August Recommendations

August Book Recommendations: More Superb Choices from PBRockiteers22!

Picture Books:

TOMATOES IN MY LUNCHBOX, written by Costantia Manoli and illustrated by Magdalena Mora, tells the story of a girl who leaves “the place where [her] name fits[s]” to come to one where it’s “strange and sharp, and sounds like something is breaking.” She struggles to fit in but, when a connection begins with a smile, everything becomes a little easier. The text is sensitive, relatable, and lovely, as are the ink, pastel, crayon, and digitally-collaged illustrations. TOMATOES IN MY LUNCHBOX is a book that’s as “soft and round and full of color” as the main character’s name when it’s said by a friend.

In ABUELITA AND I MAKE FLAN, by Adriana Hernández Bergstrom, Anita is excited that today Abuelita will teach her how to make flan! But, before they even get started, “wobble wobble…CRASH!” Anita breaks Abuelita’s special plate from Cuba, the one she’s had forever! “Maybe no one will notice?” Anita hopes. The excitement of cooking takes over, and Anita and Abuelita spend a happy day together, pouring, mixing, and waiting for the flan to be ready. But what will happen when it’s time to flip the flan onto Abuelita's special plate? The colorful, expressive illustrations bring plenty of joyful energy to this sweet story of family and owning up to one’s mistakes. There’s even a recipe for flan de queso at the end!

ANNI DREAMS OF BIRIYANI, written by Namita Moolani Mehra and illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat, is another story in which a recipe figures prominently. Anni, who loves to cook, lives across the street from Uncle Arif’s Biryani Café. Although Anni can make “curries and koftas, roti and raita,” try though she may her biryani just isn’t “as yummy as Uncle’s.” Anni sulkily decides there will be no more biryani, but she can’t stop dreaming about her favorite food. Prabhat’s stylized, digital illustrations are inspired by the warm, spicy colors of Anni’s cooking, while Mehra’s text should encourage young readers to follow their interests, never give up—and to try some biryani, because it’s “deliciously special!"

ANNETTE FEELS FREE, by Katie Mazeika, tells the fascinating story of Annette Kellerman who, at age six, began to wear braces on her legs. Whereas before she had been a happy child, twirling and pirouetting, now she felt clumsy and awkward. To cheer her up, her father took her to the bay, where she “danced in the waves” and “felt free again.” Annette became “the strongest swimmer in New South Wales,” performed water ballets in front of audiences, raced against women and men, and she even invented a new kind of swimsuit for women that didn’t have a big skirt and pantaloons. Accomplished digital illustrations in purples, blue-greens, and yellows paint an inviting portrait of this “force in the history of swimming and women’s rights."

CLOAKED IN COURAGE: UNCOVERING DEBORAH SAMPSON, PATRIOT SOLDIER, written by Beth Anderson and illustrated by Anne Lambelet, is the story of one extraordinary woman who refused to let gender roles limit her. Rather than marry, she became a rare “masterless woman,” earning her keep at the loom as a “patriot producing American goods.” Wanting to do more, Deborah dressed in men’s clothes and enlisted in the Massachusetts Fourth Regiment. Her hard work during training earned her a spot in the Light Infantry Company, then as the personal waiter for a general. But just as the war was ending, illness threatened her disguise… Anderson brings to light yet another fascinating woman of courage, as well as a peek into her research methods. Lambelet’s pencil, hand-painted, and photoshopped illustrations are lively, distinctive, and strongly support the text.

--Lynn

July Recommendations

July Recommendations in August? This summer sure has flown by. Stay tuned for August rec’s, coming soon!

Picture Books:

In GIB*BER*ISH, by Young Vo, when Dat begins school in a new country, he can’t understand what anyone says. His Mah says to do the best that he can, but without knowing the language, Dat can’t understand what’s going on in class and he has no one to play with. Until “something unexpected [falls] from a tree.” Even though they don’t speak the same language—yet—things are looking up for Dat. Text and art work together seamlessly to tell this hopeful story. It’s especially fun how the people in Dat’s new town all look like black and white cartoon characters until he finds someone he can connect with.

HERE WE COME! by Janna Matthies and Christine Davenier, is an invitation to a nighttime revel, proudly proclaimed in the form of a cumulative chant. Cadenced and magical, a child with a flute leads a stuffed bear outside, where they are joined by a dog strumming a guitar, Little Lu sucking her thumb, a bear with a fiddle, and other wonderful additions. Pencil and ink wash illustrations set the moonlit stage perfectly. “Rum-pum-pum. Wanna come?”

Using rhythmic, lyrical language which weaves words and themes and a warm message of inclusion, THIS IS A SCHOOL, with words by John Schu and illustrations by Veronica Miller Jamison, shows how, from kid to school to community, “we are all important.” Watercolor, acrylic, and digitally collaged illustrations bring the message home visually, adding to the clout of this important and uplifting picture book.

JOHN’S TURN, written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Kate Berube, is another school story. This one is about Friday morning assembly, where, if the kids are good, at the end one of them gets to perform for the rest of the school. Tina plays tuba, Jesse does magic tricks, but when it’s John’s turn, he’s quiet and the other kids know why: he’s nervous. But John shares what he loves and, when he dances, he wins over the crowd. Ink and paint illustrations take center stage in showing John’s joy, and the perfect ending, as related in the text, is delivered with a light, sweet touch.

SWIM JIM, by Kaz Windness, tells the story of Jim, a crocodile who can’t swim. When his sisters Kim and Sim tease him, Jim “wiggle-waggle[s] out of Stigwater Swamp” to find somewhere that’s not “too deep, too dark, and too big” for him to learn. “Ker-splash!” Jim finds the perfect place and the perfect equipment to solve his problem. Graphite on paper, digitally painted illustrations showcase the outsized personality of these entertaining crocs. And don’t forget to look under the dust cover for some bonus art fun!

In SOMEWHERE IN THE BAYOU, by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey, Opossum, Squirrel, and Rabbit try to use a log to cross a river but, one by one, “SMACK SPLASH” a sneaky, scary, mean tail sweeps each of them into the water. Until Mouse performs an act of kindness and gets his just reward… Blocky illustrations using a limited palette lend plenty of style to this entertaining tale.

--Lynn

Shelf Awareness--The Witchery

YA Review: The Witchery

The Witchery by S. Isabelle (Scholastic Press, 384p., ages 12-up, 9781338758962)

The Witchery is a delightfully dark take on magic and boarding school tropes, wherein a coven of student witches feels compelled to end a bloody, annually recurring curse that's destroying their adopted hometown.

Sixteen-year-old blonde and "pale"-skinned Logan Wyatt is still new to Mesmortes Coven Academy in the "fiendish little witchtown" of Haelsford, Fla., when the Red Three invite her to join their circle. "Sociable and ambitious" Jailah Simmons, greenwitch Thalia Blackwood and deathwitch Iris Keaton-Foster are three powerful Black students who are determined to end the Haunting Season, a "yearly hex that plague[s] Haelsford" in which "monstrous" Wolves emerge from the Swamp and kill. Logan's own magic is weak, but she's also a proxy, someone who holds "the power to manipulate magic against its own rules." With the aid of a powerful amplyfyr stone, and a couple of unexpectedly useful boys from nearby non-magical Hammersmitt School, the witches seek out the enigmatic Wolf Boy, who's prophesied to end the curse. But as bodies begin to accumulate, the magic gets darker and the Wolf Boy proves difficult to control, the struggling coven-mates fear they may be in way over their heads.

S. Isabelle's debut delivers a wonderfully atmospheric and inclusive magical world, full of danger, drama and forever friendship. Multiple POVs allow each distinct voice to provide crucial motivation as they drive the spellbinding plot forward. The Witchery is a thoroughly modern novel steeped in satisfyingly classic witch lore. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger and children's book author.

August's Book of the Month--Attack of the Black Rectangles

August’s Book of the Month is Amy Sarig King’s fiercely personal—and, sadly, universal—look at censorship in her upcoming middle grade novel, ATTACK OF THE BLACK RECTANGLES. Her novels are always well-crafted and thought-provoking and I haven’t met one yet that I didn’t enjoy.

In her latest, Mac lives in a town where adults keep everyone safe from “unsavory” words, thoughts, and people. No accidents, no crime, no Halloween, no junk food. No girls in shorts. The perfect town. And the person most adults thank for this is Ms. Laura Samuel Sett, Mac’s new sixth grade teacher.

At first, Ms. Sett actually seems like she’ll be the perfect teacher, too. Promising freedom, respect, and little homework in exchange for good behavior, she hands out copies of The Devil’s Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen. It’s an award-winning book about the horrors of the Holocaust that Mac immediately becomes engrossed in. But, before long, he and the rest of his reading group realize that two “ugly black rectangle[s]” cover some words of text in each of two difficult but deeply affecting scenes, and it’s hard to imagine “what could be worse” that someone doesn’t want them to read.

Mac, his best friend Denis, and possible-crush Marci find a used copy in a bookstore in town, so they learn that a phrase and an entire sentence which include the words “breasts” and “undeveloped chest” have been censored. As Marci indignantly points out, she’s in sixth grade and “old enough to have actual breasts.” Mac, Denis, and Marci vow to find out who did this and, when the principal smiles and treats them like kids doing “something cute,” they get impatient, they get angry, and they get motivated.

King’s tightly-focused story is about learning to stand up and speak out but it also contains plenty of regular sixth grade stuff to ground it. There’s lots of wry humor here, and I found Mac likable, despite his assertions that he is not! ATTACK OF THE BLACK RECTANGLES feels like a book of its time, one that needs to be read widely for its message but also—since it’s, first and foremost, a good story, and well-written—just for the heck of it.

--Lynn


(Scholastic generously provided a copy of this book. Opinions are my own.)