CCBC Weekly Book Reviews
CCBC Starred Reviews highlight exceptional titles on a weekly basis throughout the publishing year. These titles, plus other noteworthy and recommended books, are included in CCBC’s annual best-of-the-year list, CCBC Choices.
And Then We Saw the Bag…
Two siblings return home from a weekend away with Grandpa. Their parents are happy and relaxed, which immediately unsettles the children. Mom and Dad are pleased that the clutter has been tidied and that there is a fresh smell in the home. But the siblings are suspicious. And then they see it: a big black plastic bag in the corner.
October 12, 2026
Starman: The Cosmic Voyage of David Bowie
A dazzling homage to David Bowie presents him as a traveler exploring vastly varied worlds of creative expression throughout his career as “a cosmic, celestial, musical artist.” Unlike the static sound of most musicians, Bowie “embraced change,” trying on different personas and shifting his musical style—often radically—whenever he grew restless.
October 5, 2026
Beyond Seven Forests
This slim, taut novel set in occupied Galicia during the thick of World War I wastes no words and packs a powerful punch. The only remaining member of her immediate family, 18-year-old Polish countess Renia lives alone in her family’s partially destroyed mansion and treats wounded soldiers at a nearby hospital. Her recent actions—harboring two escaped Russian POWs—have led to her arrest; now Renia is giving her testimony of events at her military tribunal.
September 28, 2026
The Secrets Below (The Whispering Sea Mysteries)
This moody and atmospheric thriller follows twelve-year-old Tuva (white) in the aftermath of a missing classmate in the forest of her small island school.
September 21, 2026
Same Time, Next Week?
This offbeat and quietly tender picture book about star-gazing friends is a nocturnal ode to expectations and acceptance.
September 14, 2026
Hometown
Shaun Tan’s brilliance as an artist and storyteller is on full display in this illustrated work of fiction. Hometown has a straightforward construct: a visual tour of a girl’s hometown as she sees it. But while the meaning of home and belonging might be universal, this place is utterly unique and unforgettable.
September 8, 2026
Suffer a Witch: A Memoir
Author and playwright Joy McCullough recounts her experience of the abuse she endured by her youth pastor in the church led by her father, the senior pastor, when she was a 15-, 16-, and 17-year-old girl. McCullough’s memories are told chronologically through raw, sharp poems. Her precise, insightful, and informative writing is a masterpiece in verse. Yet the reckoning of her truth, brilliantly executed, is also a horrifying marvel of power and pain.
August 31, 2026
Kaleidoscope of Hope: How Butterfly Life Cycles Reflect Our World
The word “kaleidoscope” likely brings to mind symmetrical, psychedelic patterns; less commonly known is that “kaleidoscope” is also the collective noun for a group of butterflies. This fantastically illustrated account makes use of both definitions as it explores the life cycle of butterflies.
August 24, 2026
The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan
An unlikely pair of animals finds healing, companionship, and courage in this touching novel inspired by a real-life animal-rehabilitation program. Chase, a baby cheetah, is devastated when her mother dies during a visit to the veterinarian at the zoo where she was rehabilitated after being injured in the wild.
August 17, 2026
The Faraway Forest: Hester’s Big Dream
Finding friends can be challenging when everyone seems to be out and about during the day while you follow a nocturnal schedule. Night owl Hester keeps busy with cake decorating, living-room exercise routines, work on her novel, and sewing projects, but sometimes she’s “a bit lonely.” So Hester concocts a plan to stay awake until the sun rises, when she’ll go out and meet others.
August 10, 2026
Navigating Night
Inspired by Leung’s own childhood, this story centers on a Chinese American girl who helps her father, Baba, deliver the takeout orders from their family’s Chinese restaurant. In a time before smartphones and GPS, the girl uses a notebook of addresses and a foldout map spread across her lap to navigate. On one rainy night, their dynamic plays out in a variety of impactful ways.
August 3, 2026
Holloway
Following her mom’s death from Covid, an illness for which her mom staunchly refused a vaccine and treatment, Nora (white) travels to France to scatter her mom’s ashes at the site of their favorite painting: Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Disappointed by the park’s current appearance, Nora decides to travel instead to Lascaux but goes a bit further than she planned: Passing through a holloway in the trees, she finds herself in the year 1946.
July 27, 2026
Silence Sounds Simple: A Day in the Life of John Cage
“Sound sorcerer” John Cage composed music, but he also made space—space to listen to what exists between the notes of a song. He delighted in and utilized ambient noise, the small sounds of everyday living, letting his audience find the sounds behind the silence. “Sounds within silence / silence in noise / music in both / life within all.”
July 20, 2026
Sherlock Roach and the Case of the Crunchy Crumb
Famous bug detective Sherlock Roach and his trusty sidekick, Dr. Wormston, are reading the newspaper in their dapper duds (bowtie and deerstalker hat for Sherlock, waistcoat and bowler for Wormston) when there’s a knock at the door. Lucille the Ladybug has been robbed!
July 13, 2026
A Scar Like a River
Thirteen-year-old Fallon (white) has three secrets. She’s shared one of them—about who gave her the scar across her face—with her best friend. But when Fallon’s uncle Geebie dies, the trauma from her past resurfaces.
July 6, 2026- More Starred Reviews of the Week