(2) 4-6 Japanese American Aoi Inoue takes to heart her sixth-grade teacher's advice ("You can be anything you want to be") and decides she wants to be called Annie, after years of answering to mangled pronunciations of her name. She also wants to be Annie, as in Little Orphan, and auditions for the part at the local community theater. So does her white best friend. Who gets the part and who actually deserves it spur an evolution in Annie's awareness of racism in her community. In this ultimately uplifting story set in 1980s Topeka, Kansas, Brown (While I Was Away) describes the painful racism the Inoue family faces and their differing experiences of living in the United States. Annie's professor dad is continually grateful for the opportunities he'd never find back home in Japan. Her mom, who struggles with English years after their move, is less enthusiastic. Brown conveys the dynamics of their bilingual household in small moments: one evening, Mom speaks to Annie in Japanese, "too tired to even practice her English," while Annie answers her in English, "too excited to use [her] Japanese"; younger sibling Tak understands almost no Japanese and often asks his sister to translate overheard parental arguments. While Annie's voice gets a little teacher-y at the end as she wraps up all she's learned, the newfound friendships and opportunities she earns are a warm and welcome outcome. An author's note is appended.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley. With Nancy K. Mays. One of the first Native women elected to Congress ("and the first lesbian representative from Kansas"), Davids tells her story in this affecting picture-book autobiography, which touches on generational trauma caused by the US government. Talking and listening (and a love for Bruce Lee and mixed martial arts!) help Davids in her quest to bring Native voices to Washington, DC. The stylized digital illustrations convey strength and pride in Davids's accomplishments and in Native identities. In addition to appended author and artist notes, a former president of the Ho-Chunk Nation writes powerfully about the Nation's perseverance and about its history from the 1800s to the present day.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) YA In 1977 Kansas, Stella works at the drive-in and takes care of her little sister Jill, foregoing college; Galliard has Tourette's and wants to become the resident musician for the commune he calls home. Wild meteorological events and a doomsday countdown clock bring them together. The story's disparate elements strain to hold together, but the emotional relationships between characters ring true.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) YA Rome, a (supernaturally) gifted mechanic in Cottonwood Hollow, Kansas, trades her car to her vile landlord for rent when her mom loses her job. A diary sends Rome and similarly gifted friends Lux and Mercy in search of treasure, but the pioneering ancestress who buried it may have blessed their friendship as the better asset. Threads of romance, poverty, and the supernatural combine for a satisfying Midwestern ghost story.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) 4-6 In 1967, twelve-year-old Bea joins her grandmother Pidge on a secret trip to her childhood home in Kansas, where Pidge hopes to reunite with her long-lost sister, aviatrix Amelia Earhart. En route, Bea bonds with Pidge and also develops an appreciation for her own newly blended family. Strong character development and a clever historical mystery make for a satisfying read. Contextual notes appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Bolden spotlights the life, work, and legacy of African American farmer and businessman Groves, born into slavery, who became known as the "Potato King of the World." As a free man, he worked on a Kansas potato farm and, over time, built an empire. Bolden's use of alliteration and folksy language lightens the fact-packed narrative. Quotes from Groves fill boxed insets in Tate's unpretentious, sunny-hued art. Timeline. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(2) YA In 2065, sixteen-year-old Adri Ortiz relocates to Kansas for training as a Mars colonist; moving into an old family farmhouse, she discovers the Dust Bowl–era journal of a woman named Cathy and a collection of WWI letters sent to Cathy's mother. Adri becomes engrossed in these more-than-a-century-old strangers' lives--even as she prepares to leave Earth forever. Anderson vividly captures each of the eras in three distinctive narratives.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2017

(4) YA To stop evil Dorothy (who, it turns out, is not dead) once and for all and save Oz, Amy (Yellow Brick War) travels to the bleak land of Ev, ruled by the equally evil Nome King. While the Dorothy story line anticlimactically ends in this fourth volume--narrated from Amy's and (less successfully) Dorothy's perspectives--it's clear that additional adventures still await Amy in Oz.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(4) YA Killers series. Inspired by true crime stories, these grisly hi-lo novels take a sensationalist approach to hook reluctant readers. Settlers are murdered in 1870s Kansas Territory (Hunting); a bit-part actress goes missing in 1940s Hollywood (Extra); a serial-killing trucker targets women in a dead-end town (Our Lady). Each book includes an author's note with background on the real-life origin story. There are three other spring 2017 books in this series. Review covers these Killers titles: The Extra Girl, The Hunting Party, and Our Lady of the River's Mouth.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) 4-6 Based on a True Story series. Illustrated by Clint Hansen. These historical fiction stories introduce middle-grade readers to the experiences of real children. Written under one pseudonym by different authors, the novels, accompanied by black-and-white drawings and archival images and photos, are accessible if not riveting entrées into their subjects' lives. (Jemison's use of savage, true to the times, would have benefited from some contextualizing.) Each entry includes an author's note separating fact from fiction. Clem and Jemison contain glossaries. Review covers these Based on a True Story titles: John Lincoln Clem, Mary Jemison, Nettie & Nellie Crook, and Sybil Ludington.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(1) K-3 On May 4, 2007, a tornado leveled Greensburg, Kansas. The citizens who stayed decided to rebuild a community as environmentally sound as possible. Drummond creates a first-person narrator from a composite of experiences "meant to reflect [those] of many town residents." Concise informational sidebars explain the processes. Watercolor illustrations--a vibrant blend of vignettes, full-page art, and double-page spreads--reflect the town's can-do attitude.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2016

(4) 4-6 Survivors series. Suspenseful and fraught with danger, the third-person narration alternates between orphaned Maximo (circus elephant handler in training) and equilibrist Jodi. When their circus train wrecks in rural Kansas, both children face challenges: Jodi's fear of heights since her mother's crippling accident, and Max's inexperience with animals. Details of circus life are incorporated throughout; unfortunately, this formulaic historical-fiction series lacks contextual back matter.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) YA Amy (Dorothy Must Die; The Wicked Will Rise) is trapped back in Kansas and searching for Dorothy's magic silver shoes. She returns to Oz in time to defeat Glinda and Dorothy...or does she? A new foe, the Nome King, also joins the struggle for Oz. Full of action but little additional character development, readers should be prepared to juggle an ever-growing cast.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(2) 4-6 In 1950, lawyer Thurgood Marshall--determined to "wipe out...all phases of segregation in education"--set about gathering legal cases he could use to argue that school segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment. Rubin meticulously describes the five cases combined as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, accessibly presenting complicated legal history and skillfully building on the events' inherent drama. Timeline. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(3) YA Madeline Landry (Landry Park) finds herself at odds with her fellow revolutionaries--including her boyfriend, David--when she suspects a low-class Rootless man of murdering gentry heirs. Nevertheless, she continues her fight to unite both social classes and prevent a war. This fast-paced blend of Jane Austen influences and dystopian literature expertly incorporates romance and science, bringing the duology to a satisfying conclusion.

Reviewer: Barratt Miller

(4) YA Alternating third-person chapters from the perspectives of high school seniors Delilah and Gavin relate their blossoming romance. There's only one problem: abandoned as a child, Gavin has been "raised" by his sentient house, and it's jealous. This horror story does have its scary moments (and some steamy ones), but the original-verging-on-bizarre premise and the similar points of view make for a somewhat disorienting read.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA All her life, Ash has seen a dead girl hanging from the ceiling and heard her mother's stories of a centuries-old community in Kansas called Quivira. Ash's brother Rhys thinks it's all hogwash, but when their mother disappears, they travel to Quivira, where Ash discovers the frightening truth behind the legends. The fanciful, entertaining story combines myth, romance, and mortal danger.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams

(2) YA Fiona ("Fig") is only six years old when her mother is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Following a period of hospitalization, Fig's mother returns changed to the family farm. Sensitive and intelligent, Fig internalizes her mother's struggle, developing self-abusive coping strategies inspired by magical thinking. Schantz's first novel is a measured, bittersweet account of Fig's life from ages six to nineteen.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2015

(3) 4-6 This volume recounts the life of William (Billy) Cody from age seven to adulthood. Warren weaves in historical context by detailing Cody's involvement in conflicts such as the Kansas-Missouri Border War and the Civil War; she concludes with the eventual success of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. The fast-paced narrative with generous notes is accompanied by period photographs and illustrations. Reading list. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) 4-6 Stories of the Civil Rights Movement series. This series provides upper-elementary students with in-depth coverage of phases and events of the U.S. civil rights movement. The narratives are supplemented effectively with archival photographs and primary source quotes. With overt Common Core–related intention, readers are challenged with overabundant sidebars and inserts containing critical-thinking questions, writing prompts, and suggested research topics and readings. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Stories of the Civil Rights Movement titles: James Meredith and the University of Mississippi, Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Freedom Summer, 1964, The Little Rock Nine, Nonviolent Resistance in the Civil Rights Movement, The Passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington, and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith