(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. Frances arrives in America from Ireland with a crystal necklace her mother gave her. Over many generations, it's handed down from mother to daughter for special occasions such as a birthday, performing an act of kindness, or completing a difficult task. The well-told fictional story honoring ancestry is inspired by Wyeth's family; Ibatoulline's rich gouache paintings help celebrate this history.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) YA A teen performance artist shares her story onstage in this narrative interspersed with poems. African American and lesbian, Orphea has lots to say about identity and prejudice--and the redemptive qualities of love. Despite some less-than-plausible elements (e.g., her first girlfriend dies in a car accident while fleeing from Orphea's bigoted brother), readers will find Orphea's often-lyrical voice moving.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(3) 1-3 My America series. Escaped slave Corey (Freedom's Wings, Flying Free) continues to enjoy his new life in Canada, where he begins training pigeons and gets a summer job. While his family raises money to buy freedom for an elderly friend in Kentucky, Corey helps two runaway slaves to safety. Corey's diary entries chart his personal growth as well as the growth of his new, close-knit community.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 1-3 My America series. In this well-written sequel to Freedom's Wings, Corey and his family have escaped slavery and settled in Amherstburg, Canada. In simple but moving prose, nine-year-old Corey records his experiences as he helps build the family's new cabin, attends school for the first time, and dreams that Mingo, his young friend from Kentucky, will join him in the north. An afterword places events in historical context.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 When Haley's mother is hospitalized after a breakdown and her older brother is jailed for selling stolen goods, the thirteen-year-old is placed in foster care. Haley continues her summer job, doing yard work for a music teacher who has family problems of his own. This story of adjusting to adversity is hampered by superficial prose and a problematic conclusion, but readers will find the protagonist a likable character.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 1-3 My America series. In a believable first-person voice, nine-year-old Corey records his experiences as he and his mother follow the Underground Railroad in search of his father, who recently fled northward from slavery. Corey, who has secretly learned to read and write from his father, emerges as a multi-dimensional character in the suspenseful, tightly focused novel. A concise afterword places the events within historical context.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet. A young African-American girl, depressed/oppressed by the ugliness in her inner-city neighborhood, searches for "something beautiful," and finds it in the small details of her community: the taste of a fried fish sandwich, a boy's moves on the basketball court, the laugh of a baby. Heartened, she scrubs some graffiti off her building and determines to keep changing the world for the better. An uplifting story illustrated with strongly realistic paintings.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano