MADreads

Little old lady Vera Wong wakes up to find a dead body in her tea shop in San Francisco's Chinatown and immediately gets to work solving the murder. The police rule the death accidental but Vera knows there's foul play. After all, she found evidence on the deceased while she was waiting for the police to arrive. She searched every pocket and looked inside the victim's wallet. She knows stuff! Too bad the young officers assigned to the case didn't drink any of Vera's special tea to sharpen the mind and senses. She prepared a tea tray especially for this purpose.

And totally worth saving.  

Louise and Merwin are tiny sycamore seed siblings preparing to take flight from their mother's seed pouch when disaster strikes. The forest is on fire and creatures are fleeing the area. A stampede of dinosaurs knock over mama and her seed pouch bursts open. The two little seeds make their way into the terrifying world earlier than planned, sooner than they were prepared for, and without great prospects for finding a suitable place to put down roots.

Nicole Oruwari is living in Lagos with her handsome Nigerian-born husband and his wealthy family when she goes missing. Her auntie Claudine flies from the UK to Nigeria to find out more about what's happened to her niece and uncovers a tangled web of wealth and privilege that leaves readers riveted and surprised. At the heart of the mystery are the "nigerwives," a group of foreign-born women married to Nigerian men who regularly meet and look out for each other.  

Nikki Grimes' novel in verse, Garvey's Choice, is now available as a middle grade graphic novel. Garvey likes to read books, map the stars, and sing. His dad wants him to toss a football around and shoot hoops. When Garvey's father doesn't see him for who he truly is, Garvey eats his feelings. This leads to a vicious cycle with Garvey feeling bad about himself and his dad wanting him to exercise even more.