(1) K-3 Brantley-Newton highlights the bonds, both visible and invisible, that connect family members. Anyiaka's older sister, Sorie, has light brown skin like their mom's and grandma's. Anyiaka's darker skin causes her to wonder about her place in the family. "Everyone in my family is so beautiful and so smart. And then there's me." With the help of family portraits (mostly illustrated with a couple of interspersed photographs) and a set of nesting dolls representing the women in their family, Grandma shows Anyiaka­ that her mahogany skin and thick hair come from her great-grandmother: "Our family has been workin' to make oonuh for years and years." In addition to Grandma's dialect, digital drawings provide more context to the story, set among the Gullah Geechee of South Carolina's Sea Islands. The bold-hued images depict a loving intergenerational family with deep roots. An author's note discusses Brantley-Newton's own Gullah Geechee roots and the group's long history­ on the Sea Islands.

Reviewer: Nicholl Denice Montgomery | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(2) PS Each poem in this collection is narrated by a different young girl about some aspect of her identity that she celebrates ("I am a warrior / willing to fight the good fight"), worries over (loneliness, shyness, body acceptance), or simply enjoys ("I love a good Coca-Cola with peanuts inside"). In one poem, a child who feels excluded by her peers fights back by affirming her self-worth: "So why don't you just open the door / 'cause next time I'm kicking it down." The culminating piece is called "Paper Chain," and, as has been apparent throughout, each young woman is revealed as a link in a chain, unique in her own way but inextricably tied to the others--with diversity only strengthening their bonds. Brantley-Newton's distinctively textured and patterned mixed-media illustrations combine acrylic paint, gouache, charcoal, pencil, oil pastels, and handmade and collage papers ("and lots of magic") to portray scenes that are warm and sunny or more quiet and contemplative. Poems mainly home in on a single emotion or moment, and the illustrations perfectly capture each piece's sentiment through expressive facial expressions and body language.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(2) PS Grandma Mimi's large patchwork purse always contains treasures: lipstick, perfume, earrings, hairpins, candy, etc. The unnamed narrator claims that everything in the purse is "how Mimi gets to be Mimi," and once the girl uses each item, she declares, "I can be Mimi, too!" The highly textured images in this heartfelt homage depict the daily-ness of African American girlhood with a grandma who brings the magic.

Reviewer: Michelle H. Martin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2018

(3) 1-3 Alien Next Door series. Illustrated by Anjan Sarkar. Harris suspects Zeke, the new kid, is not quite of this world: Zeke's lunch is totally weird, he can balance on his fingertips while upside down, and he's never eaten pizza. As Zeke tries to fit in, a wary new friendship with Harris develops, presumably to be expanded on in future volumes. Black-and-white illustrations on every page enhance this humorous early chapter book.

Reviewer: Pam Yosca

(2) 4-6 Rosie's father has suffered a debilitating stroke, her mother has moved away, and her gruff grandfather takes care of her (seemingly) begrudgingly. Before leaving, her mother gave away Rosie's beloved dog, Augustus. Rosie is determined to find him against all odds, and her obsession isolates her and magnifies her unhappiness. Rosie's eventual realization of the futility of attacking every obstacle in her path is abrupt but not improbable.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2018

(2) 4-6 With a large diamond-shaped birthmark on her cheek, Bee knows no other life than the traveling carney environment of 1942 when she meets two old women who not only welcome her but also appear to expect her. That they're ghosts of ancestral grandmothers is slowly revealed, but Bee's matter-of-fact, first-person account and slow understanding allow for a smooth transition from realism to fantasy.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2013

(3) 4-6 During the Depression, Charlie Anne suffers many hardships: her mother has died, her father and brother move North for work, and she's stuck living with her strict cousin, Mirabel. When Phoebe, a young African American girl, moves in next door, the two forge a friendship that must endure the prejudice surrounding them. Strong characters and complex themes make the story engaging.

Reviewer: Aimee Chevrette Bear

(4) K-3 When Donkey plays his musical instruments with the restraint of Jimi Hendrix, sleep-deprived Farmer Gruff fumes--until he discovers that the racket scares off some troublesome crows. The story's message ("There's a time to be quiet and a time to be loud") is somewhat bland, but the illustrations, especially of oblivious Donkey, are droll.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Blobby cartoon figures Day and Night (introduced in an animated short film accompanying Toy Story 3) meet. Wary of one another, they first fight, then discover something beautiful and wondrous in each other. This adaptation is less engaging than the film; nonetheless, it's an entertaining presentation of opposites. The digitally illustrated characters pop against black backgrounds.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 When a big multiracial family gathers for Sunday dinner, Auntie Mabel prays so long over the food that children fall asleep and the meal requires reheating. This is more an extended joke than a story. While none of the individual characters is particularly memorable, the lively illustrations give the large cast personality.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) K-3 The text intersperses the lyrics of "This Little Light of Mine" with examples of how individual civil rights activists let their "light shine" ("Rosa Parks refused to move, / She let her light shine...Ruby Bridges walked alone. / She let her light shine"). Warm mixed-media illustrations have a retro-sixties appearance. The volume, though well meaning, is rather disjointed in presentation.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(4) YA Criminal Investigations series. Each book discusses a category of crime and how authorities try to solve it. Cases described range from Jack the Ripper's murders to Winona Ryder's shoplifting. The books are thorough and informative but sometimes resort to flash over substance (e.g., a chapter titled "Lethal Ladies"). Photographs and sidebars appear throughout. There are six other fall 2008 books in this series. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Criminal Investigations titles: Celebrities and Crime, Gangs and Crime, Serial Killers, Unsolved Crimes, and Child Abduction and Kidnapping.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(4) YA Criminal Investigations series. Each book discusses a category of crime and how authorities try to solve it. Cases described range from Jack the Ripper's murders to Winona Ryder's shoplifting. The books are thorough and informative but sometimes resort to flash over substance (e.g., a chapter titled "Lethal Ladies"). Photographs and sidebars appear throughout. There are six other fall 2008 books in this series. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Criminal Investigations titles: Celebrities and Crime, Gangs and Crime, Serial Killers, Unsolved Crimes, and Child Abduction and Kidnapping.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(4) YA Criminal Investigations series. Each book discusses a category of crime and how authorities try to solve it. Cases described range from Jack the Ripper's murders to Winona Ryder's shoplifting. The books are thorough and informative but sometimes resort to flash over substance (e.g., a chapter titled "Lethal Ladies"). Photographs and sidebars appear throughout. There are six other fall 2008 books in this series. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Criminal Investigations titles: Celebrities and Crime, Gangs and Crime, Serial Killers, Unsolved Crimes, and Child Abduction and Kidnapping.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(4) YA Criminal Investigations series. Each book discusses a category of crime and how authorities try to solve it. Cases described range from Jack the Ripper's murders to Winona Ryder's shoplifting. The books are thorough and informative but sometimes resort to flash over substance (e.g., a chapter titled "Lethal Ladies"). Photographs and sidebars appear throughout. There are six other fall 2008 books in this series. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Criminal Investigations titles: Celebrities and Crime, Gangs and Crime, Serial Killers, Unsolved Crimes, and Child Abduction and Kidnapping.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(4) YA In the 1919 Melbourne, Australia, slums, fleet-footed fifteen-year-old Charlie Feehan is hired to run errands for a notorious mobster. When a friend gets hurt, Charlie quits to enter a prestigious one-mile race. This promising first novel features a strong, distinct voice, a vivid setting, and almost too much incident. The gritty, absorbing realism devolves into over-the-top sentiment by the end. Glos.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(4) YA Short vignettes capture encounters from Peck's life. While some are delightfully well paced, others are too loaded down with description and awkward phrasings to be enjoyable. Stories of important figures in Peck's earlier life tend to be overly poetic; tales from encounters as a young man and beyond ring with more authenticity.

Reviewer: Lauren Aimonette LIang

(4) YA When her mother takes off with a new boyfriend, ninth-grader Cornelia is left with a great-aunt she has never met. Corney teaches prickly old Agatha to read, while Agatha helps Corney overcome her self-consciousness about stuttering. The plot may be familiar, but the sympathetic young narrator and uplifting story will draw readers.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(3) K-3 Gordon the goat considers himself the farmyard boss, until Gordon the goose shows up. Their amusing contest to determine who's in charge leaves them stranded on top of the barn. After Gordon the farmer rescues them, they concede the job of boss to him--"for now...." Many of the sprightly illustrations appropriately show the two contentious Gordons on opposing pages.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) YA Issues in Focus series. Historical background, legal issues, and differing points of view about the merits of advertising and drug testing are presented in able, and often engaging, prose. The tone of each book is evenhanded, but their authors are clearly in favor of one side (that advertising is problematic, and that current drug testing is not effective). Black-and-white photographs are included. Advertising has a glossary. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Jackie C. Horne