(4) YA It's 1956, and Jamie's best friend Elaine confides that she is pregnant. Jamie's quest to find out what options might be available for Elaine (including an illegal abortion) becomes even more pressing as she realizes she is in the same fix. Misplaced love, date rape, and sexual ignorance all figure into this sympathetic but didactic novel about the importance of reproductive choice.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Levine recounts the history of slave Henry "Box" Brown, who is mailed in a wooden box to Philadelphia and freedom. The powerful tale is told through direct, simple language, and a note explains the story's historical basis. The pencil, watercolor, and oil paint illustrations resonate with beauty and sorrow. There is no sugarcoating; however, the conclusion is moving and satisfying.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2007

(2) YA Not your average biographies, these are meaty fare, sure to satisfy readers (even reluctant ones) looking for something more than a hero portrait. Most riveting is Cash; least accessible is Carson. Honest and engaging, all four volumes include forewords explaining what drew each author to the subject, black-and-white photographs, and source notes. Websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these titles: Up Close: Robert F. Kennedy, Up Close: Oprah Winfrey, Up Close: Rachel Carson, and Up Close: Johnny Cash.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2007

(3) 4-6 My Name Is America series. After his parents and sister drown crossing the Kaw River, thirteen-year-old Jedediah elects to remain with their wagon train group traveling westward. In this well-written book, Jedediah's diary entries record the hazards of the journey as well as moments of personal growth when he confronts his own prejudices. An afterword, illustrated with reproductions, places events within historical context.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(2) YA From interviews with twenty-one people who, at the time of the 1940 Nazi takeover of Denmark, were between the ages of two and twenty-eight, this book chronicles the men, women, and children whose large and small acts of resistance saved almost all eight thousand Danish Jews. Levine rounds out the portrait of a brave nation with the reality of its own Nazi membership, its traitors, and its failed attempts at rescue as well as its successes. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000