reviews REVOLUTION
CHILDREN’S
Freedom comes to Mississippi REVIEW BY ANGELA LEEPER
Following Countdown, Deborah Wiles’ tale about the Cuban Missile Crisis and the first book in her Sixties Trilogy, Revolution spotlights the Freedom Summer of 1964. During this volatile time, black and white volunteers from four major civil rights organizations joined efforts to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi, at the time one of the country’s most racist and dangerous states. These “invaders” have been strategizing for months, but for 12-year-old Sunny Fairchild, it all begins the night she and her new stepbrother sneak into their Greenwood, Mississippi, whites-only swimming pool. They’re not expecting company, especially not Raymond, the “colored boy” with high-tops. At first Sunny doesn’t understand the uproar when she hears about integration, civil rights and voting registration. Don’t blacks have their By Deborah Wiles own churches, restaurants and schools? She witnesses white students and Scholastic, $19.99, 544 pages black citizens being berated and jailed for even attempting to register to ISBN 9780545106078, eBook available vote. When the hatred turns violent and affects her own family, Sunny realAges 8 to 12 izes that doing what’s right often means taking risks. MIDDLE GRADE Readers get the true flavor of this tumultuous and groundbreaking summer as Sunny catches the latest Hayley Mills movie and her parents listen to Walter Cronkite report on the escalating war in Vietnam. But what sets this book apart from other historical fiction is the wealth of photographs, quotes, profiles and song lyrics on topics that range from President Johnson and the three murdered Freedom Riders to Willie Mays and Cassius Clay, better known as Muhammad Ali. For today’s children, these events will be just as much of an awakening to equality as they are to Sunny.
THREE BEARS IN A BOAT By David Soman
Dial $17.99, 40 pages ISBN 9780803739932 eBook available Ages 3 to 5
R E A D M O R E AT B O O K PA G E . C O M
PICTURE BOOK
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The co-creator of the best-selling Ladybug Girl series brings readers an entertaining tale of sibling camaraderie, starring three bears who live by the sea. Their story, a classic hero’s journey (home, adventure and home again), is one of excitement, danger, a little bit of mischief and lots of understated humor. The three bears head out one day after knocking over their mother’s favorite blue seashell. (Naturally, they were after the honey, high on the mantelpiece.) If they can replace the shell, Mama will never know. They set out in a boat, passing other bears and finally meeting a “big, salty” captain of a bear, who tells them they’ll find what they’re looking for—but only if they look in the right place. He describes a faraway
island, shaped like a “lumpy hat,” so that’s where the siblings go. Even though the bears search the island, the watery world below (look for Soman’s impressive ability to personify an octopus), and nearly every spot on their way there, they are unable to find a beautiful blue shell. Grumpy and argumentative, they head back home. As they step ashore, where a solemn and towering Mama waits, they find a shimmering blue shell. It turns out that home is the “right place,” after all. Mama forgives them, but to keep things from getting too cloying, Soman closes the book with the very funny, matter-of-fact statement that they “didn’t get any dessert.” Soman’s illustrations, showcasing all the blues and teals of a seafaring journey, are at turns majestic (the churning waters of a storm at sea) and laugh-out-loud funny (searching for seashells on a mountaintop, as a disgruntled ram humors them). Many story elements and illustrations call to mind other classic stories (Where the Wild Things Are and Moby Dick, to name two). This one utterly charms. —J U L I E D A N I E L S O N
ABSOLUTELY ALMOST By Lisa Graff
Philomel $16.99, 304 pages ISBN 9780399164057 eBook available Ages 8 to 12
MIDDLE GRADE
It is true that Lisa Graff’s latest book, Absolutely Almost, brings to mind someone else’s work, but not because Graff is in any way imitative—she’s far too brilliant to sound like someone else. Lately the patrons of my school library have been asking, “Do you have any books like Wonder by R.J. Palacio?” and now I have the perfect offering. Like Wonder, Absolutely Almost is the story of a boy struggling to fit in. Unlike Auggie, however, Graff’s protagonist Albie doesn’t have any noticeable problems; he just cannot succeed at school. Reading is hard. Math is impossible. So much so, in fact, that he can no longer attend private school.
His busy parents are not happy. Albie, who now has to adjust to fifth grade in public school, is definitely not happy. A reader might hope for a magic answer: Does Albie have a learning disorder? Will the new nanny fix everything? Something will make it all better, right? Maybe. At the end of Wonder, Auggie was still Auggie—a kid with problems, both ordinary and extraordinary. Albie is also just a kid trying to find his way. Graff has an uncanny ability to sound exactly like a 10-year-old boy, which allows the reader to feel the “almost” that Albie confronts every day. Graff almost won the National Book Award for A Tangle of Knots; here’s hoping she gets a big award soon. Like Albie, she deserves it. —J E N N I F E R B R U E R K I T C H E L
THE NIGHT GARDENER By Jonathan Auxier Amulet $16.95, 368 pages ISBN 9781419711442 Ages 10 and up
MIDDLE GRADE
From the title of Jonathan Auxier’s fascinating, original (and more than a little creepy) version of a Victorian ghost story, one might suppose that The Night Gardener is, like The Secret Garden, a sweet, perhaps a bit sentimental, coming-of-age story. And while the novel does share some elements with the classic tale, including orphans (Molly and her little brother Kip); a creepy mansion; spoiled children (Penny and Alistair Windsor); and somewhat magical growing things, The Night Gardener is decidedly darker—in the most delicious and delightful way. When Irish orphans Molly and Kip arrive to work at the Windsor estate, they find a family out of sorts, a father in financial trouble, curious muddy footprints and, of course, a mysterious room at the heart of the house. As Molly and Kip seek to free the Windsors and themselves from the malevolent presence that stalks the family, they find unexpected sources of courage and allies, including an old storyteller. This is exactly the sort of scary, spooky story kids love. —DEBORAH HOPKINSON