Ava just wants to be a normal teenager who goes to school and hangs out with her boyfriend. The only thing standing in her way is the Coterie, a magical mafia run by a ruthless boss named Venus. Ava is a Firebug (someone who can start fires with her mind) and bound by blood to obey Venus’ every command—including carrying out murder. Serving Venus is a bitter life sentence, but Ava will do anything to protect her friends and her human guardian, Cade, from the Coterie. After losing her mother as a child, she knows that nothing is more important than family.

The situation changes one night when Ava refuses to obey one of Venus’ orders. After barely escaping Venus’ wrath, she goes on the run with her friends Lock (a half-nymph, half-human boy) and Ezra (a were-fox). But her defiance comes with a price: Venus captures Cade and gives Ava an ultimatum. With her loved ones in jeopardy, Ava begins her search for allies and a way to destroy Venus and the Coterie once and for all.

This is the delightful first book in a new series by Lish McBride. I fell in love with its fun characters, witty dialogue, high stakes, and entertaining action sequences. I highly recommend it, not only to fantasy readers but to readers of realistic fiction looking to try something different and lose themselves in a good story.

Marah is a sparker, a derogatory term given to the oppressed underclass by the magical kasiri. So while she may be an ambitious, bright student, her options under the kasiri ruling class are limited. That’s the way the city of Ashara has always been.

Then a mysterious illness starts appearing, sparing neither group. Even the most powerful magicians are at a loss. As more people die each day, Marah is desperate to save those she loves most. After forging an unusual partnership with a kasiri boy, they work together to try and find a cure. As they get closer to their goal, the two discover something that may save their families, but also destroys everything they thought was true about their world.

A refreshing stand-alone among countless series, Sparkers is a middle grade novel with understated charm and a quiet power.

Coming of age in the 1940s, Hank Chu is a first-generation Chinese American teen who is perfectly content following in the footsteps of his father, a seemingly timid grocery store owner. That is until the day his mother has a serendipitous encounter with a bank robber and a superhero named The Anchor of Justice, and it completely rewrites her notion of the American Dream. She decides her son should be a hero too. Hank, on the other hand, does not take to the idea so readily—after all, he has no powers to speak of. But after tragedy strikes close to home, and with help of mythic proportions, Hank soon finds himself donning the mask (but not a shirt) of the Green Turtle to take on the organized crime of Chinatown.

Basing their work on an actual but oft-forgotten hero of the Golden Age of comics, Yang and Liew have created an inspired origin story for a character who they theorize could have been the first Asian American superhero. The author’s note and the first issue of the historic comic, which are included in the back matter, show where the pair got their inspirations from and how they elevated their story far beyond the source material. Brimming with humor, action, and a healthy dose of nostalgia, The Shadow Hero is a wholly original superhero story with heart. Here’s to hoping this is not the last we see of the Green Turtle.

Love Monster lives in Cuteseville where everyone is—you guessed it—cute and fluffy. He, however, is bright red, googly-eyed, a little hairy, and very toothy. Needless to say, Love Monster doesn’t exactly fit in. But instead of feeling sorry for himself, Love Monster decides to search for someone who will love him just the way he is— googly eyes and all.

Spoiler alert! Love Monster finds love in the end. And readers will find lots to love in this utterly charming picture book. Rachel Bright brings a dash of warmth and wit to what could have been a very straightforward text, and her illustrations match the oh-so-sweet (but not saccharine!) tone of the story perfectly. It’s impossible not to cheer on Love Monster as he searches high, low, and middle-ish for love. This story of determination, optimism, and finding love where you least expect it is just perfect for reading aloud.