Reviews of the Week
Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson by Katherine Johnson Intermediate, Middle School Atheneum 250 pp. 7/19 978-1-5344-4083-8 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5344-4085-2 $10.99 To help her older brother with his math work at school, Katherine Johnson hatched a plan. She joined his class for a day...
The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz Intermediate, Middle School Algonquin 329 pp. g 10/19 978-1-61620-894-3 $17.95 Clementine’s father, the Dark Lord Elithor Morcerous, has been cursed by the Whittle Witch and is unable to fulfill his dastardly duties. Clementine takes it upon herself to run Castle Brack, with...
Black Is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy; illus. by Ekua Holmes Primary Roaring Brook 40 pp. 1/20 978-1-62672-631-4 $17.99 A young girl sits on her stoop contemplating the colors of the rainbow, then notes, “But my color is black…and there’s no black in rainbows.” There is, however, black in...
Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace by Ashley Bryan; illus. by the author Middle School, High School Dlouhy/Atheneum 107 pp. 10/19 978-1-5344-0490-8 $21.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5344-0491-5 $10.99 Ashley Bryan was a nineteen-year-old art student when he was drafted into a segregated army unit of...
Anna & Samia: The True Story of Saving a Black Rhino by Paul Meisel; illus. by the author Primary Farrar 32 pp. 10/19 978-0-374-30577-2 $17.99 When a newborn black rhinoceros is abandoned in a Kenyan rhino sanctuary in 1985, conservationist Anna Merz steps in to rescue and raise the baby...
The Whispering Wars by Jaclyn Moriarty Intermediate Levine/Scholastic 408 pp. g 10/19 978-1-338-25587-4 $18.99 e-book ed. 978-1-338-25588-1 $11.99 Moriarty returns to the magical universe of The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone (rev. 9/18) in this companion novel. The town of Spindrift, in the Kingdom of Storms, is under siege...
Bedtime for Sweet Creatures by Nikki Grimes; illus. by Elizabeth Zunon Preschool Sourcebooks Jabberwocky 32 pp. g 1/20 978-1-4926-3832-2 $17.99 Grimes puts an animal-centric spin on a youngster’s innovations for bedtime stalling. This lushly illustrated story, on double-page spreads full of bold, saturated color, opens with an African American child’s...
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz; adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese Middle School, High School Beacon 270 pp. 7/19 Paper ed. 978-0-8070-4939-6 $18.95 e-book ed. 978-0-8070-4940-2 $14.99 Mendoza and Reese, children’s literature scholars and bloggers at American Indians in Children’s...
By and By: Charles Albert Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music by Carole Boston Weatherford; illus. by Bryan Collier Primary Atheneum 48 pp. 1/20 978-1-5344-2636-8 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5344-2637-5 $10.99 Born to a free mother in 1851 Maryland, Charles Albert Tindley was technically considered free. However, the law didn’t protect...
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