John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

An eye-opening guide to the hierarchy of divine beings, Your Personalized Angels Guide by Dawn Hazel is an introduction to the spheres of heaven and its denizens. Aside from being a cosmic catalogue of seraphim, archangels, devils, and others, the prose explains how angels – both earthbound and heavenly – can affect our mortal lives and communicate in critical ways, through numbers, temperature changes, feathers, and more. The prose is conversational, though it is occasionally too informal, but the information is supported by plenty of references to religious texts. For spiritual readers who want to dig deeper into their faith, […]

A brutal and gritty novel of survival on the merciless streets of Chicago, Scared Silent by Neil Turner is a gut-wrenching ride through the life of a young man being prosecuted for a murder he didn’t commit. Navigating the perils of the criminal justice system, while also bearing his own recent grief and pressure to find a new family, Denzel is caught in a painful spiral, while Tony Valenti’s hunt for the real killer may place the crosshairs on his own head. Given the national spotlight being recently turned towards the unhoused populations of America, and the desperate plight of […]

Rug Bug and the Dixies are back with more heroics after a housequake devastates Mousetopia in Kay M. Bates’ The Adventures of Rug Bug Vol. II: The State of Emergency. Rug Bug and his friends must negotiate a new alliance for aid and protection between the residents of the House in order to ensure their mutual survival, for a work of middle grade fiction that deftly and sensitively mirrors real-world events. Just as the first volume subtly touched on the need for representative government and clear-eyed ideals of leadership, this second installment focuses on the aftermath of a natural […]

Imagination, friendship, and compassion join forces in Medieval Mashup by Charlene McIver, an entertaining book for children with vitally important messages. While preparing for a medieval costume contest, Leigh and his two friends run headlong into ideas of identity, personal limitations, courage, and creativity in their joint effort to win first place. Relying on vivid pictures by Caroline Keys to fill the narrative gaps, this is a charming story of perseverance and emotional management that is relevant for children of all ages. Featuring a child with a disability as a protagonist, this series increases representation among children’s books, and allows […]