(2) K-3 Illustrated by James E. Ransome. This poetic picture book tells the inspiring tale of a young enslaved man, "a compilation of many of the real-life stories of the people who resisted, fought, demanded, and seized every opportunity at their disposal to gain the freedoms that literacy provided." Nicknamed Teach, he has secretly learned to read, write, and do arithmetic, bravely sharing his skills despite the great risks involved. The narrative follows Teach through the week, escalating to one of his most powerful acts of rebellion: a Sunday sermon in a concealed cabin, where he draws poignant parallels between the plight of the biblical Israelites and the hardships endured by his fellow captives, empowering them through his words. Cline-Ransome's engrossing first-person storytelling style, which features rich dialect reflecting the historical setting, brings out the character of Teach and the significant impact of his actions. Ransome's watercolor illustrations perfectly complement the narrative, offering detailed portrayals that vividly convey the challenges and dreams of Teach and his community. The skillful use of light and shadow heightens the emotional intensity of each meticulously rendered scene. An author's note underscores the importance of literacy and education as tools for freedom and resistance as well as the risks they entailed during slavery; further reading is also appended.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 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) 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

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Noa Kelner. This book is an expansion of a passage from the Talmud about Rabbi Hanina's experience getting caught in the rain. It reads very much like a folktale and focuses on the old man's interaction with animals, nature, and the Divine, and on the ultimate lesson of finding contentment and fitting in with the natural world. The text highlights Rabbi Hanina's one-sided conversation with the heavens while also providing details about the animals he sees and his internal emotional experience. While the illustrations in general are bright and whimsical, Hanina (and his long gray beard) comes across as serious.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Vali Mintzi. Osnat Barzani (1590–1670) convinced her father, a rabbi, to teach her to read Hebrew, unusual as that was for a girl at the time, and her curious mind embraced Jewish learning. In lyrical prose ("Osnat loved the shapes of the Hebrew letters. One looked like a mysterious animal, and another, a creeping vine"), Samuel spins the story of a woman who studied Torah throughout her marriage and took over her husband's yeshiva after his death. She incorporates the miraculous powers that some legends grant Barzani, mainly via a dove that she heals and that helps save the synagogue after a fire. Mintzi's striking, mostly full-bleed illustrations (often luminous "gouache colors in layers") show Osnat in the beautiful, sometimes dreamlike city of Mosul (in what is now Iraq). An author's note gives background on the legends Samuel used to inspire her account of the woman whose writings don't all survive, but who is "remembered locally as the first female rabbi and the first female Kurdish Jewish leader."

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Bryan Collier. Born to a free mother in 1851 Maryland, Charles Albert Tindley was technically considered free. However, the law didn't protect him from the hardship of laboring alongside farmhands and enslaved people. Toiling in the fields, young Charles was introduced to Negro spirituals and the gospel behind them. The desire to know more about his faith led Tindley to become self-educated, learning to read from scraps of newspapers and walking miles to receive lessons from anyone who would teach him. His drive continued after he moved to Philadelphia, taking night classes while working multiple jobs. His tenacity ultimately provided Tindley the opportunity to act as pastor for the church in which he'd once worked as a janitor. Throughout his journey, Tindley also penned gospel songs, which added to his legacy as the "prince of preachers." Weatherford's first-person, somewhat singsong-y rhyming narrative includes italicized lines from Tindley's hymns (some of which also appear in the art), further emphasizing the preacher's foundation in his faith. Collier's watercolor and collage images beautifully reflect the man's life and times, from the wide expanse of emerald-hued fields in which Tindley labored as a child and the bright blue sky above, to luminous, larger-than-life portraits of him orating as an adult. Back matter includes author and illustrator notes, titles of popular hymns by Tindley, a bibliography, additional resources, and titles of songs quoted throughout the book.

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler. "She made applesauce sweet / for a Hanukkah treat. / She made latkes yummy / and filled up her tummy." A rabbi celebrates the eight nights of Hanukkah with her family in this cumulative rhyming tale. Torah reading, brisket, the dreidel game, menorah lighting, and chocolate gelt are also part of the family's observance. Slightly exaggerated cartoon illustrations emphasize fun, faith, and tradition. This book will appeal most to those already familiar with holiday, which, "as we all know," helps us "...remember a miracle / from a long time ago." An appended paragraph provides some history.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Chin Ko. These early-reader biographies offer simple narratives that touch on highlights of these (frequently covered) subjects' lives. Large font is surrounded by plenty of white space to aid emerging readers. The cartoonlike illustrations are slick but occasionally emotive; an appendix includes photographs and/or period paintings as well as contextual information. Timeline. Review covers these I Can Read Book titles: Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Reviewer: Christina Dorr

(3) YA The demon that had possessed Clare since she was eight wasn't evil; she was Clare's best friend. After an exorcism, Clare feels abandoned until she receives a mysterious note in her demon's handwriting. Clare relies on help from the reverend's son and the reclusive "One Wish Man" to reunite with "Her." Imbued with a Deep-South-occult atmosphere, this story is at once eerie and enthralling.

Reviewer: Grace Enriquez

(2) 4-6 Readers meet the German theologian and pastor who was executed for participating in a failed assassination attempt on Hitler. Hendrix deftly contrasts Bonhoeffer's and Hitler's biographical details against the larger World War II backdrop. The book effectively employs hand-lettered typeface, comic-panel layouts, spot art, vivid two-color illustrations, occasional maps, and striking political-cartoon-style editorial illustrations. The result is that this heavily textual book is also a highly visual one. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(3) YA Shelby can totally perform an exorcism on her own, or she could if her Catholic-priest guardian, Uncle Roy, would let her. Whatever, Shelby's got other things to occupy her thoughts, like her just-up-and-left absentee mom and a super-cute study buddy. With her "bejeweled spray bottle of holy water" in tow, Shelby offers one demonically funny moment after another in this indulgent beach-read for Buffy fans.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) 4-6 Thirteen-year-old Nate's preacher father hates music, but it captivates Nate, who becomes friends with the musical Carter family and other musicians in town. When Nate leaves home, he discovers his father's music aversion is related to the death of Nate's two-year-old sister years ago. Set in 1927 Tennessee, this novel satisfyingly incorporates real history, capturing a boy's poignant coming-of-age as well as a fruitful time in country music.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Margeaux Lucas. In 1930s Germany, women's roles were clearly defined and being a rabbi wasn't an option. But Regina Jonas charted her own path and became the first female rabbi. This powerful picture-book biography deftly addresses sexism, anti-Semitism, and changing societal attitudes. The muted illustrations depict Jonas as a powerful and inspiring figure. An afterword provides historical context.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by James E. Ransome. Weatherford's simple, meditative approach to distilling the work of Martin Luther King Jr. uses significant moments in his story to encourage kids to "be a King" through acts of kindness, justice, and bravery. Ransome's painterly illustrations (in oil, acrylic, colored pencil, and gouache) alternate images of King milestones with scenes of modern schoolchildren. An appended author's note provides deeper biographical information.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Donald Burmudez. Foreword by Xernona Clayton. This biography provides an excellent overview of the iconic civil rights leader's life, particularly his childhood and early days as an inspirational pastor and a catalyst for change. New material referencing Dr. King's assassination is necessarily darker than the rest of the book, although Clayton does not shy away from the realities of Jim Crow America throughout. Frequent new illustrations, though static, add accessibility. Bib.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Aleksandar Zolotic. When Faigel forgets how to make potato pancakes for Hanukkah, the hungry rabbi's advice leads to more latkes than any one person can eat. They solve the problem by inviting all the villagers to celebrate together. The original tale reads like a traditional Chelm story; the illustrations, which set the tale in what looks like early-twentieth-century Eastern Europe, have a more modern Disney-cartoon vibe.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg. Jules's fluid narrative and Nayberg's evocative textured paintings recount the fictionalized story of an illiterate shepherd encouraged midlife to begin studying by his devoted, loving wife. How his slow and steady progress ("I can learn--just like water cuts through stone--a little bit each day") allowed him to succeed in becoming a great learned man, scholar, and renowned rabbi is inspiring and well crafted.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) YA Lucy's mother's cancer returns and her boyfriend puts "a pause" on their relationship. On top of that, her summer job at a camp for kids with trauma and the revelation of long-held family secrets prompt Lucy to re-examine her innermost biases. Lucy, whose father is a Methodist pastor, struggles to maintain her previously steady beliefs in this original take on faith and hope.

Reviewer: Rebecca Kirshenbaum

(3) K-3 Translated by Laura Watkinson. Illustrated by Klaus Ensikat. In this lengthy, complex picture-book biography, theology professor Martin Luther's importance in the Protestant Reformation of the Christian church in the 1500s is clearly delineated in strong text organized by time period. Selections from his famous Ninety-Five Theses of 1517 are also referenced and explained. Appended source notes provide historical context about details in the intricate color illustrations throughout.

Reviewer: Christina Dorr

(3) YA In Otters Holt, Kentucky, preacher's daughter Billie and her group of friends ("the Hexagon") grew up inseparable. Lately, Billie has developed romantic feelings toward two members (one boy and one girl), and deepening awareness of her own sexuality colors her feelings about the future. Stevens offers meaningful and sensitive portrayals of her novel's many characters, all of whom have their own worthwhile stories.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl