(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jason Griffin. This moving narrative centers on a simple wooden table and its role in the lives of two families whose members are shown in the powerful illustrations only by their hands. A child narrator introduces readers to the table, the heart of a rural white family's home, a gathering place for meals, holiday celebrations, and life's challenges. When Papa loses his coal mining job, the family is compelled to move, leaving the table by the roadside, a poignant symbol of their loss. The narrative is then picked up by a new unnamed child after their family comes across the abandoned table. This African American family welcomes it into their home, where it is again at the center of moments of connection and celebration, this time inspiring hope and renewal. Griffin's (illustrator of Ain't Burned All the Bright, rev. 3/22) illustrations, with their vivid colors and rich textures of acrylic on wood-grain paintings, breathe additional life into the story. The brief text skillfully weaves these parallel narratives, emphasizing love and tradition.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2024

(2) YA West Virginia, the Mountain State, is also historically known for both coal mining and Appalachian poverty. Watkins explores the nexus between them in this overlooked chapter in the history of the labor movement. By the early twentieth century, West Virginia had emerged as a cheap source of coal, in large part because capitalism allowed wealthy mine owners to exploit workers. Coal mining was dangerous, the hours were long, the conditions deplorable, and the pay minimal -- often paid in scrip, currency accepted only at the company store. The tension between mine owners and labor unions came to a head in 1920 during the Matewan Massacre and in 1921 during the Battle of Blair Mountain. Watkins introduces the major players and aptly delineates the causes and effects of these bloody and violent events. He reflects on how this history has been erased from books on West Virginia, a history that could have served as a source of pride in resistance. He concludes with a discussion of the current state of coal mining, still a mainstay of the area's economy despite mounting national pressure to move away from fossil fuels. Numerous black-and-white photographs ably support the text, while sources, notes, and an index are appended.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat. Barton explores glitter, a source of fascination (and frustration), diving into the science, history, and entrepreneurship that created the material we know today. He doesn't shy away from the drawbacks, from everyday irritations to the serious environmental impact of microplastics to the exploitation of child labor in the mining industry. But he also explores the joys of glitter, including why people have always been attracted to things that shine and sparkle. From the early days of using mica and beetle shells to create something shiny to new innovations intended to make glitter more ecologically friendly, Prabhat's colorful, layered, collage-style digital illustrations capture its messy allure. Many spreads are flecked with small shapes, evoking glitter's ubiquitous quality. Whether they love the stuff or loathe it, readers will find something here to pique their curiosity. Back matter includes an author's note on Barton's research process, an illustrator's note, sources, and suggestions for further reading.

Reviewer: Laura Koenig | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Kirbi Fagan. Sky is a wild mustang, at home in the Virginia Range of western Nevada. From his earliest days, Sky learns to live as part of a herd. During a time of drought when Sky must leave his band to search for water, he is captured by humans. He is used by the Pony Express and then is captured by silver miners. There, faced with horses and donkeys who are suffering from poisoned air and water, Sky leads a rebellion to free the captured animals. Sky's first-person narration of his adventures is engrossing and fast-paced. His vocabulary is appropriate to a wild horse; human hands are grabbers, corrals are traps, and mountain lions are claw beasts. Parry weaves historical and environmental information smoothly into the narrative. Sky's life depends on water and the healthy plants and animals in his surroundings, so readers finish the book with a strong sense of the impact of human choices on animal and plant life. As she did with A Wolf Called Wander and A Whale in the Wild (rev. 1/21), Parry writes a convincing fictionalized life of one wild animal while addressing issues of community, survival, and care for our environment. Fagan's realistic black-and-white illustrations convey the windswept mountain terrain and the movement of the horses. Extensive back matter includes detailed information about the historical and environmental context of the story.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) YA Cherry, a town in north-central Illinois, had seemingly sprung up overnight once several veins of coal were discovered; most residents were recent immigrants. Walker opens her solid account by providing background about mining, immigration, and coal before getting to the events of November 13, 1909, when the Cherry Mine fire started after kerosene from a torch began dripping onto bales of hay. While many miners escaped, a good number remained trapped, waiting to be rescued. The narrative splits at this point, alternating between the miners' harrowing efforts to survive and the people waiting impatiently aboveground for news. Rescue efforts were complicated by the mine conditions: the temperature remained too hot, the air too poisonous, and embers smoldered, waiting to rekindle at any moment. Miraculously, a small group of men was rescued a week later, but the mine was then shut down for several months before the bodies of the dead could be recovered. While Walker draws attention to the corporate greed that led to unfair working conditions, including child labor, readers may also recognize some contemporary parallels to this story, including the rescue of thirty-three Chilean miners in 2010 (see Scott's Buried Alive!, rev. 7/12) and twelve Thai boys and their soccer coach in 2018 (see Soontornvat's All Thirteen, rev. 9/20). An assortment of maps, diagrams, and photographs accompanies the main text, while source notes, bibliography, and an index are appended.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022

(2) 4-6 Oddmire series. The third book of Ritter's Oddmire trilogy (Changeling, rev. 9/19, and sequel) sees the four friends--Tinn, Cole, Fable, and Evie--making their way into the depths of a mine, searching for Tinn and Cole's father, who disappeared there many years ago. The plot they unearth is "pretty standard apocalypse, really": an effort by the "delvers" and their Lowest of Low Priests to unleash fire and chaos. In thwarting and surviving this threat, the skills and qualities of each friend are vital, underscoring and deepening their team bonds. This is very much an action story, with abundant visual description and an accessible writing style that ranges from epic prophecy to contemporary vernacular (the collapse of the world is ushered in with a sound "like when someone tried to eat crackers in the back of the classroom during reading time without anybody noticing"). Populated by a variety of folkloric beings such as spriggans, elves, nymphs, goblins, kobbolds, and ­fairies, along with a few humans, Ritter's fantasy offers plenty of playful interest as a world of its own. Black-and-white spot illustrations enhance the immersive qualities of setting and action.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Hopkinson's inspiring story explains how young Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950) read the newspaper to his father and fellow coal miners. Their desire to be informed citizens, plus a challenge from his Harvard professor, led Woodson to later establish Negro History Week, predecessor to Black History Month. Tate's engaging mixed-media illustrations and endpaper drawings include portraits of Black leaders throughout history. Timeline, websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Monique Harris

(2) 4-6 Mallie works as a maid to pay off her family's debt to the Guardians so they won't take her younger brother into the mines. When the Guardians start recruiting for a well-paid special mission involving flying horses, Mallie signs up. Lloyd presents a bleak portrait of a fantasy-world mining community facing similar challenges to the ones in our own real world, but Mallie's engaging story is essentially one of daring journeys and heroic adventure.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(3) YA Eighteen-year-old Harlowe Compton's southern Appalachian community is defined by mining, poverty, and, too often, despair. His brother's murder (Harlowe suspects the powerful Prater family is to blame) sends Harlowe into the darkest secrets of his family and his community. This well-written debut offers a stark and powerful depiction of modern-day rural devastation, especially opioid addiction.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) 4-6 Alternator Books: My Minecraft series. Each of these four volumes offer a brief overview of a feature of the popular open-world video game. Accompanied by screenshots from the game, the straightforward, second-person texts tend to be repetitive from book to book, particularly when discussing a 2018 update and MineCon. Sidebars highlight STEM connections and how coding skills come into play. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Alternator Books: My Minecraft titles: The Unofficial Guide to Minecraft Construction, The Unofficial Guide to Minecraft Mining and Farming, The Unofficial Guide to Minecraft Mods, and The Unofficial Guide to Minecraft Survival

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) 4-6 Ghosts of Ordinary Objects series. Set in a Virginia coal-mining town during October of 1942, this second novel in Smibert's planned trilogy finds seventh grader Bone hoping that her Gift--the ability to touch an object and experience its owner's memories--will unlock the secrets of a jelly jar that steals sounds. Magic realism, historical fiction, and folktales are nimbly braided together with realistic portraits of grief.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) 4-6 Sci-Finity: Redworld series. Illustrated by Tomislav Tikulin. By 2335, Earth's resources have dwindled, so Belle Song and her family immigrate to the newest frontier: Mars. People, homes, weather, and school are strange, but Belle's spunk earns her new friends. Collins superficially touches on timely issues such as refugees, diversity, and natural resource conservation in these facile but quick-paced sci-fi novellas. Full-page illustrations and diary entries appear occasionally. Glos. Review covers these Sci-Finity: Redworld titles: Asylum, Homestead, Legacy, Outcry, Raiders, and Tharsis City.

Reviewer: Jenn Matters

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Feronia Parker Thomas. In this warm story by a Romani storyteller, based on true events, a coal-mining pony escapes the drudgery and joins a family of British Travelers. Polonius saves the day when the family's truck breaks down and he helps to bring a load of handmade wooden stools to the dock to be shipped to the U.S. Mixed-media illustrations show the various types of caravans, both motorized and traditional horse-drawn ones. Includes a note on Traveling culture.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Ghosts of Ordinary Objects series. When twelve-year-old Bone, a spunky storyteller, picks up an object, she experiences its history and relives scenes from its owner's past. As Bone explores this "Gift," she searches for stories--and the truth--about her mother's death. Set in Appalachia coal-mining country during WWII, Smibert's blend of history, folklore, mystery, and fantasy is a riveting start to a planned series.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(2) YA After her mother was murdered by mining tycoon Roland Greyhill, Tina joined a dangerous gang. But now Tina agrees to work with Mr. Greyhill's son Michael to find her mother's true killer, which leads them from Sangui City, Kenya, back to the Congo, where Tina was born. Anderson's dark thriller will appeal to readers who prefer their mysteries political and their stakes high. Glos.

Reviewer: Sarah Hannah Gomez | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2017

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Carlin. An elderly Welsh miner and a boy unwillingly transplanted from Rome bond over homing pigeons in this atmospheric and hopeful tale of immigration and friendship. The narrative follows the pair as they train Mr. Evans's pigeons, including one the boy names King of the Sky. Davies's poetic language includes moments of precise description; Carlin's smudgy, near-transparent mixed-media illustrations capture the essences of the old and new homelands.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(2) YA In an isolated settlement governed by "The Mothers," the only source of fuel is mica harvested by pre-adolescent girls starved to keep them thin enough to slip into mountain crevices. At fourteen, Jena makes a discovery that causes her to question her society's rules and her own memories. This tense, original dystopia contains resonances to our world (fracking, female mutilation, anorexia) but no easy, reductive message.

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

(3) 4-6 Daniel Coldstar series. Daniel lives and works in a mine with other children on a ravaged planet under the merciless rule of the Overseers. After finding a powerful relic, he aligns himself with galactic soldiers called the Truth Seekers, setting the stage for an explosive showdown and future adventures. Futuristic technology and solid characterization make this a good choice for science- and action-loving readers. Glos.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(3) YA On a future Earth, a corporation offers Emmet Atwater the chance of a lifetime: to compete in a search for the incredible resource known as "nyxia" on the planet Eden. But things quickly become complicated as Emmet and his fellow competitors discover Babel Communications' nefarious agenda. Reintgen's gripping narrative is populated by complex characters and framed by impressive world-building.

Reviewer: Yaisha Cordero-Rivera

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Sydney Smith. A boy describes an ordinary day in a seaside coal mining town in the 1950s. The focus shifts among three locations: home, the ocean, and the mine where the boy's father works. The narrative is infused with a quality of slightly anxious waiting that illustrator Smith captures beautifully. It's a moving story, and a fine example of text and pictures in perfect harmony.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2017