The other day, I was taking a break from chasing my kid around the park to check my phone in the shade. I’m visiting family in California and my Alaskan self is melting in the heat. Okay, it’s only like 85°F but that feels extra hot to me!
As I cooled off, an email popped up from my agent and publishing team to let me know that the Booklist review for Missing Okalee had come in, and it was a positive one.
If you don’t know what Booklist is, I don’t blame you! Here’s a quick explanation. Published 22 times a year, Booklist is the American Library Association (ALA)’s print and online magazine that provides librarians, educators, and booksellers with critical reviews of All The Books.
Well, all/most of traditionally published books, that is.
Along with Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and others, it’s one of several publications that publishes trade reviews of books. Each year, authors around the world hold their breaths while they wait for these important reviews to come in.
So without further ado, here is the Booklist review for Missing Okalee. Many thanks to Booklist for this insightful review!
In this contemporary middle-grade debut, Melchor combines grief with guilt for an emotionally intense story about Phoebe, whose sister drowns in a river. After celebrating River Day year after year, Okalee wants to cross the river by herself, but when it sweeps her away and Phoebe fails to rescue her, Phoebe is caught between telling her grieving parents the truth about what happened and facing her own immense guilt. This captures the pressures of being an older sister and the unique challenges of losing a sibling. As her perspective matures, Phoebe authentically struggles to imagine other people complexly, leaving plenty of room for significant self-exploration.
Meanwhile, many readers will identify with her passion for self-expression through singing. Accessible prose mixed with a candid look at death makes this likely to be popular with reluctant readers. For fans of Jude Banks, Superhero (2021) and other serious middle-grade novels with heart, this is a solid addition to any collection.
Publication day is just shy of two months away. I can hardly believe it, and I can’t wait to share this book with you. If you want to check out another recent review of Missing Okalee, the amazing book blog, Rajiv’s Reviews, gave a glowing review as well.
If you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, you can pre-order it at Fireside Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold.