Jessica Harrison
@crackingthecover.bsky.social
Book critic. Writer. Mom. Gardener. I review books for young readers — picture, MG and YA. https://www.crackingthecover.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:59 PM
November 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM
November 17, 2025 at 3:19 PM
María Coco’s A Sound in the Night is delightful wordless picture book bit.ly/47xjLXz #kidlit
María Coco's A Sound in the Night is delightful wordless picture book - www.crackingthecover.com
A girl and her dog go on a camping adventure in A Sound in the Night, a wordless picture book by María Coco.
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November 5, 2025 at 4:29 PM
María Coco’s A Sound in the Night is delightful wordless picture book bit.ly/47xjLXz #kidlit
Amber McBride’s The Leaving Room is fantastic YA bit.ly/3LD0KeP #yalit
Amber McBride's The Leaving Room is fantastic YA - www.crackingthecover.com
Amber McBride’s The Leaving Room is a hopeful YA novel-in-verse about a girl in between life and death.
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October 31, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Amber McBride’s The Leaving Room is fantastic YA bit.ly/3LD0KeP #yalit
Norman Ollestad & Brendan Kiely’s Sole Survivor is riveting true story bit.ly/48PPJkb #mglit
Norman Ollestad & Brendan Kiely's Sole Survivor is riveting true story - www.crackingthecover.com
In Sole Survivor, Norman Ollestad tells the story of how as a sixth-grader he survived a deadly mountainside plane crash during a snowstorm.
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October 30, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Norman Ollestad & Brendan Kiely’s Sole Survivor is riveting true story bit.ly/48PPJkb #mglit
History and Scottish folklore collide in The Crimson Throne bit.ly/4o1Ftd3 #yalit
History and Scottish folklore collide in The Crimson Throne - www.crackingthecover.com
Court intrigue, political maneuvering and Scottish folklore collide in The Crimson Throne, the first book in the Spy and Guardian series by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis.
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October 29, 2025 at 3:06 PM
History and Scottish folklore collide in The Crimson Throne bit.ly/4o1Ftd3 #yalit
Dusti Bowling’s Holding on for Dear Life will resonate with readers bit.ly/3Lq0C28 #mglit
Dusti Bowling's Holding on for Dear Life will resonate with readers - www.crackingthecover.com
A boy struggles to keep his family together while facing the side effects of bull riding in Holding on For Dear Life, by Dusti Bowling.
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October 28, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Dusti Bowling’s Holding on for Dear Life will resonate with readers bit.ly/3Lq0C28 #mglit
Ali Novak’s Heartstrings is fun addition to Heartbreak Chronicles bit.ly/3WMMGSq #yalit
Ali Novak's Heartstrings is fun addition to Heartbreak Chronicles - www.crackingthecover.com
A chance encounter at Comic Con turns into a romance of epic proportions in Heartstrings, the third book in Ali Novak’s Heartbreak Chronicles.
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October 27, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Ali Novak’s Heartstrings is fun addition to Heartbreak Chronicles bit.ly/3WMMGSq #yalit
Rock Star tells the fascinating story of geologist Ursula Marvin bit.ly/3WCGnkx #kidlit
Rock Star tells the fascinating story of geologist Ursula Marvin - www.crackingthecover.com
Discover the story of a pioneering geologist in Rock Star: How Ursula Marvin Mapped Moon Rocks and Meteorites, by Sandra Neil Wallace and Nancy Carpenter.
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October 27, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Rock Star tells the fascinating story of geologist Ursula Marvin bit.ly/3WCGnkx #kidlit
Jennifer A. Nielsen’s The Free State of Jax is great contemporary MG bit.ly/4hnz7lL #mglit
Jennifer A. Nielsen's The Free State of Jax is great contemporary MG - www.crackingthecover.com
A boy sets out to change his future by creating his own country in The Free State of Jax, a contemporary middle-grade novel by Jennifer A. Nielsen.
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October 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Jennifer A. Nielsen’s The Free State of Jax is great contemporary MG bit.ly/4hnz7lL #mglit
Facing Feelings is excellent story of Raina Telgemeier bit.ly/4hrxUu2 #mglit
Facing Feelings is excellent story of Raina Telgemeier - www.crackingthecover.com
Get to know the artist behind Smile, Sisters and Guts in Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier.
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October 24, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Facing Feelings is excellent story of Raina Telgemeier bit.ly/4hrxUu2 #mglit
Struan Murray’s Dragonborn is adventure-filled MG fantasy bit.ly/3IWLed3 #mglit
Struan Murray's Dragonborn is adventure-filled MG fantasy - www.crackingthecover.com
A girl discovers that not only are dragons real, but she is one, in Dragonborn, a middle-grade fantasy novel by Struan Murray.
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October 23, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Struan Murray’s Dragonborn is adventure-filled MG fantasy bit.ly/3IWLed3 #mglit
The Tomorrow Tree is visually stunning nonfiction picture book bit.ly/46YwMcb #kidlit
The Tomorrow Tree is visually stunning nonfiction picture book - www.crackingthecover.com
Discover the new ecosystem that flourishes after a tree falls in The Tomorrow Tree: How Nature Creates New Life from Old.
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October 23, 2025 at 4:19 PM
The Tomorrow Tree is visually stunning nonfiction picture book bit.ly/46YwMcb #kidlit
Jennifer L. Holm’s Outside is great choice for independent reading bit.ly/48itTpd #mglit
Jennifer L. Holm's Outside is great choice for independent reading - www.crackingthecover.com
A girl dreams about a world beyond the shelter where her family lives following the Great Poisoning in Outside, a MG novel by Jennifer L. Holm.
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October 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Jennifer L. Holm’s Outside is great choice for independent reading bit.ly/48itTpd #mglit
King Arthur’s Sweet & Salty is great cookbook for tweens and teens bit.ly/4nGUgdm #mglit #yalit #cookbook
King Arthur's Sweet & Salty is great cookbook for tweens and teens - www.crackingthecover.com
Bakers rejoice; there’s a new cookbook for young bakers in town: Sweet & Salty! from the King Arthur Baking Company.
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October 9, 2025 at 2:13 PM
King Arthur’s Sweet & Salty is great cookbook for tweens and teens bit.ly/4nGUgdm #mglit #yalit #cookbook
Laura Amy Schlitz’s The Winter of the Dollhouse is charming bit.ly/4gPQT0S #mglit
@candlewickpress.bsky.social
@candlewickpress.bsky.social
Laura Amy Schlitz's The Winter of the Dollhouse is charming - www.crackingthecover.com
A girl, an old lady and a doll become intwined in each other’s lives in The Winter of the Dollhouse, a middle-grade novel by Laura Amy Schlitz.
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October 9, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Laura Amy Schlitz’s The Winter of the Dollhouse is charming bit.ly/4gPQT0S #mglit
@candlewickpress.bsky.social
@candlewickpress.bsky.social
Elevator on 74th Street is charming tale of friendship bit.ly/4nPDlES #kidlit @simonkids.bsky.social
@authorlauragehl.bsky.social
@authorlauragehl.bsky.social
Elevator on 74th Street is charming tale of friendship - www.crackingthecover.com
Follow the comings and goings of an apartment building’s residents through the eyes of its elevator in The Elevator on 74th Street, by Laura Gehl and Yas Imamura.
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October 1, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Elevator on 74th Street is charming tale of friendship bit.ly/4nPDlES #kidlit @simonkids.bsky.social
@authorlauragehl.bsky.social
@authorlauragehl.bsky.social
My Little Book of Big Jewish Holidays is great for families bit.ly/46mZdR2 #kidlit
My Little Book of Big Jewish Holidays is great for families - www.crackingthecover.com
Introduce young readers to foundations of the Jewish faith in My Little Book of Big Jewish Holidays, by Hannah Shafiroff.
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September 24, 2025 at 2:05 PM
My Little Book of Big Jewish Holidays is great for families bit.ly/46mZdR2 #kidlit
Michael Buckley’s The Weirdies is quirky MG read bit.ly/4meSMoW #mglit
Michael Buckley's The Weirdies is quirky MG read - www.crackingthecover.com
Three very weird siblings have a chance at finding a real family in The Weirdies, by Sisters Grimm author Michael Buckley.
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September 15, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Michael Buckley’s The Weirdies is quirky MG read bit.ly/4meSMoW #mglit
Solve mysteries in interactive Agatha Case Files: Welcome to Kittyville bit.ly/41KTliW #kidlit
Solve mysteries in interactive Agatha Case Files: Welcome to Kittyville - www.crackingthecover.com
Help a detective follow the clues and solve mysteries in The Agatha Case Files: Welcome to Kittyville! by Paul Martin and Camille Roy.
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September 12, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Solve mysteries in interactive Agatha Case Files: Welcome to Kittyville bit.ly/41KTliW #kidlit
Katherine Applegate’s Pocket Bear is fantastic MG read-aloud bit.ly/3JN4z0n #mglit
Katherine Applegate's Pocket Bear is fantastic MG read-aloud - www.crackingthecover.com
A cat and an old bear work together to give stuffed animals a second chance at a loving home in Pocket Bear, by Katherine Applegate.
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September 11, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Katherine Applegate’s Pocket Bear is fantastic MG read-aloud bit.ly/3JN4z0n #mglit
Our Frozen Planet is beautiful companion to the BBC Earth series bit.ly/4pa76lv #kidlit
Our Frozen Planet is beautiful companion to the BBC Earth series - www.crackingthecover.com
Introduce young readers to the mystery, wonder, and beauty of the quarter of our world that’s frozen in Our Frozen Planet, by Leisa Stewart-Sharpe and Kim Smith.
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September 11, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Our Frozen Planet is beautiful companion to the BBC Earth series bit.ly/4pa76lv #kidlit
Kiera Azar’s Thorn Season is strong YA romantasy bit.ly/3HN0EA3 #yalit
Kiera Azar's Thorn Season is strong YA romantasy - www.crackingthecover.com
A girl must hide a deadly secret while wooing the king in Thorn Season, the first book in a new romantasy trilogy by Kiera Azar.
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September 10, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Kiera Azar’s Thorn Season is strong YA romantasy bit.ly/3HN0EA3 #yalit
Sarah M. Eden’s Echoes of the Sea is time-traveling romance bit.ly/481E7tJ #properromance
Sarah M. Eden's Echoes of the Sea is time-traveling romance - www.crackingthecover.com
A modern-day London actor is hurled back to 1803, where a love that defies the centuries awaits in Echoes of the Sea, by Sarah M. Eden.
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September 10, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Sarah M. Eden’s Echoes of the Sea is time-traveling romance bit.ly/481E7tJ #properromance