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Youth Fiction
1. Finding Langston, by Lesa Cline-Ransome (for 4-7thGrade)
Langstonwishes he was back in Alabama. The 11-year-old’s mother was barely dead andburied before his father moved them to Chicago, where, in 1946, “a man canprovide for his family without always scraping and bowing.” But to Langston,Chicago is loneliness and lacking—no friends, family, or good food, just hisdad’s bad cooking. Three bullies make life even harder. Then he discoverssomething that amazes him: a public library, and it’s not just for whites likethe one back home. This branch library not only welcomes African Americans, itcelebrates successful black men and women, especially writers. The librarybecomes Langston’s everything—his space away from his tiny apartment, hisrefuge from the bullies, the expansion of his world through books. It is alsothe place where he finds his namesake, Langston Hughes, and begins to findhimself. Cline-Ransome, lauded for her picture books, including Booklist’s 2017 Top of theList title Before She Was Harriet, proves herself anadept novelist, one with keen insight into the human condition. Everycharacter, child and adult, is layered, a feat made more remarkable by the factthat the writing is spare. Emotions and relationships are teased out throughquiet details and glimmers of understanding, but the impact on the reader couldnot be more powerful. A memorable debut novel.
— IleneCooper
2. Fresh Ink, by Lamar Giles (for 9-12thGrade) 
This collection of 12 youngadult short stories is for the teens who’ve long had to skim an anthologysearching for that so-called hidden gem—the rare story that reflects theirworld back to them. Giles, a cofounder of We Need Diverse Books, has assembledshort stories that feature a wide array of characters, situations, and formats,capturing the diversity found within teen readership. From best-selling authorMelissa de la Cruz’s “One Voice: A Something in Between Story,” exploring anact of hateful graffiti that rattles an undocumented Stanford student’s collegeexperience, to a WWII-set historical piece, “A Boy’s Duty,” by Sharon G. Flake,to Sara Farizan’s story of a bisexual Iranian American young woman learning theways of the kitchen from her grandmother to impress her girlfriend, each carriesits own unique appeal and significance. Two particular standouts come late inthe collection, including “Catch, Pull, Drive,” from Schuyler Bailar, a hapaKorean American and the first out transgender NCAA Division I men’s athlete.The final story may linger longest, since it resonates so strongly to thisparticular cultural moment: in “Super Human,” Nicola Yoon writes about a maskedblack superhero, X, whose superpowers were born of his mother’s wish for “aworld where bullets could never break [his] skin.” A powerful and variedcollection deserving of shelf space in every library.
— Jennifer Barnes
3. The Looking Glass, by Janet McNally (for 7-10thGrade) 
As farback as Sylvie can remember, her older sister, Julia, was the star, drawingattention at their prestigious ballet academy and in life. But then cameJulia’s accident, her painkiller addiction, and then, finally, herdisappearance, leaving Sylvie to carry on—in ballet and in life—alone. When along-lost copy of a book of fairy tales shows up in the mail with enigmaticdoodles on its end pages, Sylvie knows it’s from Julia, but it’s a cryptic mapat best. Then Sylvie starts crossing paths with people too similar to fairytale characters to be coincidental. Convinced she’s losing her mind, Sylviereluctantly enlists the help of her best friend’s brother, who comes equippedwith an ancient Volvo and a Fleetwood Mac playlist, and blows off ballet campfor a road trip across the Eastern Seaboard to find her sister. If Julia trulywants to be found, however, remains to be seen, and even if she is found,whether or not she can be saved may not be up to Sylvie. In her sophomoreoffering, McNally ( Girls in the Moon, 2016) puts not asingle note out of place. Similar in concept, though softer in tone, to MelissaAlbert’s The Hazel Wood(2018), this is aprecise, musical novel that’s extraordinarily effective in format. Abittersweet modern fairy tale, tinged with magical realism, that will touchhearts.
— MaggieReagan
4. The Rough Patch, by Brian Lies, illus. by the author (for 1st-3rdGrade) 
FarmerEvan, portrayed as a fox in overalls, has a dog. Constant companions, theyenjoy playing games, taking hikes, and working in the garden. But after thedog’s death, Evan feels that nothing will be quite the same and so hacks hisbeloved garden to bits. Time passes. Weeds move in, and he lets the itchy,spiky-looking ones stay. He begins to tend a prickly vine, which eventuallyproduces an enormous pumpkin. Feeling “an old, familiar sense of excitement,”Evan hauls his pumpkin to the local fair, where he enjoys the food, the games,and talking with old friends. His pumpkin wins him a prize: $10 or a puppy. Hedrives home with a new companion. Spare and beautifully phrased, the story iswell told in the text. But Evan’s emotions are most vividly conveyed in theartwork, created with acrylics, oils, and colored pencils. In the gravesidescene, a shadow literally falls over Evan, while on the facing page, the phrase“and nothing was the same” appears on a light gray background, encroached bylooming, chaotic darkness. Lies’ rich colors and expressive use of light areevident throughout this picture book, which acknowledges grief and delivers ahopeful message with subtlety, empathy, and eloquence.
— CarolynPhelan
Youth Nonfiction
1. Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend, by Karen Blumenthal (for 7-10th Grade) 
“Some daythey’ll go down together; / They’ll bury them side by side; / To few it’ll begrief— / To the law a relief— / But it’s death for Bonnie and Clyde.” She wouldhave had no way of knowing it, but Bonnie Parker got one thing wrong in herpoem: she and Clyde Barrow were buried apart. An on-and-off subject of publicfascination since their two-year rampage across the American Southwest in the1930s, Bonnie and Clyde have presented an image of glamour, recklessness,freedom, and all-consuming love that has never quite faded from pop culture. Inthis exquisitely researched biography, Blumenthal doesn’t entirely dispute thatimage, but she’s careful to explore why the crime-spree duo was, and is, soeasily romanticized, without romanticizing them herself. The text is precise,unemotional, and impartial; this, first and foremost, is an investigation ofthe hardships people faced during the Great Depression. That Bonnie and Clydewere young people, close to their families, often kind, and placed inextraordinarily difficult circumstances is not disputed, but neither is theextent of their crimes; in sidebars, Blumenthal profiles each of the peoplethat the Barrow Gang killed. Additional sidebars investigate some of thelegends surrounding the duo, and the circumstances that led to theirpopularity. An extraordinarily successful resource about a painful time inhistory and a complicated, infamous pair.
— MaggieReagan
2. Google It: A History ofGoogle, by Anna Crowley Redding (for 7-10th Grade) 
This isan entertaining history of how Google, now almost 20 years old, has become soubiquitous in many lives. Stanford University students Larry Page and SergeyMikhaylovich Brin.began a PhD thesis project (initially called BackRub!) to“organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible anduseful.” Eventually, it evolved into Google, and this book covers furtherinnovations, from Google Doodle to Google Home and Google’s project expansioninto space travel, health, and ways to prolong life. One of the newest projectsis a balloon-powered internet for areas lacking an internet infrastructure.Some innovations have failed (remember Google Glass?), and their success hasn’tbeen without controversy. Some authors believed Google Books was a copyrightinfringement, while Gmail led people to question privacy issues. Google wascriticized for allowing China to censor certain searches until Googleredirected those users to another site. Investigative journalist Redding doesan admirable job of chronicling the co-creators’amazing successes and will inspire young people to follow intheir ingenious footsteps. It’s more comprehensive than other books for youngreaders about Google’s founders, with energetically written short chapters,interesting facts, graphics, and photos, although it does lack an index. Thesky is the limit on what this fantastically innovative company can achieve.
— SharonRawlin
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发表于 2018-9-3 22:41:14
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