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24 pp.
| Scholastic
| April, 2022
|
TradeISBN 9780702311161$11.10
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Onyinye Iwu.
The real-life story of Mona Baptiste’s early years on the island of Trinidad, immigration to England aboard the historic HMT Empire Windrush ship at age twenty, and subsequent noteworthy career as a calypso and blues singer is stripped down to a vita in this rhyming picture book best suited for younger children. In lieu of providing many concrete details, Zephaniah focuses on Baptiste’s desire to use her vocal gifts to spread joy. Although the book takes a rather Panglossian view of Baptiste’s experience as a Black immigrant in post-war Europe, it is a welcome addition to the small but growing corpus of children’s books commemorating the Windrush Generation. Bright, cartoony illustrations project a celebratory mood.
335 pp.
| Bloomsbury
| August, 2004
|
PaperISBN 1-58234-886-3$7.95
(2)
YA
Facing permanent expulsion, Ray finds salvation in the form of an alternative school that will allow him to focus on the only thing he cares about: music. Ray and his badass friends become stars on the East London hip-hop circuit, an unlikely but glamorous turn of events with its own challenges. Despite the soapy melodrama, the story is swift-moving and engaging.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2004
295 pp.
| Bloomsbury
| July, 2002
|
TradeISBN 0-7475-5086-7$$15.95
(2)
4-6
For fourteen-year-old Alem's Ethiopian father and his Eritrean mother, no place in either country is safe; neither parent will sacrifice Alem to the warring madness. Alem and his father travel to England where the latter leaves his son to, he hopes, a better life as a refugee. Zephaniah doesn't soft-pedal the tragedy of the events, and Alem's status as a stranger in a strange land is what Zephaniah documents in his moving tale.
Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2002
3 reviews
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