidst fun subplots of knitting and gaming, we get a window into a toxic female friendship and a healthy one, as our protagonist struggles to reconcile who she is in real life with who she gets to be online. That she\u2019s simultaneously falling for a boy she befriends after a wrong number text is just icing on the cake.<\/p>\n Thirteen-year-old Ingrid is used to feeling awkward and invisible at school, residing mostly in the shadow of her longtime bestie, who happens to be the Queen Bee of popularity. But when two new students show up and Rachel introduces Ingrid as the girl with dead parents, Ingrid begins to realize Rachel has only ever seen her as a charity case she can manipulate. When finally standing up to Rachel results in social isolation, Ingrid retreats into her beloved online game, Ancient Tomes<\/em>, where she can geek out, sword in hand, with a fellow gamer girl she has known for years. But then she gets a text message intended for Rachel from an unknown number, and the two begin an innocent back and forth\u2026for days, then weeks. As their relationship progresses and Ingrid begins to suspect he may be one of her classmates, she must decide if taking their relationship to the next level is worth finding out who he really is\u2014and risk getting hurt in IRL yet again.<\/p>\n As in all good romances, the swoony dialogue here is a big part of the charm, and the fact that the prose is broken up with threads of text messages will only add to the appeal for today\u2019s readers. As a parent, I also appreciate that, though precautions are addressed, this isn\u2019t some creeper story about the dangers of online gaming or relationships; on the contrary, it\u2019s a validating look at the way virtual experiences can aid in self-exploration and confidence.<\/p>\n The unexpected bonus of dragging my feet so long on getting this installment of the Gift Guide up for you all is that I got to sneak in a few more reads, including Tracey Baptiste\u2019s Boy 2.0<\/a><\/em>, a suspenseful superhero origin story full of heist and heart. It takes a lot for me to dip my toes into anything superhero-related, so the fact that I loved this story is likely a testament to its wide appeal. My pal Chrissie Wright (over at @librarychrissie) told me it read to her like \u201can updated The Hate You Give <\/em>but for middle-grade audiences, with a side of Wakanda science labs,\u201d and I couldn\u2019t say it better myself!<\/p>\n Jaded, sharp-edged Win \u201cCoal\u201d Keegan isn\u2019t sure he can trust his latest foster family, even though the warm, rambunctious rapport that his new siblings have with each other and their parents is the closest thing to a normal family Coal has ever experienced. The trouble is, he\u2019s beginning to realize he\u2019s <\/em>anything but<\/em> normal. When a stranger fires a gun at Coal for chalking the street during a moment of peaceful protest, it spurs a police chase; and the only reason Coal isn\u2019t found hiding behind a dumpster is because he momentarily turns\u2026invisible. Now, as Coal begins to experiment with his abilities, he has to decide, not only who to trust, but what happened to make him this way. His curiosity leads him through the doors of the corporate behemoth Mirror Tech, where a DNA sample yields some tantalizing answers about his family origins while also threatening to make him a target of scientific experimentation and attracting the interest of a covert military division.<\/p>\n Coal\u2019s longtime bestie, Door, lends comic relief to some of the serious reflections on growing up as a Black man in America, and the trust that Coal begins to place in the McKay family\u2014adorable youngest sister, Hannah, saves the day on one occasion with a strategic potty dance\u2014is as gratifying as the softness and grace that Coal learns to direct towards himself.<\/p>\n After I tore through H.E. Edgmon\u2019s suspenseful post-apocalypse upper-middle-grade novel, The Flicker<\/a><\/em>, I thought, I can\u2019t possibly put anything this dark on the Gift Guide, right? I mean, it doesn\u2019t exactly scream \u201cbells on bobtails ring.\u201d And then, over the next week, I couldn\u2019t stop thinking about it\u2014its raw, richly drawn characters, its critique of capitalism, its discussions around gender, its beautiful ending\u2014and I thought, well, I know many kids who adore Megan E. Freeman\u2019s Alone<\/em> and Lois Lowry\u2019s The Giver<\/em>, so perhaps we\u2019re underestimating our kids\u2019 desire to witness characters come through some seriously crazy worst-case scenarios.<\/p>\n One year after a solar flair wiped out most of life on the planet, two grieving stepsiblings find themselves the sole caretakers for their infant half-brother, dangerously low on food and supplies, and forced to brave the bleak wilderness and threat of attack from a villainous group of looters called The Hive, in hopes of finding Millie\u2019s Indigenous grandma. The fact that the stepsiblings can barely exchange a civil word with one another only heightens the tension. But then a band of so-named Lost Boys, scraping by in a hollowed-out school bus, offers them a ride. But can they be trusted? The nail-biting plot twists come fast and furious, but it\u2019s the growth in Millie and Rose, both in the way they view themselves and each other\u2014chapters alternate their POVs\u2014that sit with us long after the last page.<\/p>\n Themes of resistance and resilience are at the heart of lots of great fiction, and won\u2019t our kids need those now more than ever? Plus, the bonus of reading middle-grade fiction is that, as Kate DiCamillo is fond of saying, their authors are obligated to end with hope. And the ending is highly gratifying for precisely that reason.<\/p>\n What can I say about Impossible Creatures<\/a> <\/em>that hasn\u2019t already been said? Out in the UK for the past year, this first in a high fantasy trilogy landed at the top of the NY Times <\/em>Bestseller List as soon as it dropped in the US this fall, and it has outsold any other middle grade book in the history of Old Town Books, where I work. It has been hailed as the next Harry Potter, though to me it feels closer to Philip Pullman\u2019s The Golden Compass,<\/em> for its philosophical undertones and rich exploration of the morally ambiguous areas on the spectrum between good and evil. It\u2019s also enchanting and wondrous, filled with a catalog of magical beasts, and a joy to read, despite the parts that will break your heart.<\/p>\n When we meet our two protagonists, Christopher and Mal, something is trying to eat the former and someone is trying to kill the latter. It\u2019s maybe not the most auspicious start for these characters, but it\u2019s a darn good start for us readers! From there, the action never really slows down, as the two form an alliance in the name of saving The Archipelago, a cluster of unmarked islands that represent the last magical place on Earth, where Mal has lived her entire life and to which Christopher gains access after discovering a portal in the lake at the top of the hill behind his grandfather\u2019s house. With the islands\u2019 magical creatures mysteriously dying off, the two embark on an epic journey for answers, taking as their guide a crusty old pirate who warms to them way more than he lets on, and consulting sphinxes, battling kraken, and negotiating with dragons.<\/p>\n While supplies last, we have signed copies of the special deluxe edition, including a foiled cover, red sprayed edges, intricate full-color maps, and beautiful black-and-white illustrations by Ashley Mackenzie. I\u2019d also like to state, for the record, that I wish more books for tweens and teens would take such care with their visual presentation, including larger font with enough white space for such beautiful writing to breathe.<\/p>\n Content note: I get asked all the time whether <\/em>Impossible Creatures is OK for kids younger than ten, and my answer is perhaps. It\u2019s more intellectual than Harry Potter, also quite dark at times, and includes animal death that can be a trigger point for sensitive readers. Mostly, I feel the same as I do about the last few Harry Potter books. That is, why rush it? Kids will only get more out of it if they wait, but you know your reader best!<\/em><\/p>\n Razor sharp writing, planetary science, a band of scrappy teens recruited for a secret army, and warring dragons who hold the future of humanity on their (literal) backs: welcome to the first book in The Dragonships Series, and prepare to be obsessed. Heck, I don\u2019t even bend towards sci fi thrillers, and I tore through this like my life depended on it. Which it would, if I lived on Mars and my planet was rapidly running out of food, and Earth had turned its back on us, and our only hope lay in kindling an ancient human-dragon connection and reaching out to remote corners of the solar system.<\/p>\n With undeniable appeal for both tweens and<\/em> teens, Scott Reintgen\u2019s The Last Dragon on Mars<\/a><\/em> is perfect for those who like high-stakes, fast-moving action stories with likable underdog protagonists, a.k.a. Hunger Games<\/em>, Divergent<\/em>, Skandar<\/em>, and more. (Bonus for short chapters and ample white space, because guess what? Many teens prefer those, too!)<\/p>\n And if you like special editions, you\u2019re in for an extra treat: the first edition of the book has been printed on metallic stock, embossed to feel all kinds of scaly, given sprayed edges that look like dragon veins, and hidden a dragon image on the reverse side of the jacket. Yesssssss.<\/p>\n There has never been a better time to get your teens into Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games<\/em> series, which hasn\u2019t lost a scrap of its popularity since it first came out in 2008. For one, there\u2019s a new book coming this spring (preorder it here<\/a>!); and two, there\u2019s now the MOST GORGEOUS oversized, hardcover gift edition of the first book<\/a>, illustrated by the Canadian French illustrator, Nico Delort, and perfect for newbies and collectors alike. (Think the illustrated Harry Potters, only darker and grittier.)<\/p>\n You guys. Nico Delort has knocked it out of the park here, delivering a bounty of breathtaking full-page, black-and-white scratchboard illustrations. His dynamic compositions, dramatic lighting, and intricate details are a perfect match for the story, at once reverent and foreboding.<\/p>\n I still remember this time last year, when I was working the sales floor on a Saturday and my husband sent me a photo of my daughter outside, nestled by our fire pit, tearing through the final book. Nothing makes our hearts happier than seeing our teens reading, am I right?! More all-engrossing series like this, please.<\/p>\n Reimaginings of Greek myths may be a dime a dozen these days, but few feel as contemporary or visually exciting as Lo\u00efc Locatelli-Kournwsky\u2019s graphic novel, a sprawling, high fantasy mash-up of Japanese anime and vintage 1950s American comics, which returned to print just this week. Granted, I have a soft spot for Persephone\u2014I wrote my Junior Thesis in college on the Demeter-Persephone myth\u2014but I still think this gorgeous, oversized graphic novel holds lots of appeal, especially for fans of George O\u2019Connor\u2019s Olympians<\/em> series, or those who want something less provocative than Lore Olympus.<\/em><\/p>\n Adopted and without magic of her own, Persephone is tired of living under the shadow of her mother Demeter, the powerful mage credited with sealing off Hades thirteen years ago and leading Eleusis, the \u201cabove world,\u201d to prosperity. Persephone has grown especially resentful of the secrets Demeter keeps about her birth parents, including how Demeter came to adopt her in the first place. Her budding curiosity, coupled with recurring nightmares and the mysterious appearance of a solider from Hades, gets Persephone abducted to the Underworld, where she is forced to eat the Fruit of the Damned. But though she may be cursed to stay until Demeter can stage a rescue mission, she also discovers that Hades\u2019 history is more complex than she has been taught to believe\u2014rich in magic, intrigue, and heartbreak\u2014and perhaps even deserving of Persephone\u2019s skills in botany. She\u2019ll also discover she\u2019s a pawn in a much bigger plot for power and domination\u2014and not one she saw coming.<\/p>\n The artwork moves between the pastel whimsy of Persephone\u2019s everyday life in Eleusis to the darker, more sinister backdrop of her time in Hades. Come for the mythology, stay for the parallels to disputes and misunderstandings happening today\u2014and for the totally original fashion sense!<\/p>\n Content: some violence and language<\/em>.<\/p>\n Spells to Forget Us<\/a> <\/em>has what might be my favorite premise of the year: what if the girl you\u2019re dating in the 21st<\/sup> century turns out to be\u2026a witch? And the most powerful witch in Boston at that! Aislinn Brophy\u2019s queer modern romantasy about a pair of star-crossed lovers is tons of fun, but it also delves into timely themes of influencer culture, parental pressure, racial bias, and toxic beauty standards.<\/p>\n When Aoife meets Luna at a high school football game, she has no idea that magic exists or that Luna is a powerful witch; she only knows she longs to escape the public eye thrust upon her by her mother\u2019s famous Instagram account. Luna, on the other hand, is on the hook to preserve her family\u2019s legacy\u2014and appease her very prickly grandmother\u2014to become the head of Boston\u2019s Witch Council, a job she neither wants nor is suited for, given her fiery temper and propensity to hold a grudge. When the two begin dating, magical law decrees that Luna casts a spell lifting the veil for Aoife, revealing witches, sea dragons, ogres, and sirens in plain sight around the city. The catch? If they ever break up, Aoife\u2019s memories will be stripped clean; she will not remember any magic, nor will she remember ever meeting Luna. Luna, too, will be stripped of her memories of Aoife.<\/p>\n And yet, as soon as the spell is cast, Aoife and Luna realize, inexplicably, that they have dated before. And that it ended badly. Even more, going forward, they can\u2019t seem to stop their cycle of meet-cutes from repeating over and over. Throughout the story, we\u2019re treated to first-person narration from both Aoife and Luna, revealing their lives inside and outside their relationship, which means we also appreciate the ultimate question the story asks: can a romantic relationship ever last if we\u2019re only using it to run away from the difficult conversations we\u2019re scared to have with the other people in our lives?<\/p>\n Content: heavy kissing, implied sex, some drinking, some language<\/em>.<\/p>\n Meet my favorite YA of the year. With the robust character writing of a Jeff Zentner and the voicey, dry wit of a Casey McQuiston, with short, punchy chapters that make 404 pages fly by and a diverse cast of lovable modern teens, Jade Adia\u2019s Our Shouts Echo<\/a><\/em> resists categorization. It\u2019s a swoony romance, and it\u2019s a coming-of-age story. It\u2019s an affirming portrait of anxiety and depression, and it swells with hope. It\u2019s an homage to the immense, sometimes improbable beauty in the world, and it recognizes that we\u2019re a planet in trouble. It will make you want to go hiking, and it will make you feel OK about hiding in your bedroom.<\/p>\n Sixteen-year-old Niarah Holloway is our narrator and she\u2019s a self-proclaimed loner and prepper, intent on directing her existential angst about the planet (and past family trauma) into spending her first summer in LA building a doomsday shelter in her backyard. She\u2019s also hysterically funny, her observations of others bitingly accurate. But her summer takes an unexpected turn when, to avoid having to repeat sophomore year, her teacher offers her a redo on her capstone project. The catch: she has to take a hiking class and make a Survival Handbook out of it.<\/p>\n Enter Mac, a recent graduate who is leading said class before going off to college, and who quickly sees through Niarah\u2019s prickly exterior. He\u2019s also ruggedly adorable, insufferably optimistic, and the first peer to care enough to get her name right. When their grueling first hike nearly drives Niarah to quit, he makes her a deal: if she sticks it out and helps with a backpacking trip at the end of summer, he\u2019ll help her build Camp Doomsday. They both end up with far more than they bargained for: not just a friendship-turned-romance but a chance to each define for themselves what it means to survive and what it means to live.<\/p>\n Content: some language; intimacy but not graphic; some drinking & marijuana (with helpful self-reflection); suicidal thoughts (but with strong therapy rep)<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Eras tour may be over, but you can still feed your Swift\u2019s heart with a botany of new Taylor-themed books that are technically classified for adults but will have ample legs for teens (see also this<\/a>, this<\/a>, and this<\/a>). Of there, perhaps the most enticing is Taylor Swift Style<\/a><\/em>, with 200 full-color photos documenting Taylor\u2019s fashion evolution across all ten eras. Make no mistake: this is much more than your standard coffee table book\u2014gold sprayed edges and all\u2014because it\u2019s packed<\/em> with text.<\/p>\n As the author of the popular Taylor Swift Style blog, Sarah Chapelle has been following Taylor from the beginning, likening her to an \u201colder sister\u201d who paved the way for Sarah\u2019s own adolescence and young adulthood. But it\u2019s Taylor\u2019s growing mastery of\u2014some would say obsession with\u2014perception that most intrigues Sarah, as well as the way her fashion over the years can be read as a \u201ctime capsule\u201d of her deepest self. The book\u2019s chapters correspond to the different albums and are divided into four parts: \u201cA Sweet Start for Country\u2019s Sweetheart,\u201d \u201cThe Contained Chaos of Country to Pop,\u201d \u201cThe Powerhouse She Built,\u201d and \u201cFrom the Vault (Book Version).\u201d The book concludes with a (favorite) chapter on bloopers\u2014or, \u201cSeven Times Taylor Should\u2019ve Said No.\u201d After all, not even Tay Tay is perfect.<\/p>\n The book\u2019s dedication? \u201cFor those who find themselves in the bridge of a Taylor song\u2014and wear that identity with pride.\u201d Enough said.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll admit that when I first picked up Three Things About Emmy Crawford<\/a><\/em> to vet it for the Gift Guide, I did so as the buyer for a DC adjacent bookstore; after all, it\u2019s about the eldest daughter of a woman Senator, preparing to run for president, and it\u2019s set in Georgetown. But while I might have come for a dishy story about growing up with the paparazzi breaking down your neck and the pressure to be perfect, I stayed for an authentic, immensely readable story (think lots of lists and text message threads!) about family, forgiveness, and the futures we get to change our minds about. Oh, and a fun enemies-to-lovers romance, too.<\/p>\n High school senior Emmy Crawford is a model eldest daughter, with perfect grades and a near-perfect debate record; with her at the helm, her team is poised to take nationals. She\u2019s also afraid of failure, uninterested in messy feelings, and lousy at self-case, this last point being especially critical, since she\u2019s currently experiencing one of the worst flareups of her Crohn\u2019s disease. In her orbit are her younger sister, Issy, whose ongoing struggle with anxiety only underscores Emmy\u2019s belief that it\u2019s up to her to hold her family together, and Gabe, her biggest rival in the debate world and the cause of her heartbreak two years ago\u2014never to be repeated. But as Emmy begins to crack under pressure, she finds herself lying, both to herself and those she loves, and that rattles her. Because what if she isn\u2019t as good a person<\/em> as everyone thinks she is?<\/p>\n Author Allison L. Bitz, also a licensed psychologist, draws on her personal experience with Crohn\u2019s and anxiety to construct the characters of Emmy and Issy, whose relationship is my favorite in the story. A compelling re-framing of vulnerability and self-compassion, not as signs of weakness, but as expressions of success.<\/p>\n Content: heavy kissing, bit of drinking at parties, some language.<\/em><\/p>\n This is the quietest book on the list, a pick for those who like great literary fiction, who prefer rich character studies over action-heavy plots. Everything We Never Had<\/a><\/em> is also probably the most critically acclaimed YA book of the year and will likely sweep come awards season. And I\u2019m here for it, because we rarely get such a careful, thorough examination of the emotional lives of young men in pages written expressly for this audience.<\/p>\n The book follows four generations of Filipino American boys within the same family. Against the backdrop of very different life experiences, from the 1930 apple orchards in Watsonville, CA, to the 1965 labor protests outside Stockton, CA, to a 1983 football field in Denver, CO, to the 2000 COVID lockdown in Philadelphia, PA, each of the boys grapples with similar questions around masculinity, identity, and fraught father-son relationships. In many ways, the novel is about our relationship to the past and the way some ignore it, some get stuck in it, and others choose to understand it as a way to chart a path forward. By moving back and forth in time, Ribay peels back the layers to these complicated father, grandfather, and great-grandfather figures, such that we as readers understand far more about their motivations and misgivings than their sons ever will.<\/p>\n For me, the heart of the story comes during the 2020 timeline, which brings three of the men under the same roof for the first time. Enzo, the teenager, must give up his room to his grandfather, Emil, an austere, judgmental man who refuses to call Enzo by the correct name and can scarcely exchange a civil word with his own son, Chris, whose modern life choices feel like a crushing blow to the old man. But when Enzo begins to join Emil on his nightly walks around the neighborhood, Emil\u2019s icy exterior begins to soften and the two approach the beginnings of a sweet, confessional relationship. I was reminded of my own grandmothers, whose relationships with me were far more forthcoming than those with their own children, a reminder that with generational gaps can come the gift of new beginnings.<\/p>\n Content: some language<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Brightwood Code<\/a><\/em> is the only 14+ book on this list; it\u2019s also the exception to my rule of only including fall releases on the Gift Guide, as it came out in May. But I\u2019m including it, not only because it\u2019s an exceptional, <\/em>truly gripping read\u2014Monica Hesse can be a hit or a miss for me, but she\u2019s at the top of her game here\u2014but because it\u2019s historical wartime fiction, and I continue to get asked for that all the time. The reason the industry is recommending it for 14+, as opposed to the 12+ classification of Ruta Sepetys\u2019 similarly vibed novels, is because there is a scene with an attempted sexual assault (and \u201cgrooming\u201d that leads up to it). It\u2019s not a graphic scene, and there are many twelve or thirteen year olds who are going to be fine with it, but you know your readers best, so you make the judgement call.<\/p>\n Compared to all the attention that WW2 gets in young people\u2019s literature, we don\u2019t get a lot about WW1, which is the focus of The Brightwood Code<\/a>\u2014<\/em>specifically, the \u201cHello Girls,\u201d employed by the US Army to operate switchboards on the front lines. When the novel opens, Edda has recently returned from France, where she spent her nights memorizing secret connection codes to stay ahead of spying enemies, and her days connecting vital calls between platoons, bases, and generals. Back in Washington DC, now working as a regular telephone operator, she would just as soon never again think about the things she witnessed, until a cryptic phone call comes in from a stranger who knows the one code word that will forever haunt her past: \u201cBrightwood.\u201d<\/p>\n With flashbacks to Edda\u2019s time on the front lines giving us carefully controlled clues as to what really happened there, plus a mystery on the streets of DC and Baltimore and a budding enemies-to-lovers romance with a young man down the hall who has WW1 scars of his own, the story becomes almost impossible to put down, with a reveal guaranteed to give readers chills.<\/p>\n Content: see note above about sexual assault attempt; some drinking<\/em>.<\/p>\n Have you enjoyed this post? Make sure you don\u2019t miss others! Enter your email on the right hand side of my homepage. Plus, follow me on Instagram<\/a> (@thebookmommy), where I\u2019m most active these days, posting reviews and updates on what my kids are reading, or Facebook<\/a> (What To Read To Your Kids) and Twitter<\/a> (@thebookmommy).<\/em><\/p>\n All opinions are my own. Links support the beautiful Old Town Books<\/a><\/em>, where I am the children\u2019s and teen buyer.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe Bletchley Riddle<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em>
<\/em>by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin
<\/em>Ages 10-14 (393 pages)<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHow It All Ends<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em> (Graphic Novel)
<\/em>by Emma Hunsinger
<\/em>Ages 10-14 (295 pages)<\/h3>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBye Forever, I Guess
<\/em>by Jodi Meadows
<\/em>Ages 10-13 (282 pages)<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBoy 2.0
<\/em>by Tracey Baptiste
<\/em>Ages 10-13 (293 pages)<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe Flicker
<\/em>by H.E. Edgmon
<\/em>Ages 10-14 (276 pages)<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nImpossible Creatures
<\/em>by Katherine Rundell; illus. Ashley Mackenzie
<\/em>Ages 10-15 (368 pages)<\/h3>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe Last Dragon on Mars
<\/em>by Scott Reintgen
<\/em>Ages 10-15 (373 pages)<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe Hunger Games: Illustrated Edition
<\/em>by Suzanne Collins; illus. by Nico Delort
<\/em>Ages 12+ (357 pages)<\/h3>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nPersephone (Graphic Novel)
<\/em>by Lo\u00efc Locatelli-Kournwsky
<\/em>Ages 12+ (142 pages)<\/h3>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSpells to Forget Us
<\/em>by Aislinn Brophy
<\/em>Ages 13+ (423 pages)<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nOur Shouts Echo
<\/em>by Jade Adia
<\/em>Ages 13+ (404 pages)<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nTaylor Swift Style
<\/em>by Sarah Chapelle
<\/em>Ages Teens & Adults (320 pages)<\/h3>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThree Things About Emmy Crawford
<\/em>by Allison L. Bitz
<\/em>Ages 13+ (344 pages)<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nEverything We Never Had
<\/em>by Randy Ribay
<\/em>Ages 13+ (264 pages)<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe Brightwood Code
<\/em>by Monica Hesse
<\/em>Ages 14+ (317 pages)<\/h3>\n
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