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MADreads Reviews

Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

In the deep ocean, everything is connected

Posted by MADreads on Apr 18, 2025 - 4:36pm

This gorgeously illustrated nonfiction picture book shows the unique ecosystem of a whale fall. A massive blue whale dies, and her decomposing body nourishes various marine life, from scavengers to microorganisms, on the ocean floor over more than a century. Jason Chin’s watercolors beautifully depict the process in all its phases.

Suburban desperation

Posted by Jane J on Apr 16, 2025 - 8:44pm
A review of El Dorado Drive by
Megan
Abbott

Abbott's new novel is both a thriller and an exploration of the sibling dynamics of the Bishop sisters.

The life cycle of a bus

Posted by Tracy on Apr 15, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of The Yellow Bus by
Loren
Long

Joy comes in many forms in The Yellow Bus by Loren Long. We see the new yellow school bus carrying children from home to school. “And they filled her with joy.” Then, the bus has a new life driving older riders to the library and to country parks. They, too, “filled her with joy.” The illustrations show the sunshine yellow of the bus and everything in and around the bus drenched in color. Beyond these bright colors, the rest of the page is muted and in greyscale. This makes the yellow bus always pop off the page.

Too Good to Miss - April 2025

Posted by MADreads on Apr 10, 2025 - 9:19pm

Every month there are new titles purchased for the Too Good to Miss collections at our libraries. If you're not familiar with TGTM (as we call it here in 

Peace, but at what cost?

Posted by Jane J on Apr 9, 2025 - 9:06am
A review of Where Peace is Lost by
Valerie
Valdes

Where peace is lost, may we find it.
Where peace is broken, may we mend it.
Where we go, may peace follow.
Where we fall, may peace rise.

Holds the world up

Posted by Molly W on Apr 7, 2025 - 4:36pm
Renée
Watson

Atlas is defined by Merriam-Webster as:

1. capitalized: a Titan who for his part in the Titan's revolt against the gods is forced by Zeus to support the heavens on his shoulders
2. capitalized: one who bears a heavy burden, and
3(a): a bound collection of maps often including illustrations, informative tables, or textual matter. 

A year of change

Posted by Annie A on Apr 3, 2025 - 7:43pm
A review of Whale Fall by
Elizabeth
O'Connor

Reading Elizabeth O’Connor’s Whale Fall, you will become completely immersed in the beautiful, weathered coastal landscape of a Welsh island in 1938.

Shine on

Posted by Janelle C on Apr 1, 2025 - 4:36pm

An important book on colonization and stolen cultural artifacts, And Yet You Shine by Supriya Kelkar follows the story of India's Kohinoor diamond. Its journey from India to the United Kingdom is rife with horrors due to the many hands that want to grab ahold of it. But despite the bloodshed, deception, and even disfiguring that the diamond goes through, it continues to shine. The mixed media illustrations are vividly beautiful, but far more importantly, the message throughout the book is clear: the perpetual unfairness of colonization must be acted upon and reversed.

Is it me?

Posted by Jane J on Mar 31, 2025 - 7:16pm
Fran
Littlewood

I think most kids who have siblings wonder, "am I my parents' favorite?". If you could know, would you want to? And what happens when you discover you're not the favorite?

Jason Reynolds's first romance novel

Posted by Molly W on Mar 28, 2025 - 4:36pm

Jason Reynolds's take on a teen romance is unlike anything I was expecting and more than I ever imagined.  For starters, it's told from the perspective of a 17-year-old boy named Neon.  It tackles the difficult subject of intimacy as Neon freaks out in a bathroom, cycling through the timeline of his entire romantic relationship.  

Stacks of deliciousness

Posted by Abby R on Mar 25, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of Noodles on a Bicycle by
Kyo
Maclear

Long before the days of cellphones and food delivery apps, demae (cycling deliverymen) used bicycles and amazing acrobatic balancing skills to deliver trays of steaming soba (buckwheat) noodles to hungry residents of Tokyo. The neighborhood kids all wonder, how do they manage those tottering towers of tasty food and stacks of breakable dishes while steering through the crowded streets with one hand on the handlebars? What would happen if the kids tried that too?

A match made at the inn

Posted by Jane J on Mar 24, 2025 - 9:40pm
Alice
Coldbreath
Mina's well-ordered life is thrown into disarray when her father drops a bombshell on his deathbed, she has a brother she never knew of. Not only that, he is on his way to rescue her from the collapse of their school under a mountain of debts. A wild journey across country later, Mina finds herself thrown at the feet of the brutish William Nye, prize-fighter and owner of a disreputable inn, The Merry Harlot. Respectable Mina is appalled to find herself obliged to wed this surly stranger! Forced to draw on reserves of inner strength she never knew she possessed, Mina uncovers perilous secrets and bravely carves herself a new life at the side of this man, as she proves herself a more than worthy partner for the prize-fighter.

He'll shake the universe

Posted by Jane J on Mar 19, 2025 - 7:51am
A review of Empire of Silence by
Christopher
Ruocchio

I knew nothing about Ruocchio's debut, first in the Sun Eater series, other than it's pretty long, it's going to take a long time to read. If I say I finished it in a couple days, you'll get an idea as to how exhilarating it was and how much I loved it.

Singing in celebration

Posted by Abby R on Mar 18, 2025 - 4:36pm
A review of Joyful Song by
Leslea
Newman
There's a new baby at Zachary's house and he is thrilled to be a big brother. Best of all, it's his sister's very first Shabbat, and today she will be welcomed into her Jewish faith community when her name is announced publicly for the first time. On the walk to the synagogue, Zachary, Mama and Mommy encounter many neighbors eager to meet the newest member of the family. "Want to come with us to her naming ceremony?" Zachary invites. Of course they all do, and of course we readers want to come, too!