What Readers Are Saying

• Leo and the Magic Guitar of the Ozarks
• Tangerines

Leo and the Magic Guitar of the Ozarks

Review by

Thebookwitches_
January 8, 2025

5/5 stars 🌟

Thank you NetGalley and Brave Fawn Books for providing this eARC!

This book was absolutely FANTÁSTICO! The amount of passion and research that has went into the book was amazing, I felt like I got a full history lesson and music lesson in one.

The use of singers was an incredible idea, the show of how bullying can affect our passions, how rumours hurt us but can also lead to something beautiful.

Leo and Shane’s friendship! Tammy felt a-bit fillerish but I appreciated her nonetheless. The use of different languages in this book was great and was amazing to see blended and explained for those who don’t speak it.

It’s amazing to see a book that shows magic within 💛

Overall this book was amazing and I highly recommend it to everyone!

Review by

Laura,
February 2, 2025

Leo loves music, but when he gets a magical electric guitar from his Tio, he finds that he can play even better than before, and bring up the spirits of artists of the past as well as the present.

And while this is all going on, he is being bullied, but he also has his best friend on his side, full of encouragement to lay in the Christmas showcase.

This book should come with a playlist, there are so many songs that are referred to. In fact, I found myself humming them, as the characters in the book spoke about them. Some of the artists that visit him, include BB King, John Lenon, Taylor Swift and Prince.

Most enjoyable. I liked how the bully was treated, that things weren’t all black and white, and there were shades in between as to why he bullies.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is out now, though I did read it as an arc. (advanced reader copy)

Tangerines

Review by

Brynn Bodily – Reviewer

Last updated on Jan 27 2025

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own

One of the plagues modern entertainment faces is unoriginality. It’s becoming more and more common for stories to be unpredictable, generic, and cliche. Tangerines is anything but.

Tangerines is told through the perspective of a 10-year-old girl Gilly, following the adventures of her and her best friend, Oggy. I expected this book to be a witty, charming read targeted towards kids. After reading it, I am completely blown away by how much this book makes me think. Tangerines is clever and fun, but it’s also much more meaningful of a book than I anticipated.

The prose is one of the stars of this book. Tsvi Jolles has truly captured the thinking and mannerisms of a 10-year-old. Nearly all of the prose is witty; however, I do think at times it veered into the territory of being different to be different. There were only a few instances of this, though, and overall, it was very well-written.

This book isn’t quite 5 stars, but it offers a unique experience to readers. It’s definitely worth the quick read, and I will be checking out Jolles’ other works.

Review by

Dian Ika – Reviewer

Last updated on Jan 23 2025

This book feels like a warm hug. A story about family and friendship, about love and hate, from the POV of a 10-year-old girl.

The storytelling is unique, it feels like I read a diary entry of a little kid. The “innocent” commentary somehow relatable, I even have to take a moment to highlight them because it’s so good.

The made up names and words, it really feels like a kid wrote this book! I also found my favorite quotes from this book: [….] hating a person is just the forest’s way of reminding you that you’re wasting your time.

Review by

Suki F – Reviewer

Last updated on Jan 22 2025

We follow Gilly, a ten year old who lives in the forest with her mother, and has a tangerine tree growing in her back garden. The whole book is told from her point of view, and steeped with the innocence and magic of childhood. Her father has left and she spends a lot of the book planning on going through the forest to find him. I found it very interesting to see what she and her childhood friend think is happening, compared to what is actually going on, and the central mystery kept me reading.

At times my interest did wane, and it did sometimes feel to me that she was a child much younger than her years, however as a whole this was quite a charming story.

Review by

Rhoda Saatela

January 26, 2025

I have a fondness for off-beat, fun, and imaginative children’s literature. I loved this book. It’s a wonderful fantasy as well as a thoughtful look into the mind of a young girl.

Review by

Tracy Bakkelokken

Norway

The story hooks immediately, and it was tempting to gobble the whole thing in one go, but I took my time. And it is a story that deserves time. I’ve had Gilly’s voice, and the musings of her heart, in my head for days, and she won’t be leaving anytime soon. Gilly and Oggy’s journey through the forest was such fun—they, and we, learned so much. The end scenes, with her father, were so bittersweet. And the author handled emotions and complex family dynamics with such grace and lyrical beauty. So many beautiful phrases in this slender powerhouse of a book! I kept reading aloud bits of it to my husband every night—so many lines beg to be read aloud and thought about! 

Oh, and the cover art on both books is stunning! The Tangerines cover… the art really captures the story perfectly. 

Reviewed by

Christine Rodriguez

Tangerines by Tsvi Jolles is one of those rare books that truly captures the magic of childhood. Through gorgeous storytelling, Jolles blends magic and whimsy with deep, introspective themes. This is a novel that will linger in your mind long after you turn the last page.

At its core, Tangerines is a coming-of-age story told through the voice of a young narrator whose observations are both innocent and profound. The protagonist’s world is small but filled with wonder—centered around a beloved tangerine tree, a best friend named Oggy, and the bittersweet complexities of family and belonging. The book reads like a poetic diary, filled with entries that are at times funny, at times heartbreaking, but always beautifully authentic. The writing is lyrical, almost dreamlike, reminiscent of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros or The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

What makes Tangerines such an engaging read is how it captures childhood’s fluid, unfiltered thoughts. The narrator’s mind skips about—one moment pondering the nature of secrets, the next inventing words with Oggy, before seamlessly drifting into a heartfelt reflection on love, loss, and longing. It’s a deeply immersive experience that feels so real—like peeking into a child’s notebook filled with stories, sketches, and scattered daydreams.

I love books that encourage readers to see the world in new ways, and Tangerines does just that. It’s a book that would spark fascinating discussions about storytelling, memory, and imagination. The protagonist’s voice is so unique yet universally relatable—whether you’re an adult remembering the way childhood felt or a younger reader recognizing pieces of yourself in the narrator’s words.

If you enjoy poetic, thought-provoking, and magical books, Tangerines is an absolute must-read. It’s a story about love, loss, and the small but meaningful ways we try to make sense of the world around us. It’s the kind of book that reminds you why stories matter—because they help us remember, understand, and dream.

Highly, highly recommend!

Following

Christine is an 7-12th grade English teacher, a library assistant, and a bookworm with a passion for good literature. She has a keen eye for good literature and reads books across genres. Her favorites are dystopian lit, sci-fi, fantasy, and contemporary literature.