(3) YA Fifty years after their assassinations, Dr. King's and Robert Kennedy's battles for social justice are placed in moving parallel. The dual biographic account centers on April 4, 1968, when presidential candidate RFK announced news of MLK's death to an Indianapolis crowd. The narrative, with tragic and sometimes religious tones, uses many primary sources. An epilogue acknowledges that the issues these men fought for are still ongoing. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bryan Collier. A variety of groups--American colonists, slaves, suffragists, civil rights advocates, and more--have invoked this familiar tune to comfort and exhort their followers. Collier's signature watercolor and collage illustrations gently extend the evolving lyrics and add historical details. Teachers will enjoy sharing this book as it encourages youngsters to write a new verse "for a cause you believe in." Reading list, websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Stacey Schuett. It's 1896, and young Bessie (who is based on a real child) meets legendary suffragist Susan B. Anthony, who convinces her to participate in an upcoming suffrage rally. The wooden dialogue is unconvincing, but the historical revelations (girls and women who rode bikes used to be considered unladylike) and gouache paintings are successful at conveying setting.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 4-6 Each chapter of Murphy's handsome book about the children who have called Alcatraz home covers one period in the island's history, from military outpost to prison to Native American encampment. The information is intriguing and child-centered, and the photographs and book design are excellent, but the writing is uneven and jumps abruptly from one subject to another. Reading list, timeline, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Higgins Bond. The lone Native American woman and African American man on the Lewis and Clark expedition describe their roles in the historic journey. The point-of-view alternates with each turn of the page, but there are not enough visual or written clues to make these abrupt changes successful. The paintings give details of time and setting. Map, reading list, source notes, websites.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) 1-3 Stepping Stone series. Illustrated by Richard Waldrep. Klondy (named for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897) and her mother move from South Dakota to Alaska, where Klondy's miner father works at a gold mining camp. While Klondy is modeled on a real girl, the character's loneliness--for playmates, for her workaholic father's attention--feels universal. The book is illustrated with emotion-infused art with a regrettably airbrushed look.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) 4-6 Making extensive use of family memoirs and journal articles, the book is arranged in ten chapters, each featuring an individual child or in some cases siblings. Almost a pictorial album, the book invites the reader to browse through the collection of vintage photos that show families, miners, children on their own, settlements, camps, and many objects common to their lives. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Elizabeth S. Watson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 1999

(4) K-3 When her people are starving, an Inuit girl turns into a caribou and lives with the distant herd, bringing back knowledge of the animals and becoming a shaman. However, it is not clear exactly what new information the girl learns to save her people. Based on the legends and ways of ancient Inuits, the original story is accompanied by swirling, dreamlike illustrations in blues and tans.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.