Underwear!
Jenn Harney

Little Bear has finished his bath and needs to get ready for bed. Daddy Bear has no idea of the many placements for one pair of underwear, and neither will you! This book is sure to bring laughs to both kids and adults. Say the word “underwear” in a class of first graders and there will be laughs, smirks, snickers, and red faces. Read the book anyway!

Not Your Nest
Gideon Sterer

Perseverance and kindness can only go so far, right? Poor Yellow bird—all he wants to do is make himself a lovely nest. All the watching animals start claiming his nest, causing him to build countless more. In the end, kindness triumphs and Yellow bird gets a nest just the way he designed and built it.

Sparrow Road
Sheila O'Connor

12-year-old Raine's mother suddenly announces she has a new job for the summer at Sparrow Road. Raine is not at all excited, especially since she has to leave Grandpa Mac back in Milwaukee. This story has everything one could ask for: mystery, secrets, a creepy mansion and a cast of unforgettable characters. After reading the great story Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth by the same author, I was happy to come across one of her earlier books. Recommended for young adults.

Walk Two Moons
Sharon Creech

A 13-year-old girl goes on a road trip with her eccentric grandparents. Sal's convinced that if they can reach Idaho by her mother's birthday her mother will come back with them. Between their travel adventures she tells a story about the neighbors she and her father met when they left their farm and moved to Ohio. Tucked in here and there are clues about what's going on in Sal's heart and head. I almost cried at the end, but ultimately the book is about hope. Why are so many YA books so readable and memorable?

Long Way Down
Jason Reynolds

This book is written in verse and I absolutely loved it. You can tell by page four why Long way Down has won three awards. Fifteen year-old Will has just witnessed his brother’s murder in the ghetto where they live. This means that Will will have to follow one of the unspoken “Rules,” so he grabs a gun and heads out to exact revenge on his brother’s killer. The problem is, Will thinks he knows who the murderer is, but does he really? The book takes place primarily during a sixty second elevator ride. When the elevator stops, Will is greeted by the other relatives he’s lost to gun violence and is forced to confront the grief he is expected to hide.

Loneliest Girl in the Universe
Lauren James  

Romy is all alone and light years from home on a spacecraft that won’t land anytime soon. After an accident left her both parents and all other crew members dead, teenage Romy has been without human contact for years. She is in control of a spacecraft that is on a mission to populate a new planet, a mission that will take decades and has cost billions of dollars. Romy has resigned herself to her fate until word comes from NASA that a second spaceship has been launched and will catch up to her within a year. Romy sets up contact with this new ship and begins a friendship with the young male captain on board. But as she excitedly awaits his arrival, things start to turn south. Is this mysterious captain as perfect as he seems? And exactly what happened to Romy’s parents and the crew of the spacecraft?

Note: the book will release in paperback on May 14.