Waiting on Wednesday: How to Build a Miracle by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Image: Penguin Random House

How to Build a Miracle by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. 240 p. Nancy Paulsen Books/ Penguin Young Readers, February 16, 2027. 9780399546860.

I recently saw a cover reveal of How to Build a Miracle online somewhere, and did a happy dance since I've been a huge fan of Lynda Mullaly Hunt's since reading her debut, One for the Murphy's. I absolutely adored Fish in a Tree, and had the privilege of hosting the author after the release of Shouting at the Rain.

Needless to say, I'm beyond excited about How to Build a Miracle. The scheduled release date is February 16, 2027. Here's the publisher synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s moving story of a boy struggling to rebuild his life after a family tragedy and his own big mistakes

Peter blames himself for not saving his brother, Russ. After all, if the roles had been reversed, Russ would have figured out a way to keep him alive. His sadness and anger about his family falling apart, as well as his guilt, make Peter lash out—and ultimately break the law. When he finds himself in front of a judge and sent to a juvenile rehabilitation “camp,” Peter figures it will be all about punishment. But at the program, he’s handed some tools to help restore old wooden boats, as well as tools to understand himself. Under the direction of Bud, a therapist and boat builder, Peter and five other juvenile offenders must work together. The kids are wary at first—arguing over everything, wondering who’s the most dangerous, and who committed the stupidest crime. With time and connection, the kids become protective of each other and Peter finds the rhythm of working on boats helps him breathe easier. Nicknamed “Shakespeare” because of his love for words, Peter realizes he’s now living out a metaphor; just like the most dilapidated boat that’s unable to float, he too—as well as his family—can be rebuilt.

Lynda Mullaly Hunt deploys her trademark insight on the map it takes to heal from trauma, in this memorable story about a boy who learns he can still stand even as his foundation shifts.

Happy reading!

Middle Grade Monday: Sunny Figures It Out by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

Image: Scholastic

Sunny Figures It Out by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. Sunny #6. 224 p. Graphix/ Scholastic Inc. July, 2025. 9781338792478. Review of finished purchased copy.

Middle Grade Monday features Sunny Figures It Out by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. This sixth installment in the Sunny series does not disappoint. Sunny is enjoying her friendship with Tony, but is pressured to take it to the next level by her boy-crazy friend, and it just doesn't feel right. Meanwhile, her mom is about to re-enter the work force. 

I love this series and the fact that all the 70's stuff, like rotary phones is explained. The peer pressure to conform has not changed at all though, making this gn memoir relatable to contemporary readers. Keep them coming!

Waiting on Wednesday: Huda F Would Love You? by Huda Fahmy

I attended a Penguin Young Readers preview of fall releases yesterday and they have lots of great books in the pipeline! 

Image: Penguin Random House

Waiting on Wednesday features Huda F Would Love You? by Huda Fahmy. 256 p. Dial Books/ Penguin Young Readers, October 26, 2026. 9780593855669.

I have loved Huda F ever since her first book, Huda F are You? hit the shelves back in 2021. I retired in January of 2025, so I missed the third Huda F book, which was published in April of 2025. I will remedy that tomorrow. Her first two books were quite popular with my seventh and eighth graders.

Here's the publisher synopsis: In this funny and tender finale to the Huda F series, Huda has a plan to find love—but she might need to find herself first!

It’s the summer after Huda’s high school graduation, and love is in the air! Or it’s about to be, anyway. Because Huda has the ingredients for a perfect love story: a butt-kicking girl power squad of new friends, and a plan to woo all the aunties into setting her up with their eligible sons. But when she finds herself caught between her friends and her heart, gender roles and ambitions, and her fears and dreams, Huda begins to realize that finding her own “happily ever after” might require changing herself—or her expectations.

Waiting on Wednesday: Anger is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo

 

Image: HarperCollins

Anger is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo. 336 p. Quill Tree Books/ HarperCollins, September 15, 2026. 9780062882790.

Waiting on Wednesday features Anger is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo. I have been a fan of Ms. Acevedo since reading Poet X, which won the National Book Award, Printz Medal and Boston Globe Horn Book Award in addition to being a Kirkus Award finalist, and winning the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature, the Carnegie Medal and an Odyssey Award. I've read and enjoyed With Fire on High and Clap When You Land, and am very much looking forward to reading Anger is Only a Shadow. 

Publisher synopsis: From National Book Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author and renowned poet Elizabeth Acevedo comes a white-knuckle journey to self-understanding and doing the right thing, no matter the cost.

Lil is anything but small. She’s rebellious, she's loyal; she's figuring out what kind of good person she wants to be, or if she wants to be a good person at all. But more than anything? Lil wants to be free.

When her instinct for freedom leads to another stay in D.C. juvenile detention, Lil knows she’s lucky to just be on probation. But judgment, guilt, and an ankle monitor weigh heavily on her, and she can’t shake that pinned-down feeling.

The only person who might understand is her big brother, Aldwin. Except he’s more distant now than just the hundred miles where he’s away at college. Something’s been off with him for a couple of months, but only Lil seems to realize how important it is to get to him.

As her court hearing ticks closer, a question looms over Lil as the missed phone calls and strange texts from her brother pile up: will she follow the rules until her sentencing, or put her future freedom on the line?

Teen Tuesday: The Leaving Room by Amber McBride

Image: Macmillan

The Leaving Room by Amber McBride. Unabridged downloadable audiobook, ~3 hours. Read by the author. Macmillan Audio, October, 2025. 9781250411440. Review of audiobook borrowed from public library.

Gospel is the Keeper of the Leaving Room. She guides young souls onward, but first she collects memories, for the young are reluctant to move on. She doesn't know how she knows these rules, but she does. One day, Melodee enters the Leaving Room, and it turns out that she is a Keeper as well. Two keepers? How can that be? 

I picked this up last December because I wanted to read all the NBA finalists in Literature for Young People. I read and enjoyed two of Ms. McBride's earlier novels. This was a bit hard to get into, but blossomed into a fascinating take on the afterlife.

Young adult readers who enjoy verse novels or books that explore the afterlife like Gabrielle Zevin's Elsewhere, or Jennifer Yu's Grief in the Fourth Dimension, or Gabby Noone's Layoverland will enjoy this. 

Middle Grade Monday: The Moon without Stars by Chanel Miller

Image: Penguin Random House

 

The Moon without Stars by Chanel Miller. 256 p. Philomel Books/ Penguin Young Readers, January, 2026. 9780593624555. Review of finished book borrowed from pubic library. 

Seventh grader Luna is well aware of her outsider status. She might be even comfortable with it. After all, she has her bff, Scott to walk to school and sit with at lunch. They sit under a tree, where Luna observes the interactions of the "popular crowd" with some fascination. 

After she read all the books that she was given by the family of a girl in town who had died, Luna wonders what to do with them. She decides to give them away, but carefully. She becomes a "book doctor," prescribing books for her classmates - a middle school "right book at the right time for the right reader," if you will. Soon, she finds herself in demand for these books and she wonders how she can help more people. So she creates a zine and Scott illustrates it. 

The zine takes off and eventually, Luna catches the eye of the popular crowd. At first, she splits her time between them and Scott, but eventually ditches him altogether; but being in the popular crowd has its price and as the stakes grow, Luna is unsure of her place in it.

This was such a spot-on depiction of middle school friendship dynamics. I loved Luna's voice. I loved her friendship with Scott and ached for him when she ditched him for the popular crowd. Middle school readers will find much to relate with in this engaging, heartfelt story. I picked it up after reading some Newbery buzz about it. The buzz is well-deserved. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Leaving Birdsong by Brenda Woods

Image: Penguin Random House

Leaving Birdsong by Brenda Woods. 224 p. Nancy Paulsen Books/ Penguin Young Readers, October 13, 2026. 9780593461563.

I came across an announcement about this on Twitter a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA as well as St. Louis Armstrong Beach.

Publisher synopsis: An inquisitive bookworm explores a whole new world when her family moves north during the Great Migration in Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods’s stand-alone companion to The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA.

It’s 1946 when eleven-year-old Abigail and her parents move from Birdsong, South Carolina, to Detroit, where her parents say there are more opportunities for people of color. This promise is fulfilled when her father gets a good job at an auto factory, and on her visits to the city’s impressive library, where she not only gets to walk through the front door for the first time but also meets her first Black librarian. And though her parents encourage her to focus on the new possibilities, it doesn’t take long for Abigail to see that some of the limitations imposed by segregation also exist in the North.


Abigail keenly observes it all, as she’s determined to become a writer, even though not everyone takes her seriously. The Motor City offers plenty of inspiration, and she writes poems about Caesar, her funny neighbor, and the goings-on at the fancy hotel for wealthy Black folks where her mom gets a job. But before long, Abigail becomes more than an observer when a tragedy occurs after a homeless boy robs her. When she and her friends set out to help the boy’s younger brother, she is confronted with uncomfortable realities about poverty. Throughout her summer of adventures and unexpected happenings, Abigail keeps her light shining as she reluctantly sheds her country-girl beginnings and starts to embrace Detroit as home.