(2) YA Illustrated by Stacey Robinson & John Jennings. In the afterlife, African American fifteen-year-old Alfonso meets "Ancestors" who, like him, were killed by white police officers. Medina's emotional narrative starts tightly, with the illustrators' black-and-white visuals zoomed in closely on a single spiraling bullet; the story expands, exploring Alfonso's life and bringing his death and those that survive him steadily into view. This emotional graphic novel avoids contrived solutions and false senses of closure.

Reviewer: Anastasia M. Collins | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2018

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson. Through seventeen poems, Medina tells the story of the reggae icon, starting and ending with his Jamaican roots ("I am the boy / From Nine Miles..."). The lyric-like pieces are thoughtful and adept; appended notes explain the biographical events on which the poems are based. Watson's acrylics capture Marley's public magnetism as well as private, introspective moments.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. Fourteen free-verse poems tell some of the life story of Langston Hughes. Subjects addressed in the poems include Hughes's experiences with racist teachers, his father, jazz music, and his love for libraries. Appended biographical notes serve to further contextualize the poems. Acrylic paintings, occasionally somber, accompany this tribute.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) K-3 Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. Christie's powerful acrylic paintings of strong-featured African Americans against bold blocks of color illustrate this collection of free verse poems about DeShawn Williams's experiences growing up in the 'hood. The poems, about family, the neighborhood, and dreams for the future, contain occasional uneasy rhymes and are often banal or lack structural unity; a few, like "Staying Up Late," stand out.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam