(2) 4-6 Born in prison in Chennai, India, to a Hindu mother falsely accused of stealing from her employer, Kabir has known only a harsh life behind bars. Upon his ninth birthday, he is released to the outside world. He wants nothing more than to find his Appa's (father's) family in the neighboring state of Bengaluru (Bangalore). All Kabir knows of his father is that he is Muslim; Appa didn't tell anyone of his marriage to Amma; and he stopped writing to them after he left India to work in the Gulf. When Kabir befriends Rani, a Kurava (Roma) girl, they team up to find Kabir's paternal grandparents, and the pace of the plot quickens. Short chapters and paragraphs guide the story to its bittersweet conclusion for both Rani and Kabir. As in The Bridge Home (rev. 1/19), Venkatraman portrays children's experiences of poverty and other social issues; here, she explores Hindu-Muslim animosity, how the Indian caste ­system predetermines social status, and how biased institutions interact with (and ultimately fail) those of lower caste. This earnest, heartfelt adventure will transport many readers to a different setting while guiding them to draw parallels with contexts closer to home. An author's note addresses the Roma community in India, water shortages, and incarceration rates in relation to caste.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(3) YA Blood Rose Rebellion series. After Anna (Blood Rose Rebellion) broke the Binding spell, supernatural creatures roam free in Europe. Meanwhile, Anna is still unsure of her chimera nature as well as the path she desires in a frustratingly unjust world. Bouncing from opulent Hapsburg-ruled Vienna to the bandit-controlled Hungarian backroads to the supernatural realm, this historical fantasy integrates beings from Eastern European and Slavic lore into its nineteenth-century setting. Author's note appended. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Feronia Parker Thomas. In this warm story by a Romani storyteller, based on true events, a coal-mining pony escapes the drudgery and joins a family of British Travelers. Polonius saves the day when the family's truck breaks down and he helps to bring a load of handmade wooden stools to the dock to be shipped to the U.S. Mixed-media illustrations show the various types of caravans, both motorized and traditional horse-drawn ones. Includes a note on Traveling culture.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) YA In 1847 London, Anna is part of Luminate society--noble magic-users under tight political governance--but she cannot use magic herself; instead, she disrupts it by breaking spells. After unintentionally ruining her sister's debut, Anna leaves for revolutionary Hungary where she must negotiate those who would use her for rebellion. This historical fantasy takes on self-determination, classism, and bigotry in its period-appropriate narrative. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(2) YA Sixteen-year-old Welsh-Romani girl Bethan is raped and her non-Romani friend Martyn brutally beaten by the chieftan's son and four friends. To save Martyn and avenge the assault, wise woman Gran proposes a shocking spell requiring five blood sacrifices. Bethan's slow recovery is portrayed with sensitivity, and her righteous desire for retribution is tempered with an awareness of what she needs to heal her own soul.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2017

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Marieke Nelissen. A traditional tale portrays the resilience of the Romani, or Travelers, of England. Yokki is a storyteller (like the Romani author O'Neill), and he relates the story of the Parno Gry, a white horse that carries a whole family from an impoverished place to a land of rich resources. Soft paintings complement the story, which includes a note on Traveler culture. Glos.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Hannah Tolson. An original story portrays the importance of recycling and music within the Romani, or Traveler, community of England. Ossiri, a contemporary Traveler girl, wants to be a musician and creates her own instrument from recycled materials. While practicing in the hills, she wakes a hairy ogre, who ultimately sings along and rewards her. Bold, naive-style paintings illustrate the story, which includes a note on Traveler culture.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) YA Twins Iris and Malina share a "gleam"--a magical ability to manipulate beauty--whose mythic origins and troubling endpoint they uncover when they pursue a mysterious white-haired woman who appears just as their mother suffers a deadly attack. Overlong but thickly textured with sensual descriptions, this folklore-based novel set in Montenegro builds to an agonizing choice over which sister will sacrifice for their mutual fate.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) 4-6 In 1903 after his brother's death, fourteen-year-old Martin and his family leave the city for his father's long-abandoned Minnesota homestead. An old diary, a missing dowry, and Martin's growing friendship with a Roma boy ("Gypsy" is also used in the story) lend tension. Although the writing quality is uneven, Martin's growth is believable and his quest to save the farm commendable. Detailed author's note appended.

Reviewer: Nancy Sheridan

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Jeremy Holmes. A magical Romani trombone whisks twelve-year-olds Bro, Frankie, and Tom back to 1852 in their small Ohio town, a dangerous era for the three nonwhite kids as they are targets for slave traders. An ancient Chinese text and Morse code messages may help get them back. This original, humorous adventure novel is great fun for fans of history and time travel.

Reviewer: Pam Yosca

(3) 4-6 In present-day Oaxaca, Mexico, Mateo listens to his abuelo Teo tell of his childhood in a tight-knit Mixtec community and of his foretold "lifelong friendship" with Rom girl Esma, Queen of Lightning. Teo and Esma's tale is one of true friendship, despite cultural differences and opposition from society, and of loves lost and found. Resau's sensory descriptions heighten the tale's sweeping romanticism.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) YA When a family of Travelers sets up camp in Iris's family's paddock, Iris's dad and brother agree: the "Gypos" have to go. Iris, however, is fascinated by the family, especially the teenage boy, Trick, with whom she becomes fast friends. The characters are all sympathetically portrayed in this story that skillfully balances moments of introspection and action, loyalty and betrayal, happiness and heartbreak.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2014

(4) YA When Drina's Roma mother dies and her baby half-sister is kidnapped, Drina tries to rescue the infant but winds up in the custody of the affluent Spanish father and grandmother she's never known. Drina's deep passion for flamenco dance and the dangers of a violent time--the 1930 Spanish Civil War--are vividly evoked, but ineffectual, indecisive Drina is a frustrating protagonist.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA Ben is heading to college but is reluctant to leave his crumbling family behind. Lala is a Roma fortuneteller preparing for an arranged marriage. When their worlds collide one summer in the Nevada desert, both Ben and Lala learn about leaving their pasts behind and letting go. Two distinct voices tell this lyrical story of choice, fate, and fortune.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(3) YA Lilo is fifteen when she and her family, ethnic Romani, are picked up by the Nazis and conscripted as "extras" in a film made by Hitler's favorite filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl. Lilo is a strong heroine who survives the war by a combination of luck, determination, and wits. This disturbing novel covers a little-known aspect of European history.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Andrea Offermann. During World War II, two Romany boys and their baby sister find themselves in a zoo inhabited by talking animals. They share their stories--of brutality, courage, despair, and hope--then the narrative shifts to an escape journey. Hartnett's particular combination of crystal-edged realism and operatic scope makes for a riveting read, leaving one to examine the whole notion of civilization versus wildness.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2011

(3) 4-6 Kronos Chronicles series. Evil Prince Rodolfo of Bohemia turned Petra Kronos's father into a monstrous Gray Man in The Celestial Globe, so Petra sets out with her friend Tomik to force the Prince's scientist to invent a cure. Her love interest Neel, now King of the Romany, brings his army to her aid. Picturesque settings, well-plotted action, and steampunk aesthetics keep this darkly magical tale in motion.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(2) 4-6 Flamenco student Janira and her classmates learn an "art that goes back a long, long time." Ancona's narration skillfully paces Janira's preparation for performance with the history of flamenco, encompassing music, song, and dance, and the inextricably connected history of the Roma. Accompanying photographs capture the dancers' and musical accompanists' expressive bodies and faces mid-gesture. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2011

(4) YA The Carmen here works in a Quikmart and dreams of musical stardom; her Don José is Ryan, a cadet at the nearby Valley Forge Military Academy. Inspired by the famous Bizet opera (although much compromised), this contemporary take on doomed love has two intriguing main characters but a surfeit (four) of narrators.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(3) YA The lives of three contemporary immigrant teens intersect aboard a smuggler's boat during an English Channel crossing. Abdul has fled war-torn Baghdad, Rosalia, a Roma, escaped sex trafficking, and Cheslav went AWOL from the Russian military. The teens' stories, revealed through flashbacks, are compelling and discourage easy stereotyping. Even on English soil, harrowing journeys behind them, safe haven for the trio remains realistically uncertain.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute