(3) K-3 Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. From the pen of a teenage Hughes, this lyrical piece celebrates a people's enduring determination to survive. Lewis's landscape paintings, in earth-tone shades cooled by the blues of the rivers, are populated with a cross-generation of African Americans throughout history and also of today.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(2) YA Jayson's mom beats the crap out of him, and his dad is too strung out to care. It's only Jayson's buddy, Trax, and his girlfriend, April, who keep the sixteen-year-old from leaping off the rail of the breezeway outside his high-rise apartment. Adoff's free-verse narrative is brutal and beautiful, intense and honest, and ultimately uplifting, as Jayson climbs out of the abyss.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(1) 4-6 Imagine listening to Willie Mays and Ernie Banks swapping tales. That easygoing, conversational storytelling is what Nelson achieves in this pitch-perfect history of Negro League baseball. His extensive research yields loads of attention-grabbing details. The grand slam, though, is the art: Nelson's oil paintings have a steely dignity, and his from-the-ground perspectives make the players look larger than life. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(4) YA Familia es todo is the Rodriguezes' mantra. For frustrated Sonia this means prioritizing cooking, cleaning, and serving over school and romance. The story, complete with a predatory "drunkle," violence, love at first sight, allusions to sex, and an eye-opening trip to Mexico, veers dangerously close to the telenovelas Sonia loathes, but her sharp commentary keeps it on track.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(1) K-3 Myers relocates Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem to a city basketball court. Superbly composed paintings full of sinuous arms, sharp angles, and low-to-the-ground perspectives capture the ominous mood. Bold design lets the text become a visual element, employing agitated block letters, some placed on patches of color to provide emphasis. Myers's approach is fresh, and the art and design are in synch.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2008

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Colin Bootman. Stuck-up fifth-grader Queen Marie Rosseau is "Queen of Thirty-third Street." When smelly Leroy insists that he's really a prince from Senegal, Queen decides to find out the truth. Complex characters and a rich urban setting defy stereotyping and will appeal to readers beginning to see themselves through others' eyes. Occasional pencil illustrations add a welcome dimension.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2007

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. An elderly man tells his granddaughter the story of his escape from slavery and explains why his apple orchard is a symbol of the help he received from strangers. Pinkney's expansive illustrations effectively portray the dark days of slavery and contrast them to the sunny pink of the apple orchard and freedom. The book was inspired by a true story.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) YA In an alternate-reality Nigeria, 2070, fourteen-year-old Ejii, a telepathic "shadow speaker," learns that she will avert a war. With her affectionate talking camel, Ejii heads into the Sahara Desert to prepare. The novel is brimful with ideas about war, destiny, and identity, but the overly transparent moral message mitigates its power.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker

(4) YA Teddy is arrested while seeking revenge for the accidental gang-shooting death of his sister. As an alternative to prison, he mentors an at-risk boy. Teddy's plans to manipulate the justice system shift when he learns the police have the wrong suspect and his charge knows the truth. Occasional shifts in perspective are distracting. The violent, gritty setting is vividly portrayed.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Raúl Colón. Storace deftly weaves Caribbean imagery and music into her Rapunzel retelling. Imprisoned in a tropical tower, Sugar Cane grows into a beautiful, talented young woman. Carnival music contest winner King responds to Sugar Cane's song and inspires her to break free from the tower. Colón's handsomely textured curvilinear illustrations beautifully reflect the story's island-inspired flow.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) YA This chronicle of Abyssinia Jackson's first twenty years is both heartbreaking and inspirational. Born in an Oklahoma cotton field, Abyssinia starts her life surrounded by a tight-knit African American community. A series of disastrous events, including a tornado and a graphic physical assault, nearly shatter her spirit. This lyrical novel of triumph over adversity definitely deserves a second look.

Reviewer: Terri Schmitz

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Annie Lee. One word sums up the narrator's experience at church: exuberance! The rhythmic prose describes a child's watchful observance of her mama's rapture and uninhibited praise-filled response during Sunday worship. Both text and illustrations are abstract (all characters are without facial features), and readers unfamiliar with the tradition will benefit greatly from the author and illustrator's notes.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Curtis James. This research-based narrative relates a family's escape from slavery in nineteenth-century Charleston, South Carolina. The quiet sensitivity of the writing is echoed by the warm, dark tones of the paintings, and the typeface mimics the look of a historical document. Endpapers display a map of historical Charleston Harbor, where the family began their flight to freedom. An author's note gives historical context. Reading list, websites.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Weatherford's poetic telling and Nelson's atmospheric paintings of Tubman's role in the Underground Railroad portray the spiritual life of the African American visionary. From her days as a slave to her life as a free person, three narrative voices (a third-person narrator, Harriet herself, and God's words to Harriet) make clear that it was Tubman's faith that sustained her on the freedom journeys.

Reviewer: Michelle H. Martin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2006

(2) YA In a dramatic program of monologues and conversations (with simple stage directions), Lester imaginatively reconstructs what could have been going on in the minds of fictional slaves and owners on a Georgia plantation on the concluding day of the largest slave auction in American history. The story provides a frequently surprising variety of responses to the events. An author's note discusses the historical record.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2005

(3) 4-6 Taking as her inspiration the "great Negro plot" in New York in 1741, Rinaldi invents a slave, Phoebe, who ponders loyalty, self-preservation, and betrayal after a fellow slave is burned alive for conspiracy and names others in an attempt to try to save himself. With a believable historical setting, this engaging story presents its ethical puzzles in an accessible fashion. Bib.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Freeman. A little boy copes with moving to a new home by pretending that he is a space boy about to "zoom to Mars." It's a sound premise, but a nonrhyming narrative would have served the story better than the merely serviceable rhymes do. The illustrations have a synthetic quality, but they do capture children's apprehension about facing the new.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sharon Watts. This story recounts the accidental invention of the potato chip--created by a fry cook as a practical joke on a customer who kept sending back his potatoes. The illustrations amusingly caricature both chef and patron, but the text tries too hard to be funny. An author's note separates fact from fiction, and a recipe for potato chips is appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) YA African-American teens Jason the jock and Kyra the brain realize their feelings for each other, begin dating, experience peer pressure, break up, and reunite. The book's uniqueness stems from its narrative voice. The omniscient narrator's use of slang in both dialogue and narration can be forced and stilted but at times is poetic and contemporary.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) YA These stories go right to the deepest longings, fears, and needs of teens. In ten first-person narratives, Flake holds back nothing but judgment, allowing these young black women and men plenty of room for missteps in their search for love and self-esteem. Flake considers the particular dynamics of relationships for black adolescents while addressing issues central to all teenage lives with insight and humor.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2004