Book Reviews

This Thing Called Life by Christian Borstlap

| Tasha
Cover image for This Thing Called Life

This Thing Called Life by Christian Borstlap (9783791374437)

A book all about life, this picture book starts at the very beginning when life first arrived on earth. Seeds fall through the air and then the author explains the many things that life is about. It’s about reproducing (shown with an egg-shaped bird next to an equally large egg.) It’s about moving, feeling, perceiving, breathing. There is giving and taking, complete with a visual poop joke. It’s also about survival, about hiding when necessary and being obvious and loud too. You may have to fight or flee. Life comes in all sizes and is still being discovered. Life is not fair and is unpredictable. It can be long or very short. But most importantly, life is to be lived together, connected to one another.

Originally published in French in Canada and created by a Dutch author/illustrator, this picture book is based on a short animated video that he did. The video, embedded below, shares a lot of the characteristics of the book and some of the same art. The book is a wild and whimsical look at life that doesn’t quite resemble life on earth, yet is not so dissimilar at times. This is not a book cataloging the animals in the world rather it’s philosophical and scientific, a mix of whimsy and fact that is captivating.

The art is done in a similar style to that of the video with lots of details and fine lines but also amazing creatures that take up almost the entire page like the “feeling” starfish that is a glowing pink or the moving two-legged creature with no real head.

Dazzling and original, this picture book is a weird look at life, just what we need. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy provided by Prestel.

News to Wake Your Brain Cells – January 29

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CHILDREN’S BOOKS

10 of the best Latinx children’s books out in 2021 – Hiplatina

The best tweets from the 2021 Youth Media Awards – 100 Scope Notes

Carole Lindstrom and Michaela Goade–Two tribally enrolled women–made history today, for We Are Water Protectors – American Indians in Children’s Literature

Grace Lin was early to champion diversity in children’s literature – Boston Globe

Q & A with Christina Soontornvat – Publishers Weekly

Tae Keller’s Newbery Win: ‘My brain short-circuited’ – Publishers Weekly

LIBRARIES

Forget Prime Reading, public libraries are still as important as ever – Input

Why you should surround yourself with more books than you’ll ever have time to read – Inc.

YA LIT

17 books featuring black teens that everyone needs to read at least once – BuzzFeed

Great YA nonfiction for your 2021 TBR – Book Riot

The Grishaverse comes to life in the first photos from Shadow and Bone – Tor

SFWA announces the 2021 Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award Recipients (one of whom is Rachel Caine) – Tor

Off to See the Sea by Nikki Grimes

| Tasha

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.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Sourcebooks.

Every Single Lie by Rachel Vincent

| Tasha
Cover image

Every Single Lie by Rachel Vincent (9781547605231)

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.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Bloomsbury.

Early Learning Digital Media Award

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HONOR TITLE

Sesame Street Family Play: Caring for Each Other

WINNER

The Imagine Neighborhood

Coretta Scott King Book Awards – Virginia Hamilton Award

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Dorothy L. Guthrie

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds

| Tasha

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds, art by Danica Novgorodoff (9781534444959)

The original verse novel by Reynolds won many awards, including a Newbery Honor, Printz Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor. I was hesitant to take a look at the graphic novel version of the book, wondering how it could work. While the graphic novel does not improve the book (because how could it), instead it is like a new jazz version of the original, taking the story and transforming it into something similar but altogether different. This new graphic version is incredible, just as moving, tense and personal as the original.

Readers who may hesitate at picking up a verse novel will find this new version more approachable. Beautifully, Reynold’s wring is intact here, so many of his important lines and statements left to speak directly to the reader. Novgorodoff manages to transform the work with her art. She sweeps the pages with watercolor blues, fills violent parts with blood spattering red, highlights Will on his elevator journey through death and hope using color and light.

Amazing, transformative and fully in honor of the original work. Appropriate for ages 12-16.

Reviewed from copy provided by Atheneum.

Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston

| Tasha
Cover image

Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston (9780062975164)

Amari still believes her brother is alive, even though everyone else thinks he is dead, including the bullies at her private prep school that she attends through a scholarship. When she gets a strange delivery, sending her to her brother’s closet where she finds a briefcase, she is introduced to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, where her brother works. Offered a spot in their competitive summer program, Amari finds herself learning about the hidden supernatural world that surrounds us all. It also turns out that her brother is part of a very famous two-person team who brought down the evil magicians. He has disappeared, and Amari is determined to find him, even though the Bureau doesn’t want to share any of the information they have. Helped by her roommate, who happens to be part dragon and a classmate connected to a famous family, Amari starts to unravel the mystery of her brother’s disappearance, but not before discovering that she has powers of her own that mark her as evil in everyone’s eyes.

A perfect new title for fans of Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, and Percy Jackson, it is great to see a Black author create a Black protagonist who enters a fantasy world. Brilliantly, Alston layers the prejudice of the real world with that found in the supernatural, showing how profound racism is by combining it with hatred of magicians, who are labeled as illegal. The writing is strong and the pace is fast, quickly bringing readers and the characters into the world of the supernatural.

The world building is delightful, with nods to Harry Potter and classic myths but also staying connected to an urban landscape and modern issues. Amari is a great character, who sees little potential in herself while revealing throughout the book how unusual she actually is in more than her powers. Her loneliness, courage, loyalty and desire to figure out what happened all make for a book that has real depth but also offers a wild and fun ride through the supernatural.

Sure to be a popular read, this book has plenty of substance too. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Balzer + Bray.

I Will Dance by Nancy Bo Flood

| Tasha
Cover image for I Will Dance

I Will Dance by Nancy Bo Flood, illustrated by Julianna Swaney (9781534430617)

A little girl with cerebral palsy makes a birthday wish that she gets a pink tutu and can dance. When Eva was born, she wasn’t expected to survive more than a short while, but she is now ten years old. She wants to dance but can’t move more than her head and her arms and fingers. Eva can’t use her legs to run and move like other children can. Then her mother discovers a new dance program for people of all ages and all abilities. Still, will they let her join in even though she is in a wheelchair? Yes! When Eva arrives there are children of all sorts of ages, sizes, and who have a variety of assistive devices they use. Soon they are not only dancing but creating a performance where they do more than pretend and imagine. They dance!

At the end of the book, the author explains that a program called Young Dance inspired this picture book. The Executive Director of the Young Dance program also shares information on the program and its opportunities for children of all abilities. This picture book is inspiring on a variety of levels, for children who may think their limitations would prevent them from dancing, certainly. Plus it also shows everyone else not to make assumptions about what is possible and whether a dream can come true. Still, it is based firmly in reality, and as the book points out takes imagination and makes it real.

Swaney’s illustrations are lovely, showing both Eva’s physical limitations and also the beauty and freedom she first sees and then discovers herself in dancing. The use of sparkling energy to show the movement and magic of dance works particularly well.

A book that is inspiring and breaks stereotypes through dance. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Simon & Schuster.