Reviewed by: Lila Quintero Weaver Original (adult) version also available – Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother Review Source: Latinxs in Kid Lit Book Author: The best creative non-fiction takes you straight down into the messy, contradictory, gut-wrenching heart of a subject, and awakens your appreciation for its […]
Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling
Reviewed by Angeline B. Adams Review Source: Disability in Kid Lit Book Author: What happened to Chess was so physically and emotionally distressing that she can’t even bring herself to share it with the reader, but it spurred her hospital admission and diagnosis with Crohn’s disease, a chronic illness affecting her digestive system. Her mum, determinedly […]
The Stars Beneath Our Feet
Reviewed by Megan Schliesman Review Source: Reading While White Book Author: Offering hope, acknowledging hardship. Debut author David Barclay Moore writes with open eyes about the challenges of Lolly’s life as a Black boy in a poor neighborhood on the cusp of young adulthood, and with eyes just as wide he shows the many things Lolly […]
Before We Were Free
Reviewed by Cindy L. Rodrigeuz Review Source: Latinxs in Kid Lit Book Author: Anyone who has read Julia Alvarez’s adult novels will enjoy the connections made in Before We Were Free to How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies. In Before We Were Free, Alvarez explores the Trujillo […]
Flying Lessons and Other Stories
Reivewed by CCBC Review Source: Cooperative Children’s Book Center Edited by “Blame my Uncle Kenneth. Everybody else does.” (Tim Tingle) “It’s a lot of pressure to pick a good elf name.” (Tim Federle) “Nani wears a fur coat to the beach.” (Soman Chainani) Whether starting with irresistible opening lines like these, or easing more quietly […]
The Head of the Saint
Reviewed by Lyn Miller Lachmann Reviewed Source: Pirate Tree Book Author: Translated fiction for teen readers is not easy to find. Despite the recent success of adult titles by Elena Ferrante, Steig Larsson, Roberto Bolaño, Haruki Murikami, and others, and the growing number of acclaimed picture books from other countries, middle grade and young adult […]