(2) K-3 Illustrated by Toshiki Nakamura. In this accessible and engaging picture-book biography, Bryant (Feed Your Mind, rev. 1/20; Above the Rim, rev. 11/20) focuses on the ways groundbreaking Japanese American legislator from Hawaii Patsy Takemoto Mink (1927–2002) overcame setbacks in her life and career. Early on, Bryant invokes the Japanese saying "Fall down seven times, stand up eight," explaining that it means "never give up!" She repeats this refrain throughout the book, applying it to the many hurdles Mink faced--as a college student fighting segregation, an aspiring doctor denied entrance to medical schools, the only woman in her law school class, and the first woman of color in the U.S. Congress. The climax of the narrative comes as Mink fights to ensure that her signature legislation, Title IX, will protect the rights of female athletes. Bryant's clear prose draws a distinct line from Mink's childhood precociousness and fortitude to her adult accomplishments. In doing so, she renders a somewhat abstruse concept (education legislation) engaging to her target audience. Nakamura's digital illustrations complement the text, with finely drawn facial expressions underlining the emotional impact of the historical events. The art also expands on the text; one illustration contrasts a boys' well-funded basketball team with a girls' team playing in a makeshift space. Back matter includes a timeline of Mink's life, a selected biography, and sources for direct quotes.

Reviewer: K Rachael Stein | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Frank Morrison. "Things can change in time." For NBA great Elgin Baylor, named for his father's favorite wristwatch, the segregated parks, playgrounds, schools, and colleges of his Washington, D.C., home would eventually be open to all. But in 1945, such was not the case. When Elgin was a teen, he had a neighborhood court to play on, but, for a long time, no basketball. His skill, though, always seemed to be there ("it's spontaneous"), and at his segregated high school he was a star. From there he headed west to play college basketball, and in 1958 joined the Minneapolis Lakers in the NBA and was voted Rookie of the Year. He faced racism and discrimination in hotels and restaurants, and famously sat out an important game--leading to an anti-discrimination rule change by the NBA. With lively verse and elegant oil paintings, Bryant and Morrison masterfully place Baylor's midair "slashing, crashing, gliding" basketball heroics in the context of his times, with Rosa Parks's protest in Alabama (including a luminous portrait by Morrison); Black students integrating a school in Arkansas; and lunch counter sit-ins in Kansas. In light of current protests in sports--Colin Kaepernick's kneeling, the NBA and WNBA playoff boycotts, and NASCAR drivers supporting Bubba Wallace's stand against racism--time on Mr. Baylor's watch moves slowly indeed. Back matter includes an informative author's note, a bibliography, and a timeline.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) PS On a farm a large blue ball, tossed by a boy for his puppy to chase, leads readers across wide horizontal pages on a counting expedition from one to ten. "One blue ball... / bounced by two brown cows. / Two brown cows... / spied three green frogs. / Three green frogs..." Each double-page spread teases readers about what might be coming next and then yields a new surprise in a higher quantity. Full of texture and bright color contrasted with plenty of white space, the illustrations make it satisfyingly easy and appealing to identify what needs to be counted on each spread. Meanwhile, the ball bounces along, with the puppy chasing behind. By the time the ball bounces past nine squawking black hens and their ten yellow chicks, the spreads are bursting with animal activity, and persistent counters will be able to find all the creatures from the previous pages together on one culminating double-page spread. In the end, the puppy finally does catch its bouncing ball and delivers it back to the boy, ensuring that the adventure can begin all over again.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Cannaday Chapman. Beloved African American playwright August Wilson, known for his ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle and other dramas, is introduced to young readers in this elegant picture-book biography. Born Frederick August Kittel Jr. in 1945, Wilson was raised by his single mother in the diverse Hill District of Pittsburgh, awash in a rich medley of languages, people, and cultures. Struggling against discrimination and racial violence from a young age (including being called the n-word, spelled out in full in the text), Wilson was sustained by his love of words--from the squiggles on food labels that he sounded out at age four to the powerful voices of Black authors whose work he discovered at the public library. As an adult, Wilson listened intently to the people around him as he found his own way with words through poetry and eventually plays, giving voice to his own and other Black experiences. That power of words is central to this book: Bryant's well-researched and well-crafted text is deftly spun into two acts (childhood and adulthood) of freeform poems. Chapman's clear, intimate, mixed-media art appears throughout the thoughtfully designed pages, further drawing readers into the world of this powerhouse dramatist. The extensive back matter includes an author's note, a biographical timeline, bibliographic notes, and a list of Wilson's plays.

Reviewer: Anastasia M. Collins | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. More of an inspirational piece than a straightforward biography, this picture book relates the difficult early years through the Williams sisters' rise to tennis fame and their ensuing setbacks. Themes of hard work, perseverance, and family loyalty are emphasized throughout Bryant's text, which includes occasional (unsourced) quotations. Cooper's trademark subtractive illustrations are full of life, emotion, and character.

Reviewer: Christina Dorr

(2) YA A mysterious glow-in-the-dark painting links modern-day teen Julie to Lydia and her sisters, in 1917–18, as they work at a factory that produces luminous watch faces, unaware that the paint they use causes radiation poisoning. This parallel narrative gives Julie's conventional YA romance story an infusion of originality. The historical background (expanded in an author's note) is intriguing, embracing chemistry, medicine, and labor and women's histories.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(3) 4-6 Author, sports journalist, and ESPN broadcaster Bryant takes a decade-by-decade look at the NBA from the 1960s to the present, emphasizing the teams and stars that have dominated the game. The engaging narrative is enhanced by entertaining "Top Ten Lists" that provide additional details about each decade. Unlike Bryant's prior volumes on baseball and football, no photographs are included. Timeline. Ind.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Boris Kulikov. This first-person picture-book biography imagines (sometimes more successfully than others) what it felt like to be young Louis Braille, beginning with the accident at age three that slowly blinded him and ending with his invention, at fifteen, of the ingenious six-cell raised-dot reading and writing system for the blind. Louis's compelling story is told in a lively and intimate text, abetted by warm mixed-media illustrations.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(3) PS Illustrated by Jo de Ruiter. A determined dump truck–driving duck is joined by other construction ducks to create a beautiful park in this lively rhyming story. Even when Dump Truck Duck is seemingly thwarted by his broken-down truck, he still manages to get the job done. Illustrations filled with happy worker ducks moving textured dirt in colorful construction vehicles should appeal to digger fans.

Reviewer: Aimee Chevrette Bear

(3) 4-6 With both historical significance and fresh perspective, these essays survey key sports moments, players, coaches, and teams. The captivating narratives are enhanced by entertaining "Top Ten Lists," such as "all-time single-season home run leaders." Bryant's energetic storytelling style, along with the perennially popular topic, makes this completely enjoyable reading for fans. A section of color photographs is appended. Timeline. Ind. Review cover these titles: Legends: The Best Players, Games, and Teams in Baseball and Legends: The Best Players, Games, and Teams in Football.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) 4-6 With both historical significance and fresh perspective, these essays survey key sports moments, players, coaches, and teams. The captivating narratives are enhanced by entertaining "Top Ten Lists," such as "all-time single-season home run leaders." Bryant's energetic storytelling style, along with the perennially popular topic, makes this completely enjoyable reading for fans. A section of color photographs is appended. Timeline. Ind. Review cover these titles: Legends: The Best Players, Games, and Teams in Baseball and Legends: The Best Players, Games, and Teams in Football.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Apt language and ingenious imagery combine to tell the life story of Peter Mark Roget, creator of the thesaurus. Bryant's linear telling follows Peter closely, expressing his curiosity, sensitivity, and populist spirit in language both decorous and warm. Clever book design and visionary illustration add layers of meaning. Sweet embellishes her own gentle watercolors with all manner of clippings and realia. Reading list, timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Horace Pippin created dozens of paintings, based on memories from his childhood and experiences in World War I, stories his grandmother had told, stories from the Bible, and scenes he saw around him. Bryant's well-researched, articulate account of Pippin's life is interspersed with direct quotes from him, most of which are embedded directly into Sweet's expressive gouache, watercolor, and collage illustrations. Reading list, websites.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2013

(4) YA The Carmen here works in a Quikmart and dreams of musical stardom; her Don José is Ryan, a cadet at the nearby Valley Forge Military Academy. Inspired by the famous Bizet opera (although much compromised), this contemporary take on doomed love has two intriguing main characters but a surfeit (four) of narrators.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Amy June Bates. Bryant spins context around a slim childhood recollection of Lincoln's, when he gave a fish to a hungry soldier. Some of the details (e.g., Abe's inability to lift his father's heavy ax, his musings on freedom) seem too deliberate, while others feel more organic to the story. Soft earth-shaded watercolor and pencil drawings suggest the sepia tone of period photographs. Reading list, websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(3) 4-6 Thirteen-year-old Lyza's grandfather dies, leaving behind clues to a treasure buried by Captain Kidd. In the midst of the Vietnam War, searching for the treasure in her New Jersey town gives Lyza and her friends some hope. The free-verse narration, steeped in 1960s culture and music, reflects Lyza's innocence and bewilderment as she navigates an uncertain reality. Reading list, websites.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(4) 4-6 Saddle Club series. In Hoof, Lisa, one of three horse-crazy friends, shares her love of riding in a weekly newspaper column, but her articles inadvertently hurt her friends. In Riding, the girls attend sleep-away camp, where they save horses from a fire and change the overly competitive attitude of other campers. The plots are shallow, but horse-lovers will gallop through these fast-paced stories. Review covers these Saddle Club titles: Hoof Beat and Riding Camp.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) 4-6 Saddle Club series. In Hoof, Lisa, one of three horse-crazy friends, shares her love of riding in a weekly newspaper column, but her articles inadvertently hurt her friends. In Riding, the girls attend sleep-away camp, where they save horses from a fire and change the overly competitive attitude of other campers. The plots are shallow, but horse-lovers will gallop through these fast-paced stories. Review covers these Saddle Club titles: Hoof Beat and Riding Camp.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. This picture book biography tells of the doctor/poet who kept his childhood observations alive by writing about them. Typeset fragments of Williams's most famous works ("so much depends / upon / a red wheel / barrow") dance across many of the pages. Comfortably cluttered mixed-media collages convey his similarly messy creative process. Reading list, timeline.

Reviewer: Chelsey Philpot

(2) YA This multivoiced free-verse account of the Scopes trial is told from the viewpoints of students, merchants, a reporter, and others; the novel also incorporates quotations from the trial's chief adversaries, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryant. The narrative strategy allows for explication of the conflict between biblical literalism and scientific thought while properly keeping the human drama at center stage. Reading list.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008