All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah by Emily Jenkins; illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky Primary Schwartz & Wade/Random 40 pp. 9/18 978-0-399-55419-3 $17.99 Library ed. 978-0-399-55420-9 $20.99 e-book ed. 978-0-399-55421-6 $10.99 “When darkness comes, it will be the first night of Hanukkah, 1912.” This original picture book based on Sydney Taylor’s beloved characters serves as a perfect standalone […]
Review of Love to Everyone
November 27, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Love to Everyone by Hilary McKay Intermediate, Middle School McElderry 330 pp. 9/18 978-1-5344-2710-5 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5344-2712-9 $10.99 In Binny in Secret (rev. 7/15), McKay introduced us to Clarry, her brother Peter, and their beloved cousin Rupert in a subplot set during World War I in London. Here, McKay gives us the full story […]
Review of The Patchwork Bike
November 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke; illus. by Van Thanh Rudd Primary Candlewick 40 pp. 9/18 978-1-5362-0031-7 $15.99 A child in an unnamed “village where we live inside our mud-for-walls home” describes the diversions of daily life: “whooping and shrieking and laughing” on the sand hill, exploring the desert, and playing atop an abandoned […]
Review of Saving Winslow
November 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment
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 Dreamers
November 12, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Dreamers by Yuyi Morales; illus. by the author Primary Porter/Holiday 40 pp. 9/18 978-0-8234-4055-9 $18.99 e-book ed. 978-0-8234-4125-9 $18.99 Spanish ed. 978-0-8234-4258-4 $18.99 Two pairs of eyes shine from the cover of Morales’s book — the infant’s eyes brilliant with curiosity, his mother’s gaze pensive. These two “migrantes” arrive on “the other side, / thirsty, in […]
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 We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga
November 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell; illus. by Frané Lessac Primary Charlesbridge 32 pp. 9/18 978-1-58089-772-3 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-63289-633-9 $9.99 “Cherokee people say otsaliheliga to express gratitude. It is a reminder to celebrate our blessings and reflect on struggles — daily, throughout the year, and across the seasons.” An extended family engages with […]
Review of Blue
October 22, 2018 by 1 Comment
Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger; illus. by the author Preschool, Primary Porter/Roaring Brook 40 pp. 9/18 978-1-62672-006-4 $17.99 Where this inventive author-illustrator explored both the palette and politics of the color green in Green (rev. 3/12), Blue finds her sneaking up on us with a story about loss, even if at first we think we […]
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 […]
