Saving Winslow by Sharon Creech Intermediate Cotler/HarperCollins 165 pp. 9/18 978-0-06-257070-3 $16.99 Library ed. 978-0-06-257072-7 $17.89 e-book ed. 978-0-06-257073-4 $9.99 Creech interweaves the stories of three fragile babies. Two strands are backstories, and one is front, center, present, and loud. Louie had been a premature baby. Now he’s eleven, but the family story of his […]
Review of We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices
November 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson; illus. by various artists Intermediate, Middle School Crown 88 pp. 9/18 978-0-525-58042-3 $18.99 Library ed. 978-0-525-58043-0 $21.99 e-book ed. 978-0-525-58044-7 $10.99 The Hudsons (founders of Just Us Books) created this timely and powerful anthology to help young people face […]
Review of Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster
November 6, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier Intermediate Amulet/Abrams 358 pp. 9/18 978-1-4197-3140-2 $18.99 As a “climbing girl” in Victorian London, forced up into dangerous, narrow chimneys to sweep out the soot for her abusive master, Wilkie Crudd, Nan Sparrow leads a miserable life. But she has precious memories of […]
Review of Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America
October 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow Intermediate, Middle School Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills 142 pp. 8/18 978-1-62979-776-2 $18.95 e-book ed. 978-1-68437-143-3 $9.99 In 1938, on the night before Halloween, an American radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells’s […]
No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas
October 24, 2018 by Leave a Comment
No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas by Tonya Bolden; illus. by Don Tate Primary, Intermediate Knopf 40 pp. g 10/18 978-0-385-75276-3 $17.99 Library ed. 978-0-385-75277-0 $20.99 e-book ed. 978-0-385-75278-7 $10.99 This informational picture book spotlights the life, work, and legacy of African American farmer and businessman Junius G. Groves (1858?–1925), […]
Review of My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder
October 23, 2018 by Leave a Comment
My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder by Nie Jun; illus. by the author; trans. from the Chinese by Edward Gauvin Primary, Intermediate Graphic Universe/Lerner 128 pp. 9/18 978-1-5124-4590-9 $30.65 Paper ed. 978-1-5415-2642-6 $9.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5124-9859-2 $30.65 In the first of four stories in this graphic novel for young readers, Yu’er, who walks with […]
Review of Eleanor Roosevelt, Fighter for Justice: Her Impact on the Civil Rights Movement, the White House, and the World
October 17, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Eleanor Roosevelt, Fighter for Justice: Her Impact on the Civil Rights Movement, the White House, and the World by Ilene Cooper Intermediate, Middle School Abrams 184 pp. 8/18 978-1-4197-2295-0 $17.99 Our country has a long history of citizens who have fought for social change — among them, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. This chronological account traces […]
Review of The Third Mushroom
October 16, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm; illus. by Tad Carpenter Intermediate Random 230 pp. g 9/18 978-1-5247-1980-7 $16.99 Library ed. 978-1-5247-1981-4 $19.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5247-1982-1 $10.99 Grandpa Melvin returns in this sequel to The Fourteenth Goldfish, still stuck in the body of a teenager (thanks to his earlier anti-aging experiment) and ready to help […]
Review of Finding Langston
October 11, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome Intermediate, Middle School Holiday 107 pp. 8/18 978-0-8234-3960-7 $16.99 e-book ed. 978-0-8234-4110-5 $16.99 When Langston’s mother dies, his father relocates the two of them from rural Alabama to the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, where they live in a cramped apartment, barely communicate with each other, and […]
Finding home
October 9, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Four novels for middle-grade readers feature memorable and likable protagonists who face economic hardship, homelessness, and prejudice in addition to the usual challenges of growing up. For an author’s perspective on narratives of children finding — or making — home, read E. Lockhart’s Horn Book Magazine Writer’s Page article “On Home, Empathy, and Voice.” In […]
