Great New Books

"Watson's latest collection of poetry is a powerful mixture of shortform poetry and free verse. The semi-autobiographical poetry collection starts with an exploration of Black girlhood. As readers, we are introduced to shorter poems on seemingly mundane topics, such as roller skates, pressing combs, and Werther's candy, to more complicated themes of survival, Black identity, and resilience. Watson's poetry swings like a pendulum, at one moment focusing on the aspects of Black joy and pride that are evident in the poems "Church Press and Curl" and "When I Say I Love Us" and then highlighting the violence and brutality that Black people have to endure in the poems "Knock, Knock" and "A Pantoum for Breonna Taylor." The poems are accompanied by Holmes' breathtaking collage art. The art pieces work in tandem with Watson's poetry, creating the space for a visually stimulating narrative. As readers, we travel through Watson's early life, highlighting both the struggles and the joy. We end the poetry collection with a piece called "Phenomenon," where Watson ruminates on the pure magic of Black resilience."

--Booklist Review

"Here author Wang tells the tale of a young Midwestern girl who struggles to accept herself and her Chinese immigrant parents--and it all comes to a head over some roadside vegetation. During a family drive, the parents decide to pull over and gather watercress that's growing in a ditch. The daughter is so ashamed of the impromptu harvest, she won't even eat the watercress when it's served up for dinner, leading her mother to tell the heartbreaking history of how she lived through the famine in China and food shortages that took the life of her younger brother. Knowing this, the daughter sees the wild watercress with new meaning, and she wants to eat it and make new memories with her family. The story reveals the chasms that can separate first-generation immigrant parents from their Americanized children and how confronting past traumas from another country and time can bring a family closer together. Chin's illustrations masterfully bring to life the vast cornfields and colors of rural America."   

--Booklist Review