diversity

Camo Girl: Shining Strong

| Tasha

camogirl

Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon

The author of The Rock and the River returns with another amazing book.  Ella is not part of the popular crowd at school.  In fact, she is the lowest of the low.  Teased by about her uneven skin coloring, some of her classmates call her Camo Face, Ella has trouble even looking at herself in the mirror.  She has her best friend, Z, who has been her friend for many years, but Z is getting stranger and stranger, losing himself in stories and roles.  Now there is a new boy at school, a boy who doesn’t seem to notice Ella’s skin at all.  He brings her a way into the popular world, but how can she leave Z to fend for himself?  This novel speaks to issues of race, bullying, friendship and differences, never shying away from asking very difficult questions.

Magoon’s writing here is superb.  Her writing is at times filled with such longing and ache that it enters your bones.  Other times it soars, lifting readers along with it, demonstrating that anything is possible.  She illuminates the darkness of bullying, but this book is about so much more than that.  It is about the tenderness of long friendship.  It is about the hope of the new.  It is about the beauty of difference.  It is about the strength of self.

Ella is a great character who is gripped with such self-doubt that it is almost despair.  Yet she continues on, watching out for Z, caring for her family, and even hoping that the new boy’s smile might be just for her.  Beautifully, her transformation in the book is less about her changing and more about her perceptions changing about herself and those around her.  It is a powerful and important distinction.

Highly recommended, this is an amazing book for tweens looking for a book that has depth, power and strength.  Appropriate for ages 9-13.

Reviewed from copy received from Aladdin.

Also reviewed by TheHappyNappyBookseller and My Life in…

Author posts on DiversityinYAFiction and Chicks Rock!

Diversity in YA Fiction

| Tasha

Diversity in YA Fiction is a new project to celebrate all sorts of diversity in teen fiction.  There is both a website and a book tour that features some truly amazing authors! 

The site has monthly lists of new middle grade and young adult releases that include diversity.  If you take a look at January’s list, it is a beautiful visual of diversity in novels.  Just having the covers of the books with so many different colored faces makes a great impact. 

This is definitely a site worth following, filled with books and authors worth reading.  Enjoy!

Day and Night: Movie to Picture Book

| Tasha

day-night-book-image

Day & Night by Teddy Newton

The Pixar short film that accompanied Toy Story 3 in theaters has been transformed into a picture book.  Showing the same style, humor and charm of the film, this book captures the interplay between day and night.  Told in short sentences on black paper, the two characters immediately see their differences but through their interaction develop a friendship.  In the end, they discover they have a lot more in common than they had thought at first glance.  There is a wonderful whimsy about their interaction as they both use their bodies as a canvas for communication.  Each shows off the wonders of their time of day.  There are parades, rainbows and butterflies for Day.  Night responds with fireworks, outdoor movies and fireflies.  Told mostly in images, the story will appeal to young and old.

Newton’s illustrations carry this story, infusing it with appeal.  The use of the black background makes the characters really pop.  This creates a dynamic look and feel for the book.  The most effective piece of the book is the ending when day changes to night and night changes to day.  When their bodies fit together to create the horizon and to complete the sunset and dawn, it is very visually arresting.

Children who have seen the short film will enjoy this picture book version, but so will children who are looking for a friendly book with inviting illustrations.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

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Mostly Monsterly

| Tasha

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Mostly Monsterly by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Bernadette had claws, a tail, fangs, and pointy ears.  She was a monster.  She caused all sorts of mayhem, but underneath she was different.  She liked flowers, kittens, and baking treats.  So Bernadette was nervous to go to school with the other monsters.  Her niceness did not fit in with the group well.  She asked for a group hug and got glares.  She sang a sweet song and someone ate her microphone.  Even her cupcakes with sprinkles get the monsters to turn tail and run.  How was she going to make friends?  Bernadette had a plan, a very monsterly, yet sweet one. 

Sauer nicely turns the pink and princessy on its head with this small blue monster.  The mix of sweet and monster is a winning one, nicely cleansing the saccharine that can accumulate from too many pink sparkly picture books.  Sauer has a great sense of humor that is on display in her title.   The things that the monster children hope are in the box as treats are silly and great fun.  Sauer does not limit herself to normal picture book words in a any way.  Make way for slobber, conquer and dismantle, among others.  Magoon’s illustrations offer plenty of monster styles and types for the reader to gape at.  None of the monsters are frightening.  This is a funny book and the illustrations stay in that style as well.  They are bright, intriguing and silly.  Bernadette is a monster we can all relate to, thanks in large part to the way she is depicted in the illustrations.

A book that celebrates our diversity and differences, this is a great monster book to add to your not-so-scary stories pile.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon and Schuster.

Check out the trailer:

Mostly Monsterly Book Trailer

Amazing Faces

| Tasha

Amazing Faces, poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet

This book is a great collection of poems that really reflect diversity and America.  Diversity in race as well as the range of emotions in human experience, both are on display in this collection.  The collection moves gracefully from one poem to the next, each fitting next to the other to make a cohesive whole.  This is helped by Soentpiet’s art which celebrates emotions, humanity and community in the faces he depicts.

Hopkins has created a collection that really meshes well.  Each poem and poet has a distinct voice and point of view.  The differences are celebrated here, the poems just as diverse as the world they share.  The first poem, Amazing Face by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, welcomes readers with open arms into the collection.  It is closed just as effectively with a Langston Hughes poem, My People. 

Soentpiet’s art captures moments in the world that we all want to grasp and hold onto a bit longer before they pass.  There is the smile of a baby, the power of a storyteller, the evening sky, and that moment that loneliness disappears.  All are illustrated with great detail, making those moments ever so real.

Highly recommended, this collection of poetry will help you celebrate what America is all about: the diversity of its people.  Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Lee & Low Books.

Say Hello!

| Tasha

Say Hello! by Rachel Isadora

On her way to her Abuela Rose’s house, Carmelita greets her neighbors and learns how they say hello in their different languages.  Carmelita’s dog Manny is happy to greet everyone with a friendly “Woof” that translates easily into every language.  The book is set in a diverse urban neighborhood filled with friendly faces in a variety of skin tones.  How do you say hello in your family or neighborhood?

Isadora has again created a book for very young readers that is inviting and fresh.  The urban setting is depicted as colorful and friendly, something that young readers may not see in many picture books.  Isadora includes just enough text to keep the story moving with most of the book focusing on the various greetings in each language.  Her illustrations are done in cut-paper collage.  They have an interesting mix of painted papers and printed ones that come together in a dynamic way.  Signature Isadora style!

Recommended for toddler story times, this book will work well with young children who will be eager to repeat the unfamiliar greetings and to share those from their homes as well.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Putnam.