Loretta Little Looks Back

 Pinkney, Andrea.  Loretta Little Looks Back: Three Voices Go Tell It.  2020.  Little, Brown a

nd Company. New York, NY.

The story of the Little Family during the Jim Crow Era in Mississippi.  The Littles struggled from Sharecropping to home ownership and registering people to vote with the SNCC. Loretta begins the story, telling how her family grew to be and about the night they found her younger brother abandoned in a cotton field one night.  

As the story grows, the family grows with it, and the story is passed from Loretta to her brother, and eventually to his daughter.  While it seems like they are living an ordinary life, the events that they become involved in will change the history of the United States.

Agnes at the End of the World

 McWilliams, Kelly.  Agnes at the End of the World.  2020.  Little, Brown, and Company.  New York, NY.

Agnes swears that she can hear God singing in the world around her.  But the prophet of Red Creek, the Commune where she lives swears that only he can hear God.  Agnes is beaten until she finally denies the music of the world around her.

At 14 years of age, Agnes has become a model citizen for the prophet.  She does everything she can to follow the rules and laws that govern the commune with one teeny, tiny little exception.  Her little brother is a Type 1 Diabetic.  Once a month, she sneaks off the grounds of the commune in the middle of the night and receives a cooler of insulin from the woman who saved her brother's life years before.  Knowing that the penalty for dealing with outsiders is expulsion, Agnes continues to risk to keep her brother safe and healthy.

UNTIL

The day that Agnes is promised in marriage to a man in Red Creek who is older than her father.  As Agnes struggles to come to terms with this new reality she realizes that Red Creek is not all that she has been led to believe.  When she meets up with Danny to pick up her brother's monthly dose of insulin she discovers that there is a strange plague that is crossing the land, killing people right and left. The herald of the disease is a strange appearance of animals or people with a crystaline coating to their skin or fur.

When Agnes' sister is caught kissing the son of Agnes' betrothed and her sister is consigned to marry the elder.

The strange disease has moved onto the compound, and the Prophet is going to sequester everyone inside of the underground bunker.  However, should Agnes decide to go underground with the prophet, it is a certain death sentence for her brother.

What will Agnes do?  Will she be able to save her brother's life?  What about the virus?  Will it end all life as people knew it?  Is it really the end of the world?

 

What I like about this book:

I love Agnes.  I love how she thinks outside of the box and takes huge risks to save her brother and do what is right.  The subplot of the story with Danny is a wonderful love story.  Agnes exits the compound and adapts to a very uncertain life outside of the compound in a world ravaged by a pandemic.

The prophet.  The history of the prophet and of Red Creek.  I was so disturbed by the story of how the prophet had kidnapped his first wife and how he married off the young women to the old men in the compound all while keeping them undereducated and preaching to them about their inferiority to men - to whom they must be subject.  I find this to be a cautionary tale, in many ways reminiscent of A Handmaid's Tale about what can happen to women when extreme views of religion are enforced upon them.

Type 1 Diabetes.  This.  So much involved in this subplot.  The love of the sister who was willing to hide the diagnosis and dependence upon insulin from the elders in order to keep Ezekiel alive.  The risks that Agnes was willing to take in order to keep Ezekiel alive - meeting with outsiders and running away from the compound.  Putting off her marriage in order to find a way to make sure Zeke got his medicine.   Watching Ezekiel at the end of the story as his sugar is out of control is heart rending.  The story does a great job of raising awareness of Type 1 Diabetes, showing the very real health consequences.

The rebellious sister - Beth.  Her spirit at the beginning was so phenomenal - so much spirit and a child so willing to risk everything in order to live life.  The consequences of here kissing her love were severe, and her utter shame and embarrassment and total surrender to the wishes of the prophet were heartbreaking.   Just loved how she ended up finally waking up and fighting for her life and the lives of the people of Red Creek after escaping from her prison.

The imagery at the end of Agnes sacrificing all for the people of Red Creek.

Pandemic reading during a pandemic.

I enjoyed the outsiders view of Red Creek, and how it informed our views and understanding of Red Creek.  It was a nice plot device that really enhanced our understanding of the larger picture of the cult within the story.

Maya and the Rising Dark

 Barron, Rena.  Maya and the Rising Dark.  2020.  Houghton Mifflin Publishers, New York, New York.

Strange things are happening to 12 year old Maya:

While standing at the blackboard in class, the color bleeds from the world and then comes back.

A pack of Werehyenas attacks her in the night.  (Wait, what, Werehyenas?  Didn't they only exist in Dad's stories?)

A scary man made of darkness is chasing her through her dreams.

While her friends try to convince her that the pudding in the school cafeteria was laced with something, Maya begins to fear that there is truth to the strange stories that her father has told her through the years and that dark creatures really do stalk the Earth at night. 

When Maya discovers that her father is, in truth, Guardian of the Veil that separates the Spirit World from the Human World and has gone missing she decides to set out with the help of her two best friends to rescue her father from the Lord of Shadows.   

What I love about this book:

Maya is an African American girl, and the cast of characters in the book are racially diverse.  Maya is smart.  I especially love that the book is set on the South Side of Chicago.

This book pulls upon the folk lore of West Africa, using Orishas.  Orishas are the mediators between the human and spiritual world.  The story does an excellent job of explaining what Orishas are, and what their job is meant to be.

Teamwork is what saves the day.  While Maya wants to save her father on her own, the team works together and it is through their teamwork along with help from her father that they are able to prevail.

It is not written in the style of a Rick Riordan book.  It stands on it's own merit, and the story arc does not take the turns a Riordan book takes.  There are some genuine surprises in the plot. 

Dragon Hoops

 Yang, Gene Luen.  Dragon Hoops.  2020.  First Second Books, New York, NY.

Come along for the ride as Mr. Yang follows his school basketball team through their season in pursuit of the California State Championships.  Mr. Yang has never been a big sports fan, and he doesn't really understand basketball.  But as he gets to know the kids on the team a s individual people and spends more time watching the game in order to understand it, he becomes one of the biggest fans of the game and the school team.  

Journey along through the year with Mr. Yang as he meets every person involved with the team and uncovers some deeply held secrets from long ago.  Will these revelations help or hurt the team as they pursue their dreams?

Will this be the year that the Dragons win the Championship?

Will this year change the life of the Yang Family forever?

Find out in Dragon Hoops....

Orphan Eleven

 Choldenko, Gennifer.  Orphan Eleven.  2020.  Wendy Lamb Books, a division of Penguin Random House Children's Books.  New York, New York.

Lucy was left at the Orphanage, known as The Home, since her mother died and her step father left her there.  Before  she came to The Home, Lucy talked constantly, would sing, and talked about had much to say about everything.  But something has happened to her during her time at the home and she now refuses to speak.  Desperate to escape the mysterious cause of her ailment, Lucy grabs and unexpected opportunity to run away.  Three children run with her, determined to gain some sort of freedom.  

Finding unexpected help along the way, the children are steered to the Circus.  If they can get a ticket to join the circus before they leave their winter quarters, they will have a job, food, and a place to sleep.  While the other children quickly find places to work, the one place that Lucy belongs requires her to find her voice if she wants to stay.  

While Lucy struggles with her voice, her mysterious past is pursuing her.  Will Lucy be able to find her voice in time to save her future?

Based upon the true story of children who were unwitting subjects of the Fluency Study of the University of Iowa, this tale takes unexpected twists and turns while exploring the ugly implications of human science experiments upon unsuspecting subjects in the United States.  Choldenko based this story upon the book Against Their Will: The Secret History of Medical Experimentation on Children in Cold War America.   I still find it difficult to fathom the depth to which US Scientists stooped in pursuit of their theories in Cold War America.  But, that is a subject for a different day. Choldenko handles the story with warmth and compassion, allowing the reader to see and feel the terror of these children who were already living in difficult situation.

 

 

Author's Website: https://www.choldenko.com/

Doodleville

 Sell, Chad.  Doodleville.  2020.  RH Graphic.  New York, New York.

Do you love to Doodle?  Drew does, too.  But there's something special about her Doodles.  Everything she Doodles comes to life!  The Doodles live both in our world and in the paper world.  As her collection of Doodles has continued to grow, Drew has created a huge city drawn on paper where they are free to move about as they wish.  The name of this magical place is Doodleville. 

 Drew takes her Doodles with her in her magical notebook.  There's just one problem with her Doodles.  They don't always do what is expected of them.  Sometimes they're just a little TOO mischevious. And that upsets the other kids at Art Camp.  The day that Art Camp goes to the Art Museum is a turning point in the life of the Doodles.  While the Doodles end up gallivanting all over the museum, and Drew ends up drawing a Leviathan of incredible power that escapes her control and threatens the creative art of everyone in her class.

Can the Art Camp work past their hurt feelings to bring the Leviathan under control before it destroys all their work?

Author Website: https://chadsellcomics.com/

Thank You For Coming to my TED Talk

 Anderson, Chris.  Thank You For Coming to my TED Talk: A Teen Guide to Great Public Speaking.  2020.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  New York, New York.

Chris Anderson is the Head of TED.  Since 2001 he has helped great ideas sprout and grow.  In this handbook, Chris goes through the steps that make an ordinary speech extraordinary.  Written in the engaging style of a TED Talk, readers will learn the keys to oratory success!

Wrong Way Summer

 Lang, Heidi.  Wrong Way Summer.  2020.  Abrams Books, New York, New York.

In my experience, riding in cars and camping out with family are when you really discover more about each other and the forces that drive that person and make them who they are. Camping brings out both the best and the worst in people, as you are dealing with situations and conditions that are not easily controlled and can be less than idyllic.  My husband and his family still talk about the RV road trip they took with their grandparents across the Midwest in 1975 like it was yesterday.  These trips definitely make memories that last a life time.

The book Wrong Way Summer is a tale of road trip that goes well, the wrong way.  Claire's Dad believes that every day is an adventure.  At the end of the school year, he tells his kids that they are going to sell the house and travel across the country in a renovated van.  They'll be able to see the world from the comfort of their truck.  Claire is not convinced that everything is on the up and up.  Her Dad is refusing to answer questions about where they are going, and what is the plan.  When she does ask questions, he reverts to telling stories about a magical kingdom, and how their mother was kidnapped by a troll.  While Claire digs to find the truth about what is happening, her father takes them on a rollicking adventure across the country, meeting up with old college friends.  When her little brother decides to take matters into his own hands and disappears to rescue his mother from the troll, things take a dangerous turn towards reality.

The story within the story touches upon the homeless crisis in the United States today, and how many families are adapting to housing instability.  It drives home the meaning of family, friendship, love, and unexpected endings.  

Wrong Way Summer will take you down some unexpected but very intriguing paths before it leaves you at the end of the journey, yearning for more.

Poisoned Water: How the citizens of Flint, Michigan fought for their lives and warned the nation.

Cooper, Candy J. with Marc Aronson.  Poisoned Water.  2020. Bloomsbury Children's Books, New York.

The Flint Water Crisis rocked the faith that Americans had in local government and services.  Once listed as one of the best places to live in America, Flint fell on hard times when the GM Auto plants closed.  Those who were left behind were destitute.  As the tax based moved away, the schools fell into decline and the city infrastructure fell apart. Eventually, Flint was taken over by the state of Michigan and a City Manager was put in charge to cut costs.  The single most disastrous decision was to switch Flint from getting their water from Detroit and Lake Michigan to getting their water from the Flint River, processed through a plant that hadn't worked or been tested in decades.  A makeshift, untrained crew was put in charge of the water plant.  Within days, the people of Flint began getting sick from the water.  18 months later, the children of Flint were suffering from permanent damage from Lead Poisoning and the situation continued to deteriorate as politicians denied that there was any problem.

Poisoned Water traces the history of the Flint water crisis, from the glory days of Flint, Michigan to present times.  She traces the decisions that led to the water crisis and follows the ugly trail of denial and deceit as the citizens of Michigan were slowly poisoned by their local government.

The efforts of community activists as they raised alarm bells and fought the system in order to gain the necessary national attention to get things to change are highlighted.  In spite of seemingly insurmountable odds, their work eventually paid off in cleaner water for everyone.

The book also serves as a warning bell for other communities across the country.  While the story of the Flint Water Crisis had dropped off of the national radar, there are some very important lessons for every city in the United States.  Our infrastructure is old and quickly falling into disrepair.  As politicians struggle to find cheap fixes, our very lives are at risk.  We all need to pay attention to the hard lessons learned in Flint and advocate for ourselves and our children.