Hana Banana Reads

It has now been exactly one year since the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child script book hit the shelves. This is one of those momentous days, much like the recent ten-year anniversary of Deathly Hallows , where fans everywhere sit back and reminisce on where they were and what they were doing this time last year. For most, it was a midnight release party of some sort the night before. For others, it was running to the nearest bookstore the minute it opened. For everyone, it was a weekend of nostalgia and a resurgence of affection for the boy who lived. Now, we could talk about characterization and story issues in Cursed Child until we’re all blue in the face (and many of us have), but these are not what I want to focus on in this moment of reflection. I want to look back and think on what it meant to be a Harry Potter fan on this day, and on the familiar anticipatory buzz in the air that surrounded Cursed Child ’s release. For that buzz, that crackling energy in the air duri...

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon Age Range: 13 & up Release Date: May 30, 2017 Simon Pulse 9781481478687 You never know when you’re going to fall in love. Just as mysterious a phenomenon is who you will fall in love with . When Dimple Shah’s parents agree to send her to a summer program for aspiring web developers, she thinks they’re finally starting to understand her. To care about her hopes and dreams. Maybe they’ve even dropped this whole “Ideal Indian Husband” nonsense. What she doesn’t expect is another family to be in cahoots with her parents, or for this family to send their oldest son to the same program with the goal of winning her over. And Rishi Patel is for it. Dimple and Rishi are a delight. Dimple is ambitious and hardheaded, and when she discovers her family’s deception she refuses to take part. She did not come to this program to fall in love. She came to learn, and to win a shot at developing an app with her idol. Dimple is of the fir...

***Upcoming Release!*** Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi 9781101994795 Age Range: 10 & up Release Date: November 14, 2017 Dutton Books for Young Readers I had two top reads last year. The first is one you may have heard of. A vision of loveliness called The Girl Who Drank the Moon that went on to win the Newbery this year. My other favorite (and if I’m honest with you, my top book of the entire year) was the first Middle Grade novel by acclaimed YA author Tahereh Mafi, called Furthermore . Furthermore is this wondrous, whimsical love letter to your favorite childhood books. There’s a bit of Oz in there, some Secret Garden , and definitely Alice in Wonderland . But it is entirely its own story and, quite simply, it is a masterpiece. Now, on to Whichwood : new companion novel to the aforementioned Furthermore . Due to my intense love for Furthermore , you can imagine the anticipation for its companion. These anticipatory feelings were well founded. Whichwood is a...

The Someday Suitcase by Corey Ann Haydu Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: June 27, 2017 Katherine Tegen Books 9780062352750 Some stories are just special. They manage to wriggle their way into your heart, find a place to hunker down, and simply stay there. The Someday Suitcase is one of those stories. Clover and Danny have been best friends their entire lives. The close-your-eyes-and-know-exactly-what-the-other-is-doing kind of friends. But everything they know is derailed when Danny comes down with a mysterious illness. Test after test after test and the doctors are flummoxed. Luckily, Clover is a scientist, and she intends to figure out exactly what is wrong with her best friend. As Danny’s illness progresses and Clover takes meticulous notes, she begins to see the common denominator, the one thing that always makes Danny feel better: her. How is this possible? Her scientist brain is on overdrive, trying to figure out how this could be. But she can’t ignore the truth...

The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah Age Range: 13 & up Release Date: May 9, 2017 Scholastic Press 9781338118667 The people we love have a profound effect on us. The way we are raised influences our beliefs and our values, whether we end up agreeing with them or not. And very often, meeting another person can alter steadfast beliefs for the better and open you up to a whole new way of thinking. The Lines We Cross showcases this beautifully, telling the story of one teen’s eyes opening for the first time, and of another learning that not everyone is who they first seem to be. Mina is a refugee from Afghanistan. Though her family has lived in Australia for a decade now, she still feels boxed in this way by the community, and the traumatic experiences of her young life sit with her. This feeling is exacerbated even more when Mina and her family move across town so she can attend a prestigious prep school on scholarship. This is a major opportunity, despite the...

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia Age Range: 13 & up Release Date: May 30, 2017 Greenwillow Books 9780062290137 Eliza Mirk is an angsty teen. That’s certainly nothing new. She has a mom, a dad, and two younger brothers who drive her up the wall. She’s always being asked to come out of her room, to put her phone away, to get off the internet, to pull herself out of her own head and spend time with real people. What is unusual about Eliza is her art, an immensely popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea . Eliza keeps her identity anonymous, preferring to interact with the enthusiastic Monstrous Sea online community from the peripheral. Her creation is even lucrative enough to put her through school in the future. This popularity does not accompany her during school hours. As we all know, high school is rough. Teenagers can be judgmental and mean, and Eliza is weird from a traditionally social standpoint. She much prefers her online community. Then she meets ...

Dragon’s Green by Scarlett Thomas Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: May 30, 2017 Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 9781481497848 There are a lot of fantasy stories. There are especially a lot of fantasy stories written for the elementary school age, and it can be a challenge to know which is going to be unique at first sight. Will this be something new? Or will it feel like a copy of those that have come before it? Well, I am here to tell all of you, Dragon’s Green is definitely not a knockoff. It is something incredibly and undeniably special. Thomas’s first novel for children boasts a lot of the elements often featured in this sort of fantasy tale: the young hero learning of her power, and the discovery of a magical community hidden just beyond the regular world we know. There are even elements of timeless classics such as Inkheart , but none of these feel borrowed or overdone. They feel as exciting and wondrous as they did before you as a reader star...