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THE SNOWMAN CODE

It’s March, but the heavy snow shows no signs of melting. Even worse, winter sometimes makes her mom so sad that Blessing has to stay with other families while she recovers in the hospital. Blessing has been skipping school to avoid her bullies, and one afternoon, while she’s hiding in Victoria Park, she meets an […]

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UNDERSTANDING

The author compares resilient people to willow or palm trees, simultaneously rooted and flexible, and grief as unexpressed love for something or someone lost. The book goes on to put grief into three categories: physical only (loss of objects), emotional only (loss of opportunities), and physical and emotional (death, divorce). The author reassures readers that […]

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PHINEAS AND FERB’S A-MAZE-ING CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE

First, the book presents a tale set in 1952, featuring an alternate-universe version of the Phineas and Ferb cast (a recurring bit that will be familiar to longtime fans). The boys are still their inventive selves; Dr. Doofenshmirtz is “Doof of the Dark,” the local host of a schlocky monster-movie broadcast; and Candace is a […]

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EMPTY CALORIES AND MALE CURIOSITY

McLoof gathers 10 roughly 10-page stories that begin with a reference to an actual 2023 New York Times piece on Midland Park, New Jersey, a slow-paced, multigenerational “Forever Town” an hour from New York City. The narrator reads something ominous into that description and rewinds to 1994, when, at age 10, he attends his town’s […]

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BUTTERFLY SEA

An unnamed protagonist dons a special khaki vest and borrows Grandma’s camera before heading out of a house to look for butterflies. They’re pursued by a much younger child, and the second-person narration recommends that “if trouble follows you, embrace it.” (Both characters are portrayed with pale skin.) As the older child continues to look […]

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THE UNINVITED

After moving from Portland, Oregon, to France for her father’s job, Tosh grows increasingly fond of Paris, even if her language skills need some work. Her sweet American neighbor Nick takes her on fabulous, quirky tours and introduces her to new friends who share her curiosity about the world; former debate team member Tosh loves […]

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LOVE FINDS A WAY

Oscar, a bespectacled, round-bodied, long-legged bird with cartoonishly big eyes, is desperate to keep love away. He feels it coming on, so he makes preparations, putting up “No trespassing” signage and donning protective armor and camouflage. Finally, he gets a ferocious guard dog—a fuzzy little brown pup named Brutus. Brow furrowed, Brutus barks, growls, and […]

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ADVENTURE AWAITS

Australian stuntperson, survival expert, and TV personality Furneaux draws on her own bushcraft experience to offer an engaging guide to survival in the outdoors that’s at once comprehensive and compulsively readable. Organized into manageable sections, the book covers core outdoor survival principles, including shelter, water, and fire. Each section presents a historical example to learn […]

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TRAIL RIDES AND STARRY EYES

Cassidy has always known that someday she’ll help run Silver Stallion Ranch, just like generations of Sterlings before her. Wilder Nash is a Hollywood heartthrob who’s trying to break out of commercials and high school prom-coms. Being cast as the lead in a historical Western miniseries might be his big break. The only problem: He […]

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MURDER IN MANHATTAN

Why do all journalists in early 20th-century New York get to party with the Fitzgeralds? Morris Markey squired Zelda to the scandalous Midnight Frolic in Mariah Fredericks’ The Girl in the Green Dress (2025), and now Freddie Archer, author of the Touch of Rouge column in Gotham magazine, pours herself into a taxi and goes […]