(3) K-3 Illustrated by Daniel Minter. In a series of poems that make up a collective "biography" of African American midwives, esteemed poet Greenfield begins with the women midwives kidnapped from Africa to America as slaves and moves through the generations to present day. A multi-page historical introduction, complete with photographs, offers concrete information about midwives. Minter's art is powerful and luminous, full of symbolic imagery and sinewy figures. Bib.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) 4-6 Fighting for Justice series. Illustrated by Laura Freeman. Enslaved midwife and herbalist Biddy Mason was brought to California in 1851 by her masters; she later sued for her freedom, bought land, and became a community leader. Illustrated free-verse poems (with some fictionalized elements) alternate with factual chapters documenting Mason's life, historical context, and the early Los Angeles African American community. Stylized illustrations accompany the verse; archival images appear throughout. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) YA Gaia (Birthmarked; Prized), now leader of mostly female Sylum, hopes to establish a new settlement just outside the walls of the Enclave. New Sylum and the Enclave quickly come to violence over sharing resources: water and fertile women with the anti-hemophiliac gene--including Gaia herself. The increasingly precarious environmental and gender concerns of the chilling dystopian world sustain high tension throughout this trilogy-ender.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA Apprentice midwife Gaia (Birthmarked) escaped the totalitarian Enclave with her baby sister Maya. Now living in female-ruled Sylum, Gaia tries to adapt to unyielding gender roles while weighing two potential romances and researching the infertility of Sylum men. The fresh dystopian premise of the first volume takes on a new, equally compelling aspect here, with environmental concerns at the forefront.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA As apprentice to her midwife mother, Gaia is expected to "advance" a quota of babies for adoption into the Enclave. When her parents are taken for questioning about the adoptions, Gaia and a rebel soldier challenge the Enclave's authority. With high tension and higher stakes, this dystopian thriller projects a bleak future, but one in which individual choices do have great power.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA Sixteen-year-old Kat admires her renowned midwife mother professionally, even if they sometimes clash personally. After a classmate gets pregnant, Kat begins her own nine-month odyssey toward self-discovery. Kat's coming-of-age tale, compassionately and humorously told, will appeal to many readers, while her family's environmentally savvy, New-Agey outlook will speak more directly to green teens.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl