Fans of superheroes and comics will love this heartwarming story about friendship and bravery.
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Dan and Nate are best friends and massive comic book fans, as well as teammates on a baseball team bound for the championship. Their telepathic friendship makes them a force on the field, and their passion for Captain Nexus comics fills their time off the field. But when a wayward baseball strikes Nate's head and sends him into a coma, Dan is bereft and looking for solace and solutions. What ensues is a quest inspired by their beloved Captain Nexus, that leads Dan and his sidekicks into situations  requiring bravery and compassion, as well as a great deal of imagination. I very much enjoyed the depiction of friendships among middle school boys that this book showcased. The author very successfully illuminated the boys' vulnerability and depth of feeling, which I feel is often not given its due in books for this age group; I loved that. I am not a comic book or superhero person, but I thought the premise of this book was very clever and well-executed, and the writing was top-notch. I would recommend it for any baseball, comic book, or superhero fans, and would suggest it to adults looking to recommend books about friendship to young readers. (Pub date: July 28, 2020. Thanks to KidLitExchange for the review copy!)

An elaborate fantasy world is the backdrop for this female-powered YA political thriller.
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Special thanks to KidLitExchange and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, for the ARC of this book which  pubs in March 2020.
Ekata’s family rules Kylma Above, but she wants nothing to do with the complicated and boring world of politics—she prefers the scholarly life, with a focus on biology. But when her family is cursed by the very magic they control, Ekata’s life changes course dramatically, leaving her the Grand Duke in place of her late father. In what will certainly be a multi-part book series (and probably a gorgeous movie), this richly drawn fantasy world truly shines, with fascinating politics a la Game of Thrones, and unique creatures, traditions, rituals, and magic permutations. The gendering is totally modern, and Ekata’s taking of one of her brother’s possible brides, as well as non-binary characters with they/them pronouns, and a female royal consort who’s a badass with an axe, all enrich the plot and allow readers of all kinds to find themselves reflected herein. While YA fantasy isn’t what I usually read, I very much enjoyed the rich world-building, the empowered female characters and storylines, and the originality of it all. I took one star off because it is a little dense and complicated with names and expository prose—a common flaw in the first book in a series.