(2) YA Everyone in Harlem is asking: how much? How much longer do they have to wait for change? How much are their lives worth? As the daughter of a civil rights leader, Ayomide Bosia has spent her whole life fighting racial injustice. With her fifteenth birthday approaching, Ayo just longs to be a normal teenager and wonders how much more of herself she has to give. Then her mother is shot by police at a rally. While Mom lies in a coma, Ayo must figure out what's important to her and what role she wants to play. Arnold (The Year I Flew Away, rev. 7/21) provides a window into the experience of a (fictional) contemporary civil rights activist's family member, showing the sacrifices that both parents and children make. Teen readers will relate to the challenges of trying to live up to adults' expectations while being true to their own interests. This novel should appeal to readers who enjoyed Thomas's The Hate U Give (rev. 3/17), Stone's Dear Martin (rev. 11/17), and Watson's Love Is a Revolution (rev. 3/21). References to famous Harlem figures such as James Baldwin, Countee Cullen, Arthur Mitchell, and Zora Neale Hurston allow for deeper discussions of the history of Harlem as a place for Black intellectual thought and art.

Reviewer: Nicholl Denice Montgomery | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) 4-6 Arnold presents an accessible and relatable immigration story, engagingly interwoven with magic. Holding the hope of her family on her shoulders, ten-year-old Gabrielle is determined to be on her best behavior when she leaves her home in Haiti for the "heaven" of America, moving in with her uncle and his family in Brooklyn. However, she realizes that life in the U.S. is not as magical as she had anticipated: her English is limited, her hair doesn't flow like it does for the girls on TV, and her clothing stands out. All she wants is to be a regular American girl. Seeing her desire to fit in, an evil witch, Lady Lydia, offers Gabrielle a deal. The witch will grant her three wishes, but, with each wish, ­Gabrielle will lose some "small, insignificant" thing--a strand of hair, a sock. Although that seems like a harmless exchange, Gabrielle soon realizes that her desire to be "­American" will cost her much more than she'd bargained for, and she must decide how much she is willing to lose in order to belong. Although the pacing is somewhat uneven at the end, the book presents an engrossing story of self-acceptance and ­self-discovery and will appeal to readers who enjoyed Callender's Hurricane Child (rev. 5/18).

Reviewer: S. R. Toliver | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021