(3) YA Liz McLane (The Secret of Me; Girl in the Mirror), now eighteen, is in NYC ("THE place to be a poet") attending NYU while searching for her birth mother. Through moving, authentic-feeling verse and journal entries, Kearney brings Liz's adoption story to a satisfying resolution. As the author discusses in an appended note, Liz's trilogy is based on her own experience as an adoptee.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(2) YA Lizzie McLane (The Secret of Me) has just received a letter from the adoption agency with information about her birth mother. But her adoptive father unexpectedly dies that same day, and everything else falls away. The poetic forms vary greatly, but the voice is clearly and distinctly Lizzie through them all. A beautifully wrought story with memorable characters and true-to-life issues.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2012

(3) YA Teenager Liam and his sister travel with their uncle to New York City in 1901 to raise money for Ireland's republican cause. Once in America, Liam is forced to learn the hard way the real costs of violence and what makes a place a home. Raphael's captivating descriptions of turn-of-the-century New York City display her depth of research.

Reviewer: Chelsey Philpot

(4) YA Featuring rural young people from a variety of backgrounds, including Tlingit, Hawaiian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian American, gives this short story collection a strong multicultural focus. Entries include the well-known Wallace Stegner work "The Colt," a short-short story by Alice Walker, and a tale about the protagonist of Tony Earley's Jim the Boy. As a whole, though, the collection is somewhat overlong and uneven.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) YA Illustrated by Michael B. RunningWolf. Glous'gap, "the spiritual teacher, the ultimate warrior, medicine-person, and occasional trickster," is the hero of sixteen Micmac tales. Glous'gap's adventures include helping shape the earth, battling monsters, and granting wishes. The stories form a vibrant cultural mythology as heroic, wise, and funny as its denizens. Black-and-white drawings, a map, and a pronunciation guide round out the book. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) YA Jessie De La Cruz, a migrant farmer, worked tirelessly with the United Farm Workers' Union to better conditions of her peers. Framed by personal interviews with De La Cruz, Soto's biography outlines her life but doesn't develop the larger context of her story: the non-resolution of the wrongdoings she struggled to correct. The integration of English and Spanish gives the text authenticity, as does a center section of black-and-white photos. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(4) YA Jamaica Kincaid, V. S. Pritchett, and several Nobel laureates are featured in an anthology that showcases multinational perspectives on growing up. Although unquestionably well-rendered, the stories are often written from a distanced adult perspective, which forfeits immediacy. Additionally, the protagonists range from Santa-believing youngsters to teenagers, making the audience for the book uncertain. Helpful biographical notes are included.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta