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Review of Days of Blood & Starlight

Jonathan Hunt — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:30:24 +0000

Days of Blood & Starlight
by Laini Taylor
High School Little, Brown 517 pp.
11/12 978-0-316-13397-5 $18.99
Star-crossed lovers Karou and Akiva, torn apart by unforgivable betrayal at the end of Daughter of Smoke & Bone (rev. 11/11), are now engaged in the renewed war between the chimaera and the seraphim. Both are repulsed by the escalating brutality and the callous disregard for the sanctity of life but feel powerless to effect change. Karou has taken over the position of resurrectionist from her fallen mentor Brimstone, almost singlehandedly repopulating the chimaera army under the direction of Thiago, the ruthless White Wolf. Akiva, believing Karou to be lost to him forever, reluctantly takes a lead role in the fight against the chimaera. As one of the Misbegotten, the emperor’s bastard children bred solely to fight and die, nothing less is expected of him. The first half of the novel is full of rage and anger, carnage and destruction; the second half is dominated by surprises and revelations that ratchet up the suspense and forge an uneasy alliance between the chimaera and the Misbegotten for the battle against the seraphim that looms on the horizon. If Karou’s journey in the first book was characterized by coming of age and falling in love, here it has taken a turn toward personal sacrifice and emerging leadership. The future of Karou, her ill-fated romance with Akiva, and the survival of both of their races await readers in the concluding volume; it promises to be a doozy.

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Andrea Davis Pinkney on Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America

Jonathan Hunt — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:53:16 +0000

In the January/February 2013 Horn Book Magazine, reviewer Jonathan Hunt asks Andrea Davis Pinkney about selecting subjects for Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America. Read the review of Hand in Hand here.

Jonathan Hunt: How did you approach the difficult task of narrowing your list? Can you tell us who almost made it?

Andrea Davis Pinkney: Narrowing the list was daunting! One man I really wanted to include, but felt was too self-serving, was my own father, the late Philip J. Davis. Dad was one of the first African Americans to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, and was later appointed by the White House to help draft affirmative action legislation. Of the ten men featured in the book, my dad had a direct connection to six of them. A few years ago, Brian painted a stunning portrait of my father, so that aspect of Dad’s story was already complete.

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Review of Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America

Jonathan Hunt — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:40:00 +0000

Hand in Hand:
Ten Black Men Who Changed America
by Andrea Davis Pinkney;  illus. by Brian Pinkney
Intermediate, Middle School Disney-Jump at the Sun 243 pp.
10/12 978-1-4231-4257-7 $19.99
Presenting ten biographical vignettes in chronological order — Benjamin Banneker, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, A. Philip Randolph, Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack H. Obama II — the Pinkneys create a testament to African American males that, taken together, tells one big story of triumph (a story that, incidentally, spans American history). Each profile, fifteen to thirty pages long, includes an introductory poem, a watercolor portrait, and spot illustrations. Brian Pinkney’s illustrations are a perfect marriage of line, color, and medium and complement Andrea Pinkney’s colloquial and ebullient text. “Benjamin Banneker was born under a lucky star. Came into this world a freeborn child, a blessing bestowed on few of his hue.” Each profile is compact yet comprehensive, but since virtually all of these men were eloquent writers and speakers, it’s mildly disappointing that more of their own words didn’t find their way into the text. Still, this is an impressive accomplishment, and a worthy companion to Kadir Nelson’s Heart and Soul (rev. 11/11). Sources, further reading, a timeline, and an index are appended.

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Review of The One and Only Ivan

Jonathan Hunt — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:57:47 +0000

The One and Only Ivan" width="165" height="235" />The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate;  illus. by Patricia Castelao
Intermediate    Harper/HarperCollins    305 pp.
1/12    978-0-06-199225-4    $16.99    g
e-book ed. 978-0-06-210198-3    $9.99
“I am Ivan. I am a gorilla. / It’s not as easy as it looks.” In short chapters (the book has an open layout and frequent illustrations) that have the look and feel of prose poems, Applegate has captured the voice of Ivan, a captive gorilla who lives at the “Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade.” When a new baby elephant, Ruby, arrives, Ivan promises the old elephant, Stella, that he will take care of her. When Stella passes away, he realizes that their years of captivity in such a restrictive environment are not what Ruby deserves. He hatches a daring plan that involves his own original artwork, a stray dog, the daughter of the custodian, and a zoo thousands of miles away. Ultimately, his plan is successful and the captive animals are relocated to the much-more-humane habitat of the zoo as the pensive, melancholy tone gives way to hope and joy. The choice to tell this story in the first person and to personify the gorilla with an entire range of human thoughts, feelings, and emotions poses important questions to the reader, not only about what it means to be human but also about what it means to be a living creature, and what kind of kinship we all share. An author’s note describes the true incident that inspired this story and includes more information about the real Ivan.

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