Book Reviews

Review: How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson

| Tasha

how i discovered poetry

How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson

A celebrated poet and author of books for children and teens, Nelson tells the story of growing up in the Civil Rights era and her connection to poetry.  In fifty poems, several of which have been previously published, Nelson reveals her growing up from age 4 through 14 during the 1950s and 1960s.  The poems show her progression from child to a self-aware teen who is directly impacted by the changes in civil rights.  Nelson also touches on the Cold War and feminism along with race in these poems.  Each poem here is a gem, carefully crafted and firmly placed in its setting in the book.  Beautiful.

In her author’s note, Nelson mentions that she prefers not to see the character in the book as herself but rather as “The Speaker.”  The first person perspective though will leave readers assuming that this is Nelson’s personal story and journey and it’s difficult to change that perception after reading the entire book.  Perhaps even more than the historical period it is The Speaker’s love of poetry and writing that makes the connection to Nelson as that person ring so true.  It is that love of poetry and words that makes each poem so beautiful, but also makes the narrator come alive.

Beautiful and worth rereading and revisiting, this collection of poems that forms a story is deep and worth submerging yourself in.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.

Review: What’s Your Favorite Animal?

| Tasha

whats your favorite animal

What’s Your Favorite Animal?

Eric Carle and many other well-known illustrators offer their personal favorite animals complete with a short piece about what animal they love and why.  Turning the pages is rather like visiting a gallery of some of the top picture book illustrators working today.  Turn the page and see Lane Smith’s choice of elephant, then Jon Klassen’s ode to his love for ducks, and Susan Jeffer’s beautiful look at horses.  This work is fantastically lovely and personal to the illustrators.  It is a pleasure to turn each page and take a journey through this book.

Readers may discover new authors and illustrators and seek out their work.  But best of all, this is a wonderful look at well-known illustrators on a personal level.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt and Co.

Review: Florence Nightingale by Demi

| Tasha

florence nightingale

Florence Nightingale by Demi

This picture book biography shines thanks to its rich artwork.  It tells the story of Florence Nightingale’s life beginning with her wealthy childhood in England.  Florence’s mother was known for her parties, but Florence liked to spend time by herself and even as a child pretended that her dolls were sick and needed to be in a doll hospital.  Florence traveled in Europe as a teenager and realized that she was called to help people.  Her parents were dismayed when she declared that she wanted to be a nurse.  Then later Florence got a chance to help in an orphanage and her parents allowed her to choose her own way.  Florence excelled at organization, documentation and hygiene.  She transformed the different places she worked at, eventually going to Turkey to help the soldiers during the Crimean War.  Florence grew ill later in her life, but never stopped working on improving nursing and patient care around the world.  She was an inspiration for many both as a nurse and a woman. 

Demi writes with depth and detail in this biography.  She paints a clear picture of Nightingale from childhood through her development as a nurse and finally as a world-renowned expert in nursing.  It was fascinating to learn of Nightingale’s wealthy background and her unwillingness to turn her back on her calling. 

Demi’s art is as rich as ever with her saturated colors that give way to other pages with rich yet delicate texture.  Nightingale appears wearing her deep blue dress that somehow shines on the page even though it is often the darkest color there.  Ones eye just travels straight to her and the heart of the story.

Rich and detailed, this is a winning picture book biography to introduce children to a major female figure from history.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt and Co.

Review: Peek-a-Boo Bunny by Holly Surplice

| Tasha

peek a book bunny

Peek-a-Boo Bunny by Holly Surplice

Bunny and his friends are playing their favorite game, Hide-and-Seek!  Bunny gets to seek first and all of his friends hide.  He counts to ten.  Then he bounces and rushes around, moving way too fast to notice the others hiding.  As Bunny races from one page to the next, another friend is revealed in their hiding place on each page, making it a real game of hide-and-seek for the reader.  Eventually, Bunny does slow down, but he still can’t find the hidden animals.  Bunny sits down under a tree, saddened by not finding any of his friends.  But don’t worry, they can find him!

A jolly picture book where the game is made real for the reader, Surplice infuses her book with humor but also with a gentleness toward Bunny too.  The story itself is simple and linear, offering space for the illustrations to carry the full story for the reader.

The illustrations are lovely.  They offer collages of cut paper grasses and flowers in a rainbow of colors that pop against the pastel backgrounds.  Bunny and his friends all pop out as well with their firm lines dark against the flowing colors of the forest. 

A sparkling spring pick, this book is great for preschoolers and toddlers.  I could see it making a great board book too.  Appropriate for ages 1-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: A Dance Like Starlight by Kristy Dempsey

| Tasha

dance like starlight

A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina’s Dream by Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Told in the first person by a young African-American dancer, this book shows how dreams can come true with lots of hard work and plenty of hope.  Set in Harlem of the fifties, this young dancer dreams of becoming a ballerina.  Her mother works hard to pay for her dance lessons.  The ballet master saw her pretending to dance and offered her lessons.  She isn’t allowed to dance onstage with the white girls, but can take lessons each day in the back of the room.  Then she learns about Janet Collins, the first colored prima ballerina.  Now she is going to the Metropolitan Opera House to see Collins dance and feast on the hope that that brings to her.

Dempsey’s picture book is in verse that not only shows what the little girl is feeling but also speaks to the time before Civil Rights and the separation that came with it.  It is much more the story of the young girl than of Janet Collins, though it is her inspiration that led a generation of non-white girls to realize that they too could be dancers. 

Cooper’s illustrations are gauzy and beautiful.  When the young girl is up on the rooftop dreaming, his image is breathtaking with the color of the sky shining upon her face.  He unerringly turns her toward light, speaking with pictures of the hope that sustains her.  It is beautifully done.

Inspiring and exquisite, this picture book belongs in the hands of all little girls dreaming of pirouettes and tutus.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Philomel.

Review: The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage

| Tasha

ghosts of tupelo landing

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage

Return to the world of the Newbery Honor book Three Times Lucky in this follow-up novel.  Mo and Dale continue to run their Desperado Detective Agency but the mysteries have gotten smaller.  Then an old inn goes up for sale and Miss Lana, Mo’s guardian, accidentally purchases it.  That’s when it is discovered that that inn comes with a resident ghost.  Now it is up to Dale and Mo to figure out why the ghost is haunting the inn, something they also manage to make into a homework assignment to do double duty.  But the mystery of the ghost is tied up in other secrets in Tupelo Landing, secrets that have been kept for decades but that must be revealed to solve this mystery.

Returning to Tupelo Landing was immediately like being reunited with friends.  There was catching up to do, but it was easy and warm right from the beginning.  Turnage’s writing is rich and layered.  She excels at descriptions, creating analogies that are surprising and constantly original.  Here in Mo’s voice is a description of Lavender, the boy she plans to marry eventually:

Lavender has eyes blue as October’s sky and hair like just-mown wheat.  He’s wiry and tall, and flows like a lullaby.

All of your favorite characters from the first book are back again.  There are the Colonel and Miss Lana, continuing to figure out their relationship while running a restaurants whose theme changes every night.  There is Grandmother Miss Lacy whose funding saves Miss Lana and the inn, but who may be dealing with secrets of her own.  There is even the scary Red Baker who may be closer to the ghost than anyone else.  There is even one complex new character who takes time to learn about because his secrets are held very close.  And then of course there are Mo and Dale, the two detectives at the heart of the story and who give the story its heart.

Funny, heartfelt and memorable, this sequel is just as good as the award-winning original.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Penguin Group.

Review: The Scar Boys by Len Vlahos

| Tasha

scar boys

The Scar Boys by Len Vlahos

Trying to fill out a college application, Harry decides to ignore the word limit and tell his full story to that point.  When he was 8 years old, kids in his neighborhood tied him to a tree during a thunderstorm.  The tree was struck by lightning and set ablaze with Harry tied directly to it.  Harry has severe scars both physically and emotionally from that day.  Harry had no friends until Johnny came into his life, a charismatic and confident boy who swept down and saved Harry from obscurity and loneliness.  Together the two of them started a band, one that really sucked at first, but then amazingly got better and better.  Called The Scar Boys, the band transported Harry from his dull life into a different type of storm, one of music and pure joy.  But bands often fall apart and so do high school friendships on the brink of college.  As the future looms closer, Harry has to figure out what to give up on and what is worth fighting to keep.

Vlahos’ debut teen novel is a screamingly funny wild ride.  The author was in a band himself when he was younger and the moments onstage read honest, zany and completely true.  The writing throughout is smart and clever, making points with arrow-sharp zingers that are surprising and make for a great read.  Here is one from page 97:

Truth is, if we’d had a shred of sense, we’d have known we were getting in way over our heads.  But you can’t buy shreds of sense, and even if you could, we were pretty much out of money.

Harry is a great protagonist.  He is witty and smart himself, since the book is written in first person from his point of view.  Vlahos manages to never lose track of Harry’s scars but also manages to make his scars much deeper than his skin and therefore the book about much more than that as well.  It is a book that explores friendships, power and dreams. 

An amazing debut novel, it has a winning mix of punk rock, guitars and real life.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from digital galley from Edelweiss and Egmont.

Review: Searching for Sarah Rector by Tonya Bolden

| Tasha

searching for sarah rector

Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America by Tonya Bolden

This nonfiction book takes a detailed look at a period in history that most of us know nothing about.  It is the history of Indian Territory and the slaves who worked and lived there.  It is the story of Oklahoma becoming a state, the establishment of black towns, and the changes that the oil boom brought to that area.  It is also the story of one girl who is caught up in this history, made rich by the circumstances, and just like many other black children trapped by the corruption of those around her. 

The history here is completely fascinating.  Bolden brings it to life by focusing on one girl, but that focus really is a way to enter the story rather than the bulk of the story itself.  Instead the story is the history and the twists and turns that it created.  Bolden manages to piece together the story of Sarah Rector against this history, displaying the corruption of the adults and the system, the rush of wealth that comes and goes so quickly, and the racism that drove it all.

Bolden always creates nonfiction that is compellingly written.  She shares sources at the end, offers a complete index, and her dedication to accuracy is clear throughout her books.  Using primary documents, she has managed to bring together text and illustrations that paint a complete picture of the time.

Fascinating and powerful, this look into an unknown section of our history makes for one amazing read.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Baby Bear by Kadir Nelson

| Tasha

baby bear

Baby Bear by Kadir Nelson

Nelson returns with a picture book about a lost baby bear that showcases his luminous art work.  Baby Bear is lost and can’t find his way back home.  So he asks different animals about how to find his home again.  Mountain Lion suggests that he figure out how he got here.  Frog is rather busy, but tells Baby Bear not to be frightened.  The Squirrels suggest that he hug a tree.  Moose tells Baby Bear to listen to his heart.  Owl reassures him and Ram encourages him to climb high and keep walking.  Finally, Salmon leads him across the river and Baby Bear is home. 

Nelson writes with the tone of a folktale, a measured pace and a strong structure of questions and answers.  Told entirely in dialogue between the animals, the setting and action is left to the gorgeous illustrations to explain.  My favorite moment is the ending of the book where there is no family to meet Baby Bear, no structure of “home” for him to return to, just an understanding and a pure moment of realization that he IS home. 

Nelson’s art is stunningly lovely.  He uses light and perspective to really show the story.  We see Baby Bear from different angles, one amazing double-page spread just has a close up of his eyes with the moon reflected in them.  Each page is a treat visually, each building to that moment of already being home.

Shimmering and lush, this picture book will open discussions about what home is, mindfulness and following one’s heart.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.