Jessica Harrison
@crackingthecover.bsky.social
Book critic. Writer. Mom. Gardener. I review books for young readers — picture, MG and YA. https://www.crackingthecover.com
Enola Holmes and the Clanging Coffin is delightful mystery crackingthecover.com/27849/enola-... #yalit
Enola Holmes and the Clanging Coffin is delightful mystery - www.crackingthecover.com
Enola Holmes returns when the rescue of a young woman sends her into battle with Sherlock against his most deadly, implacable enemy in Enola Holmes and the Clanging Coffin, by Nancy Springer.
crackingthecover.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Enola Holmes and the Clanging Coffin is delightful mystery crackingthecover.com/27849/enola-... #yalit
Clifford Dream Big is joyful celebration of continued growth bit.ly/49YiGKD #kidlit
Clifford Dream Big is joyful celebration of continued growth - www.crackingthecover.com
Clifford the Big Red Dog and his best friend, Emily Elizabeth, inspire readers to keep growing in Dream Big, by Norman Bridwell, Meredith Rusu and Jo Anne Davies.
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January 19, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Clifford Dream Big is joyful celebration of continued growth bit.ly/49YiGKD #kidlit
Avi’s The Road From Nowhere is fine historical fiction bit.ly/457SWce #mglit
Avi's The Road From Nowhere is fine historical fiction - www.crackingthecover.com
Three kids hope to make it big during Colorado's Silver Panic in 1893 in The Road From Nowhere, a middle-grade novel by Avi.
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January 19, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Avi’s The Road From Nowhere is fine historical fiction bit.ly/457SWce #mglit
Katie Bernet turns Little Women into a whodunit in excellent Beth is Dead bit.ly/4566nct #yalit
Katie Bernet turns Little Women into a whodunit in excellent Beth is Dead - www.crackingthecover.com
Beth March has been murdered, and sisters Jo, Amy and Meg will stop at nothing to find the killer, even if it’s one of them, in Beth is Dead, by Katie Bernet.
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January 15, 2026 at 3:57 PM
Katie Bernet turns Little Women into a whodunit in excellent Beth is Dead bit.ly/4566nct #yalit
Hairstory celebrates history of Black hair bit.ly/4qMD4Eb #kidlit
Hairstory celebrates history of Black hair - www.crackingthecover.com
Celebrate the richness of the African heritage behind braids, locs, cornrows, and more in Hairstory, by Sope Martins and Briana Mukodiri Uchendu.
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January 15, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Hairstory celebrates history of Black hair bit.ly/4qMD4Eb #kidlit
Dana Smith’s Zenguin teaches mindfulness bit.ly/3Lo5Pbn #kidlit
Dana Smith's Zenguin teaches mindfulness - www.crackingthecover.com
An anxious penguin learns how to find calm when surrounded by big emotions in Zenguin, by Danna Smith and Sydney Hanson.
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January 14, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Dana Smith’s Zenguin teaches mindfulness bit.ly/3Lo5Pbn #kidlit
V. T. Bidania’s A Year Without Home is strong novel in verse bit.ly/49CLEhQ #mglit
V. T. Bidania's A Year Without Home is strong novel in verse - www.crackingthecover.com
A Year Without Home novel in verse about a Hmong girl losing and finding home in the aftermath of the Vietnam War by V. T. Bidania.
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January 14, 2026 at 8:06 PM
V. T. Bidania’s A Year Without Home is strong novel in verse bit.ly/49CLEhQ #mglit
November 21, 2025 at 3:08 PM
November 20, 2025 at 3:20 PM
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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