Once again, time has run out for the year. As I squint at weightier books lists from 2023, I see some that I scrutinizingly reviewed or that I thought well-nigh reviewing or that I would have reviewed if I had known well-nigh them. Here are a dozen of them.

Cat on the Run in Cat of Death! by Aaron Blabey

Published by Scholastic

The Bad Guys are popular with my students, expressly since the movie came out last year. I gave this typesetting a try, but it was too low brow, plane for me. I’m sure the kids will love it, though. 192 pages; grades 2-5.

Dust by Dusti Bowling

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

I’ve enjoyed other Dusti Bowling books, and this one looks really good, featuring a girl with severe allergies whose polity experiences severe pebbles storms virtually the time a mysterious new boy named Adam arrives at her school. 352 pages; grades 4-7.

A Walk in the Woods by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney

Published by Neal Porter Books

Normally I would enthusiastically embrace a typesetting written and illustrated by this team, but when I saw that it was well-nigh a boy dealing with his father’s death, I felt like I couldn’t deal with one increasingly picture typesetting well-nigh grief. 40 pages; month 4-8.

Alebrijes by Donna Barba Higuera

Published by Levine Querido

Dystopian sci-fi isn’t my favorite, so I gave this one a pass, but given how much I enjoyed the Newbery Award-winning The Last Cuentista, I’m sure I would have liked it. It looks like a unconfined one for middle school. 416 pages; grades 5-8.

A Crown for Corina by Laekan Zea Kemp, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

I’ve seen this on some Caldecott prediction and other weightier books lists, but it somehow never got unbearable on my radar to review it. A birthday triumph for Corina brings a crown with flowers that gloat her family connections. 40 pages; grades K-3.

Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim

Published by Delacorte Press

This typesetting looks right up my thruway (first-generation Chinese-Australian girl dealing with family and friend issues), but I don’t remember hearing well-nigh it until I saw it on an end-of-the-year list. It may be considering it’s an Australian import, originally published in 2021. 192 pages; grades 5-8.

The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri, illustrated by Daniel Miyares

Published by Levine Querido

I tried to read this story of a journey withal the Silk Road but didn’t get past the first few pages. It’s been popping up on a lot of Newbery and weightier typesetting lists, though. 224 pages; grades 4-7.

Darwin’s Super-Pooping Worm Spectacular by Polly Owen, illustrated by Gwen Millward

Published by Wide Eyed Editions

I finger real regret that I never heard well-nigh this typesetting when it came out at the whence of the year. Looks like a unconfined nonfiction typesetting well-nigh how Charles Darwin discovered earthworms’ superpower: pooping. 32 pages; grades 1-4.

Wish Soup: A Triumph of Seollal by Junghwa Park

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

This typesetting came out on December 5, and I had it on hold at the library, but the year ran out surpassing I got my hands on it. A story of the Korean holiday Seollal. 40 pages; month 4-8.

A Bit of Earth by Karuna Riazi

Published by Greenwillow Books

As I read the unravelment of this retelling of The Secret Garden featuring a Pakistani girl sent to America, I’m kind of shocked that I didn’t read it. It sounds like a typesetting I would have loved. 368 pages; grades 4-7.

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

Published by Feiwel & Friends

I’ve enjoyed books by both Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass, and I started to read this one a couple weeks ago, but again, the year ended surpassing I got to finish it. 224 pages; grades 3-7.

Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith, illustrated by Boulet

Published by First Second