OH OCTOBER!

I read a lot of wonderful books this month! How about you? It is the eve of the "Best Books of 2024" lists season and also ALA awards predictions. I think Hello Day: A Child's-Eye View of the World written and illustrated by Charlie Mylie, Two Together written and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel, and Sometimes We Fall by Randall de Sève; illustrated by Kate Gardiner might have Caldecott potential. As for the Newbery - The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin has gotten a fair amount of buzz and The Wrong Way Home by Kate O’Shaughnessy has also been mentioned. Not Nothing by Gayle Forman is a gut punch of a book that left me a bit teary. It is a hopeful book, though. Not Nothing and The Wrong Way Home are both realistic middle grade fiction. Though Not Nothing does have historical Holocaust fiction based on fact woven throughout. The Bletchley Riddle is excellent World War 2 historical fiction set, for the most part, at Bletchley Park. I'm Sorry You Got Mad by Kyle Lukoff is also a great book about dealing with anger.