Author: Tasha

Review: Between Us and Abuela by Mitali Perkins

| Tasha

Between Us and Abuela by Mitali Perkins

Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border by Mitali Perkins, illustrated by Sara Palacios (9780374303730)

Maria, Juan and their mother hadn’t seen Maria’s grandmother in five years. Today they were celebrating Christmas by taking a bus to the border with Mexico for Los Posada Sin Fronteras where families could meet with the border fence between them. Maria had made her grandmother a scarf that her mother was finishing and Juan had drawn a picture for her. When they reach the border, they must stand in line for their turn to see their family. They get their turn and get to see their grandmother and the fence disappears as they reconnect. But there is no way to get their gifts through the fence, until Maria has an idea that even the border police approve of.

Perkins takes a celebration that few of us have heard of and turns it into a universal story of immigration and separated families on the United States border. Through Maria’s story, readers will deeply connect with the physical separation of families and the power dynamic in place. Mitali though leaves readers with a soaring hope as Maria manages to get Juan’s gift to her grandmother despite the fence in the way. The illustrations capture the small family and the large border fence, offering real perspectives on the size but also showing how those fall away when family connects with one another.

A strong and purposeful look at walls, immigration and family. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Year We Fell from Space by Amy Sarig King

| Tasha

The Year We Fell from Space by Amy Sarig King

The Year We Fell from Space by Amy Sarig King (9781338236361)

Liberty loves the stars. She creates star maps that allow her to capture what she sees in the stars by drawing her own constellations on the night sky. But when her parents get a divorce, it is like her entire world fell apart. Her father assures her that she will see him often, but they don’t see him for 86 days after the divorce! In the meantime, Lib has witnessed a meteorite fall to earth and recovered the heavy stone. As time goes on, Liberty begins to seethe with rage. It’s an anger that emerges in school sometimes, sometimes at her parents, but mostly sits inside her, red and hot. It’s that anger that made her throw the toaster through the kitchen window, hides a diamond ring from a bully at school, and allows her to tell her father what she really thinks. Liberty worries that she might have depression like her father, and she gradually learns the power of talking about her feelings openly.

Amy Sarig King is the name that the YA author A.S. King writes under for middle-grade books. She does both extremely well. Here King shows the first months of a divorce from the children’s point of view. She steadily reveals what happened in the parent’s marriage, but the real focus is on grief as the two sisters must navigate their way through the pain of losing their family. The emotions run high, from tears to yelling to throwing things. They all feel immensely authentic and real on the page.

Liberty is a great heroine. Far from perfect, particularly at school, she is navigating life by confiding in a meteorite and trying to help everyone else. She is filled with rage much of the time, but also filled with a deep compassion for others, sometimes to her own detriment. King looks frankly at mental health issues here both in parents and in Liberty herself. The use of counselors is spoken of openly and without issue as the family gets the help they need.

A powerful look at divorce, grief and coming to terms with life. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Arthur A. Levine Books.

SLJ Best Books 2019

| Tasha

School Library Journal has named their best books of 2019. The 92 books are broken into six categories: picture books, transitional chapter books, middle grade, YA, nonfiction and graphic novels. You can also download the list in a handy PDF format.

News to Wake Your Brain Cells – Nov 22

| Tasha

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about C. S. Lewis – Publisher’s Weekly

11 inclusive children’s books written by women of color – Book Riot

12 books tweens can read after Raina Telgemeier – ALSC Blog

Another view: If you want to raise a bookworm, make it more about play than work – Record Online

Children’s author Jan Brett faces wild tiger while writing new book – Boston Herald

Children’s books are still too white. Who will change this? Answer: Everyone concerned – Scroll.in

HMH to launch children’s graphic novel imprint – Publisher’s Weekly

LIBRARIES

7 ways libraries are combating the opioid crisis – Book Riot

Americans and Privacy: concerned, confused and feeling lack of control over their personal information – Pew Research Center

Halifax Central Library, Halifax, Canada – beautiful and bustling – Library Planet

Librarianship at the crossroads of ICE surveillance – In the Library with the Lead Pipe

YA READS

Author Nic Stone discusses book being left off reading list – WRDW

Hey, young adult authors: writing for teenagers is no excuse to act like them – The Guardian

November 2019 YA Book Releases – The Nerd Daily

NYT Book Review Editor Pamela Paul on the critical place books hold for kids as they get older – Wisconsin Public Radio

An Post Irish Book Award Winners

| Tasha

The winners of the An Post Irish Book Awards for 2019 have been announced. More than 115,000 votes were cast by the public to select the winners. Here are the winners in the youth categories:

TEEN & YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE YEAR

Other Words for Smoke

Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin

 

CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR – SENIOR

Shooting For the Stars: My Journey to Become Ireland's First Astronaut

Shooting for the Stars: My Journey to Become Ireland’s First Astronaut by Norah Patten, illustrated by Jennifer Farley

 

CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR – JUNIOR

123 Ireland!

123 Ireland! by Aoife Dooley

National Book Award Winner

| Tasha

The winners of the National Book Award have been announced. The award for young people’s literature went to a nonfiction title this year:

1919: The Year That Changed America by Martin W. Sandler who said at the award ceremony, “I’m particularly honored to be in the company of my four fellow nominees. I will tell you, as the elder statesman of that group, I am so confident in the state of young people’s literature.”

Review: Little Mole’s Wish by Sang-Keun Kim

| Tasha

Little Mole’s Wish by Sang-Keun Kim

Little Mole’s Wish by Sang-Keun Kim (9780525581345)

Little Mole was heading home alone on the first day of snow, when he met a snowball on the path. He brought the snowball along with him to the bus stop. He waited for a bus, but the driver wouldn’t let him on with a snowball. So Little Mole sculpted the snowball into a bear. But the next driver realized it was still a snowball. So Little Mole gave the snow bear a backpack. The two waited a very long time together for the next bus, long enough that Little Mole shared his hat in case the bear was cold. That bus allowed them both to board. On the warm bus, Little Mole fell asleep and when he woke up his friend was gone. The bus driver urged him to head home, saying his friend must have gotten off at another stop. Little Mole got home and told his grandmother all about his day. When he went to bed, he wondered where his friend had gone. In the morning, his grandmother called him with a big surprise!

There is so much magic about this picture book that was originally published in South Korea. Little Mole is an entirely winning character who problem solves along the way, creating a bear just as charming as he is. The words and illustrations work seamlessly together here as Little Mole builds a friend from snow. Readers will have a series of surprises as the book goes on, including the two riding the bus together and then the final surprise that ensures everyone will know that wishes come true.

Kim’s illustrations are soft and dreamy, done in colored pencil, pastel, pen and digital. They are full of small touches that bring the entire world to life with an owl sleeping in the hollow tree, Mole having a similar teddy bear to the bear he builds from snow, and each bus matching its driver in design, including the final bus having deer antlers.

A perfect read for the first snow. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Schwartz & Wade.

Review: River by Elisha Cooper

| Tasha

River by Elisha Cooper

River by Elisha Cooper (9781338312263)

Explore the Hudson River alongside an intrepid canoer in this picture book. The book takes readers from a mountain lake on a journey of 300 miles to where the Hudson meets the Atlantic. The woman meets moose, otters, a bear cub, ducks and more on her journey. She faces rapids and sometimes has to drag her canoe in shallow waters or portage it across a dam. She uses a lock to get past a waterfall. She stops at times to restock her supplies at towns along the river. She paddles for days and days, sleeping in a tent at night. She faces a storm and has her boat overturned, but she eventually reaches New York City and her home.

There is something so invigorating and inspiring about this glimpse of someone making a journey of a lifetime. At the same time, this is a quiet book, one that inspires thinking, drawing and taking time for one’s self. It’s a lovely balance of a book, and thanks to Cooper’s unique style it is told in a way that honors the woman’s courage and skill and yet makes it all less daunting to imagine doing. It’s just what we want picture books to do for children.

Cooper’s art really shines here, reading more like a journal at times with scenes just barely captured before they changed. Other pages which feature the landscape and vistas along the way are spectacularly done whether in broad daylight or filled with stars at night.

A journey worth taking again and again. Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Scholastic.

Review: All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney

| Tasha

All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney

All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney (9780374309527)

Allie has grown up with Islamophobia aimed at her father because of the way he looks. She’s learned how to use her own lighter skin and red hair to intervene. She has lived all over the United States due to her father’s job as a professor, so she’s also learned how to quickly fit in with her peers too. As Allie starts to date Wells, a boy in her new school, she is also getting more interested in learning about being a Muslim. Allie’s father isn’t a practicing Muslim and has strong feelings about Allie starting to pray and learning Arabic. When Allie discovers that Wells’ father is one of the biggest TV bigots, particularly about Muslims, she must start to make choices about whether to speak out or continue to blend in.

Courtney’s writing is fresh and blunt. She takes on racism directly from the very first scene in the book and then uses that as a way to start a dialogue inside her book about how best to address overt and casual racism that one encounters throughout their life. Allie learning about her religion allows readers to learn alongside her. The study group discussions she participates in also show the wide ranging views of Muslims, both liberal and more conservative.

The exploration of one’s response to hate speech and bumbling attempts at support is explored through Allie. Allie’s character is learning about herself, both through her religion and outside of it. She’s figuring out her own boundaries, rather than those of her religion or her family. It’s a true coming-of-age tale, readers watch Allie develop in a way that makes leaps at times, but is always organic and honest.

Filled with opportunities to learn, this novel takes on racism. Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Farrar Straus Giroux.