CCBC Weekly Book Reviews
Is It Spring?
Anyone who has experienced a long, cold winter is familiar with the hopeful titular plea, “Is it spring?” “Yes” is the answer provided by the flowers, budding branches, and birds in the blue, blue sky. “Yes, it is spring.”
March 23, 2026
The Moon Without Stars
Seventh grader Luna (Chinese American/white) is comfortable with a quiet, observant life on the edges, as long as she’s with her best friend Scott (white). He gets her, and she gets him. After inheriting a box of books from a neighbor, Luna decides to share the books with classmates who might benefit from their messages. Soon, she and Scott are running a book dispensary during lunchtime.
March 16, 2026
Poems for Every Season: A Year of Haiku, Sonnets, and More
A handsome volume translated from the Dutch offers poems in many forms for every season as well as ample inspiration for classroom use. A petal-filled haiku on a two-page spread bursting with lush greenery awakens readers to spring; on the following page, a knobby-kneed lamb and a rondel about new life signal March’s arrival.
March 9, 2026
CCBC Choices 2026
CCBC Choices 2026, the annual best-of-the-year list of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), is now available. The list, created by the CCBC professional staff, recommends 231 books published for children and teens from birth through high school age in 2025.
March 2, 2026
The Winter of the Dollhouse
Eleven-year-old Tiph is pushing her little brother Phillip in his stroller when she sees an old lady gripping a fence as if close to collapsing. Tiph collects the woman’s dog and helps her to a seat at the nearby dollhouse store, where Gretel, a small doll, has been put on display in hopes of a Christmas sale. Although Gretel is vintage and valuable, collectors pass her by year after year. Gretel doesn’t want a collector—she wants a child.
February 23, 2026
Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story)
This luminous biography of Jewish activist and anarchist Emma Goldman spotlights her turn-of-the-century activism while highlighting contemporary issues.
February 16, 2026
Best of All Worlds
When Xavier Oak (white), his father, and his pregnant stepmother, Nia (Haitian Canadian), wake up one morning, everything at their family lake cottage is as expected—except that it’s now in a completely unfamiliar location. Frightened and dumbfounded, the Oaks explore their now-rural surroundings and find that they are trapped within an invisible dome several miles in diameter.
February 9, 2026
Our Lake
A visit to a special place is both a challenge and a comfort for two grieving brothers. The younger of the two, the narrator, follows his older sibling as they hike up a rocky path that ends on a bluff overlooking a serene, blue lake.
February 2, 2026
Pocket Bear
Rescued from a dumpster by alley cat (and narrator) Zephyrina, an old teddy bear finds himself delivered to Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured. This unofficial toy repair and restoration effort is run by Dasha, a Ukrainian refugee, from the home where she lives with her mom.
January 26, 2026
Every Monday Mabel
“Monday is the best day of the week (according to Mabel, at least.)” Her Monday morning routine includes dragging a chair out of her bedroom, through the house, and out the front door. Each of her family members has their own perspective on Mabel’s Monday activity.
January 19, 2026
Ablaze: The Story of America’s First Female Smokejumper
Deanne Shulman’s childhood love of nature became a passion for fighting wildfires with the U.S. Forest Service when she was an adult. The work was physically and mentally arduous, but Deanne excelled as a member of wildland crews and hotshot crews, working twenty-four-hour days in extreme heat.
January 12, 2026
Sisters in the Wind
A gripping thriller told in dual time periods explores the personal and generational trauma of Lucy, who in 2005 has just aged out of the foster care system. When an attorney, Jamie, tracks her down to tell Lucy that her Ojibwe maternal relatives have been searching for her, Lucy is confused and on edge. She also knows that she’s being pursued—the reader doesn’t yet know why—and plans to run, until a pipe bomb badly fractures her leg.
January 6, 2026
The Forest of a Thousand Eyes
In 1941, Peggy’s modest world revolves around her parents, cousin and best friend Delia, and neighbor friends who live within walking distance of her family’s rural Iowa farm. But lately everything seems to be changing.
December 30, 2025
Our Mothers’ Names: Love in Many Languages
An Indian American girl whose family speaks Malayalam at home explains that she calls her mother Amma, the Malayalam word for mother. Some of her classmates and friends have different words for mother or mom or mommy, from their own family languages.
December 23, 2025
My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda
A series of oral reports on animals is delivered by other animals in a fiction/nonfiction hybrid that is equal parts hilarious and informative.
December 15, 2025- More Books of the Week