Book Reviews
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same
Booklist starred (May 1, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 17))
Grades 1-2. Sisters Ling and Ting may be twins, but that doesn’t mean they’re “exactly the same,” no matter what everyone says upon first meeting them. Children will come to their own conclusions after reading the six short, interconnected stories that make up this pleasing book for beginning readers. In the first chapter, “The Haircuts,” Ling sneezes while her bangs are being cut, and for a while at least, it’s easy to tell the twins apart. The chapters that follow reveal distinct differences in the sisters’ personalities, inclinations, and abilities. Despite those differences, in the end each girl subtly affirms her affection for the other. Framed with narrow borders, the paintings illustrate the stories with restrained lines, vivid colors, and clarity. The chapters often end with mildly humorous turns, from a neat play on words to a smack-your-heard obvious solution to an apparently impossible dilemma. These endings, as well as bits of comic byplay that occur in the brief framework vignettes, will suit the target audience beautifully. Lin, whose previous books include Dim Sum for Everyone (2001) and the 2010 Newbery Honor Book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2009), shows her versatility once again in an original book that tells its story clearly while leaving room for thought and discussion.
Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel
Horn Book Guide (Fall 2009)
Smart, spunky third-grader Dyamonde has everything going for her--except a best friend. The new kid, Free, doesn't show much promise at first, and Dyamonde nicknames him "Rude Boy"--until she takes the time to get to know him. A quirky heroine, an unusual friendship, and a city setting make this start to a new series a welcome addition.
Lola Levine is Not Mean!
Kirkus Reviews starred (September 1, 2015)
Brown introduces a smart, young protagonist with a multicultural background in this series opener for chapter-book readers. Second-grader Lola Levine is half-Peruvian and half-Jewish; she is a skilled soccer player, a persuasive writer, and aspires to own a cat in the near future should her parents concede. During a friendly recess soccer match, Lola, playing goalie, defends an incoming ball by coming out of her box and accidentally fouls a classmate. And so Lola acquires the rhyming nickname Mean Lola Levine. Through Lola's first-person narration, readers see clearly how her savvy and creativity come from her family: Dad, who paints, Mom, who writes, and a fireball younger brother. She also wears her bicultural identity easily. In her narration, her letters to her friends, and dialogue, Lola easily inserts such words as diario, tia, bubbe, and shalom. For dinner, the family eats matzo ball soup, Peruvian chicken, and flan. Interspersed throughout the story are references to all-star soccer athletes, from Brazilian master Pele to Mia Hamm, Briana Scurry, and David Beckham. Dominguez's black-and-white illustrations are cheery and appealing, depicting a long-haired Caucasian father and dark-skinned, black-haired mother. Typefaces that emulate penmanship appropriately differ from character to character: Lola's is small and clean, her mother's is tall and slanted, while Juan's, the injured classmate, is sloppy and lacks finesse. Celebrate a truly accepting multicultural character. (Fiction. Ages 6-10)
Juana & Lucas
Booklist starred (July 2016 (Vol. 112, No. 21))
Grades K-3. Juana loves many things, but learning English is not one of them. In this early chapter book, Medina introduces Juana, a spirited young Colombian girl and her lovable dog, Lucas. Juana prefers playing fútbol outdoors to wearing an itchy uniform and learning English, a language she feels is too clunky and complicated. The reluctant student finally finds some much-needed motivation when her grandfather reminds her of their upcoming trip to Spaceland, in the U.S., where she must speak English if she wishes to talk to her hero, Astroman. Through this strong, adventurous, and smart female protagonist, Medina presents an extraordinary story about the many opportunities learning a new language can bring. Full-color illustrations provide excellent depictions of Juana’s life in Bogotá and allow readers to connect with her character and culture. The artwork playfully interacts with the dynamic text, which often arcs across the page, employs large fonts for emphasis, and smoothly incorporates Spanish words. Fans of Judy Moody and Lola Levine will absolutely love Juana. This upbeat new series for young readers is a must-buy.
A Long Pitch Home
Kirkus Reviews (July 15, 2016)
When his family moves from Pakistan to America, a Muslim boy who loves cricket faces a year of adjustment and life without his father. Just before his 10th birthday, Bilal moves from Karachi to Virginia with his mother and younger siblings to live with extended family until his father, Baba, can join them. When his cousin enrolls him in summer baseball camp because baseball’s “America’s version of cricket,” Bilal’s days are filled with endless “sames and differents.” A champion cricket player in Karachi, Bilal knows he’s the worst baseball player on a team where the best player’s a girl named Jordan. As the year passes, Bilal improves at baseball, completes ESL classes, and gradually assimilates into school while desperately waiting for Baba. When Bilal learns Jordan’s father’s deployed to Afghanistan, they bond, despite resentment from male teammates. In a thoughtful, honest narration, Bilal describes his confusion over English words and American customs, fears of rejection, emerging friendships, growing prowess as a pitcher, acceptance by team members, and constant longing for Baba. As she did in Flying the Dragon (2012), Lorenzi sympathetically captures the challenges of cultural relocation. A warm, sensitive, realistic portrait of a Muslim boy adjusting to contemporary America. (Fiction. Ages 9-12)
Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh
Kirkus Reviews (April 15, 2017)
Krishnaswami offers a peek into the life of Maria Singh and her loving family in Yuba City, California, in 1945. Maria, her younger brother, Emilio, and the rest of her close-knit brown-skinned community are adha-adha (“half and half”), with fathers from India (mostly Sikh or Muslim) and mothers from Mexico. The book details a realistic merger of the two cultures, with church and gurdwara (Sikh temple), curry and tortillas, as they confront prejudice and discrimination. With baseball plays running in her head like a baseball announcer’s, the fifth-grade protagonist longs to play softball on the first-ever girls team in Yuba City, and, encouraged by her white teacher/baseball coach, she speaks out at the county board meeting to save their sole baseball field. Maria’s struggles at home and at school are contextualized with period details, as this community lives with the many restrictions placed upon them by World War II and with the laws that discriminate against them. Fighting unfair American laws that bar her immigrant father from citizenship and owning property, Maria is spurred to find a solution that allows them to buy the land her father has been managing for years. Occasional words in Punjabi and Spanish are easy to decipher in context. Filled with heart, this tale brings to life outspoken and determined Maria, her love for baseball, and her multicultural community and their challenges and triumphs. A loving look at a slice of American life new to children’s books. (Historical fiction. 9-13)
How Tia Lola Came to Stay
Kirkus Reviews (January 15, 2001)
Renowned Latin American writer Alvarez has created another story about cultural identity, but this time the primary character is 11-year-old Miguel Guzmán. When Tía Lola arrives to help the family, Miguel and his hermana, Juanita, have just moved from New York City to Vermont with their recently divorced mother. The last thing Miguel wants, as he's trying to fit into a predominantly white community, is a flamboyant aunt who doesn't speak a word of English. Tía Lola, however, knows a language that defies words; she quickly charms and befriends all the neighbors. She can also cook exotic food, dance (anywhere, anytime), plan fun parties, and tell enchanting stories. Eventually, Tía Lola and the children swap English and Spanish ejercicios, but the true lesson is "mutual understanding." Peppered with Spanish words and phrases, Alvarez makes the reader as much a part of the "language" lessons as the characters. This story seamlessly weaves two culturas while letting each remain intact, just as Miguel is learning to do with his own life. Like all good stories, this one incorporates a lesson just subtle enough that readers will forget they're being taught, but in the end will understand themselves, and others, a little better, regardless of la lengua nativa--the mother tongue. Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay. (Fiction. Ages 9-11)
George
Kirkus Reviews starred (June 1, 2015)
George, a fourth-grader who knows she is a girl, despite appearances, begins to tell her secret. The word "transgender" is used midway through, but far more work is done by the simple choice to tell George's story using third-person narration and the pronouns "she" and "her." Readers then cringe as much as George herself when bullies mock her or--perhaps worse--when well-meaning friends and family reassure her with sentiments like "I know you'll turn into a fine young man." Each year the fourth-graders at George's school perform a dramatized version of Charlotte's Web, the essentials of which are lovingly recapped (and tear-inducing ending revealed) for readers unfamiliar with the tale. George becomes convinced that if she plays Charlotte, her mom will finally see her as a girl. George's struggles are presented with a light, age-appropriate, and hopeful touch. The responses she gets when she begins to confide in those closest to her are at times unexpected but perfectly true-to-character--most notably her crude older brother's supportive observation that, "No offense, but you don't make a very good boy." A coda to the Charlotte's Web story, in which George presents herself as a girl for the first time, is deeply moving in its simplicity and joy. Warm, funny, and inspiring. (Fiction. 9-12)
Stella by Starlight
Kirkus Reviews starred (November 15, 2014)
When a young girl gains confidence from her failures and strength from what her community dreads most, life delivers magic and hope. Stella Mills and her brother Jojo witness the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross late one starry night, setting off a chain reaction that leaves their entire community changed. During the Depression, North Carolina was less than hospitable for African-Americans forced to work more to earn less while being deprived of basic human rights. Through the perspective of Stella, young readers glimpse the nearly suffocating anguish that envelops this black community, illuminating the feelings associated with suppression. In a telling passage, Stella's mother attempts to comfort her: " 'It's gonna be all right,' her mother whispered as she smoothed down Stella's hair. But Stella felt the tension in her mother's arms, and she knew that in reality, fear hugged them both." Draper expertly creates a character filled with hope, dreams and ambition in a time when such traits were dangerous for a girl of color. While the use of language honors the time period, the author is careful to avoid the phonetic quagmire that ensnares lesser writers of the period, allowing the colorful idioms to shine. A tale of the Jim Crow South that's not sugar-coated but effective, with a trustworthy narrator who opens her heart and readers' eyes. (Historical fiction. Ages 9-13)
Amina’s Voice
Kirkus Reviews starred (January 15, 2017)
A Pakistani-American girl starting middle school learns how to cope with the changes and challenges she faces at home, at school, and within her close-knit Muslim community. True to her parents’ endearment for her, geeta (“song” in Urdu), Amina loves to sing. But unlike the contestants on her favorite reality TV show The Voice, Amina shuns the spotlight—she’s a bundle of nerves in front of an audience! She’s happy living her life as usual, hanging out with her best friend, Korean-American Soojin, playing the piano, and attending Sunday school at the Islamic Center. Except that life isn’t “as usual” anymore. In fact, everything is changing, and changing fast. Soojin wants an “American” name to go with her new citizenship status, and even worse, Soojin starts getting chummy with their elementary school nemesis, a white girl named Emily, leaving a jealous Amina fuming. Then, her visiting uncle voices his disapproval of her piano-playing, saying it’s forbidden in Islam. Finally, when the Islamic Center is vandalized, Amina feels like the whole world as she knows it is crumbling around her. With the help and support of the larger community, the Islamic Center is slowly rebuilt, and Amina comes to terms with her identity and culture, finding strength in her own voice. Khan deftly—and subtly—weaves aspects of Pakistani and Muslim culture into her story, allowing readers to unconsciously absorb details and develop understanding and compassion for another culture and faith. Amina’s middle school woes and the universal themes running through the book transcend culture, race, and religion. A perfect first book for this new Muslim imprint. (Fiction. Ages 10-14)
In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse
Kirkus Reviews starred (September 1, 2015)
School bullies claim Jimmy McClean's blue eyes, fair hair, and Scottish surname mean he's not a real Indian; to validate Jimmy's Lakota heritage, Grandpa Nyles suggests a road trip in search of another Lakota with fair hair and skin: Crazy Horse.Their journey takes them across the Great Plains to where Crazy Horse first witnessed attacks on his people and where he fought to end white appropriation of their homeland. Accounts of battles and stories of his integrity and commitment to providing for the weak and elderly in need bring Crazy Horse into focus. The Lakota author's first book for children (The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn, 2007, etc.) doesn't airbrush tragic events; they are here, placed in context. At each site, Nyles tells the story (set in italics) of what happened to Crazy Horse there. Between stops, Nyles answers Jimmy's questions in conversations that allow readers distance to process often bleak events and to reflect on their meaning today (the art's storybook sensibility helps here). The story's heavy in losses and defeats, but it's also uplifting in ways seldom addressed in children's fiction. Crazy Horse could have led his last small band of warriors to a heroic end in battle. But great leadership mandates a different kind of courage. He chose surrender as the best hope for protecting his people--the vulnerable children, women, and elderly. This powerful introduction to a great warrior and leader invites readers to ponder the meaning of "hero." (author's note, glossary, bibliography) (Fiction. Ages 9-12)
They Call Me Guero
Kirkus Reviews (August 15, 2018)
Explore the life of a border kid in Bowles’ spirited verse novel. For the 12-year-old Mexican-American narrator that everyone calls Güero, the borderlands (that “strip of frontier, / home of hardy plants”) means more than home. On Saturdays, he crosses the border into Mexico with his dad and chats with the locals. He goes marketing in the boisterous pulga with Mom and listens to his abuela Mimi’s scary folktales. Seventh grade soon begins, and Güero reunites with los Bobbys (or, as his sister Teresa calls them, “los Derds—Diverse Nerds”) for some reading, mischief, and girls (a new interest). His English teacher even gets Güero interested in poetry! In this slim verse novel, Bowles splendidly translates border life via loosely connected vignettes in an eclectic mix of poetic forms. Güero’s voice brims with humor, wit, and bits of slang, and a diverse cast of characters offers hints of other cultures. The author, however, does inject some complex themes and topics for rich discussion, touching on immigration, prejudice, and even the narrator’s nickname, “güero,” a term used to refer to light-skinned men and boys. Güero occasionally faces flak from a few schoolmates on account of his pale, freckled skin and copper hair, resulting in a revealing exchange with his dad: “M’ijo, pale folks catch all the breaks / here and in Mexico, too. Not your fault. / Not fair. Just the way it’s been for years.” A valuable, too-brief look at the borderlands. (glossary) (Verse fiction. Ages 10-14)
The Birchbark House
Horn Book Guide starred (Fall 1999)
Focusing on seven-year-old Omakayas, Erdrich paints a detailed portrait of Ojibwa life in the mid-nineteenth century. Along with descriptions of household tasks and customs, Erdrich crafts images of tender beauty while weaving Ojibwa words seamlessly into the text. Her gentle spot art throughout complements this first of several projected stories that will "attempt to retrace [her] own family's history."
Son Who Returns
Kirkus Reviews (April 1, 2014)
Powwow drums call a modern teen to reconnect with his Native American roots. Discontented with a move to Dallas, 15-year-old Mark persuades his father and stepmother to let him spend the summer with his Chumash grandmother on a California reservation. Following the lead of a newly met half brother who is a committed powwow dancer, Mark is irresistibly drawn both by the spectacular ceremony at events he attends and also a strong inner calling to become a dancer himself. A broad informational agenda runs through Robinson's story, as his protagonist eagerly absorbs Chumash history and culture from those around him, along with details of the dancer's ornate regalia as well as the purpose and spirit of powwows. Ultimately Mark stays with his multicultural extended family (he himself is, as he puts it, "four kinds of brown," since his father is Filipino-Mexican and his birth mother was Chumash-Crow) to finish high school and to enter the huge Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque--"the Indianapolis 500 of the powwow world" and the book's climax. Free of crises and melodrama, a buoyant take on the theme of embracing one's family heritage. (Fiction. Ages 10-13)
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Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code
Picture book, not a novel
Kirkus Reviews starred (March 1, 2018)
For young readers, a nuanced, compassionate biography of a Navajo Code Talker. Like many Native American children, Betoli, a Navajo boy, was taken from his family to a missionary boarding school, where he was forbidden to speak Navajo and forced to change his name to Chester. He endured the painful process of having his long hair shaved, forlornly depicted in a stark image in which black crows with outspread wings carry away the strips of his hair. Summers spent at home, immersed once again in the love, language, and culture of his people, gave him the strength to carry on. As he got older, Chester adapted as best he could to the forced assimilation. He joined the military during World War II and became one of the first Code Talkers, who used their own language to undermine the Japanese, efforts that helped to end the war. Bruchac’s story dares to go beyond the war in highlighting the postwar trauma that Chester experienced, demonstrated in a beautiful yet haunting illustration that symbolically captures his pain. This tale of a real-life Code Talker humanizes the main character by giving readers the whole picture of his connectedness to home and family, which is reinforced in Amini-Holmes’ textured paintings, which resonate on an almost ethereal level. A perfect, well-rounded historical story that will engage readers of all ages. (author’s note, partial code key, timeline) (Picture book/biography. ages6-10)