It’s not easy for a skeleton boy to make new friends. Oscar worries that his appearance is too frightful to attract potential playmates. A chance encounter with a pigtailed girl leads to a series of colorful adventures, illustrated... Read More

"Big Ideas for Curious Minds" is an eye-opening introduction to philosophy for young readers. Many people face big questions about personal identity, right versus wrong, and what it means to be a good person for the first time in middle... Read More

A troubled ghost asks whether love can survive death in Lucy Banks’s compelling mystery, "The Hanged Man and the Fortune Teller". Two ghosts wander London. One has forgotten his identity and is losing his few remaining memories. The... Read More

Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft’s "Meat Planet" is a thoughtful examination of the technological, ethical, and cultural issues swirling around the development of artificial flesh. It’s a quick-witted, journalistic survey of lab-cultured... Read More

Humorous and uplifting, Some Places More Than Others stresses the importance of family, history, and acceptance. Amara Baker, a preteen with good friends and an affinity for Nike sneakers, knows exactly what she wants for her twelfth... Read More

Elizabeth Camden’s romance "The Spice King" captures intellectual passion and patriotism at the start of the twentieth century. For Kansas-born botanist Annabelle, a position at the Smithsonian is an exhilarating opportunity. Charged... Read More

In a magical land filled with rainbows, hearts, and cotton candy-colored mountains, the unicorn is just one of many animals sporting a horn atop their furred or feathered head. Some are happy, some loud or quiet, silly or shy, but only... Read More

Maria Tumarkin’s "Axiomatic" focuses on events and people in Australia, and through that lens illuminates a wide spectrum of humanity. Though categorized as a book of essays, “essay” doesn’t do justice to Tumarkin’s lengthy,... Read More