And we’ve arrived at Friday, five days worth of top 10 lists from reading this year. To say that I’m a reader is an understatement. It’s a part of me in every way from my profession to my personality.
Books for teens are my bread and butter being a high school librarian, so it is hard to arrive at a top ten. Top twenty or thirty would be better. You’ll see some heavy hitters- authors like Candace Fleming, Gail Jarrow, Marissa Meyer, Kate Messner. I’ve got authors like Suzanne Collins riding a new wave of fans of the Hunger Games with the emotional wreck that is Sunrise on the Reaping. There are debut authors like Vinson writing about the skate rink (shoutout to Midstate where I spend many Saturday mornings and several birthdays and slow skating to Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You hand-in-hand with a crush). The fantasy world that Rundell built in the sequel which was exquisite and creative. And last, a thinker of a book, the dark and tragic but strong and powerful Lady or the Tiger by Herrman.
Were there favorites of yours on any of the lists? Others that you’d want to add? I’ll be writing throughout 2026 so if there’s any focus that would be beneficial, leave a comment.
You know what the trouble is with stunning books like Kate Messner’s The Trouble With Heroes that dropped yesterday?
It makes people like me stay up past my bedtime to finish it.
It’s been a few years since I decided to forgo sleep on a school night so that I could finish a book, but I do remember those books that compelled me to do so in years past: The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner, The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee, Murder Among Friends by Candace Fleming.
But back to Kate Messner’s mesmerizing middle grade with a little story about the full-circle moment of completing it ahead of the New York State Library Association’s School Librarians Conference happening in Rochester this week. Because last year at about this time, the conference was in Lake Placid and Kate Messner was the keynote closing lunchtime speaker on Saturday. Regaling the audience with stories about her curious discoveries that become series like the History Smashers, she talked about the project she launched with a stellar cast of authors– a series of chapters books called The Kids in Mrs. Z.’s class, and she shared mockups of the cover of the yet-to-be-released The Trouble with Heroes; she asked the librarians which cover we liked best. When I saw the advanced copy available on Netgalley, I quickly requested it, but I know myself. I know that when I’m really excited about a book, I (oppositely) avoid it as long as possible because then when it’s read, I can’t go back and read it for the first time. Ever. Again.
This is the case with The Trouble with Heroes. I had read a few pages about a week ago. I had already made notes to myself and highlighted moving quotes. And I told myself. I have to prolong it until I realized the publication date was April 29th and it has had so much buzz that I thought, I’m going to dive in. And that’s just what I did. How easy was it to get lost in Finn’s story– a seventh grader who makes a bad decision, but instead of a strict punishment, the adults around him know that he needs nature healing after the death of his father– a man who was forever memorialized as a hero on September 11th saving a woman. A man who was haunted by the demons of that day. Who then was a paramedic in the city for years including the recent pandemic. What a tough time to be in healthcare. Yet he always had the Adirondacks.
Astute readers know that Messner herself is a 46er, a person who has summited all 46 High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. It would be assumed, she wanted to write a bit of a love letter to this journey that’s physical as well as spiritual for many who set that goal.
Now Finn will be hiking them, many of them with a drooling, hairy sidekick, Seymour the dog pictured on the cover, and a cast of mentors who summit with him. I can wax poetic about the storytelling, the humor, the character development, the setting, the message but I will not because I will tell you: read it yourself. Everyone deserves an experience like reading Messner’s stunning story, both kid and adult. I will however share a favorite page of verse (from the advanced copy) that’s another “trouble” with The Trouble with Heroes— and that’s that it’s too poetic for its own good:
Too Much Time to Think
The trouble with long hikes
is that your brain has to come with you
and on the way back when you’re trudging
the last muddy miles,
it has plenty of time to think about stuff
like metaphors.
That May after Mom and I moved back,
she and Gram had figured out
how to handle pickup orders from the shop.
I was making deliveries on my bike
and riding around in the sunshine was pretty okay.
I’d just gotten home when the phone rang.
You know the call I’m talking about.
I’m not going through it again.
Except to say it felt like that spot
in the brook where the rocks fell away.
Like I was falling
and falling,
heart sinking, stomach twisting
never saw it coming.
I should have.
But I didn’t.
Later today I’ll be stopping by my local indie bookstore to purchase two copies. One to keep and one to give to a kid I know should read it. I’ll also be adding several copies to the shelves of the school library I work at. Do yourself a favor. Support Messner by doing the same. Your kids will be better for it. And we want Messner to keep writing.
Yesterday I read Ibi Zoboi’s newest book (S)kin that came out about a week ago. She writes the story in verse and specifically as readers get to know Genevieve and Marisol, Zoboi works her magic with the format in an ingenious way. It got me thinking about how much I adore the verse novel format when it’s done right. It puts the emotion front and center because it does not rely on words alone to tell the story.
I remember when Ellen Hopkins broke onto the scene with Crank, but the verse novel that (S)kin is most similar to is Identical by Hopkins: two perspectives of the twin teen girls and as the story switches between each of them, their thoughts or words align along the center of the page. It was gold then and it’s gold now to use visual poetry to convey secondary or tertiary layers of meaning.
Another element of verse novels is what I mentioned earlier: emotion. In Three Things I Know Are True by Betty Culley, Starfish by Lisa Fipps, and Louder Than Hunger by Jon Schu, the characters are going through some stuff. And that’s an oversimplification: Liv’s brother shot himself in the head with a gun at a friend’s house but survived though with significant medical issues; Ellie’s self esteem is wrecked by her mother’s insistence on Ellie getting thin; and Jake (based on Schu’s own experiences) suffers the loss of his grandmother which catapults him into an eating disorder so disruptive that it requires in-patient treatment. In all three of these examples, readers empathize intimately with the character’s because there’s a thin barrier between the character and reader when there are fewer words to hide behind. Oftentimes, it’s the lack of words on a page that sucker punches the reader when it’s only one or two in a sea of blank space.
This creative form is a win. I gravitate toward verse novels in the way that teens do too. For pure emotion. It’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but it’s also true of a verse novel that does more with less.
With the last day of the year, what’s better than a quick post of my favorite posts from this year because they were often about amazing moments or reads from this past year.
And it wouldn’t be the end of one year and the start of another without having my last book of the year and first book of the new year lined up. Several hours ago I finished the National Book Award winner Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi. It’s clear why it’s a winner.
And as if Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan made a wish come true that I whispered into the ether or not, my first read of 2025 will be Saga #71.
There’s no doubt this will be the perfect way to usher in a new year of reading. If you haven’t hitched your wagon to Saga yet, make this your year.
Next up, the fantastically deep bench of awesome middle grade for 2024. I could have created an honors list in addition to the ten I’m featuring as my favorites of the year.
On November 24, 2023, I posted Over this next year that explained a challenge I was embarking on to read forty books that had affected me since I was turning forty. Challenge complete.
Pacing myself throughout the year, I listened to some of the books and read others but I did purchase a few of the titles that I hadn’t previously owned. As I read each one, I flipped it to show my progress over the year.
Ultimately, a few of them will not remain on my shelf because that’s the thing about rereading books, it’s not always the same the second time around. But I’m glad for it because it shows I’m not the same person. Tastes and interest shift in books the same that it does with food or decorating or clothing. That’s to be celebrated and one of the reasons I wanted to undertake the reflective practice of rereading because I rarely reread and prefer to remember the feelings about the books rather than the content. What I learned:
Mood as a literary device is important to me a reader. The books that remain impactful are a direct result of the book’s atmosphere such as The Virgin Suicides, The Girl From the Other Side, and Mudbound.
Nonfiction, especially food memoir, literally takes the cake. Read: Crying in H Mart and Dessert Can Save the World. But books about food are right next to them like Chicken Every Sunday, First Bite, and Lessons in Chemistry.
The classics on my list didn’t hold their own unfortunately. Sorry Brave New World, The Catcher in the Rye, and Jane Eyre. But neither did the epic first book in the Mayfair Chronicles The Witching Hour, though I heart Anne Rice forever and always.
Strong, whip smart, sassy, or otherwise memorable characters are hard to forget. Benny from Circle of Friends, Naomi from Out of Darkness, Maddie from A Northern Light, Lena from Between Shades of Gray, Anne from Anne of Green Gables, Melinda from Speak, Carey from If You Find Me, Charlotte from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and Hazel from Anatomy: A Love Story.
Significantrelationships tug at my heartstrings which is why I carry a torch for all of the creatures in The House In the Cerulean Sea and Saga; the dystopian community in The Giver, Werther opining in The Sorrows of Young Werther, the ultimate friendship trio in The Serpent King, and the whole crux of what Turkle stands for in Reclaiming Conversation. And as long as there will be star-crossed lovers, there will be Edward and Bella from Twilight.
Innovative formatting or a unique approach to storytelling keep me thinking about a book long after I’ve finished it. Think The Lovely Bones‘ from beyond the grave, mental illness in Challenger Deep, Long Way Down‘s mystery elevator, Crank‘s verse, The Vagina Monologues‘ well, monologues, Milk and Honey‘s Instagrammable poetry and illustrations, the library in The Midnight Library, and Calvin and Hobbes‘ daily and Sunday strips.
Picture books say so much without having to say much at all. This is where pictures speak a thousand words and the author creates the write words to allow the pictures to shine which is why Farmhouse and My First Day by Quang and Lien were on my list. Both I’ve gifted several times over.
And let’s just say I ripped a page right out of The Power of Moments to create this personal challenge, which is why I’ve relished this project over this last year; celebrating book love by reading Book Love, which was a gift from a friend. I couldn’t have asked for a more fulfilling opportunity and urge others to find a moment to reflect on your own reading journey– whether it’s been a few months or years or a lifetime.
What would October 31st be without a few book recs to get us all in the Halloween spirit?
Sheets by Thummler: Because Wendell the ghost haunting Marjorie’s family laundromat is sentimental and sweet.
Gyo by Ito: Because anything Ito creates is the thing of nightmares and phobias.
The Girl from the Other Side by Nagabe: Because Teacher is a creature that doesn’t eat or sleep with a deer-like skull for a head who is smitten with Shiva, a little girl he wants to protect is as innocent as it is dark woven perfectly in this manga.
Eternally Yours edited by Caldwell: Because you want creepy in bite-sized short stories.
Fangs by Anderson: Because a werewolf and a vampire fall in love.
The Ghosts of Rose Hill by Romero: Because a verse novel about a ghost haunting a cemetery that a human teen befriends is my kind of book.
Ghost Book by Lai: Because creative storytelling in middle grade graphic novels couldn’t have gotten better than this book about lives lived, lost, and found again.
The Weight of Blood by Jackson: Because what book can get you to read another classic book (Carrie by King) with both bringing the gore and thrill.
The Night Easters by Liu and Takeda: Because there is so much to take in visually in this graphic novel backed by so much emotional and family baggage.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Horvath and Otsmane-Elhaou: Because an Eisner winning comic series about an unassuming bear in a small town with a penchant for murder is psychologically riveting from the first page to the last page.
Romance is in the air. I’m feeling extra lovey today on my wedding anniversary and having finished Jason Reynolds’ new book that will be out in October called Twenty Four Seconds from Now last night, I thought I’d post some favorite romances.
First, let’s spend a few minutes bowing down to the genius of Jason Reynolds. This story of Neon and Aria has a timeline that sparkles in addition to the community including family and friends that support their two year romance. It’s heartwarming and natural and is exactly the kind of story that teens deserve.
The others that I’ve adored that range from tragic and sad to all-encompassing and sweet.
It’s fitting to end this week of posts with books that feature a friendship. We all need friends in this world and these are some of my favorites.
Hilo series by Judd Winick: When an alien kids come down to earth, friends rally around Hilo and welcome him into their circle.
Laid Back Camp manga series by Afro: Camping buddies.
Heavy Vinyl comic series by Carly Usdin illustrated by Nina Vakueva: Girl power friendship set among the backdrop of a 90s record store but they have a secret about what else they do.
A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan: Differences become shared experiences.
Cornbread & Poppy series by Matthew Cordell: Opposites attract.
Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow: Friends are there when you need them the most, especially for comic relief.
My wish is that you enjoyed the collection of lists over the past month to find and use in your own classrooms, libraries, personal collections, and TBR piles. Happy summer!
Readers Be Advised 