(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Lea Lyon. Says young Moishe Moskowitz: "The wolves are coming" to Poland, "a country that has no use for us. / A country that bullies its citizens / beats up on us because we are different." The Nazi wolves soon reveal their plans: the ghetto, concentration camps, death marches. Smith's spare, eloquent verse is complemented by occasional watercolor sketches. An author's note from Moskowitz-Sweet offers more about her late father on whose memories this historical-fiction verse novel is based.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(3) K-3 Using very simple, childlike language, each of the fifteen poems celebrates personal moments between fathers and their sons or daughters. Lighter subjects--snoring, playing, reading together--balance out more serious topics such as absent military dads and getting in trouble. Smith's spare torn-paper collages of racially diverse families capture the warmth, closeness, and love in each father-child relationship.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(3) 4-6 This collection of mostly free-verse poems celebrates one mother-daughter bond: simple everyday moments like hair-braiding and "ka-lomphing" in Mom's high heels. The lovingly described good times seem bittersweet after the mother's unexpected death, evoking poignantly described feelings of loss. The figures in Smith's textured torn-paper collages lack facial features, leaving room for readers to imagine expressions of love and grief.

Reviewer: Amy McClure

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. Thirteen-year-old C.J. (The Way a Door Closes) is having a difficult time after his father returns. In verse, C.J.'s earnest, intelligent voice chronicles the trajectory from abandonment to forgiveness. Smith plays with a variety of poetic forms in this affecting portrait of one family's rebirth. Accompanying the poems are Lewis's watercolors, some breezy and light, others foreboding and furious.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2008

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. Thirty-four poems create a portrait of a close-knit family struggling to cope through crisis. Told in the voice of a thirteen-year-old African-American boy, C. J., the poems chronicle happy times to the abrupt departure of C. J.'s father and his return. By turns tender and angry, the emotionally powerful poems convey the teen's feelings and testify to the strength of family. Realistic paintings in warm colors are an attractive addition.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute