(3) K-3 Illustrated by Alexandra Bye. Growing up in South Dakota in the early twentieth century, Ruth Mason was curious about the "bones" she collected in her backyard. Decades of inquiries to museums and universities yielded no results until finally, in 1979, a fossil hunter arrived and the incredible fossil beds (at what became Ruth Mason Quarry) were uncovered. Ninety-nine different kinds of dinosaur fossils and ten complete skeletons went to museums all around the world. Cartoon-like digital images of Mason at different ages in her prairie home will sustain reader interest in this (partly fictionalized) biography, and although the text occasionally conflates fossils and bones, its message of persistence will play well. An author's note and bibliography round out this light fare.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Alexandra Bye. Fauci's role in helping the country through the current global pandemic was preceded by decades of work studying infectious disease and public health response. In her timely and engaging biography, Messner portrays Fauci as an effective leader and problem solver whose interest in other people's viewpoints has served him well. Richly colored digital illustrations add warmth to the admiring and respectful narrative. Back matter includes discussions of vaccines and vaccine safety, Fauci's tips "for future scientists," a timeline, a reading list, sources (including Messner's two interviews with Fauci), and ten black-and-white photos (including six family photos).

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Alexandra Bye. President Roosevelt usually gets credit for the New Deal programs that helped pull America out of the Great Depression, but as Krull's latest picture-book biography (The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny), rev. 5/13) makes clear, the real credit is due to "the first woman ever to join a presidential cabinet," FDR's Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins. A shy and quiet child, Perkins was always thinking about the injustices she saw growing up. Inspired by advice from her grandmother ("when someone opens a door to you go forward"), Perkins would spend her life speaking up for the most vulnerable as a pioneering social worker, suffragist, and author. She helped improve conditions in NYC's low-income neighborhoods and workplaces, and her activism led to a career in the "all-male world of politics." As Secretary of Labor, Perkins proposed "nothing less than a restructuring of American society" with the New Deal and the Social Security Act of 1935. This inspiring biography of a woman who paved the way for so many future leaders (as the cleverly designed endpapers make clear) is long overdue. Krull's straightforward yet passionate narrative is packed with information, succinctly pinpointing key biographical moments and explaining complex history. Direct quotes from Perkins in stylized hand-lettered script accompany Bye's child-friendly digital illustrations, which are as dynamic and colorful as their remarkable subject. An author's note and sources are appended.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020