Matthew's Journal

This is the 2022 book in the Wayward Children series; Cora (who has appeared in a couple of previous books) decides to leave Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children in favour of a different school that promises to rid children of traces of the other worlds they've travelled to.

This series has always leaned into the Rules that govern fairy stories, and often the cruelty and collateral damage that results; similarly the way that adults and children can be cruel to other children. I think McGuire really leans into that in this book - both in how Cora is treated for being fat, and in how the various educational institutions deal with that. The Whitehorn Institute is likewise used as a critique of boarding schools and how they manage behaviour.

If you like this series, then this is a reasonable addition; if you've not enjoyed previous ones then this won't change your mind.

Another film from the Hugo shortlist, this is a coming-of-age drama about a girl who turns into a giant fuzzy red panda when she experiences strong emotion, something that starts happening about the time she turns 13.

It has quite a cringy start, which I didn't like, but it does have some genuinely funny moments, and while I felt that it mostly ticked off the usual coming-of-age themes, it wasn't too heavy-handed with them (except perhaps the "overbearing mother behaves thus because she couldn't never keep up with her mother's expectations" trope). You have to not think too hard about the plot, though, or it starts making less sense. ( spoilers )