“In the heart of a gray city, there lived a girl who loved to doodle, draw, color, and paint.” Recommended by a colleague as a potential Caldecott contender, Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell is definitely something beautiful, from its message to its vibrant colors. Although young Mira thinks her city is gray and dark, she still tries to brighten it up with drawings—of an apple, a flower, a bird, and a heart—which she gives to her neighbors as well as a drawing of a sun, which she hangs on a gray wall hidden in the shadows.

“Her city was less gray—but not much.” The next day Mira sees an artist with paintbrushes in his pockets looking at her sun painting. Soon enough, together they paint the walls of the city and many of the city’s residents join in. Maybe Something Beautiful celebrates art, diversity, and the power of a vision. Readers of all ages will appreciate the message that illustrator and the inspiration for the character of the muralist Rafael López brings to life through his unforgettably colorful artwork.

I first picked this up on a recent not-so-glamorous beach vacation, thinking I might have something in common with a ten year old protagonist off to visit her grandfather at a sunny-but-bleak Floridian retirement home. Though that parallel did not entirely come to fruition, I fell in love with this book in all of its sun-bleached illustrations and careful depictions of what it’s like to carry the weight of other people’s secrets.

Sunshine “Sunny” Lewin can’t wait to head out to the beach and reunite with her best summer friend; but things take a sharp left turn when Sunny is instead flown out to Florida for a summer with Grandpa Pat at Pine Palms retirement community. With no kids allowed in the community pool and early bird dinner specials every evening at 4:30, adventures are hard to come by at first. But unexpected friendships shine through and Sunny ultimately emerges with a great new love–comic books. Meanwhile, carefully timed flashbacks allude to the troubling reason Sunny was sent away in the first place.

Though quiet in action, this is a beautiful and satisfying read with a substantive emotional arc that effortlessly articulates what it’s like to feel disappointed, anxious, and resentful towards your family when you don’t yet have the self-assurance to express those feelings out loud. But it’s also an odyssey of unexpected adventures in a retirement home–complete with a cat-finding detective agency, zany octogenarian friends, and a really great comic book store. Poignant, realistic, and recommended to all.

“She didn’t realize how toasty it had been in the tavern until she escaped into the brittle evening.  Crisp, like the first bite of a chilled apple, smelling just as sweet, with hints of burnt sugar weaving through the charcoal night air.”

Caraval wraps itself around you; you cannot escape it.  It is a book of love, intrigue, and longing—a book of trickery, magic, and suspense.  Caraval checks all of my boxes.  What starts as a family drama soon turns into a magical mystery when Scarlett is granted three tickets to the most spectacular performance on Earth, Caraval.  Escaping the clutches of their abusive father, Scarlett and her sister, Tella, leave their island in the dead of night, thanks to a handsome sailor with a broken moral compass.  Once they reach Caraval, the trio becomes part of a deceitful, fantastical game, where nothing is as it seems, unless…perhaps it is.  When Tella is taken by the game’s creator, Scarlett must find her before the other contestants, because in Caraval, you never know what could happen if you fail.

In the most fantastical of settings, Caraval explores the depths of human desire and the lies we tell ourselves to overcome it.  With Garber’s characters we share hope, defeat, love, and humiliation.  In her words we are embraced and abused but, ultimately, transported.  This book is fantastic.