Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina

 

 

Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina. Illustrated by Anna and Elena Balbusso. Candlewick, 2025. Chapter book, fantasy. 

Graciela has the spirit of a thirteen year old, but she has lived at the bottom of the ocean for a hundred years. She makes beautiful sea glass. She also assists Amina, her friend, in welcoming new spirits. Meanwhile, Jorge Leon works on land in his family's forge and wants to be a toymaker. Jorge finds a handmade harpoon that can spear a sea ghost. His family's history is tied up with the harpoon and Jorge must work with Graciela to help both the living and the dead. 

I confess that I read this book the week after so many children died in the Kerrville area floods. It was hard to get past the prologue where Graciela's foot slips and she drowns. The fantasy of Graciela and Amina helping spirits transition to time underwater was hard to read. I worried for Jorge's character, too. Even though the children work to resolve their immediate problem and the ultimate ending comes full circle, it was hard to focus on beautiful and otherwise enchanting language and themes. 

 

 The Woman in the Wallpaper: A Novel by Lora Jones. Union Square & Co., 2025. Historical fiction.

After their beloved father dies, sisters Sofi and Lara must move from Marseilles to Paris where they are offered work in a factory that produces wallpaper. It is the time of the French Revolution and Sofi becomes increasingly involved with politics. Lara, a good artist, attracts the attention of Josef who has inherited the factory, but Josef marries the aristocratic Hortense. The three women are thrown together during the dramatic times and readers will find their struggles intriguing. Lara resembles "the woman in the wallpaper" who was based on Josef's own mother. Can the threads of the  past and the present be tied up?

The Art of Scandal: The Life and Times of Isabella Stewart Gardner by Douglass Shand-Tucci.

 

 The Art of Scandal: The Life and Times of Isabella Stewart Gardner by Douglass Shand-Tucci. HarperCollins, 1997. Nonfiction.

   While this nonfiction title does tell about the life of collector and museum owner Isabella Stewart Gardner of Boston (1840-1924), it is really about the times she lived in as an adult. Painted by Sargent in 1888 as a strong married woman, she was painted again at age 82 by Sargent and portrayed as wrapped in gauze. The book focuses on the people Isabella knew, the young artists she mentored, her own ability to NOT follow the cultural norm, and her lifelong quest to find beauty. She travelled extensively, collected paintings, sculptures, and other historically important items. These, she put into her own home, designed to show off her collections, and to be given to the  public as a museum. Purchased, arranged, and curated by a woman, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston stands as a living tribute to a unique person. This book serves as an introduction to her.

Bliss Adair and the First Rule of Knitting by Jean Mills

 Bliss Adair and the First Rule of Knitting by Jean Mills. YA fiction. Red Deer Press, 2023.

 In this delightful teen romp, shy Bliss Adair helps her parents run a knitting and yarn store. Bliss is great at puzzles like knitting patterns! But, she is not really the girl to go out of her way at school or to attract attention in a socially skilled way. From an overweight friend to a new girl whose grandmother asks for Bliss' help, Bliss is put in the center of teen drama. Her own family is insightful and loving. And, Bliss' approach to helping friends is based on the first rule of knitting take one step at a time. Not looking too far ahead helps Bliss navigate Life. 

How to Survive a Horror Story by Mallory Arnold

 

 How to Survive a Horror Story by Mallory Arnold. Poisoned Pen Press, 2025. Adult fiction. Mystery. Horror.

 After the death of Mortimer Queen, the king of horror novelists, seven people are invited to his estate with promise that they have been left something. One by one, si of them meet untimely ends in gruesome ways. Interspersed with "chapters" about the seven that are seemingly written by Mortimer Queen, readers learn how they were all connected to the writer, his work, or his family. Proceeding from room to room and trying to solve a riddle, the narrative moves forward.  Readers can have fun marking up their books, counting down the characters, and trying to decide who will survive this horror story.

You Should Have Known by Rebecca A. Keller

 

 You Should Have Known by Rebecca A. Keller. 2023, Crooked Lane, an imprint of The Quick Brown Fox and Company. Adult fiction. Mystery.

When Francine Greene, age 72, is talked into moving into the senior adult assistive/independent living facility, Ridgewood, she struggles to make friends. Her son and  daughter are attentive to her, but it's hard to get over the death of her teen granddaughter four years before. When Francine recognizes someone from the past who is probably connected to the crime, it's hard to think of anything else. She vows to get revenge.

While it may be true that few really notice the elderly, when Francine plots to switch up the medicines of others with leftover prescription drugs from her own beloved dead husband, the story takes a sinister turn. She is a believable, vulnerable character. The residents are described with respect and small details make them seem like readers know these people. 

This is a debut novel and bodes well for the author. Although readers may think the letters to or from her cousin will add new details, not really. Although a possible romantic interest with handsome Evan is hinted at, Francine's problems take precedence. If all families were as connected with seniors in placement, life might be diffferent. Let's hope this author keeps going! 

Dinner with King Tut by Sam Kean

 

 Dinner with King Tut:  How Rogue Archaeologists Are re-Creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations by Sam Kean. Little Brown and Company, 2025. Nonfiction.

Have you ever heard of "experimental archaeology"? Follow Sam Kean through different time periods and cultures to learn how scientists, historians, and other professionals are learning about the past by recreating some of what they have only read about. Using all five senses, they make mummies, create their own weapons and go hunting and then prepare their kills, and try to actually experience what life was like in the past. A teacher and her students actually build a Roman road! In alternate chapters of fiction, each time period is brought to life by story.

Not all readers will be interested in every chapter so it is easy to skip around. Ancient Egypt? Viking life? Early Alaska? Even South American cultures? They are all here. This is one book that is NOT boring and learning something you did not already know is guaranteed!