An unseen narrator reminds Alpaca to “pack-a a snack-a.” Then Alpaca and Mom walk to the bus stop and wait. (Mom will be fine while Alpaca’s at school, the narrator reassures readers.) At school, the sounds of footsteps going “click-clack-a” reverberate through the hallways; Principal Quack-awelcomes everyone. Alpaca’s a bit worried—will the teacher, Miss Yak-a, […]
Holt, a journalist who has written several books about overlooked women in history, here turns her attention to an odd gap in the world of natural history—namely, the lack of any formal record of the giant panda, “whose whereabouts, habitat, and behavior were still unknown” other than by anecdote outside China. Indeed, when Kermit and […]
The first entry, “A Gringo Died Today,” kicks things off in a village in Guatemala. As the title suggests, the dead body of a foreigner is discovered on a beach; the story of how that dead body came to be there is one that lands a local in some serious trouble. In “The Eagle of […]
Aye-Shan City has already been reduced to ashes, its few remaining survivors sent scattering in the opening pages of Hong Kong brothers Chi-Ho (the author) and Chi-Kit (the illustrator) Kwong’s sweeping and kinetic saga about the nature of war. Aye-Shan City may have been destroyed by the dastardly Zhehe people, but that just means that […]
In her fourth book set in a region unknown to many readers, Kassabova examines the threats facing one of the few remaining nomadic peoples in modernity: the Karakachans, “Greek speakers of mysterious origin” whose homeland is “impossible to know.” Moving their animals in search of fresh pasture, they have spent centuries breeding ancient races of […]
In humanity’s space-colonizing future, would-be Mars settler Michelle Arensen tries to put the suicide of her father behind her, working with her husband and brother to build a lasting Red Planet base. Suddenly, a bizarre phenomenon engulfs Michelle and other women on the expedition who find themselves held prisoner by faceless, noncommunicative humanoids. After a […]
British publisher and diarist Allen brings his love of notebooks to a lively, wide-ranging history of bound blank pages. Notebooks, he writes, “interest me as a technology that has had tangible effects on the world around us.” The author started keeping a journal in 2002: “Writing a diary made me happier; keeping things-to-do lists made […]
At the playground, Nadine hears a girl her age speaking to her doll in an unfamiliar language. Eager to learn more, Nadine asks the girl, Yan, if she has a “coming-here story.” Yan replies that she’s a recent immigrant from China, and the two children bond. Later, on her way home, Yan asks a woman […]
It’s the 1970s in Walnut Creek, in an unnamed U.S. state, long before cellphones and social media, and preteen Jimmy Hamilton daydreams about big league baseball, throws crab apples at the neighbor’s cat, and hopes his mom doesn’t order him to tear down his tree fort. On the plus side, summer and Little League are […]
Grandma Patsy adopts a “fluffy white kitten with big blue eyes” from an animal shelter near her Florida home. It’s almost Christmas, so she names the kitten “Noel.” The two become great friends, and Grandma Patsy gives him food, treats, and lots of cuddling—but Noel wants to find other furry companions. He meets his neighbor […]