Remember Us

by  Jacqueline Woodson

Penguin Random House

    This is listed as a middle grade book but I think anyone over the age of 10 or so will love it. As she does in her adult novels, Woodson brings a real care for language and an immense belief in memory to the story of Sage growing up in a beloved neighborhood that is burning down. She manages an optimistic look at changes in ourselves and our world, what we remember and forget about everything around us.

AND it won the Walter Dean Myers Award 2024!  Yay!

If you would like to know more about this book, or own it, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place - bookshop.org .

 A Psalm for the Wild-Built

by Becky Chambers

Tor Publishing Group

    When the robots on Panga became sentient they chose not to continue working in factories for the humans. A division of land was worked out and the robots left humanity and went to wander the wilderness. Centuries of great change passed before a robot, on its way to fulfill a very old promise, meets and befriends a tea monk on their own serious quest.

    This is a gentle, soothing parable of a world we can wish for.

If you would like to know more about this book, or own it, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place bookshop.org.

 The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

by James McBride

Riverhead Books/PRH

    This is a wonder - a book that brings you quickly into another world, that is our world in 1939 Pottstown, PA. You will fall in love with these characters and they will break your heart while still  giving you hope. Don't miss the acknowledgments at the end - this section will make you cry, even if none of the rest has.

    A brilliant novel.

If you'd like to know more about, or own this book (you will want it), please contact your local independent bookstore or this wonderful place bookshop.org

 Bournville

by Jonathan Coe

Europa Editions

   From VE Day, 1945, through the early months of the pandemic in 2020, we follow Mary and her family during years of great changes in England. This is a warm, loving, often humorous, sometimes angry, social history of Great Britain told through one immensely endearing family.

    And chocolate. Did I mention Cadbury's?

If you'd like to know more about this book, or purchase it, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place bookshop.org .

In the Form of a Question

by Amy Schneider

Avid Reader Press/S&S

   Amy Schneider manages to tell her complex story with humor, warmth, understanding and intelligence. She doesn't seem to be hiding anything, except those things that she tells you, up front, that she's not going to write about. She describes a difficult childhood, adolescence and young adulthood without ever losing her great smile and providing the reader with one. It does become a relief to all when she gets to the point of transitioning. There's a sequel, I hope.

   The very best use of footnotes. Ever!

If you'd like to know more about, or own this book, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place bookshop.org .