2018 School Spending Survey Report
The Corruption of Hollis Brown
HarperCollins.
Apr. 2025.
384p.
Tr $19.99. ISBN 9780063285835.
COPY ISBN
Gr 8 Up–Too poor to be destined for anything more than the same sort of life he already has, Hollis Brown has accepted his small-town fate. His morning ritual of standing a little too close to the passing freight train and his bad habit of running his mouth to boys he knows will start fights are enough to make him feel alive and keep the darkness at bay. Mostly. Plus, he has Yulia and Annie to fill his time, even if things with Annie aren’t quite what he wishes they were. But when an enigmatic boy named Walt catches his attention at a party, Hollis can’t help his curiosity and sneaks out to meet up against his own better judgment. In a horrifying and surreal moment, Walt’s soul joins Hollis’s inside Hollis’s body. Now the two spirits are sharing one mental space, and what begins as a strange nightmare becomes something else entirely. A knack for creating characters who are bigger on the inside is on full display here (thankfully, because it’s a tight fit in Hollis’s mind), as Ancrum’s two-boys-one-body setup rests on a delicate balance of voice that never falters. Deep empathy for working-class families and the everyday struggles of living in poverty are underscored by Hollis’s skill with food and the recipes Ancrum includes. This story is a tender, achingly romantic journey alongside authentic young people struggling to figure things out, including themselves, and still make efforts to connect.
VERDICT A profoundly beautiful, strange, and introspective love story, at turns soothing and scalding. Recommended for every collection.Bayerl, Katie. What Comes After. 416p. Penguin/Nancy Paulsen. Apr. 2025. Tr $21.99. ISBN 9780399545283. Gr 9 Up–Waking up dead is shocking enough, but this version of the afterlife—with its forced positivity, kale chips, and yoga—proves to be even more unsettling. All Mari, 16, wants is to make peace with her mother (who is also in purgatory), move on, and reunite with her beloved grandparents. If she could remember how she died that would be great, too, but something sinister is lurking beneath the surface of Paradise Gates. Souls are disappearing, mysterious agencies are scheming, and then there’s Jethro—a presence that she’s not sure how to feel about. Fans of The Good Place will appreciate the novel’s satirical take on the bureaucracy of the afterlife, complete with absurd rules and a system that begs to be challenged. The book explores themes of rebellion, self-discovery, and the struggle to break free from the status quo. While diversity is present, it is not a focal point. The pacing starts off slow, requiring some patience before the intrigue fully unfolds, but once it does, readers will be hooked by the mystery; they’ll enjoy this different take on life and death and Mari’s unconventional experience in the afterlife. VERDICT While this may not be a must-have for all collections, it could be a solid addition to libraries where offbeat, darkly comedic stories like Lance Rubin’s Denton Little’s Deathdate are popular.–Claire Covington
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