Best Reads of May - June 2025

My favorites from the RICBA list and the quest for Mock Caldecotts. Click on the titles to read plot summaries. If you'd like to see all of my books, you can follow me on Goodreads.

Picture Books

Little Freddie Two Pants: by Drew Daywalt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Pure silliness. "No pants is not enough pants!"

 

Bearsuit Turtle Makes a Friend by Bob Shea
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ridiculous silliness with a heart. Will definitely be using for Mock Caldecott.

 

Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"This is a whale shark.
It's the largest fish in the world.
It's the size of a bus.
That's not okay."

Another reviewer mentioned that this reads like a political attack ad, and that is brilliant ... will be using with 5th grade alongside Elise Gravel's "Killer Underwear Invasion."

 

The Hole by Lindsay Bonilla
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. Excellent portrayal of grief that is understandable for kids and offers a bit of comfort.

 

Mistaco: A Tale of Tragedy y Tortillas by Eliza Kinkz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love the style, love the message, love the mistakes, laughed out loud at the tragedy that befell her at school.

 

Hope in a Jar by Deborah Marcero
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of those books that leaves you feeling calm with a smile on your face.

 

Let's Be Bees by Shawn Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fact that Harris did the illustrations in crayon alone is enough to score a place on my Mock Caldecott list. And all of the animal noises will make it a great addition to the preschool pantheon.


Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Skews young for my students, but there are so many little kids this would make a great gift for.

 

When Alexander Graced the Table by Alexander Smalls
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dad is kind of a butt. At least he liked the pie.

Chapter Books / Graphic Novels

 

Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All by Chanel Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this! Fully plan to read it out loud to my students next year and have them create their own personal socks.

 

The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class: Emma McKenna, Full Out by Kate Messner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Exactly the kind of books we need more of! Short, illustrated, relatable. Perfect for 3rd grade. I will be buying the entire series.

 

Jupiter Nettle and the Seven Schools of Magic: A Graphic Novel by Sangu Mandanna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Extra star because I could read the lettering and the panels made sense. Kind of predictable story, but for kids who don't have decades of reading books behind them, they will be surprised. And I liked the point that without the earth magic, the rest of the students wouldn't have what they needed. Why did Grim have to be SUCH an a-hole, though?

Nonfiction

The Life-Changing Magic of Chess: A Beginner's Guide with Grandmaster Maurice Ashley by Maurice Ashley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Life lessons sprinkled in among chess moves. Like "Losing is Learning." (To quote a former student, "Now you're a loser, just like me!")

 

Stranded!: A Mostly True Story from Iceland by Ævar Þór Benediktsson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I feel like Mitch Hedberg when he was concerned for the Dufresnes ... did the boatman die? Get kidnapped? Or should he be arrested for endangerment? I need closure! Fun story - near-death aside - with super fun illustrations. After reading for RICBA, I will have the kids do research on Iceland, volcanoes, and Norse mythology.

For Grownups   

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I laughed. I cried. I had thoughts.

 

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Similar to Netflix' "The Residence," I was willing to accept any number of suspects as the killer(s) and was right there with Agnes as she considered and eliminated each one. While it was a bit long, I also appreciated being in the minds of elderly characters ... and felt a little better about my perimenopause brain fog. And a little apprehensive of what's to come. But maybe my friends and I will create a Sunset Manor pact!

Mock Caldecott Winners - 2013-2026

 

2026: This Book is Dangerous!

 

2025: The Squish

 

2024: 100 Mighty Dragons, All Named Broccoli

 

2023: I Want to Be a Vase

 

2022: Off-Limits

 

2021: Snail Crossing

 

2020: Who Wet My Pants?
(second GC win in a row for Zachariah!)

 

2019: Niblet and Ralph

 

2018: Creepy Pair of Underwear!

 

2017: School's First Day of School
(second GC win for Christian Robinson!)

 

2016: I'm Trying to Love Spiders

 

2015: Gaston

 

2014: Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great

 

2013: This is Not My Hat (ALA Winner!)

AASL: I.B.3 - Generating products that illustrate learning; II.B.1 - Interacting with learners who reflect a range of perspectives; II.C.1 - Learners exhibit empathy with and tolerance for diverse ideas by: 1. Engaging in informed conversation and active debate. 2. Contributing to discussions in which multiple viewpoints on a topic are expressed.; III.B - Learners participate in personal, social, and intellectual networks; III.D.1 - Actively contributing to group discussions; V.A.1 - Reading widely and deeply in multiple formats and write and create for a variety of purposes.

Common Core: SL.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1/2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups; SL.2 Ask and answer questions about/recount or describe key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media; RL.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text; RL.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events; W.1 Write opinion pieces in which they name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure

Rhode Island Cross-Curricular Proficiencies: Collaboration - Incorporate diverse perspectives to promote an exchange of ideas with reasoning and evidence; Communication - Organize information to communicate ideas and responses when using any mode of communication

Rhode Island School Library Curriculum Priority Skills: 1.1 - Develops own opinion about a topic with evidence to support the opinion; 3.2 - Participates in collaborative conversations with peers and adults to share ideas and information

Options 

Mock Newbery 2026 - December Meeting

I didn't attend the first meeting of the season, because every book I started on the list - even if it was phenomenal writing - made me think "None of my students would read this." The second list has some slightly more kid-friendly titles, although none of them blew me away. Posted with results from the meeting. 

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Excellent portrayal of grief and the guilt that can come with it.

Verdict: KEEP

 

The Experiment by Rebecca Stead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was so good until it wasn't! I just reread a bunch to see if I had missed anything, but no, it doesn't seem clear at all as to why (view spoiler)[everyone ran out of the ship ... wouldn't they want to stay on it because they thought their mission was over and they were going home? (hide spoiler)]

I may still buy it for the library because kids ask for sci fi every so often and maybe they won't be as nitpicky about it. Because the first 75% or so was quite engrossing.

Verdict: KEEP

 

Is It Real?: The Loch Ness Monster by Candace Fleming
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I loved the setup and the way that Fleming walks the reader through assessing the evidence ... but after she asks you to make your decision 2/3 of the way through, she then presents decades more of research.

Verdict: KEEP

 

The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was fine.

Some lovely turns of phrase.  
Even if I found the original premise a bit ridiculous.
And then rolled my eyes at the end.
I am jaded.

Verdict: KEEP

 

The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

No real surprises, except for how they were able to afford so much sausage and so much sugar.

Verdict: DROP

Outside by Jennifer L. Holm
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Heart surgery? Dog memories? I kind of guessed the big twist, and wasn't going to mind it too much because the target audience hasn't encountered as many stories like this yet, but the Wind/Poppy subplot took me out of it. Just silliness.

Verdict: KEEP

 

Please Pay Attention by Jamie Sumner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Too much going on, and it also suffers from the "stick some returns in the sentences to make it look like poetry" syndrome.

Verdict: DROP

Best Reads of Jan-April 2025

Click on the titles to read plot summaries. If you'd like to see all of my books, you can follow me on Goodreads.

Picture Book

The Thankful Book by Todd Parr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Exactly what I was looking for to go with Kid President's reasons to be thankful.

Early Reader

 
I Am Thankful: A Positive Power Story by Suzy Capozzi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was looking for a more generic book for a lesson on gratitude, but this is a great holiday title. All about giving thanks for who and what you have, no mentions of Pilgrims.

Chapter Books

  

Not Nothing by Gayle Forman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So many feels. May everyone rise to the occasion of their lives.

p. 13 - "... the boy stood there, feeling that awful heat rising up in him. He was supposed to take breaths when he felt like this. But if breathing could make people happy, shouldn't everyone be happy, because everyone breathed?"

p. 89 - "The good stuff seemed to cancel out the hating part, but he wasn't sure because feelings were not math."

p. 146 - "It's ok to be a know-it-all if you don't think everyone else is a know-it-nothing."

p. 166 - "Sometimes it's easier to believe a pretty lie over a hideous truth."

p. 172 - "But stitch one small thing to another small thing and another, and eventually you have a tapestry as big as the world."

 

Ava Lin, One of a Kind by Vicky Fang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love these books.

 

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Excellent portrayal of grief and the guilt that can come with it.

Nonfiction

   

This Is My Brain!: A Book on Neurodiversity by Elise Gravel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I want Elise Gravel to write all the nonfiction books on all the subjects.

For Grownups

  

The Answer Is No by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Silly and charming.

 

The Examiner by Janice Hallett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved the experience of reading this book, a collection of emails and essays and documents that made you wonder what was going on as bits and pieces were revealed. Also, kudos to Hallett for delineating personalities within just a few contributions to a group chat!

One star off for the confusion I felt at the end as to what had actually happened with the radio and the faux examiner and one of the characters ... I needed a bit more obvious reveals. But I am looking forward to reading everything else Hallett has written!

 

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes you just need some happy endings.

 

Spook Street by Mick Herron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Poor River.

 

Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lapena did a fantastic job introducing new characters as others threw them out as possible suspects, and then giving us the next chunk of plot through those characters' eyes. I loved the reveal of where Avery was. And the very last few lines.

 

The Family Experiment by John Marrs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A page-turner!

And hopefully not TOO prescient.

 

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Everyone in a glass-bottomed cable car at the end was a bit much, but I do enjoy Ernest's asides to the readers.