Thirteen-year-old Johnny hopes to spend his summer swimming and hanging out with his friends in their Vermont town. But his mother must work in New York, and his father, who lives in Boston, has other priorities, so Johnny is sent…
Category: Out of the Mainstream: Gender, Ethnicity, and Disability
DARE TO DREAM …CHANGE THE WORLD
DARE TO DREAM…CHANGE THE WORLD Edited by Jill Corcoran, illustrated by J. Beth Jepson What a beautiful collection of poems that inspires and challenge. We all have prejudices and we all have felt discrimination. Who has not been bullied, left…
Razia’s Ray of Hope: One Girl’s Dream of an Education
Razia’s Ray of Hope: One Girl’s Dream of an Education by Elizabeth Suneby is extremely informative, providing children just enough of a glimpse into the strange educational apartheid in Afghanistan. The Zabuli Education Center for Girls in Kabul is a…
Broken by Elizabeth Pulford
For fans of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson comes Broken by Elizabeth Pulford and illustrated by Angus Gomes. The subject matter is not the same as Speak but the protagonists share a similar problem—keeping a terrible secret that is changing…
IRA’s new children’s award! Social Justice Literature
IRA’s new award: The Social Justice Literature Award “This brand-new award is presented to honor books that address social responsibility towards individuals, communities, societies, and/or the environment as well as invite reflection and socially responsible action by the reader.” What…
Divided Loyalties: A Review of Brotherhood
In Richmond, Virginia in 1867, 14-year-old Shadrach Weaver is awakened early and violently one morning. Federal soldiers beat him and carry away his older brother, Jeremiah, wanted for murder. The victim, George Nelson, is an itinerant teacher, a white man…
IF I EVER GET OUT OF HERE
IF I EVER GET OUT OF HERE, written by Eric Gansworth, tackles tough issues with raw rugged honesty. The author, an enrolled member of the Onondaga Nation, grew up on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation in upstate New York. This…
Rapture Practice: An Interview with Aaron Hartzler
Aaron Hartzler’s new y.a. memoir, Rapture Practice, is the funny-sad-hopeful story of one kid’s lonely journey of self-awareness and spiritual angst while growing up in a fundamentalist Christian family. I was particularly excited to read the memoir because I made…
On Meeting Temple Grandin
I regularly participate in discussions related to children’s and YA literature on the child_lit list, and the week after the American Library Conference in Chicago, our discussion turned to the high points of the conference for those of us who…
Here I Am
I’m interested in the creative process that took place in producing Here I Am. There is no text, so author Patti Kim must have somehow communicated her intended narrative to illustrator Sonia Sanchez. The collaboration is a success because (like…