Bad Badger: A Family Story, by Maryrose Wood

In this sequel, Septimus the badger and Gully the seagull have settled into family life together, but not all is bliss.  Raising three white fluffballs is a lot of work!.  Gully is always out searching for food for them, leaving Septimus at home with his paws full.  Septimus longs for the joys of his old life:  listening to the opera or just having some alone time.  Gully meanwhile is worn old from foraging all day.  Tensions rise.

This threatens to get much worse when the forest badgers come for an extended visit.  After all, Septimus did invite them to come any time!  And, according to the forest badgers, a badger always says "yes"! With eight visiting badgers, the house falls into chaos.  And now it's Gully's turn to fret:  the chicks are showing no interest in learning to fly!  Worse than that, they've become convinced that they would rather dig with the badgers than fly with the gulls.  But with help from their respective flocks, Septimus and Gully get the chicks where they need to be.

The first Bad Badger book was a lovely story about the compromises that one makes in a loving relationship.  This sequel expands the theme into family in all of its many forms.  Whether it is Gully's flock of gulls or Septimus's  "flock" of badgers, the members help each other grow, doing for the individual what he or she needs.  Never too heavy or precious with that message, the story is full of humor and fun, and a packing in a thrilling adventure as the fluffballs grow into becoming members of their large extended family.  A lovely book for children and adults alike!

Three Sisters, by David Macinnis Gill

Three girls and their father climb a dormant volcano in the Cascades to release the ashes of their mother.  The girls are bickering and fighting, and their father, wracked by grief, is struggling to keep himself together.  The family is a wreck and that's before the mountain they are climbing starts becoming seismically active.  As strange smells, dying animals, and tremors start to appear -- all clues that something is seriously amiss -- the children and their Dad remain locked in their familial drama.  By the time they realize that they are in serious trouble, it is almost too late.

While the snarking between the girls had a realistic quality to it, it was overdone and carried on for too long.  When the girls are refusing to talk to each as volcanic ask is falling on them and their father is bleeding out, one just started to wonder how they ever became so bratty?  Quarrels can be cute but here it became distracting and annoying.

Far more enjoyable was how resourceful the girls are.  The youngest is a first aid whiz, which comes in awfully handy when the injuries start to happen.  Another is able to lead, even when the father basically shuts down inside his surprisingly immature mind.  And the third is a scientific wunderkind, able to carefully narrate what is happening around them with a surreal knowledge of all things geologic.  It wasn't terribly realistic either, but dramatically satisfying and necessary for such a complex situation to have someone be able to explain what was happening and what could happen next.

The pace is fast and unrelenting as one disaster after another befalls the girls and their father.  That keeps the pages turning and allowed me to blow past the annoying bits, resulting in a surprisingly rewarding read in the end.

One Word, Six Letters, by Adib Khorram

Dared by a friend to shout an offensive word at the school assembly, Dylan finds himself in a heap of trouble after he does so.  At first, he doesn't understand why.  It's was just a funny thing to do and didn't hurt anyone.  It's not like he's a homophobe.  But when the school's reaction is severe and Dylan starts losing friends because of his actions, he begins to consider the harm of words.

Farshid lives in fear of people thinking he's gay.  He's not, is he?  He likes some girls, but he also can't help but admire the toned bodies of some of the guys with whom he works out.  To compensate, Farshid exercises several times a day and watches his diet to maximize muscle gain.  If he can be strong enough, no one will question his masculinity.

Two young men with image issues, learning to take less for granted and focus on being better people.  For Dylan, it's about separating himself from his prejudiced friends.  For Farshid, it's about accepting who he is.  Both have a journey to take.

While the setup is original (gay-curious Persian kid meets clueless boy with homophobic friends), there isn't much going on in this story.  The characters struggle with their egos and their need to prove themselves, but they don't really branch out.  I didn't feel much interest in or empathy for them.

The Secret Astronomers, by Jessica Walker

Two young people meet through messages that they leave each other in their school library's oldest circulating book -- an archaic nineteenth century astronomy textbook.  One of them was sent to the book by a note left by their late mother.  The other one is actually trying to use the book for their studies and is flummoxed to find that the book is being rapidly defaced through doodles.  What starts as an angry conversation about vandalizing school property morphs into a friendship between misfits, two outcasts stuck in their rural West Virginian school.  A search to solve a number of clues left by the dead mother points them to an unsolved mystery from the past.

The design of the book is truly remarkable.  Every page is a collage of original drawings and post-it notes, laid over and frequently inspired by the original text of an ancient science book.  It feels like a graphic novel, but is far more immersive. And it represents an amazing effort -- well planned and plotted -- and a unique reading experience.  The presentation doesn't just bring us into the story, it essentially makes the reading part of the narrative.

It's hard not to admire the design and originality, so I feel bad about noting that I didn't find the story itself all that engrossing and the design element makes this a slow read.  Still, for a taste of something truly different, this takes the cake!

Dust, by Alison Stine

Transported to a drought-ravaged Colorado by her prepper parents, Thea yearns for school, friends, and someone to understand her.  Hard of hearing, she struggles to communicate in the best of circumstances.  Now stuck miles away from the closest town with a father who is paranoid about any contact with the outside word, Thea is isolated and alone. Her own family blames her for her issues and refuse to get her help. Thea herself doesn't see any future, just a premonition of doom.

But financial difficulties mean that Thea needs to earn money and that brings her into town, where she meets a boy who is half-deaf like her and knows how to sign.  It opens up a path -- one that her family will do everything to block.  But as the homestead fails and the family's plans crumble in the face of drought, locusts, and dust storms, something has to give.

A timely update to Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath that takes global warming and the expansion of agribusiness into account, this novel has a timeless quality to it that promises that it will become part of many required reading lists in the near future.  Strong characters, a unique setting, and some brilliant universe building creates a compelling story. I was disappointed at the ending which aims to wrap everything up neatly, which seemed overly ambitious, but overwise wowed by this book.

Jane Stays Dreaming, by Britnee Meiser

To enliven a life that she finds dull and meaningless, Jane secretly maintains a blog in which she portrays herself as a beautiful and glamorous girl named Anastasia who has popularity, a cute boyfriend, and endless trips to New York City.  In her netzine, she posts photos, gossip, and advice to thousands of followers.  

No one in her real life knows about her online activity and Jane wants to keep things that way.  But when a new girl moves to town and reveals that she's a follower of Anastasia's writings, Jane is put in an awkward position.  The girl confesses online that she has an interest in Jane's best friend Leo.  While Leo and Jane are only friends, the outside threat makes Jane realize that her feelings for Leo are stronger than she's ready to accept.

On the face of it, this novel doesn't offer much that is really new.  It has all the tropes -- the false crush, the mean girl competitor, the inevitable unveiling of Jane's secret life, and soulmates-in-denial -- and doesn't attempt any surprises.  So, why did I enjoy it?  I suppose because who doesn't like two lovers finding each other in the end (after all, it worked fine for Shakespeare on multiple occasions)?  But really it's the characters that make this novel.  Jane and the others are articulate but still very much adolescent.  Their jealousies and insecurities are worn on their sleeves for the reader to clearly see and we don't waste much time with miscommunications.  That allows for some pretty quick resolutions, but it's a relief not having to drown in lots of invented drama.  These kids can pretty much invent enough on their own!

So, while the story is formulaic, this novel gets a boost by crafting relatable characters from whom readers can learn some lessons without being preached to.  And for those who already know the curriculum, there is the delight in a well-written account.

All Better Now, by Neal Shusterman

A new virus has begun to spread around the world called Crown Royale.  It carries a 4% mortality rate and for the survivors the after-effects are particularly striking:  recoverees find themselves free of all worldly cares.  Unhappy people find happiness.  Rich people give away their money.  Fighters become peacemakers.  The virus is transformative.

For people with problems, there is something appealing about the changes that the virus triggers.  But for others, particularly with things to lose, the virus is dangerous.  With no cares, greed is eradicated and along with it capitalism.  With fear erased and war ended, power structures that rely on them are threatened.  While many recoverees come to embrace the changed world and promote the spread of the virus, a shrinking group works hard to find a vaccine that will curb the infection.

Three young people with an important role to play form the crux of the story.  Ron, the son of one of the richest men in the world.  Mariel, penniless, but ultimately one of the most powerful people on the planet.  And finally Morgan, ruthless enough to make the decisions that could change the course of humanity.  

Given the time that has passed since the COVID pandemic, the themes of the book feel less vital and vibrant, but Shusterman's exploration of the spread of greed and fear, a countervailing movement of empathy, and the struggle between them feels quite relevant in the present day.  Making the contemporary clash of social movements that currently wrack havoc in our world into viral pandemics may lack subtlety but it provides biting commentary in a highly digestible form. 

In the end, I enjoyed this action adventure with some moral heft. The storytelling itself is lively and page-turning and most of the time Shusterman keeps the philosophical debates to a minimum (not that those are not interesting, but it can become burdensome and negatively impact the pacing).  The balance between action and social commentary that he achieves left me feeling entertained but also full of thought-provoking questions (like whether infecting the world with kindness would make us truly better off or whether people should have the right to make wrong decisions).