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Review_CHILDREN’S

“I grew ten feet overnight and became a mothers and passionately roots for the discrimination. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sara
total klutz,” she says, and she suspects Golden State Warriors. Peppered with Crowe, Pippin Properties. (Mar.)
that her coach has assigned her to the basketball trivia, the storyline coincides
demanding position of starting center with the Warriors’s 2015 championship ★ The Sky at Our Feet
because of her stature, rather than her run—even non-fans will be swept up in Nadia Hashimi. Harper, $16.99 (304p)
skill. While avoiding melodrama, Donne the excitement of their winning season. ISBN 978-0-06-242193-7
humorously portrays Elle’s adjustment to Penelope faces challenges, some self- Hashimi (One Half from the East)
her changing body and her increasing self- made—such as when she claims Native addresses the plight of undocumented
confidence and positivity. Play-by-play American heritage for a school project immigrants while taking readers on a
basketball action, friendship subplots, (only her nonbiological mother is glorious, madcap race through Manhattan.
and the inspiration Elle draws from her Ohlone)—and some forced on her, Twelve-year-old Jason Riazi, the novel’s
older sister (who is deaf and blind and has including the homophobia her family guileless narrator, has just learned that
autism and cerebral palsy) round out this endures. Rocklin (Fleabrain Loves Franny) although he is an American citizen, his
engaging novel. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jennifer also touches on racial prejudice: Penelope, mother is not, having overstayed her stu-
Keene and Erin Kane, Octagon. (Mar.) who is white, initially reacts insensitively dent visa. When he sees her being taken
when her best friend’s older brother, who away by two official-looking men, he
Ice Wolves is black, is pulled over and treated assumes that she is being sent back to
Amie Kaufman. Harper, $16.99 (352p) unfairly by a police officer. Rocklin’s Afghanistan, and he boards a train from
ISBN 978-0-06-245798-1 novel deals honestly with the ways even New Jersey to Penn Station, hoping to use
In this lively first book in the Elementals the best friends and parents can disap- a partial street address to locate his Auntie
trilogy, orphaned twins who have grown point, creating numerous genuine and Seema. A con-
up as street thieves are separated for the moving moments. Final art not seen by cussion lands
first time when their shapeshifting abili- PW. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Erin him in the hos-
ties manifest. Twelve-year-old Anders Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s pital, where he
becomes an ice wolf, and his sister, Rayna, agent: Holly Bemiss, Susan Rabiner Literary. meets the
transforms into a scorch dragon—a tradi- (Mar.) delightfully
tional enemy of the wolves. After Rayna smart-mouthed
is stolen away by other dragons for their The Parker Inheritance Max, a self-pro-
own purposes, Anders is invited to attend Varian Johnson. Scholastic/Levine, $16.99 claimed genius
the Ulfar Academy, a school dedicated to (352p) ISBN 978-0-545-94617-9 who is hooked
training ice wolves to guard their land After her parents divorce, 12-year-old up to a slew of
against dragon attacks. Anders just wants Candice Miller begrudgingly moves with wires. Both
to learn enough to locate and rescue his her mother from Atlanta to the small strangers to New York City, they escape
sister, but the more he bonds with his new town of Lambert, S.C., for the summer. In the hospital together and are soon navi-
friends and delves into his special abili- the attic of Candice’s late grandmother’s gating the subways, the annual marathon,
ties, the more he wonders if there’s some- house she finds a letter addressed to her and the Central Park Zoo while being
thing else to the conflict between ice and grandmother, which promises treasure to pursued by frantic adults. A winsome
fire. In her first solo novel, Kaufman the city if the letter’s puzzle can be solved. supporting cast, snappy dialogue, and
(Unearthed) conjures an intriguing world Candice then learns that her grandmoth- nonstop adventures just shy of fantastic
with memorable, diverse characters. er’s efforts to do so years earlier cost her make this a thought-provoking, heart-
Although the backstory isn’t entirely both her reputation and her job as the first warming page-turner. Ages 8–12. Agent:
fleshed out, and some of the twists are African-American city manager in Sarah Heller, Helen Heller Agency. (Mar.)
predictable, the premise is solid, backed Lambert. Candice digs into the mystery
up by an enticing blend of magic, action, along with Brandon, an 11-year-old Wizard for Hire
and excitement. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tracey neighbor who is being bullied. The two Obert Skye. Shadow Mountain, $17.99
Adams, Adams Literary. (Mar.) bookworms have just a few months to find (416p) ISBN 978-1-62972-412-6
the fortune and repair Candice’s grand- In this offbeat series opener, a young
Love, Penelope mother’s legacy, and they come to discover man searches for his parents with the aid
Joanne Rocklin, illus. by Lucy Knisley. Amulet, how racism has poisoned the town over of a self-proclaimed wizard, a resourceful
$16.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-4197-2861-7 the years. It’s a gripping mystery, and the girl, and a talking mechanical raven. Ever
Ten-year-old Penelope Bach’s journal plot shifts smoothly between Candice’s since his scientist parents were abducted
to her yet-to-be-born baby sibling forms present-day story and flashback sections seven years ago, 14-year-old Ozzy Toffy
the basis of Rocklin’s touching novel. that reveal Lambert’s history of injustice. has grown up alone in their remarkably
Penelope’s entries, each beginning “Dear Johnson (To Catch a Cheat) addresses well-stocked cabin in the Oregon woods,
You,” offer advice and reveal her own important issues gracefully, particularly living on expired canned food and
growth over nine months. A resident of having the freedom to live a life of one’s learning from the books they left behind,
Oakland, Calif., Penelope has two choosing and the long-lasting effects of with Clark the raven as his only com-

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