Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

| Tasha
Grown cover image

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson (9780062840356)

This gripping novel for teens takes readers into a world of high-rolling musicians and the abuse and exploitation of Black girls. Enchanted, age 17, is in high school, on the swim team and dreaming of making it big in the music industry. When she lies to her mother to get her to take her into the city for an audition, Enchanted doesn’t get the spot but does catch the attention of legendary R&B singer Korey Fields. As Korey begins to shower Enchanted with attention, her parents agree to let Enchanted leave high school and tour with Korey. What starts as a rocket to her singing career, quickly turns to a relationship with Korey. As Korey becomes more and more controlling, Enchanted finds herself unable to contact anyone for help, held against her will, and manipulated into staying. When Enchanted wakes up to find blood all around her and Korey’s body nearby, she needs to figure out what happened that night and what she did.

Jackson writes with such raw power here. She harnesses growing tensions, fear for Enchanted’s life, and reader’s horror at the situation that Enchanted finds herself in. Jackson shows how even a close and caring family can be conned into allowing their daughter to travel with an adult man and be taken advantage of. She shows how the families too are manipulated, beaten down and forced to be separated from the children they love. Readers will recognize many of the details in the book in the recent exposures of R. Kelly’s abuse of young Black girls.

Enchanted is a marvelous depiction of a seventeen year old. She is a mix of child and adult, yearning to be even more adult, to launch her life and be seen. But she is certainly still young, naive and innocent as Korey manipulates her, drawing her deeper and deeper into the world he has crafted to control her. The book is almost suffocating as their interactions become more and more abusive, leaving readers looking for a way out alongside Enchanted.

Powerful truth about Black girls and their place in the #MeToo movement. Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Katherine Tegen Books.

14 New Teen Books Coming Out in October

| Tasha

Here are 14 teen books coming out in October that are getting a lot of positive attention and reviews:

Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth

Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald

Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz

Breathless by Jennifer Niven

Come On In: 15 Stories about Immigration and Finding Home by Adi Alsaid

Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron

Dear Justyce by Nic Stone

Eventide by Sarah Goodman

Furia by Yamile Saied Mendez

Hush by Dylan Farrow

Junk Boy by Tony Abbott

My Heart Underwater by Laurel Flores Fantauzzo

The Puppetmaster’s Apprentice by Lisa DeSelm

The Truth Project by Dante Medema

News to Wake Your Brain Cells – Oct 2

| Tasha

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

22 Latinx middle grade titles filled with magic, found family, and more – SLJ

2020 Halloween reads for kids and teens – Publishers Weekly

Cynthia Kadohata and the redemptive power of change – SLJ

Middle grade nonfiction meets a big moment – Publishers Weekly

Misty Copeland says movies like Black Swan get ballerinas all wrong – Oprah Magazine

New groups aim to get more Latinx stories to young readers – NPR

The wild reason Netflix is being sued over Enola Holmes – Fansided

LIBRARIES

Budgeting for the new normal: libraries respond to COVID-19 funding constraints – Library Journal

It took COVID closures to reveal just how much libraries do beyond lending books – Observer

Libraries and social services go hand and hand, especially in the pandemic – MarketPlace

Public libraries are giving away an insane amount of free food – Shareable

YA LIT

5 K-Pop YA books to tide you over until Next Comeback – Teen Vogue

12 new YA books that will wow you this October – PopSugar

2020 LGBTQIA+ graphic novels for young readers – Publishers Weekly

Number of young adult writers of color doubles to almost 20% (in UK) – The Guardian

Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies will finally be a movie – Tor.com

Tomi Adeyemi is one of TIME’s Most Influential People – Tor.com

16 New Children’s Books Coming in October

| Tasha

Here are 16 new children’s books being released in October that have garnered lots of attention so far:

All Thirteen by Christina Soontornvat

Ana on the Edge by A. J. Sass

Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson and Kwame Alexander

The Boys in the Back Row by Mike Jung

Cat Ninja by Matthew Cody, illustrated by Yehudi Mercado

Cat Story by Ursula Murray Husted

Cinders and Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann

Flooded by Ann E. Burg

How We Got to the Moon by John Rocco

Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte, illustrated by Ann Xu

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce

A Thousand Questions by Saadia Faruqi

Twins by Varian Johnson, illustrated by Shannon Wright

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel by Sheela Chari

The Way Past Winter by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Willa the Wisp by Jonathan Auxier, illustrated by Olga Demidova

Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin

| Tasha

Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin (9780823446230)

Looking at relative size, Chin begins this exploration of how small we actually are in the universe by bringing in 8-year-olds, ostriches and giraffes. Those are soon dwarfed with the tallest trees on Earth, then the tallest buildings. Soon though the mountains fill the page. Chin then takes the reader into space to first view the entire planet and then orbits. Move out to the galaxy level and look at the Milky Way. Then how far away is the Andromeda galaxy or galaxy clusters! Pull out even farther and you can see the cosmic web, chains of galaxies and millions of light-years long. Chin then takes us right back to green grass, 8-year-olds and a starry night.

Chin grips readers’ attentions right away as he quickly moves through what are tall animals and then on to other tall things on earth. Using layered narrative with additional facts along margins and embedded in the images, Chin offers plenty of information in this nonfiction picture book. One the book enters space, Chin manages to keep perspective for everyone, using measurements for comparisons and touchpoints that let us see where we small humans on Earth actually are.

Throughout the book, he makes breathtaking visual comparisons. Just seeing Mount Everest compared to the tallest buildings in the world is remarkable. The space section of the book is filled with stars, spirals of galaxies and the observable universe. These are difficult concepts, but Chin’s art allows readers to begin to think about them, stretching their minds.

A marvel of a nonfiction book, it invites us to understand our size in the universe but also how amazing the universe actually is. Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Neal Porter Books.

14 New Picture Books Coming in October

| Tasha

Here are 14 of the picture books being released this month to lots of praise!

Addy’s Cup of Sugar by Jon J. Muth

Attack of the Underwear Dragon by Scott Rothman, illustrated by Pete Oswald

Blue Table by Chris Raschka

The Boy and the Gorilla by Jackie Azua Kramer, illustrated by Cindy Derby

Eric by Shaun Tan

Lubaya’s Quiet Roar by Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Philemona Williamson

The Most Beautiful Thing by Kao Kalia Yang

My Rainbow by Trinity and DeShanna Neal, illustrated by Art Twink

Northbound by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein, illustrated by James E. Ransome

On Account of the Gum by Adam Rex

Polar Bear in the Snow by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Shawn Harris

A Story for Small Bear by Alice B. McGinty, illustrated by Richard Jones

Turtle Walk by Matt Phelan

We Will Live in This Forest Again by Gianna Marino

Pea, Bee & Jay: Stuck Together by Brian “Smitty” Smith

| Tasha
Pea, Bea & Jay cover image

Pea, Bee & Jay: Stuck Together by Brian “Smitty” Smith (9780062981172)

Energetic and silly, this graphic novel throws together an unlikely trio of new friends in the first book in a new series. The story begins with Pea, who longs to be the one in the garden who is able to roll the farthest. When he is taunted by a rude Strawberry and Cherry, he agrees to try to roll all the way to the tree with the red leaves on the other side of the fence. Unfortunately, just as he leaves the farm, a storm hits and he is tumbled along with the water. He bumps into a bee, who warns him of the dangers outside the farm, particularly the dangerous birds. That’s when they meet Jay, who returns Bee’s satchel to her and then forlornly walks away. When Jay reveals that he can’t fly because he fell from the nest and was never taught how, he joins their group. Now they must get Pea back home before his mother worries about him. But there are more dangers lurking in the bushes (literally!)

Smith has created a madcap race of a book. Filled with all sorts of puns about peas and bees, the book’s writing is pure silliness. After all, what can one expect from a book who entire title is a pun and likely the inspiration for the characters. However it was conceived, this is a book that children will adore. It’s truly funny, filled with friends and has plenty of action too.

The art is clear and comical. From a bee with glasses to a bird who walks to a pea who bounds across the pages. The pacing is brisk, helped by the snappy dialogue and the wildly fast moments of the story. The art works well, moving just as fast as a pea can roll.

About much more than the birds and the bees, you have to give peas a chance. Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by HarperAlley.

ALA Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books

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Compiled from lists of the most banned and challenged books from 2010-2019, these are the books that were reported as being challenged. ALA reminds us that the vast majority, 82-97%, of challenges remain unreported to ALA and therefore are not part of the list. There are 100 titles on the list. If you haven’t read some of these, they are almost all worth your time. Here are the top ten:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Looking for Alaska by John Green

George by Alex Gino

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James

Internet Girls (series) by Lauren Myracle

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

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The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros (9780358329602)

One day, a strange animal arrived with a big suitcase. He was frightened and dusty. The other animals who lived there, came out and started asking him what was in his big suitcase. He answered that there is a teacup inside, along with a table and chair. In fact, he went on to tell them that his entire home is in the suitcase, a wooden cabin with the hillside it sat on. Then the animal curled up and went to sleep. The others knew there was only one way to find out if the animal was telling the truth. They had to open the suitcase! But what was inside surprised them all and gave them a way to say they were sorry for breaking into his belongings.

This picture book shows the importance of a few belongings from home for refugees. Through the eyes of the strange teal animal, young readers will feel outraged that the others broke into his suitcase but also will be amazed at what they go on to do next. One wrong can be undone as long as care and empathy is given in its place. The book does not lecture at all, allowing the lessons learned to be organically presented in the story.

The art is simple and clear, filled with animals of different colors. The animals pop on the clean white page while sepia tones are used to look back at the new animal’s homeland. They are echoed in the photograph that they discover too. The text contains a lot of dialogue done in colors that match each of the animals, so no speech bubbles are needed.

A gentle and empathetic look at welcoming someone to your community and honoring where they have come from. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.