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Uniquely wired, Lena Lennox carries her worries around like an extra backpack. So, when the counsellor at Cranberry Bog Middle School selects seven students for a pilot program to test the concept of mindful meditation, Lena is among those invited to set aside their anxious thoughts. As the plot unfolds in Betsy Uhrig’s novel for middle grade readers, Mind Over Monsters, the seven, who “look like someone’s attempt at a diversity ad” (21), discover some up sides to the app as well as some mysteries. The first mystery surfaces when pieces of “weirdly cold” junk remain after a meditation period in the Facing One’s FearsRead More →

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Because Where Was Goodbye? is a story about navigating grief, loss, and the search for answers about suicide, Janice Lynn Mather provides a trigger warning at the beginning of her novel. Although suicide is central to Mather’s writing, Where Was Goodbye? also indicates the importance of support systems, coping mechanisms, friendship, and unconditional love. Having an eye for color and creation, Karmen Wallace is a maker of soft things. Despite her ability to knit, her family is broken, and Karmen is struggling to make sense of the tragic loss of her brother Julian who takes his life by suicide. Although Karmen’s best friend, Layla, isRead More →