Inspired by transformation in the tales of Snow-White and Rose-Red and Swan Lake, McLemore has created a beautiful story of magical realism in lyrical prose.  The title characters are two sisters who come from a long line of women in a Latinx family that has been cursed for generations. The curse is that there are always two daughters and one is chosen by the swans to become one of them. Roja has always know it would be her, for she is seen as the one with darker skin and fiery red-black hair and wicked, passionate ways.  Blanca of the fair skin and hair is the sweet, obedient, graceful one.
They are the yin and yang and closer than a circle.  Together they vow to break the curse.  While they hope to stop the transformation to swan, two missing boys have become a bear and a cygnet. A rich boy from an abusive family has become Yearling the bear. The cygnet is Page, a trans boy from a family who grow apples as if it is an art. Love happens to all but not as expected and with dire consequences.  Can destiny be avoided, can expectations and assumptions be shattered?
“The story of the ugly duckling was never about the cygnet discovering he is lovely. It is not a story about realizing you have become beautiful. It is about the sudden understanding that you are something other than what you thought you were, and that what you are is more beautiful that what you once though you had to be.”
One of the most beautiful books I have read, magic, fierce, bright and unforgettable. 
 
 Tessa's Picks
7th-8th grade, Character driven, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, LGBTQ, Romance, People of Color 

Applegate, (author of The One and Only Ivan) creates a world with humans and a few other creatures we know and goes on to populate it with beings like Byx who is doglike, walks on two legs, and can talk. Her kind, dairnes,  has been hunted to near extinction because of their unique ability to detect lies. This power in the hands of those who want ultimate control of the kingdoms would convey supremacy.
Believing that she may be an Endling, the last of her species, Byx sets off to find a sentient island that may be a haven for other dairnes.  Along the way, she is joined by Tobble, a small bunny-like wobbyk, Khara, a human of mysterious origins, Renzo, an honorable thief and Gambler, a fierce tiger-like felivet.
This is a fellowship-like adventure in a Tolkien-like world. Each of our heroes brings their own brand of courage, heart and wisdom.  Honor, friendship, power, evil and above all truth play into the story.
"Why don't they believe you?" "The same reason they don't want to believe you exist, dairne. There are many scholars, but few seekers after truth. Humans believe the things that make them feel safe. They care little for difficult facts."
A top tier fantasy!

Tessa's picks

4th-7th grade, Adventure, Fast paced. Friendship, Fantasy, 

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“My true name,” he said, “ . . . is SUN WUKONG.” A cold wind passed through the open window, rustling my loose papers like tumbleweed. “I have no idea who that is,” I said.”… His jaw dropped. Thankfully his teeth were still normal-size.
“You’re Chinese and you don’t know me?” he sputtered. “That’s like an American child not knowing Batman!”
“You’re Chinese Batman?”
Turns out Sun Wukong is the Monkey King of Chinese legend and has come to earth to rid the planet of some nasty demons…around 120 of them. And Genie Lo is the reincarnation of a super powerful weapon that he used in the past.  Sarcastic and feisty, Genie is not going to be an inanimate object but in order to save her world she has to join forces with Quentin (aka Sun Wukong). Putting aside her aspirations for Harvard and her mad volleyball skills, the two fight the hellspawn unleashed by a spiteful demon.
This action packed battle adventure is hilarious.  Although the demons are horribly ghoulish, they are more funny than frightful. Balancing friends, family and school while averting the apocalypse can’t be easy but Genie does it with wicked humor.  Even the budding romance with Quentin (he even has a real monkey tail)  is chuckle worthy. 
This is just so much FUN!

Tessa's Picks
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7th-8th grade, Adventure, Contemporary fiction, Fantasy, Mythology, Fast paced

Stealing is a way of life for Kyra, and she doesn't have much pity for the corrupt, rich people that she steals from. So when she gets a job offer that will pull one over on them, she takes it. But when she discovers the hidden motivations behind the job, she starts to question everything. Tristam is a loyal knight who is willing to sacrifice himself for the realm. He's always had faith in the palace and the unwavering moral rightness of his cause. But when he witnesses the brutal death of his best friend, it sets him on a path to discover the hidden corruption and brutality at court. A thief and a knight may make a strange pair, but in a world that no longer makes sense unlikely alliances may be the only answer.

Blackburne does a wonderful job painting a portrait of a complex world where there aren't a lot of clearly good choices. Characters make mistakes and allegiances change as first impressions turn out to be wrong.

Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne

Erica's Picks
7th & up
Tags: adventure, crime caper, fantasy

The Barrel is the part of town controlled by warring gangs. The part people avoid if they can afford to, unless they have illegal tastes and nefarious intentions. Kaz came to the barrel as a broken child, but now he practically rules it. His path to the top wasn't pretty and he's done a lot to earn his reputation as a monster. When a richly rewarding job is offered to him, he sees the possibility not just to become wealthy enough to leave the barrel behind, but to slake his long-nursed thirst for revenge. The job is impossible, of course, so if he has any chance of succeeding and surviving he'll need a crew that's the best of the worst: “A gambler, a convict, a wayward son, a lost Grisha, a Suli girl who had become a killer, a boy from the Barrel who had become something worse.” “Six people, but a thousand ways this insane plan could go wrong.”

I loved everything about this book from the rag-tag crew of misfits to the daring heist plot. The characters were fully developed and diverse including different races, sexual orientations, and physical abilities. The shifting perspective really allowed me to get a sense of each character and their struggles and made them feel very real and dear to me. It also helped create suspense because each character's knowledge was incomplete so seeing who knew what allowed me to piece together the plot in a way that was fun. 

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Erica's Picks
8th & up
​Tags: adventure, crime caper, fantasy, LGBTQ, people of color

“Lila Bard knew in her bones that she was meant to be a pirate.” Regency London is a hard, dirty place for an orphan, but Delilah Bard is harder and dirtier. She knows what it takes to survive, and she knows that she'd rather die on an adventure than live in safety. So when a mysterious man appears who can turn blood and whispers into weapons and preens about in his magical coat, she knows that following him will finally lead her to the adventure she's always wanted. She doesn't have much to miss about London when she travels with this strange man into another dimension where the water glows red with magic. Delilah is a woman with nothing to lose but her life, and several worlds of possibilities to gain. 

This is one of my favorite fantasy series and I read a lot of fantasy, so that's saying something. Delilah and Kell are all I could ask for in protagonists and the sharp writing, witty dialogue, and immersive world building kept me completely engaged. Highly recommended!

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Erica's Picks
8th & up
Tags: adventure, fantasy, historical fiction

​Lord Blackheart has been plotting the downfall of the self-righteous do-gooder Sir Goldenloin for years. Ask anyone and they'll tell you that he's a powerful and nefarious villain. Not the type to take a teenage girl under his wing. That's exactly why Nimona wants to become his sidekick. She only wants to work for the best, most evil, scientist and she's determined to land the job. She has a few tricks up her sleeves: her penchant for crime, her bantering skills, and oh yeah, she's a powerful shapeshifter. Together, they'll show the world who's really evil.

This comic had me laughing from the first page. Even the character names make me giggle. Ambrosious Goldenloin? Come on! Who wouldn't want to take him down a peg? Honestly I'd have been satisfied if it was just hilarious but it has a real heart underneath it all that makes me adore it. I can't recommend it enough.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Erica's Picks
4th - 6th grade
Tags: Comics, Humor, Fantasy

​If you believe in faeries, you should read this book as everything you thought about truth and the fierce beauty of that in-between world will be confirmed. If you don’t believe, you should even more so read this book so that you can experience that twilight world where dreams can be real and faerie “makings” encompass everything from transfiguration to keys made of poems and dance.
Clare is 14 and returned to Ireland and the domed underground house of her birth and the yew tree that grows within.  She is the latest of the tree’s guardians; her dead mother and all those grandmothers before her are a legacy.
Within the tree’s between place, she meets Finn, a boy part fairy, part human who she knew as a toddler.  Together they embark on quest to save the two worlds from forever closing which would cut the human world off from the ability to dream and create and the fairies from the ability to love.
Finn’s father Balor is a hideously fierce and unfeeling opponent to be faced and bound before he can destroy the gateway for ever. Here be true magic, both bright and dark. Gorgeous, haunting and wonderfully strange.  Dare to enter this world.


​Tessa's Picks, 5th-8th grade, Fairy tales, Fantasy, Supernatural

When Clover's friends get accepted into a horse camp and leave her behind, she knows she's fallen victim to her bad luck yet again. Then she stumbles upon a magical animal adoption agency in the woods by her house. She learns how to take care of fairy horses, unicorns left behind by spoiled princesses, and even a baby dragon. It seems her luck is turning around, until the owner of the agency disappears on a trip and leaves her to take care of the animals by herself. Will she be up to the challenge? Is there more bad luck lurking around the corner? Clover's summer is going to be either the best or worst of her life, but it certainly won't be boring!

I would have been all over this when I was a kid! Employee at a magical animal adoption agency would have immediately become my dream job, and I would have spent hours playing imaginary games where I was Clover. Even as an adult I couldn't resist the charm of this novel as Clover slowly gained confidence and learned how to take care of herself by taking care of others. Plus, fairy horses! They're tiny horses for fairies! Why has no one told me about these before?

Erica's Picks
1st - 3rd grade
Tags: animals, fantasy, summer vacation

If a unicorn granted you one wish, what would you ask for? Phoebe wishes for infinity wishes, then infinity dollars, then super powers. When the unicorn refuses to grant her any of those, she aims for something more realistic: for the unicorn to become her best friend. But becoming friends with a unicorn is more  than Phoebe bargained for. The unicorn, Marigold Heavenly Nostrils, is incredibly vain and clearly not used to close contact with humans. But on the other hand, she's a freakin' unicorn! Having a magical creature as your best friend can't be all bad...

This comic reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes, and I don't make that comparison lightly. The "Shield of Boringness" means that most of Phoebe's classmates can't see her unicorn. That doesn't stop them from having hilarious adventures on their own though. The sweeping imagination and spot-on humor mixed with the daily trials and tribulations of childhood make this comic a delight for all ages. 

Erica's Picks
3rd - 5th grade
Tags: comics, fantasy, humor