This interview originally appeared in the March/April 2018 Horn Book Magazine as part of the Publishers’ Previews, an advertising supplement that allows participating publishers a chance to each highlight a book from its current list. They choose the books; we ask the questions. Sponsored by In Captain Superlative, the arrival of the eponymous “superhero” at […]
Review of Between the Lines
April 17, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Between the Lines by Nikki Grimes Middle School, High School Paulsen/Penguin 213 pp. g 2/18 978-0-399-24688-3 $17.99 “Just step up, step up to the mike / and let your truth fly, loud, / proud, raw.” That’s what students are preparing to do in Mr. Ward’s high school class in the Bronx. Through poetry, they are […]
Listening to friends and family
April 10, 2018 by Leave a Comment
These audiobooks, recommended for middle-grade and middle-school listeners, tell a variety of stories about contemporary kids and families in engaging and entertaining ways. Twelve-year-old Malú, star of Celia C. Pérez‘s The First Rule of Punk, is into punk rock and making zines. When her mother gets a teaching job in Chicago, Malú must reluctantly leave […]
Review of Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam
April 4, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge Middle School, High School Viking 212 pp. g 4/18 978-0-670-78506-3 $22.99 e-book ed. 978-0-425-29178-8 $11.99 The Vietnam War was a time of virulent political divisiveness, profound cultural upheaval, and horrific events. It can be challenging to understand, especially for young people born decades afterward, […]
Review of The Parker Inheritance
April 3, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson Intermediate, Middle School Levine/Scholastic 344 pp. g 3/18 978-0-545-94617-9 $16.99 e-book ed. 978-0-545-95279-8 $10.99 In 2007 Abigail Caldwell, the first female and African American city manager for the town of Lambert, South Carolina, was forced to resign after covertly digging up the municipal tennis courts, looking for buried treasure. […]
Review of Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court
March 28, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld Middle School, High School Little, Brown 291 pp. 11/17 978-0-316-55538-8 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-0-316-55533-3 $9.99 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the NBA record for most points scored (38,387), and his college basketball career at UCLA under Coach John Wooden is legendary, his […]
Review of Very, Very, Very Dreadful: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918
March 21, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Very, Very, Very Dreadful: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 by Albert Marrin Middle School, High School Knopf 198 pp. 1/18 978-1-101-93146-2 $21.99 Library ed. 978-1-101-93147-9 $24.99 e-book ed. 978-1-101-93148-6 $11.99 Between 1918 and 1920, three waves of a very aggressive influenza virus swept around the globe, killing tens of millions of people. World War I […]
Review of Voices in the Air
March 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners by Naomi Shihab Nye Middle School Greenwillow 208 pp. g 2/18 978-0-06-269184-2 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-0-06-269186-6 $9.99 Many of Nye’s ninety-four original poems speak to historical and contemporary figures, from storied poets such as Yehuda Amichai, Lucille Clifton, José Emilio Pacheco, and Walt Whitman to a trusted Honolulu […]
Review of Votes for Women!: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot
March 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Votes for Women!: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot by Winifred Conkling Middle School, High School Algonquin 310 pp. g 2/18 978-1-61620-734-2 $18.95 This is a fascinating account of the bumpy road to women’s suffrage in the U.S., beginning in earnest with the Women’s Rights Convention in 1848 and culminating with the ratifying […]
Review of The Journey of Little Charlie
March 6, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis Intermediate, Middle School Scholastic 245 pp. g 1/18 978-0-545-15666-0 $16.99 e-book ed. 978-1-338-16400-8 $10.99 This latest addition to Curtis’s Buxton Chronicles (Elijah of Buxton, rev. 11/07; The Madman of Piney Woods, rev. 9/14) takes place in 1858, when the Fugitive Slave Act was in force. When […]
