At hbook.com, you can find a complete list of all the ALA winners and what the Horn Book loved, liked, and, eh-not-so-much, among them. What did you think?

Roger Sutton
Editor in Chief

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The post From the Editor – February 2012 appeared first on The Horn Book.

Race relations
Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network That Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement by Rick Bowers, National Geographic, 12 years and up.
Black & White: The Confrontation Between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor by Larry Dane Brimner, Boyds Mills, 12 years and up.
Best Shot in the West: The Adventures of Nat Love written by Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack Jr., illus. by Randy DuBurke, Chronicle, 10 years and up.

Nonfiction for primary-age readers
Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard written by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, illus. by Priscilla Lamont, Knopf, 5–8 years.
North: The Amazing Story of Arctic Migration written by Nick Dowson, illus. by Patrick Benson, Candlewick, 7–10 years.
Talk, Talk, Squawk!: A Human’s Guide to Animal Communication written by Nicola Davies, illus. by Neal Layton, Candlewick, 7–10 years.
Billions of Years, Amazing Changes: The Story of Evolution written by Laurence Pringle, illus. by Steve Jenkins, Boyds Mills, 9–12 years

Chapter books you’ve been waiting for
Ivy + Bean: No News Is Good News written by Annie Barrows, illus. by Sophie Blackall, Chronicle, 6–9 years.
Gooney Bird on the Map written by Lois Lowry, illus. by Middy Thomas, Houghton, 6–9 years.
Friends:  Snake and Lizard written by Joy Cowley, illus. by Gavin Bishop, Gecko, 7–10 years.
Kindred Souls by Patricia MacLachlan, Tegen/HarperCollins, 7–10 years.

Young (adult) love
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, Poppy/Little, 14 years and up.
Why We Broke Up written by Daniel Handler; illus. by Maira Kalman, Little, 14 years and up.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Dutton, 14 years and up.
Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff, Carolrhoda Lab, 14 years and up.

The post Books mentioned in February 2012 Notes from the Horn Book appeared first on The Horn Book.

photo: National Geographic

Rick Bowers’s previous book, Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network That Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement was a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. The journalist and historian’s latest offering is another compellingly told and meticulously researched account of events surrounding the civil rights battle. Superman Versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate uses the appeal of popular culture to illuminate social movements, mass media, and historical research. The result is a complex history of organizations guided by both ideology and profit, people both well-meaning and flawed, and shifts in popular sentiment. Along the way, Bowers demonstrates how a historian works, digging past myths, examining original archives, and reaching tentative conclusions about what happened and why.

1. You went deep into archives on the battle over civil rights to write your last book, Spies of Mississippi (discussed here). Superman Versus the Ku Klux Klan is about the intersection of that history with superhero pop-culture. How much did you have to learn about the world of comics?

Rick Bowers: I had to immerse myself in the history of comic books in general and in the Superman character in particular.

Superman was first dubbed the “champion of the oppressed” and only later became famous as the champion of truth, justice, and the American way. The original Superman had a strong social conscience that led him to thwart wife beaters, corrupt politicians, greedy industrialists, foreign dictators, and Nazi spies.

Spawned during the FDR years, Superman was a super New Dealer who stood up for the little guy and believed we could all work toward a better world. He reflected the ideals of the New Deal and the hopes and aspirations of immigrants.

Given all that history it figures that the Man of Steel would one day take on the men of hate. Superman was shaped as a force for openness and fairness and a positive future for all. The K.K.K. was openly anti-Semitic, hostile to liberal democracy, and wanted to turn the clock back.

2. The Superman radio shows at the center of your book were featured in Freakonomics in 2005, but then that book’s authors retracted the story as a myth. How did you go about finding out what most likely happened?

RB: I had the advantage of beginning my research in the wake of the Freakonomics kerfuffle. That debate suggested that the popular version of events was probably not one hundred percent accurate and challenged me to find the most important facts.

Sure enough, numerous documents showed that the basic story of Superman vs. the K.K.K. was true but that certain fabrications had become accepted as fact and had muddied the historical record.

This required me to establish the core facts and stick to those.

FACT 1: In 1946 the producers of The Adventures of Superman radio show aired a sixteen-part series entitled “Clan of the Fiery Cross.” It pitted the Man of Steel against a thinly veiled version of the K.K.K. that fooled no one. The series was widely praised for teaching tolerance to millions of kids and striking a blow against bigotry. The episodes were very well researched and contained highly realistic descriptions of K.K.K. activities and beliefs.

FACT 2: Activist Stetson Kennedy had made a career out of getting very close to the K.K.K. and then revealing their secrets to civil rights groups, liberal journalists, and law enforcement. Kennedy was also cited in various publications as a source of information to the Superman radio show for the anti-Klan broadcasts.

THE MYTH: Kennedy (and others) claimed that the shows revealed secret K.K.K. code words that had been gleaned from Klan meetings in Atlanta. As a result, (the story went), Klan leaders had to change their passwords after each episode, much to the dismay of the disgruntled membership. This was first reported in a national magazine in the late1940s and was further embellished by Kennedy in his book The Klan Unmasked.

The reality is that “Clan of the Fiery Cross” — while dramatic and to a degree realistic—did not contain actual code words and did not force the Klan to scurry about changing their code words. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge the Superman producers for creating such a powerful program and to give a nod to the anti-Klan efforts of Stetson Kennedy — even if he was prone to exaggeration and tended to grab credit.

3. What were a couple of your biggest surprises in researching and writing this book?

RB: One big revelation was the significant influence of Jewish publishers, artists, and writers on the first comic books. I was fascinated to learn that the Superman character was created by a couple of Jewish teenagers in Cleveland during the Great Depression. At that time Jews were largely kept out of mainstream publishing by prejudice and had to find their own niche. The fledgling comic book business was not yet big enough to attract the interest of mainstream publishers and Jews could operate in that space. As a result Jewish publishers and artists gave us many of our most important superheroes and characters.

I was also surprised at just how controversial comic books were. Even Superman was condemned by critics as a Nazi-style vigilante who used violence to solve problems. Wonder Woman was derided as the very opposite of decent womanhood. By the time the crime and horror comics came along censorship was viewed as the only solution.

4. A fair amount of your book follows Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman, though by 1946 they no longer controlled the character and were about to break with DC Comics. How did you decide to keep them as part of your civil-rights story?

RB: Jerry and Joe deserve all the credit for creating a character with a social conscience — an all-powerful being with a burning desire to stand by the little guy and to crusade for a better world. All the artists and producers to come after the publication of those first comic books were standing on their shoulders. So even as Jerry and Joe planned their embittered departure from DC Comics, the Superman character was still carrying out a mission established back in 1938.

Jerry and Joe had not set out to change the world, but they did more than their part to make it better.

5. In a real fight, who would win: 1940s Superman or the K.K.K.?

RB: Hands down: Superman. An actual being with superhuman strength, the power of flight, and X-ray vision would defeat a band of bigots in sheets and hoods in short order. First of all a fully unleashed Superman would have done what the authorities should have been doing — catch the Klansmen in the midst of their criminal acts and bring them to justice for all to see. He also would have nabbed the politicians and police officials who protected the Klan and exposed them as the hypocrites they were. And he would have explained to the whole world that all people deserve equal rights and respect, and those who seek to deny it are wrong. In the end the hooded hatemongers would have no hiding place — and the world would be a better place.

The post Five questions for Rick Bowers appeared first on The Horn Book.

In Ivy + Bean: No News Is Good News, the girls want some cash, and Bean’s dad suggests they create a newspaper about life on Pancake Court. After they successfully collect money from their neighbor-subscribers, the friends realize they had better go find some newsworthy stories — and do they ever. Like Ivy and Bean, author Annie Barrows and illustrator Sophie Blackall feed off each other’s creativity with hilarious results in this eighth entry in one of the funniest young chapter book series around. (6–9 years)

Gooney Bird on the Map, written by Lois Lowry and illustrated by Middy Thomas, is the fifth book in the series. With February break on everyone’s mind, the conversation in Gooney Bird Greene’s second grade class constantly turns to three students’ fabulous vacation destinations. In this story about a sensitive subject, big-hearted Gooney Bird predictably comes up with the perfect group project to help everyone happily refocus on schoolwork. (6–9 years)

In Friends: Snake and Lizard, the beguiling pair introduced in Snake and Lizard now share a burrow and are business partners, too, “Helper and Helper.” Different as their habits and appetites are, their relationship involves the ongoing negotiation that gives this chronicle much of its humor. The two bicker constantly; still, the outcomes are fair, reasonable, and often capped with a delightfully ironic twist. Gavin Bishop’s colorful spot art reinforces the affectionate characterizations and the humor in this wise and funny text by Joy Cowley. (7–10 years)

Though not part of a series, Kindred Souls will be warmly greeted by Patricia MacLachlan’s many fans. Ten-year-old Jake has a close relationship with his grandfather, eighty-eight-year-old Billy. The mysterious arrival of a stray dog that glues itself to Billy adds a touch of magic that hangs in the air after Billy’s death, when we hear a rumor of a stray dog turning up at an ailing woman’s home in the next town. These are time-sculpted themes, and MacLachlan gives them her particular stamp of plain speaking and poetry. (7–10 years)

The post Chapter books you’ve been waiting for appeared first on The Horn Book.

In Jennifer E. Smith’s The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, Hadley misses her flight to London, where she’s grudgingly going to her father’s wedding. She meets Oliver, a charming Brit, on the next flight. Their in-flight bonding culminates in a mind-blowing kiss at the airport — and then Hadley loses Oliver in the crowd. This elegant romance features a determined heroine who’s not afraid to make her own destiny. (14 years and up)

Daniel Handler’s remarkable novel Why We Broke Up is written as a (very long) letter quirky narrator Min plans to leave on her ex-boyfriend Ed’s doorstep, along with a box of tokens of their relationship (illustrated sparingly by Maira Kalman). Through Min’s eloquent thoughts on the significance of each item, readers come to understand both why the couple broke up, and why that outcome is not what matters most in this story. (14 years and up)

Hazel has stage four cancer and doesn’t know how much time she has left. Augustus lost a leg to osteosarcoma but seems to be in recovery. After meeting in a cancer support group, the two quickly develop a relationship that’s as profoundly intellectual as it is emotional and physical. With its acerbic comedy, sexy romance, and meditation on life and death, John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars is funny, heartbreaking, and honest. (14 years and up)

In Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff, lines of sexuality and gender are intentionally blurred; connections in an alternative family of punk-rock street kids are strong and clear. Androgynous drummer Kid falls for guitarist Felix, but a devastating fire claims both Felix and their abandoned warehouse “home.” Though Kid feels lost without Felix, with another summer comes sweet-voiced singer Scout — and another chance at love. (14 years and up)

The post Young (adult) love appeared first on The Horn Book.

In Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld’s Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard, narrator Alice tells readers how her family grows edible plants, raises chickens, and interacts with a variety of living things in their backyard garden. Information about composting, plant life cycles, food chains and food webs, and nutrition is included; science-savvy cartoon chickens directly address readers throughout, explaining underlying facts. Priscilla Lamont’s cheery illustrations portray the changes over the growing season. (5–8 years)

North: The Amazing Story of Arctic Migration by Nick Dowson introduces young readers to the Arctic’s part-time residents: those that migrate to the region for the summer months in the Northern hemisphere, including whales from Mexico, narwhals from Europe, Canadian caribou, snow geese, and terns from Antarctica. Patrick Benson’s luminous watercolor with pen and pencil illustrations, spread out beautifully on the oversized pages, capture the graceful movements of the migrating groups as they pass through lower latitude forests, oceans, and skies. (7–10 years)

Nicola Davies’s Talk, Talk, Squawk!: A Human’s Guide to Animal Communication presents the ways in which animals communicate through the use of color and pattern recognition, smells, sounds, and chemical exchanges. Her friendly, conversational tone makes the complex ideas remarkably clear and understandable, and Neal Layton’s cartoon illustrations, complete with humorous communications from the anthropomorphized animals, neatly underscore the important scientific messages in each section. (7–10 years)

For a middle-grade audience, Laurence Pringle’s Billions of Years, Amazing Changes: The Story of Evolution traces developments in the fields of geology and biology that led to Darwin’s On the Origin of Species as well as subsequent discoveries. Pringle’s accessible explanations of such concepts as natural selection and genetic mutations are woven through the book. Color photographs and diagrams of flora and fauna accompany the text, as well as Steve Jenkins’s wonderfully detailed cut-paper animal illustrations and portraits of scientists. (9–12 years)

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Rick Bowers’s 2010 book Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network That Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement is an intriguing look at how the supporters of segregation — in the form of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission — gained and enforced their considerable power. Chronologically ordered, the volume climaxes with James Meredith’s enrollment in the University of Mississippi in 1962, a story Bowers tells with journalistic immediacy. Appended documents from the actual commission allow the evidence to speak for itself. (12 years and up)

Black & White: The Confrontation Between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor by Larry Dane Brimner (a 2012 Sibert Award honor book) looks at 1950s and 1960s Birmingham, Alabama, a city that earned its nickname “Bombingham.” At the heart of the violence were the often bloody confrontations between the forces of K.K.K. target Reverend Shuttlesworth and segregationist Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene Connor. Brimner’s well-researched text relies on a variety of primary-source documents, including FBI files and oral histories, to chronicle events. The many well-captioned photos and pull-quotes enhance the presentation. (12 years and up)

Comics and race take center stage in Best Shot in the West: The Adventures of Nat Love, a graphic novel by Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack Jr. Nat Love, a contemporary of Billy the Kid, was born a slave in 1854 Tennessee and eventually gained his freedom. An expert in breaking any horse, Nat won acceptance as a cowboy and mastered sharpshooting, driving, and roping. While the fictional story uses maps, letters, and longer stretches of prose, the book knows when to rely on Randy DuBurke’s vivid, well-paced color illustrations to move the story forward. (10 years and up)

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