Aya awakens, steps out of her hut, and sits by the campfire with her grandparents for breakfast. It’s a special day. Today, Grandpa will take Aya into the forest to see a bear—a first for her. They mount their horses and make their way through the woods, keenly aware of indicators of the shifting seasons, among them the changing colors of leaves and birds flying south for the winter. As Grandpa and Aya reach the top of a hill, they take their places and wait…and wait. Eventually a mother bear and her three cubs appear and curl up to take a nap on an old, abandoned mattress surrounded by trash. After the bears leave, Aya and her grandfather burn the garbage to discourage the animals’ dependence on humans—an example of environmental stewardship in action. Warm, softly blended colors create detailed portraits of Aya, her grandfather, and the various animals they encounter. Blackcrane’s gentle, appealingly straightforward narration sets a steady pace that reflects the story’s theme of patience. Backmatter offers more information on the Oroqen, an ethnic group that resides in the forests and mountains of northern China.

People are ticked off these days, observe Culpepper and Lee, with “enormous wellsprings of pent-up democratic pressure just looking for a way to get out.” As their narrative opens, they examine a predecessor event that uncorked similar pressure: namely, the reaction against the meat industry when, in 1906, Upton Sinclair published The Jungle, documented the “ground-up poisoned rats” and putrefied canned meat that slaughterhouses were foisting on consumers. Two things are worthy of note there, the authors hold. The first is that rebellion against the status quo begins with a muckraker, an “obsessively committed individual who could focus inchoate public anger around a specific set of demands”—in that case, for safe food. The second is that the target of that anger is a corporation, an entity capable of being criticized by people with “shared moral outrage.” So it was that Dieselgate came down in 2015, when an American engineer calculated that German auto manufacturers were cheating on emissions standards, and, after consumer protests, drew down fines against Volkswagen alone totaling more than $32 billion. Goldman Sachs and Enron collapsed around scandals, while the Cambridge Analytica case brought about significant legislative reforms around privacy. As the authors note, not every scandal seems to have legs: Although U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse uncovered a “smoking gun” that showed that Big Oil was well aware of deleterious climate change half a century ago, the public has not exploded in response. Still, corporations do best, the authors assert, when they “stick to what they are good at,” delivering goods and services without muddling the political landscape with special pleading, leaving political questions the “subject of informed debate between voters, not determined by the whims of the leaders of large companies.”

Carter Rogers is on the case. His specialty? Looking into deceased and missing class pets. After his class pet, a naked mole-rat named Mr. Pebbles, mysteriously died, Carter teamed up with the snarky rodent’s disembodied spirit to find out why. Now Carter must track down a reptile gone rogue. A milk snake named Milkshake, Carter’s older brother JJ’s classroom pet, fled her enclosure while JJ was preparing her lunch (a frozen baby mouse). Although skeptical of Carter’s spirit connections, JJ nonetheless enlists his assistance. With the help of a magical necklace, Carter speaks with Mr. Pebbles and Rootbeer (a spectral snake and Milkshake’s former tankmate) to uncover Milkshake’s whereabouts. Their search leads them to the cafeteria, to the teacher’s lounge, and finally to a warm bowl of chicken soup. Compared with the first installment, this title features slightly less mystery and far more sibling rivalry—in particular, Roberts draws effective parallels between Carter and JJ’s relationship and Rootbeer’s bond with Milkshake, her adopted sister. The tale also provides ample hallway adventures and slapstick silliness, brought to life by Roberts’ lively cartooning. Carter, JJ, and Lester, an interloping classmate who wants in on the spirit conversations, are Black; the supporting cast is diverse.

One month ago, 16-year-old Jamie left Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, to earn a living playing the fiddle in Halifax. Noah’s parents spend their evenings driving to Halifax to look for Jamie, so Noah’s grandmother arrives from Cape Breton Island, soothing Noah with warm hugs, serving him chocolate cake for breakfast, and tending to his cold with home remedies. Unlike wild child Jamie, whose exploits are legendary, “good kid” Noah excels academically and swims competitively, but he feels overlooked—and lonely. New girl Alysha Toussaint befriends him, but Noah is hurt when Alysha and Jessica, Noah’s swimming rival and sometime bully, become romantically involved. Noah’s conflicts all come to a head when he sets out alone to look for Jamie, bringing the tale to a poignant conclusion. Balancing the larger issue of Jamie’s disappearance with Noah’s need for normalcy and longing for friendship, Schwartz Fagan’s well-paced narrative convincingly portrays the anxiety of a family dealing with crisis, the pleasures of having a loving grandparent, and the typical—yet still excruciating—ups and downs of adolescence. The maritime province’s small-town setting adds flavor and dimension, with lyrics from traditional East Coast Canadian songs interspersed. Most characters read white; Alysha’s last name hints at diversity.

Aurora begins to hope that the eccentric doomsday preppers’ mansion could be her forever home, but when the endless rains come, she begins to have doubts. Niko and Jada have BOBs, or “Bug-Out-Backpacks,” stashed in different rooms, and they train Aurora in disaster survival techniques, all while repeatedly moving to higher floors in their home to avoid the rising water. Aurora hopes they’ll take her with them when they finally leave—but one morning, she wakes up alone in the flooded mansion. Violent men break in, but Aurora escapes out a window with her BOB, taking off in a boat. She meets a younger boy, Kota, and the two try to find the rumored safe haven called The Hill. Based on various clues, it might be where Niko and Jada went when they abandoned Aurora. This fast-paced novel with dystopian elements will keep readers invested in its action-packed plot. A reoccurring mystery that’s hinted at throughout the narrative leaves ample room for the sequel that’s sure to be in high demand. Most main characters read white. Pale-skinned Kota, who has “sleek, jet-black hair,” is cued as being of Japanese descent.