(2) K-3 Illustrated by Oge Mora. As an enslaved child on an Alabama plantation, Mary Walker would look up at the birds soaring overhead and think, "That must be what it's like to be free." As a teen she was emancipated from slavery but still had to work hard all her life just to get by. At age 114, having outlived two husbands and three children, she decided to learn to read. The appended author's note says that very little is known about Walker's life during the intervening years ("I chose to imagine...details to fill in the blanks"); the generally straightforward (and unsourced) text includes invented thoughts and dialogue ("'I'm going to learn to read those words,' she vowed"). Pronounced "the nation's oldest student," Walker met presidents, flew in an airplane, and at long last "felt complete." She died in 1969 at age 121. Mora's vibrant mixed-media collages work in swirls of deep blues and greens. As Mary's life unfolds, bird motifs appear, reiterating the freedom that she discovered when she learned to read. Words are embedded throughout, enriching each scene, and on the final page we see Walker's quote: "You're never too old to learn." Photos of this inspirational woman appear on the endpapers.

Reviewer: Maija Meadows Hasegawa | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(3) 4-6 Digital Citizens series. Illustrated by Diego Vaisberg. This nonfiction series presents a balanced, practical view of how to manage one's online presence in the (increasingly pervasive) digital world, addressing responsible behaviors and dangerous/emotionally damaging situations. Appealing blocky graphics and illustrations draw inspiration from Minecraft, evoking popular online interactions. Websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Digital Citizens titles: My Digital Community and Media, My Digital Future, My Digital Health and Wellness, My Digital Rights and Rules, My Digital Safety and Security and My Digital World

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Digital Citizens series. Illustrated by Diego Vaisberg. This nonfiction series presents a balanced, practical view of how to manage one's online presence in the (increasingly pervasive) digital world, addressing responsible behaviors and dangerous/emotionally damaging situations. Appealing blocky graphics and illustrations draw inspiration from Minecraft, evoking popular online interactions. Websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Digital Citizens titles: My Digital Community and Media, My Digital Future, My Digital Health and Wellness, My Digital Rights and Rules, My Digital Safety and Security and My Digital World

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Digital Citizens series. Illustrated by Diego Vaisberg. This nonfiction series presents a balanced, practical view of how to manage one's online presence in the (increasingly pervasive) digital world, addressing responsible behaviors and dangerous/emotionally damaging situations. Appealing blocky graphics and illustrations draw inspiration from Minecraft, evoking popular online interactions. Websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Digital Citizens titles: My Digital Community and Media, My Digital Future, My Digital Health and Wellness, My Digital Rights and Rules, My Digital Safety and Security and My Digital World

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Digital Citizens series. Illustrated by Diego Vaisberg. This nonfiction series presents a balanced, practical view of how to manage one's online presence in the (increasingly pervasive) digital world, addressing responsible behaviors and dangerous/emotionally damaging situations. Appealing blocky graphics and illustrations draw inspiration from Minecraft, evoking popular online interactions. Websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Digital Citizens titles: My Digital Community and Media, My Digital Future, My Digital Health and Wellness, My Digital Rights and Rules, My Digital Safety and Security and My Digital World

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Digital Citizens series. Illustrated by Diego Vaisberg. This nonfiction series presents a balanced, practical view of how to manage one's online presence in the (increasingly pervasive) digital world, addressing responsible behaviors and dangerous/emotionally damaging situations. Appealing blocky graphics and illustrations draw inspiration from Minecraft, evoking popular online interactions. Websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Digital Citizens titles: My Digital Community and Media, My Digital Future, My Digital Health and Wellness, My Digital Rights and Rules, My Digital Safety and Security and My Digital World

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Digital Citizens series. Illustrated by Diego Vaisberg. This nonfiction series presents a balanced, practical view of how to manage one's online presence in the (increasingly pervasive) digital world, addressing responsible behaviors and dangerous/emotionally damaging situations. Appealing blocky graphics and illustrations draw inspiration from Minecraft, evoking popular online interactions. Websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Digital Citizens titles: My Digital Community and Media, My Digital Future, My Digital Health and Wellness, My Digital Rights and Rules, My Digital Safety and Security and My Digital World

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(2) K-3 Illustrated by John Holyfield. In 1837, Lewis, who was born into slavery, became the first African American blacksmith in Chattanooga, Tennessee--and he didn't stop working until he was able to buy the freedom of all his family members. Hubbard's straightforward yet lyrical narrative is effectively illuminated with descriptive passages. Rendered in smoothly textured acrylics, Holyfield's art, with its characteristically elongated images, dramatically conveys a sense of passion and purpose. Bib.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(3) K-3 Our Digital Planet series. These titles introduce emerging readers to digital concerns, both technical and ethical. Coding explains key concepts and helpfully breaks down the programming process. Safe teaches basic online etiquette and reminds readers about the overlaps between the digital and actual worlds. Both feature clear texts, layouts, and organization, as well as stock photographs. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Our Digital Planet titles: How Coding Works and Staying Safe Online.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) K-3 Our Digital Planet series. These titles introduce emerging readers to digital concerns, both technical and ethical. Coding explains key concepts and helpfully breaks down the programming process. Safe teaches basic online etiquette and reminds readers about the overlaps between the digital and actual worlds. Both feature clear texts, layouts, and organization, as well as stock photographs. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Our Digital Planet titles: How Coding Works and Staying Safe Online.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Eider and four other children are isolated on a desert compound, told by "Teacher" that the world has ended. With found objects, and her memories of a lost sister, Eider begins to question Teacher's authority and mission, and dares to explore beyond her known world. This companion to Watch the Sky is a hopeful, suspenseful story of survival and faith.

Reviewer: Pam Yosca

(3) 4-6 Adventures in Space series. Organized chronologically, these slender space-flight-oriented biographies discuss their subjects' training and give step-by-step accounts of their groundbreaking missions: Armstrong as the first human on the moon and Ride as the first American woman in space. Plentiful photos, sidebars, diagrams, and details on astronauts' routines convey a you-are-there feeling, while later chapters cover the astronauts' lives back on Earth. Reading list, timeline, Glos., ind. Review covers these Adventures in Space titles: Neil Armstrong and Traveling to the Moon and Sally Ride and the Shuttle Missions.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) 4-6 Jory's stepfather keeps his family steeped in fear on their ranch as they prepare for a mysterious event that he says will spare them but spell the end for everyone else. Jory wrestles with the complications of loyalty while he (naturally) begins to question the family's mission. This slightly scary examination of us-versus-them paranoia is a page-turner that ends a bit too neatly.

Reviewer: Pam Yosca

(4) YA If Only series. Katie and Drew fall in love despite the fact that their parents are both running for president of the United States (Red). Holly can't believe that the rich and famous Malik Buchannan is in love with her--or that she's stupid enough to keep lying to him (Everything). Both romance novels have breezy, accessible plots, but readers wanting emotional depth should look elsewhere. Review Covers these If Only titles: Red Girl, Blue Boy and Everything But the Truth.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) YA After her ex-boyfriend's suicide, sixteen-year-old Emily Beam is sent to an Amherst, Massachusetts, boarding school to start anew and heal. And through a friendship with her sympathetic roommate, connecting with local legend Emily Dickinson's work, and blossoming as a poet herself, she starts to. Hubbard thrives in both prose and verse storytelling: interspersed within emotionally astute third-person-omniscient narration are Emily's moving poems.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) YA If Only series. In Twice, Mackenzie plots revenge against, then falls for, an amnesiac ex when he thinks they're still together; Italian centers on Pippa, who's drawn to an American during her summer abroad. Neither of these wish-fulfillment fantasies provides a lot of character development or unique plot lines (classic misunderstandings occur throughout), though romance fans won't be disappointed by the mushy happy endings. Review covers these If Only titles: Fool Me Twice and Wish You Were Italian.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(3) YA Maggie loves hiking mountains with her best friend, Nick, but off the trail, her life is complicated. A girl who bullied Maggie relentlessly in middle school has returned. And after Maggie and Nick kiss, their relationship becomes strained. This is a nuanced exploration of the difficulty of recovering from being bullied and of the restorative power of the natural world.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) YA High school junior Ryan is figuring out how to live again after a suicide attempt and psychiatric hospitalization. Desperate to understand her father's suicide, Nicki wants to know why Ryan tried to kill himself. Ryan works through her question in memories interspersed with the action. Ryan's relationships are nuanced and realistically fragile; his somber narration is punctuated with wry gallows humor.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2012

(3) YA Eighteen-year-old Bria ditches her middle-aged-stiffs tour group and joins hot backpacker Rowan and his sister, Starling, exploring Central America off the beaten path. Their travels are life-affirming for Bria, allowing her to deal with her recent breakup and her abandoned love of art. This is an exhilarating coming-of-age travel narrative, complete with crisply detailed exotic settings, adventure, and romance.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(1) YA Alex tells of his classmate's drowning and the guilt he carries. Weighing on him are secrets that he and friend Glenn are hiding. The characters' relationships become increasingly complex as their identities--Alex's as a "Good, Solid Kid," for instance--get murkier. The buttoned-up boarding school setting makes the perfect backdrop to this tense dictation of secrets, lies, manipulation, and the ambiguity of honor.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2011