(2) K-3 Illustrated by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu. "STOMP, CLAP, / FLIP, FLAP, / GO HARD, / SNAP BACK!" A rhythmic refrain immerses readers in step, an age-old African American tradition that includes stomping, clapping, singing, chanting, cheering, and careful choreography. A brown-skinned African American girl, who wears a big Afro puff, lives with her mom in a neighborhood where "not many people look like us." When police officers profile Mama or a white woman tries to touch her hair, Mama goes home, dons her dancing boots, and "gets to what she calls 'steppin'.'" When the daughter asks why stepping makes her feel better, Mama sends her to three different strong Black women: a sorority sister, an auntie, and a Black Lives Matter community organizer. The girl learns that step originated in slavery, when people used the only instruments they had (their bodies), and that it flourished when Black sororities and fraternities on college campuses made it integral to their traditions. Uchendu's digitally created illustrations convey a sense of perpetual motion; the joyful color palette abounds in yellow, orange, red, purple, and, of course, pink, a prominent color worn by women of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the sorority highlighted in the book. Celebrating Black history and sisterhood, this story brings awareness to an art form rarely performed outside of African American communities. Like step, this tale should be enjoyed and shared.

Reviewer: Michelle H. Martin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) YA Seventeen-year-old Harriet Douglass and her father live on modern-day Westwood Plantation, a Louisiana sugar plantation where enslaved Africans once lived, which is now one of the few plantation museums run by Black people. Since her mother's death from cancer, Harriet runs tours with her historian father that keep the legacy of those who were captive on the land alive. But when new owners take over the plantation next door, Harriet is appalled to find out that they plan to turn it into a wedding venue. Even worse, her high school decides to host the prom there as well. Harriet campaigns via social media against the erasure and commodifying of the enslaved. Though burdened with grief over her mother's death and righteous anger for the people whose memories she keeps alive through the museum, Harriet is a full, well-rounded character and an often amusing narrator. Themes of community, grief, mental health, activism, allyship, and racism are explored in the pursuit of reconciling and healing a difficult history.

Reviewer: Monique Harris | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) YA After their parents are brutally murdered for miscegenation in 1936, fraternal twin infants Charlie and Magnolia are separated. Because she can pass for white, Magnolia Heathwood is raised as a Southern belle on a plantation in Eureka, Georgia, by her white grandmother, Blanche, who keeps Magnolia unaware of her racial heritage. As the darker of the sisters, Charlie Yates is taken away from the Jim Crow South to Harlem and raised by her Black grandmother, Jeannette. On her deathbed in 1953, Blanche tells Magnolia of her parentage, and this truth causes Magnolia's reflection to mysteriously disappear. Meanwhile, Charlie has been thriving as a young activist; when Jeannette falls ill and asks to be buried in her hometown, they make the journey back to Eureka. Once there, Charlie learns about the circumstances of her birth, the existence of her sister, and a curse that affects them all. Raised in different worlds, Charlie and Magnolia must work together to end the family curse before they lose each other forever. McWilliams uses American history and Southern Gothic elements to create a thrilling story filled with complex characters and significant social themes, including colorism and race relations. Readers who enjoy historical fantasy narratives, such as Corthron's Daughters of Jubilation (rev. 1/21), will appreciate this captivating story of resilience, hope, and love.

Reviewer: S. R. Toliver | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) YA Agnes breaks the rules of her isolated fundamentalist community to treat her younger brother Ezekiel's diabetes. She remains otherwise faithful, even keeping herself from hearing the voice of God because Red Creek doesn't allow women to be prophets. Her sister Beth is more rebellious, but at a moment of crisis, the sisters' roles reverse. Beth obediently follows the community into the bunker where they plan to hide from the pandemic ravaging the world, while Agnes flees with Ezekiel to the outsiders who have been supplying insulin. Both sisters learn about Red Creek's corruption and how to fight its limitations, particularly as Agnes reestablishes her prophetic abilities and realizes she is able to bring the pandemic to an end. The writing is vivid ("The otherworldly humming...was like spectral armor, a cloak that billowed and let nothing evil near") and compelling, with a complex cast of characters moving the story forward as McWilliams presents a nuanced interrogation of faith, knowledge, and duty. The book combines elements of cult and pandemic stories in a fresh take on themes that now have an unanticipated relevance. The result is a solid novel that is both page-turning and thought-provoking.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(3) YA Jaime, the likable fourteen-year-old narrator of this first novel by a teen author, goes through life trying to be unobtrusive; but, in working to help her pregnant best friend figure out what to do, she becomes more assertive. Jaime's smart, sometimes sarcastic (but not overly negative) narrative perspective makes the book warmer and more engaging than the average problem novel.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann