Older Readers
Book, Beast, and Crow.
By Elizabeth Byrne.
Mar. 2024. 368p. HarperCollins/Quill Tree, $19.99 (9780062484789). Gr. 10–12.
Hartwood, New Jersey, is well-known for its high rate of unexplained disappearances, all blamed on a beast that skulks behind the Wall separating the main part of town from the Great Swamp. Locals use the Wall and its statues of the Ladies of Hartwood as an altar to wish for things. Anna has seizures and “episodes” during which she sees things that no one else can; on a visit to the Wall, she and her friend Olivia come into contact with a strange, witchy woman who offers to tell them the answer to any question. When Olivia is attacked by the beast, Anna worries about the strange prophecies and the things she now hears in her head: weird glowing women in the streets and power outages that no one else notices. Where this is all going and how it’s related to the Wall, she doesn’t know. Byrne has a free-flowing style that makes even the strangest things happening seem almost normal. Give this to readers of weird, witchy books. —Stacey Comfort
Breathing Underwater.
By Abbey Lee Nash.
Mar. 2024. 224p. Holiday, $18.99 (9780823453863); e-book, $11.99 (9780823457410). Gr. 9–12.
It’s the first night of summer vacation, and Tess Cooper is not about to jeopardize her shot at swimming nationals because her teammates want to go to a wild party. Tess agrees to race in host Rachel’s pool, with the winner choosing to either stay at the sleepover or go. She’s close to winning when things go wrong—she has a seizure and almost dies. Suddenly stuck on dry land, Tess flounders, caught between the need to stay safe, in case it wasn’t an isolated event, and her deep yearning to be the fastest swimmer. Complicating the issue further is Tess’ scholarship to a private high school and her expected athletic scholarship for college, both of which could disappear if she stops competing. Nash’s characters, flawed and human, grapple with income inequality, divorce, and disability, and the sports themes are elevated with both Tess’ romance with new lifeguard Charlie and the realities of her new epilepsy diagnosis, as well as the discussions surrounding accommodations in competition-level sports. Most characters are described as white. Nash’s book may not be the smoothest dive into YA sports, but it should find devoted fans ready to cheer Tess and her team to victory. —Kathleen Breitenbach
The Calculation of You and Me.
By Serena Kaylor.
June 2024. 304p. St. Martin’s/Wednesday, $24 (9781250908681); paper, $14 (9781250908704); e-book, $9.99 (9781250908698). Gr. 9–12.
Autistic high-school senior Marlowe has intelligence, wit, and two best friends, as well as insecurity in certain social situations. But now that Josh, her boyfriend of two years, has dumped her, saying that she’s never “done anything romantic” for him, Marlowe is adrift. Despite her friends’ opinions of her ex, she’s determined to win him back. She soon enlists the help of a classmate, Ash, in exchange for her expertise in updating his band’s website and social media presence. All goes well until she gets to know Ash better and begins to wonder why she’s chasing Josh. As the people who know her best keep asking, “What do you want, Marlowe?” the answer becomes increasingly clear. Kaylor, whose first novel, Long Story Short (2022), was also a romance featuring a neurodivergent main character, creates a wholly believable story with three well-drawn characters in Marlowe, Josh, and Ash, who works part-time in a romance bookshop/café. Immediately engaging, Kaylor’s lively first-person narrative seems likely to please rom-com fans with its plausible story and satisfying ending. —Carolyn Phelan
Call Forth a Fox.
By Markelle Grabo.
Apr. 2024. 384p. Page Street, $18.99 (9798890039705). Gr. 10–12.
Four years after their father dies, Ro, almost 16, and her sister, Eirwyn, almost 18, are spending one last winter in their village before joining their mother across the river in the town of Poppy. Ro dreads the thought of leaving her father’s gardens and the woods where she forages, but when she encounters a red fox behaving strangely and decides to follow it, she finds herself in the middle of a contest between a fox and a bear, both of whom are actually teens cursed by faeries. The bear is a boy named Brend, pale with messy brown hair, while the fox is really Colette, a girl with brown skin, honey eyes, and tight black curls who immediately catches Ro’s interest and, soon, her lips. Grabo’s debut novel is a Celtic-inspired, queer retelling of “Snow-White and Rose-Red” with Ro caught between fox and bear, human and faerie, boy and girl, but discovering that sometimes decisions aren’t either/or. Romantasy fans will be ensorcelled and left begging for more. —Kathleen Breitenbach
The Collagist.
By Karen Holmberg.
Mar. 2024. 232p. Fitzroy,
