Reviews+

Dominic Hall, a British youth from a working-class family, finds himself wavering between attachment to his childhood friend, the artistic Holly Stroud, and the literary future he dreams of, and the powerful, inexplicable draw of Vincent McAlinden, a violent neighborhood bully. Set in the shadow of the 1960s shipbuilding community on the banks of the River Tyne, this beautifully written story is as taut and as exhilarating as the high wire.

Anderson vividly sets the scene with Shostakovich’s young years on the eve of the revolution and the Lenin era, his coming-of-age as a composer, and the rise of Stalin’s reign of terror. The central story of the creation and performance of the Leningrad Symphony while the city was in the crippling throes of a two-and-a-half year siege is devastating, enlightening, and, ultimately, inspiring. A narrative nonfiction triumph.

Selected by the Good Comics for Kids bloggers, these graphic novels published in 2015 are the cream of the crop.

Each page in this oversize volume includes a range of creatures—from the lowly ant to the exotic zebu—whose names begin with the featured alphabet letter. Muted watercolors depict the denizens of the animal world once, except for the chosen creature, which is seen eight times on the page. Why eight? “Because 8 is great,” states the author. An abecedarian that will get kids counting.

Collecting and illustrating sea-themed verse by Hughes, Bryan frames the famed poet in a new light that will appeal to poetry fans and newcomers alike. The cut-paper collages pulsate with energy and life and echo the passion of Hughes’s words. A luminescent oceanic love song.

Madeline has spent 18 years at home with only her doctor mother and a nurse to care for her rare form of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) and can’t risk exposure to the world beyond her highly controlled environment. When a boy her age moves next door, he wreaks havoc with her regimented routine and makes her acutely aware of all that she’s been missing. A tender and bittersweet romance with a jaw-dropping twist.