Children's books: Trucks: "Point & Play: Trash Trucks", "I Truck", and "Science Takes a Trip"

Point & Play: Trash Trucks, illustrated by Steven Wood (Z Kids)
I Truck by Kelly Rice Schmitt, illustrated by Jam Dong (Millbrook Press)
Science Takes a Trip by Maria Rentetzi, illustrated by Pieter de Decker (Clavis)

Into the world of children's books...this time with trucks! And also a bus or two...

It's your first day on a garbage route...where to begin?

Point & Play: Trash Trucks is designed for very young readers who are fascinated by (you guessed it) garbage trucks. It teaches kids a bit more about what a garbage-collection route looks like, plus gives adults an opportunity to help kids practice counting and motor skills. The book instructs kids to wiggle their fingers to get their gloves on—take five big steps to get into the truck cab—shake the book to make the engine start—and on it goes. Really my only complaint is that, though there is a recycling truck shown on the page, there's no other mention of ways to reduce trash production (just a call for kids to count the number of broken toys thrown in the dump).

This would be great as a whole series of board books, each with a different kid-friendly job and associated movements. (As a bonus, the movements probably help get some wiggles out!) The illustrations aren't particularly inspiring to my adult eye, but they have lots of details for young kids to focus on, including lots to spark the imagination. Would you rather live in a castle or a lighthouse...?

Back on the road, I Truck is something of a follow-up to I Ship, treating readers to a look at the life of a long-haul truck (and driver, but that's secondary here). I loved I Ship and was delighted to see this follow in its wake. Simple but rich illustrations, casual diversity, lots of information sprinkled throughout the book, and lots more information included at the end. In particular, nice to see some of the downsides of truck driving discussed, like difficulty getting exercise during long stints on the road and many nights spent away from home—putting those at the end lets the story stay upbeat but provides food for thought for curious young readers.

Planes might be the logical next book here...ooh, or trains. I'll hope for trains. But I'd also take some kind of bright-yellow construction truck! Or a helicopter...

At any rate, we can call this a satisfying follow-up and an excellent read for kids who are fascinated by eighteen-wheelers on the highway.

Did you know that in the 1950s and 60s, the US sent two bus-laboratories around the world to share knowledge about nuclear science (and get ahead in the Cold War while they were at it)? I did not! But in Science Takes a Trip, we're taken along to various countries that the buses visited and get to learn a little about the science that was possible on the buses.

The text is pretty straightforward and factual—this happened, and this is why, and then this happened—and I would have loved to learn a bit about the teams that drove these buses and what the experience was like for them. Imagine taking part in a trip like that, especially back when travel was slower and more difficult than it is now! Best for fairly confident readers or to be read aloud to kids old enough to have some processing power; also probably best for kids who are actively curious about science (or about trucks and buses!) rather than those who want a character-driven story.

The art is gorgeous: lush detail but with a slight (intentional) graininess and faded hues to really give the sense that the reader is going back in time. I don't know what I would have made of the story as a kid (as an adult I'd happily read a full-length book about this), but I would have spent a long time poring over the pictures.

Thanks to the authors and publishers for providing review copies through NetGalley.

Review: "Silenced Voices" by Pablo Leon

Silenced Voices by Pablo Leon
Published September 2025 via HarperAlley
★★★★

Jose has never been all that curious about his mother's background—which is just as well, because she shuts down any conversation about her previous life in Guatemala. But when something sparks Jose's curiosity, he starts asking questions...and learns far more than he'd bargained for.

This is the second YA graphic novel I've read recently that is largely about a conflict—first there was Tall Water (partly about the 2004 tsunami, partly about the civil war in Sri Lanka), and now this. In both cases, they're major conflicts; in both cases, the conflicts were barely a footnote in my education. Most of this book is Jose's mother's story: growing up in Guatemala, her family, the incredible violence and loss wrought upon her community. We come back to Jose and his brother now and then, as Jose is trying to figure out what to do with this new information (e.g., the existence of an aunt he was never able to meet), but the crux of the story is about his mother.

It's a hard read, but one well done. I'm not sure why it feels to me less violent (to be clear: the telling, not the actual history) than Tall Water did—perhaps because the events in Tall Water are happening in the story's now, while in Silenced Voices it's happening in the story's past. Again, not a comment on the conflict itself, but this book might be a slightly easier starting point for a teenager reading about conflict. Overall, an excellent effort to amplify unheard voices, and makes me wonder what stories will be coming out in a decade or two that are happening now but aren't making the headlines.

Review: "Strange Girls" by Sarvat Hasin

Strange Girls by Sarvat Hasin
Published March 2026 via Dutton
★★★★

There's then and there's now: Then, Aliya is an international student in London, uncertain and struggling to find her footing. When she meets Ava, it's clear to both of them that they've each found their person. Everything changes. Now, Ava is ten years out of university and surviving rather than thriving: isolated in Scotland, bank account chronically low, her dreams of publishing a novel gone stale. And now, the two of them are back together in London, meeting after years apart, no longer sure what to say to each other.

We both chose London. It is not a surprise when romantic girls who like books choose London. It means nothing except that if we'd not picked it, we'd not have ended up in each other's lives. (loc. 1192*)

I am drawn to books about platonic friendship. The one Aliya and Ava have is so specific and set so relatable: Their friendship is intense (not least because they're both intense) but at the same time uncertain; they aren't quite old enough when they meet, or with quite enough life experience, to be confident in themselves and their friendship. They fall into something kind of enmeshed, mostly healthy, something where they love fiercely and at the same time are not always sure what is right or true.

The split in perspective works brilliantly well. We hear only from Aliya in the Then and only from Ava in the Now, and both they and their relationship have changed so much in the meantime that there's an initial disconnect in the ways they view each other. For Aliya in university, Ava is a grounding force, confident and direct and talented. But for Ava as an adult, Aliya is the one who has it together—married, with a book on the way, stable. Neither of them has changed, not really, but their places in the world have.

The early-evening sun spills in through net curtains and lights up all the things they have put down here together. These are the things I should want. (loc. 563)

One point of confusion: I did not really understand the ending. I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to say about this, as I suspect the book is doing something more intentional than I fully grasped. It didn't work as well for me as the rest of the book—but then, that might change once I understand the ending better. It's a quiet book, and although there's drama (they are so young in the Then, and have so much unprocessed history in the Now), it tends to be small-scale. Not minor for them, in their lives, but all told there's not all that much that happens. Again, it works well within the context of the book, but this is definitely one for lit fic readers and those who don't mind a quieter story.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Review: "Audrey Lane Stirs the Pot" by Alexis Hall

Audrey Lane Stirs the Pot by Alexis Hall
Published December 2025 via Piatkus
★★★

Back in the world of everyone's favorite rip-off of The Great British Bake Off! Not actually sarcasm—I love me a good Bake Off–inspired book, and the Winner Bakes All series (which takes place largely on the set of the entirely-fictional-not-at-all-based-directly-on-a-real-life-show Bake Expectations) is in fact a good set of reads.

Audrey Lane is the latest protagonist to find herself on set. She's a journalist with a sharp eye for the undercurrents—so although she hopes to do well, she's well aware that she's been cast as much for the sake of appearances (have to have a diverse cast, visually as well as demographically) as much as for her ability to bake; it would be nice to win, but she can see the story the producers are setting up a mile away, and that story does not include Audrey in the top three. And: She discovers early on that the things that interest her most about the competition are 1) the backstory of the oldest contestant on the show, which the producer absolutely does not want her to investigate, and 2) that producer herself.

The romance is...what it is. Audrey decides early on not to be put off by Jennifer's foul-mouthed rudeness, but Jennifer has been so consistently foul-mouthed and rude throughout the earlier books that it's impossible for her to be something else. And I'm not entirely sure what to do with her. If Jennifer were a male character, she'd be right up there with the horrible leads from 80s romance novels (although with a great deal more consent involved, so there's that). And as a female character, I...also don't like her that much? I don't know. It strikes me that Aubrey interacts with Jennifer mostly (not entirely) on Jennifer's turf, and mostly (not entirely) around people who have spent a lot of time around Jennifer and learned how much of her bark is also bite. And I guess I just wonder how much time Audrey is eventually going to spend assuring her friends that Jennifer isn't actually awful.

(Side note: I do love Audrey's analysis of the way she and her ex differ: Natalie had been different. For her, it had always been about Truth with a capital T. Where are the bodies buried and who buried them and who paid for the shovels? But all Audrey had ever really wanted to do was to ask what happened next? (loc. 3661))

The backstory with Doris—the oldest contestant—is in fact intriguing, though it kind of suffers from the same thing that Audrey's relationship with Jennifer does. Doris is now in her 90s and no shrinking violet, but I suppose...at least when Jennifer isn't swearing her little potty mouth off (and, in fact, when she is), she treats Audrey like an equal. I couldn't decide whether or not to root for Doris to get a "happy" ending, so...do with that what you will.

What I really did love: the baking. This seems like such an obvious thing for a Bake Off rip-off, but as it turns out (I've read more than my fair share by now), it's not! So I was honestly just thrilled to get details about every dang bake—some details more detailly than others, sure, but none of this "and then they all made cupcakes and wow! Some of them were chocolate! And then there were some others, okay, moving on now". No, Hall takes pains to think about what each challenge is, what each contestant might try, and how it might work out; better, it's not just window dressing but part of the plot. I haven't loved the romances in the past couple of these books, but I would keep reading just for the way Hall thinks through the plot-within-the-plot.

Review: "Bad Kid" by Sofia Szamosi

Bad Kid by Sofia Szamosi
Published March 2026 via Little, Brown Ink
★★★

In the early aughts, at the age of 13, Szamosi was dragged out of bed and sent to a wilderness "rehabilitation" program for teenagers. Between then and turning eighteen, she spent two years in such programs...the sort of programs that have more recently gotten quite a bit of press for being ineffective at best and abusive at worst. I've read enough about these programs to say that what Szamosi describes sounds like the milder half of the scale, but...that's partly because the harsher half of the scale is so terrible. Some readers might find some of the themes throughout the book to be a bit much for teenagers, but I think the point here is that this was Szamosi's teenage years...and anyway the worst of it is what was done in the name of "treatment".

The art style is simple but gets the job done. I particularly appreciated the collaged bits included throughout—photos of Szamosi from her teens, snippets of journal entries, the occasional location photo, etc. We're around the same age, and the photos in particular are so evocative of that time period, things that made me think "oh yes, I've known variations of that girl". Photos aside, the illustrations are black and white, with red for emphasis.

Two things I would have liked a bit more of: First, while Szamosi writes her teenaged self with a combination of compassion, wryness, and cringeing (we should all have some teenage moments that we cringe to look back on!), I would have liked a bit more of a sense of direct "looking back". That is...we see that Szamosi can see that she wasn't making a lot of good decisions as a teen, and that she can see now how much her mother was struggling to figure out what to do, how to help her. Most of the actual telling is from the perspective of Szamosi as a teen, though, and I would have loved some more reflection—what does she now think would have been best for her? How much of her teenageness does she now consider concerning, and how much does she think was normal/stuff she'd have grown out of? And second, where did things go after the end of the book? There's a conclusion, but it's a little abrupt, and I can see a number of possible trajectories. Some kind of an afterword might have been nice.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Review: "Oyster" by Marianne Ackerman

Oyster by Marianne Ackerman
Published 2026 via Dundurn Press
★★★★

Amelia's life is trucking along quietly—working halfheartedly on her next novel, taking editing work to pay the bills, in irregular contact with her family. Then her father dies, and her niece wants Amelia's opinion on an outline for a novel, and things start to change.

This is an odd duck of a book (or should I say an odd oyster?), although I mean that in a positive way. At first it feels like Amelia is struggling, but as time goes on it starts to become clear that although she is to some extent stagnating, she's also okay with where she is; although her family is complicated (because of course they are, because what family isn't), they know their roles and how to play them and also that they'll all be there when the dust settles.

The novel-within-a-novel is a curious thing: Ginny has an idea; Amelia has experience; what comes out of it is not what either of them might have expected, and neither of them quite knows what to do with it. I'm fascinated by the way that part of the story unfolds. Amelia is trying to figure out just what to do with her role in it all, Ginny partly wanting credit and partly wanting to be absolved of responsibility and partly afraid of fallout, and the people around them not always playing the roles Amelia thinks they should.

It's a quiet novel—for all that there's a death and a car crash and relationships on the rocks, we're mostly in Amelia's not entirely happy mind as she works out what is next with her not entirely fractured family and her not entirely fresh career. It took me a moment to get into the book (and I didn't love the ending), but the middle soared along as everyone quietly subverted expectations. 3.5 stars; I think this one will stay with me.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Review: "The Barefoot Bookshop on the Beach" by Rebecca Raisin

The Barefoot Bookshop on the Beach by Rebecca Raisin
Published March 2026 via Boldwood Books
★★★

Harper has a life she loves in London—a bookstore job, a side hustle as a book influencer, and a fitness influencer boyfriend. But all that comes crashing down when she accidentally shares her doubts about a hot new romance novel...and suddenly the only job available to her is way, way out of town.

Now..you know those news article about, say, a job opening for a postal officer in the remote Orkneys where it's only possible to access the island at low tide and then only nine months out of the year? Or about jobs that are available in Antarctica? If you're the type of person to immediately read those articles and dream about applying, you know why I picked up this book. I might never apply for those jobs, but I'm definitely going to daydream about them.

So Harper finds herself in the Seychelles, surrounded by meddling expats and a few mysteries to solve: What happened to the former employee who is mysteriously gone? Is her new boss the unfeeling money-grabber that the other employees seem to think, or does he have a softer side? And who is behind that hot new romance novel that got Harper cancelled?

It's a fast read and a lively one. A lot of the characters are borderline caricatures, though I think this is intentional; the book leans hard into something a bit over the top, a bit determinedly zany.

He lets out a frustrated sigh. "Have you been fired a lot?"

I nod eagerly. "Yes, too many times to count." (loc. 2774*)

So yes, Harper is sometimes a lot. She knows she's a lot, which is endearing at times—she has no filter and doesn't care—and frustrating at others (sometimes I think my brain is mostly filters). Most of the her new friends/colleagues also lean toward "a lot", leaving me to think that I would probably not find the Last Chance Resort a relaxing place to be, but there would never be any shortage of drama to watch...good thing the cocktails are cheap. (Side note: "no dating coworkers" is not always a fair rule, but "no dating direct reports" should absolutely be a rule, because the risks are real.)

The premise of the book is of course the Bookstagram drama: A new cowboy romance is getting a lot of buzz, but Harper is sure that it's been written by AI, and when she (accidentally) airs her opinions, the trolls come for her. I guessed some of the mystery before I think I was meant to, but on the whole I wasn't really convinced...though I do find the discussion of AI-generated books (and the discourse around them, and what it can mean for an author to use AI...or to be accused of using AI) to be interesting and timely.

I think I'll go back to dreaming about a little post-office-come-cafe-come-library in the Shetlands that needs a new caretaker—you know, the kind of place where the mail only comes once a week, and the cafe and library are only open two days a week, and the rest of the time you can do some maintenance and go for long walks and read a lot. But this was a fun diversion.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for inviting me to read a review copy through NetGalley.

Review: "She Drinks the Light" by Yasmin Angoe

She Drinks the Light by Yasmin Angoe
Published March 2026 via Feiwel & Friends
★★★

Addae's life is different—she's grown up off the coast of South Carolina, in something of an enclave. Her grandmother is the most powerful person on the Golden Isle, and Addae is poised to, eventually, take over. But if the Golden Isle is home, and is safe, the outside world is...something else.

Conceptually I love this: pulling from West African mythology; Black characters running the show; an emphasis on friendship and family rather than (as is so common in YA) romance. There's also a tie-in to slavery, and though that part of the book is hard to read it feels like an important part of history to include, not least given the context of the book. Addae is a satisfying character, too; she makes impetuous (teenaged) choices, but she's also really determined and focused when it's about things that count.

Other things I was more ambivalent about. First, I didn't love the surprise (minor spoiler in footnotes*) . This is part of the Ghanaian mythology used in the book, so I'll give it a pass, but I think I'm just past that part of my YA reading; maybe it's on me for not knowing much about African mythology (or I would have figured it out sooner), but I sort of wish that had been up front in the book description. Second, I'd have loved to know more about that mythology. Addae occasionally drops concepts that aren't fully introduced or explained, and I just wanted to know more. I was fully invested for the first half or so of the book and then lost some steam.

I'm not sure whether related books are planned, but this feels like it could be the start to a series—the main plot is wrapped up, but there are a number of plot points that aren't fully wrapped up, in a way that reads like leaving space open for the future if the author so desires.

3.5 stars; this is something of a departure from my usual reading habits, but intriguing.

*vampires

Thanks to the author and publisher for inviting me to read a review copy through NetGalley.

Review: "Repetition" by Vigdis Hjorth

Repetition by Vigdis Hjorth
Translated from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund
Published March 2026 via Verso Fiction
★★★★

In the present day, a writer sees a teenage girl with her parents, and she's reminded of her own teenage years in 1970s Norway: her mother terrified that she will somehow go astray, her father a distant figure, every visit with friends a negotiation at best, a battle at worst.

Hjorth is such a specific writer—I don't have a better word for it. I read Repetition because I found If Only so curious; not always pleasant but the kind of thing that pulls you in. (If Only itself I read for the cover, because sometimes I am shallow.) I read a translation, of course, and I don't know how true it is to the Norwegian (I will assume that it's accurate!), but these are long paragraphs and sometimes long sentences, run-on thoughts if not run-on sentences, a girl who is so uniquely teenage in her thoughts and actions, her careful planning and yet sometimes total lack of forethought. At sixteen, she is tired of the stifling atmosphere that is home and ready for excitement, for romance or perhaps just sex; at sixteen, she doesn't understand why her mother might be afraid.

This is a slim little novel. I started it once, stalled, started over a few weeks later because it's so easy to fly through it and I wanted to make sure I hadn't missed important things. I wondered, reading this, if parts of the novel might be autobiographical (without, mind, being able to articulate why, and definitely without any proof whatsoever); some searching tells me that there has been a fair amount of speculation about another novel in particular, and how much of it might be autobiographical. (That's a rabbit hole that I don't feel a need to go down, and whether there's any real life memory to it is really neither here nor there, but I find it curious partly just because I don't know why I have this "could it be" reaction!)

Not a happy book but a swift and interesting one. I don't think this is the last of Hjorth that I'll read.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Review: "Too Blessed to Stress" by Alli Hoff Kosik

Too Blessed to Stress by Alli Hoff Kosik
Published March 2026 via Grand Central Publishing
★★★

Camryn has a picture-perfect life, but just outside the frame, she's struggling to stay afloat financially. Savannah was in the public eye growing up, and as an adult, she just wants privacy...and a baby, and neither of those things is forthcoming. Trishy is ready to find a man who ticks her religious boxes, but date after date turns out to be a dud. And Kristin is shocked to find herself part of the inner circle...but it just might be too good to be true.

I let this one sit on my ereader for a couple of weeks before picking it up—but not because I wasn't enthusiastic; I was enthusiastic enough to not want to burn through it too quickly. This one hits on some of my reading quirks: I like books about problematic religion/religious institutions, and I currently have what is likely to be a passing interest in books about influencers. (Bonus: I love a book about female friendship, and though this isn't really about that, it's part of the story.) Here we have both: Camryn and Trishy are both active, and at least moderately successful, as social media influencers, and a huge part of their success is their conservative-religious focus...and the content they make around their megachurch.

What worked really well for me: Camryn and Trishy definitely believe what they're preaching on social media...but what they're preaching isn't really about belief. They're talking, earnestly, about purity culture and capitalism and the prosperity gospel. They might read their bibles (and post videos of themselves highlighting their study editions, with of course sponsored links) just as earnestly, but what they're actually thinking about, a lot of the time, is views. And sponsorships. And recognition, even if they don't acknowledge that that's one of the things they're thinking about. Camryn is in many ways my least favourite character (her priorities get in the way of being a decent person sometimes, and her approach to money stresses me out), but it's the things that sometimes make me cringe that also make her a more realistic and perhaps interesting character.

What didn't work as well for me: It's apparent early on that something is not right at Moving Word (their church), and in particular that something is not right with one charismatic preacher and his picture-perfect wife. Kristin more than the others is aware that something is not right, but it was never clear to me why—what is it that makes her suspect this apparently beloved guy? I would have preferred Kyle and Cassidy to be a little more genuinely charming and a little less obviously slimy (Kyle is written to be an absolute smarmface; Cassidy is written to be low-key a...witch...who is only nice to people who are useful to her. I suppose I wanted to be disappointed when the revelations about them came out. (I also wanted them to be a bit...less obvious about it? They could have set a smaller public goal, for example, and then not reported the actual numbers but still treated it as a success.) I think I also wanted more of the "good" characters to face a bit more by way of consequence and/or reckoning; what does happen is not nothing, but the climax was a bit more whimper than bang to me.

So—didn't blow me away, but did keep me invested, which is still a pretty satisfying result. I'd happily read more in this vein, at least as long as my interest in influencer books hold; the four characters profiled here are living in such a specific moment, even if they don't really realize it.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.