(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jenn Ely. This picture-book biography introduces young readers to the conservation efforts of Hoyt, focusing mainly on her life after the death of her husband in 1918. Newly married in 1897, they had moved to Pasadena, California, where it was only a matter of time before she fell in love with the Mojave Desert. She was particularly interested in Joshua trees, which are not trees at all but rather the largest member of the yucca plant family. By 1933, the Joshua trees and their habitat were threatened by carelessness (people cut them down for wood), and Hoyt hatched a plan to designate the area as a national park, preserving this unique ecosystem. It was a hard sell, but she -- and the activists she inspired -- were ultimately successful. "No one who heard her talk could ever again regard the subject of conservation of desert flora with indifference," said a fellow environmentalist. Ely's cozy gouache illustrations (double-page spreads, single-page drawings, and spot art) depict both Hoyt's plucky spirit and the majesty of the high desert landscape. More information about Hoyt and Joshua Tree National Park, along with tips for environmental activists, photographs, an author's note, and a select bibliography, are appended.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by James E. Ransome. The prolific author-illustrator couple (most recently The Story of the Saxophone, rev. 1/23) teams up again to offer this inspiring picture-book biography of the late human rights and civil rights icon. Cline-Ransome's reverent narrative gracefully captures Lewis's (1940–2020) humility and perseverance. Growing up in a farming family in Alabama, young John learned about love from the Bible at an early age. He felt its presence everywhere he went -- except when he encountered the discriminatory realities of Jim Crow laws. "Election day meant Whites Only could pick the laws, mayors, and presidents. John hated that colored folks had to stick to picking cotton." Inspired by a radio sermon delivered by Martin Luther King Jr., Lewis left home at seventeen to attend the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville. As he learned about practices of nonviolent resistance, his commitment to end segregation through nonviolent protest was unwavering. Beaten and arrested, yet undeterred, he led prolonged sit-ins; rode buses as a Freedom Rider; spoke at the March on Washington calling for jobs and freedom; and led the march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, that ended in state police violence. Ransome's distinctive illustrations, created with a combination of found, printed, and purchased paper with pencil drawings, perfectly match Cline-Ransome's telling and dramatically radiate the magnitude of Lewis's influence. An author's note, a timeline, sources for quotations, and a selected bibliography are appended.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Chris Raschka. The very definition of music is explored in this thoughtful look at Cage's (1912–1992) controversial musical composition, 4'33", a work that debuted with a pianist "performing" four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence in a barn in Woodstock, New York, in 1952. While there was no piano performance in the traditional sense, the absence of music amplified other sounds, such as whispers, coughs, chairs moving, and the noises of the outside world. Cage believed that "there is always something to hear inside the silence," and the book encourages readers to listen even when it feels like there is nothing to hear. It also emphasizes the art of doing nothing. Twice, the word nothing is scrawled in cursive on a double-page spread featuring just that word, giving readers space to pause and absorb the concept. Raschka's stunning illustrations further these heady concepts: staff lines, disembodied notes, accidentals, and oddly placed clefs visually capture Cage's spirit. Watercolor, pencil, and ink lend themselves well to the task of representing audiences, musicians, and experimental sound art, offering details at times and at other times just suggesting things through outlines and splotches of color. The book deftly pivots in time between Cage's childhood, the Woodstock performance, and his impact on music broadly. Extended back matter on Cage's life and work round out the book. Pair this introduction to the experimental musician with Rogers and Na's Beautiful Noise7 (rev. 11/23).

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by David Szalay. Hoyt (The Greatest Song of All: How Isaac Stern United the World to Save Carnegie Hall, rev. 7/22) returns to New York City's past to trace the history of what was touted as the "biggest, grandest, most magnificent railroad station ever built" -- Grand Central Station. The book opens in 1902, when chief engineer Wilgus had the radical idea to replace the city's smoky, sooty, street-level coal-powered trains with cleaner electric trains and move them underground -- a prodigious undertaking. Readers then learn about the contest between rival architects to design the new depot; details about the new Grand Central Terminal when it was completed in 1913 and as it grew (it soon housed restaurants, a movie theater, a tennis court, a hotel, a library, a ski slope, and more); and then its decline years later when it was slated for demolition and saved by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and others, who fought to have the iconic building designated a New York City Landmark. Hoyt's lively text is chockful of information, presented in a child-friendly way (for instance, readers learn that Wilgus's plan required thirty thousand tons of riveted steel, the equivalent of three Eiffel Towers). Szalay's textured, detail-fueled digital illustrations ably convey time and place. Extensive back matter includes even more information, "Fascinating Facts About Grand Central Station," a timeline, and source notes.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) 4-6 Adapted by Ibram X. Kendi. Illustrated by Jazzmen Lee-Johnson. In 1860, more than fifty years after the United States outlawed the slave trade, the ship Clotilda journeyed back to Alabama from West Africa, carrying kidnapped people. Years later, Hurston, renowned anthropologist, writer, and folklorist, interviewed eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis (born Oluale Kossula), who was purportedly the last survivor of the ship, at his home in Plateau, Alabama. Kendi (adapter of Hurston's Magnolia Flower, rev. 11/22, and The Making of Butterflies, rev. 5/23) has adapted the seminal work, first published in 2018, for young readers. He opens by providing thoroughly drawn context, characterizing the transatlantic human trade as the "most dramatic chapter in the story of human existence" and describing the horrific conditions under which enslaved people existed. In African American Vernacular English, or Ebonics ("I want tell-ee somebody who I is...I want you everywhere you go to tell everybody what Cudjo say"), the man shared memories of his family and community in his home village, the harrowing Middle Passage, his five-and-a-half years of enslavement, and his freedom following the Civil War during which he married, had children, and cofounded AfricaTown (later renamed Plateau). Throughout the story, his loneliness and longing to return to his native home are palpable, supplying readers with an intimate perspective on his strength to survive. Kendi illuminates these memories in a captivating narrative that exudes empathy and authenticity. Pencil and black ink drawings (unseen) accompany the text. Powerful, profound, and necessary.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) YA Adapted by Andrew J. Rostan. Illustrated by Celia Jacobs. Jiménez's iconic, award-winning memoir -- an episodic collection of short stories published in 1997 -- receives a handsome graphic novel adaptation. Francisco's family leaves their small town on the outskirts of Guadalajara for the promise of a better life in California. Making their way to Mexicali, they dig under the wire fence to cross the border, finding employment in the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley as migrant farm workers. An early memory has a five-year-old Francisco watching his infant brother while his parents and older brother pick cotton. It's a hard life: constantly moving and uprooting themselves to find work; substandard housing, education, and medical care; and the entire family making sacrifices, both physical and emotional. Here, as in the original source material, Jiménez's plainspoken narration resonates with dignity, humility, and timelessness. The mixed-media illustrations convey both the time period and the mood of the piece with a limited color palette of olive green, lavender, and vermillion on a sepia background. (Francisco is drawn here with black hair and brown skin, rather than the fair skin and blond hair described in the original source and in the family picture that accompanies the author's note.) A glossary is also appended.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jerry Jordan. Johnson's compelling text tells the inspirational true story of a Black suffragist who fought injustice all her life. This biography of Wells begins with her birth in 1862, a year before the Emancipation Proclamation freed her parents. The Fifteenth Amendment nominally enfranchised Black men, but after Ida's father voted for the first time, his white boss fired him, which led him to open his own business, Wells's Carpentry. At sixteen, Ida lost her parents and younger brother to yellow fever, and she began teaching and pursuing an education to support her siblings. Wells refused to accept discriminatory laws or the racist treatment of Black citizens on public transportation and fought against the brutal practice of lynching. The last half of the book focuses on her suffrage work, including her founding of the Alpha Suffrage Club and participation in the 1913 march of the National American Woman Suffrage Association -- an association that fought exclusively for white women's suffrage. Wells and other women of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, including Mary Church Terrell, participated to show that they, too, required the vote. Jordan's skillfully crafted oil on cloth illustrations effectively capture the historical era in which Wells lived and the determination she showed regardless of the challenge. The detailed back matter -- including an author's note, a timeline, photographs, and source notes -- offers readers ample resources for learning more about a person and history that all young people should know.

Reviewer: Michelle H. Martin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. Adapted from King's autobiography, this picture book offers a new generation the remarkable story of the activist, artist, wife, and mother whose grace in the face of unspeakable loss continued the momentum of a movement. Beginning with glimpses into her childhood in segregated Alabama, King (1927–2006) describes being the second Black student admitted to Antioch College (her older sister Edythe was the first) and her fight to teach in Ohio -- readers see that her pursuit of equality started long before she met and married Martin Luther King Jr. The first-person retelling of events such as the March on Washington is compellingly personal. Holmes's vibrant illustrations (in acrylic with elements of collage incorporating print and photos) saturate the pages with color. The illustrations also take great care in communicating the very human emotions that King and her family experienced in scenes including her surrounded by her young children at the piano; a phone receiver hanging from its cord at the news of MLK's death; and her speaking to a crowd despite her grief just hours after arriving in Memphis. Art and text bring this civil rights icon to life, reminding readers of a dream yet to be fully realized. Back matter includes a timeline of her life and major events.

Reviewer: Monique Harris | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by April Harrison. Few people have had more of an impact on African American children's literature than griot, educator, and librarian Augusta Baker (1911–1998). Her path to becoming a master storyteller began in Baltimore with listening to her grandmother's folktales. A class on folklore in college further inspired her, and she became a children's librarian in Harlem. It became apparent that while most of the children in the library were Black, most books available to them had no Black characters, and the ones that did "were RUDE, MEAN, and JUST PLAIN WRONG." Baker created a book collection that showcased realistic and positive depictions of African Americans and shared her knowledge with other educators and librarians. Her work carried her to becoming the first Black coordinator of children's services for all of New York Public Library, hosting radio shows, teaching classes, and traveling the country as the "Mistress of Storytelling." McDaniel gives an account of Baker's life that is as celebratory as the heroes in her folktales, attesting that Baker internalized the message that "where there's a will, there's a way." Harrison's exuberant mixed-media-collage illustrations capture the vibrancy of both the storyteller and her stories, creating worlds and words that leap off pages. Back matter includes a timeline, citations, and an author's note, where McDaniel celebrates her own childhood librarian.

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Jamiel Law. In this picture-book biography, Meadows's expressive free verse beautifully contributes to an engaging narrative about Baldwin's (1924–1987) literary prowess and staunch activism, making his story accessible to young readers. She traces the future author's childhood in Harlem and the solace he found in writing; his time as a young preacher; and his decision to leave preaching and pursue writing "to capture / the voice of his ancestors, stand up for oppressed people, / and push the world to change." Following a devastating rejection of his first attempt at a novel, Baldwin (who was Black and gay) moves to Paris to escape the discrimination so prevalent in America, falls in love with Swiss painter Lucien Happersberger, and finishes his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain. Meadows emphasizes Baldwin's persistence and also relates how he became active in the civil rights movement, lending his eloquent voice to the struggle, championing justice and equality for Black people back home. Law's digitally created illustrations in striking double-page spreads powerfully evoke the subject. An author's note, a list of Baldwin's oeuvre, a timeline, and selected sources are appended.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Sarah Green. Sydney Taylor (1904–1978), born Sarah Brenner, was the author of the All-of-a-Kind Family novels, known as the first Jewish children's books to be popular with a mainstream audience. Here, Michelson (a recipient of Taylor's eponymous award for As Good as Anybody and The Language of Angels) tells a portion of her story in a lighthearted picture-book biography. Much of the book focuses on the Lower East Side childhood on which Taylor's novels were based; it also touches on her socialist activism, her work as a dancer, and her marriage to Ralph Taylor. An emphasis throughout on her interest in books and writing culminates in the "happily ever after ending" of her first book's publication. The third-person present-tense narration focuses tightly on Taylor's internal life and, along with occasional dialogue, lends an immediate feel; an appended note acknowledges that much of that dialogue is invented, "but the thoughts, if not the exact words, are all taken from Syd's writings or [her daughter] Jo's recollections." Green's cool-hued digital gouache illustrations alternate straightforward scenes and spreads filled with vignettes highlighting aspects of Taylor's life. This introduction, mostly cheerful in focus and tone, provides useful context for her novels (Cummins and Dunietz's adult biography From Sarah to Sydney, rev. 7/21, paints a more complete picture). Back matter gives brief additional information about Taylor and her husband and daughter as well as a bibliography.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Bryan Collier. During the Civil War, an enslaved man plans a daring escape. Robert Smalls steers a Confederate ship through Charleston Harbor with his wife, their children, and twelve other enslaved people on board. Their mission, to reach a Union blockade just beyond the harbor, was a “life-or-death voyage.” Moore builds the drama and suspense in the story of his great-grandfather’s escape (contextualized in an author’s note) with careful pacing, and the dangerous journey comes to life through beautiful, collage-style illustrations that capture the escapees’ emotions.

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(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Sammy Savos. At the start of this compelling graphic memoir, four-year-old Enia Feld lives a seemingly carefree life with her loving extended family in 1939 Borek, Poland. Though they are "very, very poor" -- and there are hints of antisemitism and violence to come -- Enia feels safe, secure, and well cared for, her voice constantly lifted in song. "And I thought we would be this happy forever." On September 1, though, Germany invades. The family's rights are continually eroded ("Things changed over the next two years. Slowly") until, inevitably, they are forced to flee for their lives. In five dramatic parts -- Innocence, Hidden, Liberation, A New Beginning, The Girl Who Sang -- this harrowing story is told and shown in clear sequential art that reflects the terror and grief of Enia's experiences in contrast with her early, pastoral-set days. When liberation finally occurs, after years of whispers in hiding, the once-vivacious girl has gone nearly silent, but it's in finding her voice that she is able to begin a new life in America. The history is deeply personal, as related by Nadel (who passed away in November 2023), and her intent is made clear in her concluding note: "I'm not going to be here forever. Someday there will no longer be Holocaust survivors still living...I want you, the young people, the next generation, to carry our stories on." An afterword, family photos, additional resources, an illustrator's note, and details about comics are appended.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Susanna Chapman. Sixth in line to choose an instrument in her family's band, Viola Smith (1912–2020) makes a life-changing decision when she picks the drums. At first her efforts result in a "terrible racket," but "Papa showed her the proper way to hold the sticks," and the Smith Sisters Orchestra makes its jazzy debut. Only thirteen and already touring the Midwest, Viola seeks "musical advice" from some of the greats and becomes "bolder, flashier, and faster." Even after her sisters step away from the stage in the 1930s, Viola leans into a life in music. Robbins's biography skillfully focuses on the pivotal moments in Smith's career: from her childhood in small-town Wisconsin to the formation of her own band, the Coquettes, to her classical timpani training. Chapman's upbeat illustrations create movement, sound, and emotion constantly swirling around "the fastest girl drummer in the world." With a decidedly midcentury feel, the art reverberates with Smith's active enthusiasm, with ripples from cymbals, starbursts from the bass drum, and twirling lines that trace the paths of her perpetually in-motion mallets. Robbins and Chapman collectively convey the vivacity and joy of this exceptional musician, and back matter further describes Smith's advocacy for women in music.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Gretchen Ellen Powers. Stone's dedication -- "For anyone who did something awesome and didn't feel the love" -- sets the reparative tone for this picture-book biography of scientist Franklin (1920–1958), whose Photo 51 cracked the DNA code while competing researchers James Watson and Francis Crick took the credit (and the 1962 Nobel Prize). As she weaves science and history, Stone unravels dual mysteries centering on the double helix: how the "secret of life...makes you -- YOU" and how a "twist of fate" triggered Franklin's posthumous recognition. Powers's watercolors perfectly blend representative and expressive styles. Realistically rendered characters and period details set the story in its mid-twentieth-century milieu, while experimental techniques offer evocative visual commentary; for example, when Franklin argues with Watson and Crick, blue watercolor blotches disrupt the tidy floral border and explode the ground beneath them. Although Stone opens by warning, "This true story doesn't really have a happy ending," Powers's accompanying fairy tale–esque castle, adorned with scientific instruments, foreshadows a time in which readers are empowered to interrogate the historical record and reclaim the stories of little-heralded figures. An author's note explains the Matilda Effect, a historical pattern in which men take credit for women's work.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Vivien Mildenberger. Turner tells the amazing story of Caroline Herschel (1750–1848), a pioneering woman in STEM, from her young life as family housekeeper to the discovery of a comet that earns her a paid retainer from the king of England. Despite her mother's insistence on keeping her as a helper in the home, Herschel's curiosity and hard work mean that she is able to first support and eventually work side by side with her brother in both music and astronomy. The scientific siblings create and build new telescopes that can see further into space than anyone has before, leading to a series of remarkable discoveries. (Many readers will be fascinated to learn that pounded horse dung was the innovation that allowed the Herschels to build their telescope and change astronomy.) Turner peppers the text with direct quotes from Herschel's memoir and with memorable moments, such as the winter night when even Caroline's ink freezing in the inkwell did not stop her journey of discovery. Mildenberger's painted illustrations have a historical feeling and are often muddy or dark, but bright stars and faces shine out of the blues and browns. Her characters' animated facial expressions bring scenes to life. Back matter includes additional biographical information, a glossary, sources for quotations in the text, and further reading.

Reviewer: Laura Koenig | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jiemei Lin. Tenderly told in first person, Yang's lyrical autobiographical picture book depicts her childhood struggle with selective mutism. Her descriptions of how selective mutism presents at school are vivid and authentic, as when she relates the distressing experience of being called to speak during attendance: "Trying to get the air out of my mouth feels like I'm pushing my heart up into my throat." Readers learn that her discomfort with speaking stems from alienating experiences witnessing the impatience of native English speakers when her immigrant Hmong mother tries to communicate. In contrast, young Kalia is comfortable speaking Hmong with her family at home, where "everyone speaks normally to everyone else. It is a song, uninterrupted, and it flows and flows." Classmates, portrayed with various skin tones, are shown engaged in conversation or play while Kalia remains alone, immersed in examining natural objects such as a feather or pebble. Lin's earth tones and muted colors reflect Kalia's affinity with the natural world. Nods to Hmong culture are captured through Lin's illustrations of clothing, meals, and artwork adorning the household. The story ends with a hopeful encounter with a potential friend. In the author's note, Yang provides a pronunciation guide and translations and shares her journey to finding her voice through writing.

Reviewer: Kristine Techavanich | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) YA Illustrated by Karen De la Vega & Marcus Williams. Former NHL player Aliu made headlines in 2020 when he shared stories of the racism and hazing he faced as a person of color in professional hockey. The son of a Nigerian father and Ukrainian mother, Aliu was born in Nigeria and spent his early years in Russia before his family immigrated to Canada and he discovered his love for hockey. His adoration of the sport was tested by persistent and devastating racism throughout his adolescence and beyond. This graphic memoir follows him from childhood through his exit from the NHL and to the formation of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, which makes hockey accessible to "children from diverse communities ­underrepresented in the sport." The narrative is notable for its emotional clarity and the strength with which the concise text carries both Aliu's pain and his resolve. Dynamic comic-panel art serves the story with expressiveness of motion and feeling. Grabbing readers at the intersection of sports and social justice, this is a welcome addition to the graphic-memoir genre.

Reviewer: Anne St. John | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) K-3 In her time, some said Sister Rosetta Tharpe could make her guitar talk. Today, many credit her unique mix of gospel, jazz, and blues as the foundation for what would become known as rock-and-roll. Born in rural Arkansas in 1915, young Rosetta received her first guitar at four and mastered the instrument in just two years. She performed on the gospel circuit as a child and eventually in nightclubs as a hit-record-making adult, but her contributions to music were often ignored because of her gender and race. Barlow's picture-book biography focuses on Tharpe's childhood, depicting her guitar as echoing the sounds she encounters in her small African American community and debuting in her triumphant first performance at church. The lyrical text is rich with sound words ("The vibrations hummed through her body like bees through a garden"). Movement-filled, whimsical mixed-media illustrations have a folksy feel; the soft pinks, purples, blues, and yellows that recur throughout the pages convey the security and support of Tharpe's tight-knit community. An author's note provides further details about her rise to stardom as well as her lasting, if ignored, impact on many musical genres. An inspiring story that may encourage others to pick up an instrument and make it speak.

Reviewer: Eric Carpenter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(1) K-3 Illustrated by R Gregory Christie. Rosetta Tharpe's (1915–1973) music would influence some of the biggest stars of the twentieth century--from Chuck Berry and Little Richard to Johnny Cash and Aretha Franklin--and change the sound of American music forever. In a picture-book biography that takes Tharpe from childhood in Cotton Plant, Arkansas ("Little girl. Big guitar"), through her adult career, Bolden's dynamic second-person text puts readers in Tharpe's shoes. In tracing her musical successes, readers see her intermingling of musical genres ("mixing it up with Gospel's Cousin Boogie-Woogie, Cousin Jazz, Cousin Swing, Cousin the big, bad Blues") and with it the origin of rock and roll. Bolden describes Tharpe the performer as "bold, audacious--in a word, bodacious, whatever the song." Christie's acryla gouache paintings use bold contrasting colors to show Tharpe as the center of attention as well as the center of the action: singing, praying, duckwalking, and always with fingers flying on the guitar strings. He contrasts crisp angular lines (of industrial modernity--trains, spotlights, skylines) with elegant curves (of the guitar's body, of human figures). A detailed timeline, a lengthy author's note, and brief source notes round out this impressive offering about an often-overlooked figure in American music. Pair with Barlow's Little Rosetta and Her Talking Guitar (rev. 1/23).

Reviewer: Eric Carpenter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023