Rise: A Feminist Book Project announced their Top Ten List for their 2021 RISE List. The list is a project of the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association and includes books for ages 0-18. Here is the 2021 Top Ten:
Off to See the Sea by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon (9781492638292)
This follow-up to Bedtime for Sweet Creatures returns to the same child and their family. This time the focus is bath time, which has the child hiding at first, until the magic of bath time becomes evident. There is the roar of the flowing tap which is like a waterfall. The tub is like a soft-scented sea that has monsters like the rubber duck floating in it! Bubbles and splashing are also part of the fun. Diving deep under water has the boats floating in the tub almost capsizing. Eventually, hair gets washed too and then the tub is drained and it’s towel time. The sea is left behind in the bathroom, until tomorrow.
Grimes takes another everyday event for small children and imbues it with real magic and imagination. Throughout this book, there is a definite playfulness from both parents that makes the entire bath time successful and fun. Grimes has written the book in the second person, so the book speaks directly to the child listening to the story. This lets the child remain non-gendered in the story, wonderfully inclusive writing.
Zunon’s illustrations are done in collage. She creates shining faces filled with love and emotion in this small family. There is joy in her depictions of the evolving imaginary world and also in the real world too. Using bright colors, action and flowing water filled with patterns, this book is vibrant.
Another winner from this collaborative pair. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
The Mystery Writers of America have announced their nominees for the 2021 Edgar Awards which honor the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2020. Here are the nominees in the youth categories:
Beckett is the girl that everyone looks at when she walks through the halls. She’s the girl with the addict of a father, who supposedly found him after he killed himself. There is some truth to the rumors, but Beckett also knows there are a lot of truths being hidden from her. After coming to school late, Beckett hides in the girls’ locker room that is undergoing remodeling until her class starts. That’s when she notices the trail of blood leading from the showers to a gym bag, a bag that holds a dead newborn baby. Soon rumors are swirling about Beckett again, this time insisting that she is the baby’s mother. While Beckett knows the truth about herself, she begins to think that those around her may be more involved than they might admit. With her mother the lead police investigator on the case, Beckett finds herself under lots of scrutiny, needing to prove the baby is not hers, but also realizing that due to other evidence that it must be someone close to her.
Vincent has created a riveting book that show the power of rumors in a small town, escalated and empowered by social media. Beckett stands no chance at staunching the wild rumors, with people in town even willing to say the most vile things directly to her face. She becomes more and more isolated, even as her own investigation into the baby’s death becomes more intense. The writing of this novel is particularly skilled, the tension so tight at times that it almost hurts. The final reveal of the truth is satisfying, since all the pieces click in place nicely.
At times, Beckett seems to be the lone truth teller in her family and in the entire town, standing against the rumors that almost drown her. She is profoundly strong, someone not only unwilling to bow before the social pressure but also someone who must know the truth, no matter how shattering it might be. Her relationships with her family members and her boyfriend are well drawn and show the impact of the loss of a father only a few months earlier.
Gripping and tense, this rumor-filled novel calls for us all to do better by one another. Appropriate for ages 13-18.
YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, has released their 2021 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list. The list has 64 titles on it selected from 81 nominations. The list is specifically aimed at titles that encourage reading among teens who dislike reading for any reason. I find that this list contains titles you won’t see on other award lists that teens will love and read. Here is the selected Top Ten:
We Need Diverse Books has announced the winner and honor books for the 2021 Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children’s Literature. The awards are given in two categories: Teen (ages 13-18) and Younger Readers (ages 9-13). Each category has one winner and two honor books:
The Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.
Waking Brain Cells 