(4) K-3 Illustrated by Valérie Boivin. Hughes offers a fictionalized account of journalist and urban activist Jane Jacobs (1916–2006), who built a career saving communities in New York City, Toronto, and elsewhere from development plans. Hughes's story is informative and interesting, though the text is unfortunately set in very small font. Boivin's digitally rendered illustration style is a mix of the primitive, cartoonish, and avant garde.

Reviewer: Christina Dorr

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Marek Colek. After her grandmother tells her about Jane Jacobs, the writer on urban life, Lucia describes her multicultural neighborhood: Tai Chi exercisers, shops, the Portuguese Senhor Da Pedra Festival. This homage lacks vitality and a real story, but the message of community togetherness rings true. Based on an animated short film by the author-illustrator team, the digital pictures have an attractively naive quality.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) YA Through copious photo documentation, Jacobs is shown as independent-minded and outspoken, with a vivid historical imagination and a poetic turn. The bulk of the book--Jacobs's authorship of her seminal work and role as scourge of so-called urban renewal--is handled clearly and efficiently. Each chapter opens with a full-page illustration by one of the co-authors, an apt, personalizing mix with the many photos. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Barbara Bader | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2009