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Johnson, Rebecca L. Nature’s Ninja: Animals with Spectacular Skills. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., 2020.

The clever concept of this book makes one think of a Venn diagram showing animals, ninja, and the surprising skills that overlap. The idea works and will make fans of middle grade and middle school students, and probably their teachers and librarians.

It starts with a short introduction to the art of the Ninja, and then move to ninja skill-themed chapters featuring a creature or two with each skill. For example, an Atlantic sailfish uses the art of swordsmanship, or Ken-Jutsu, to make a meal of a school of sardines; a bombardier beetle uses Kayaku-Jutsu (using explosives to distract or defeat opponents) when it blasts a burning hot chemical out of its backside to escape a predator. A section labeled “The Science Behind the Story” always wraps up the chapter and describes how scientists discovered each fascinating skill.

Throughout the book the high-resolution photography is so clear and interesting that readers will linger over the images. The back matter is thorough and even includes information about the inspiration of the book.

Nature’s Ninja would make an excellent addition to any upper elementary or middle school collection; although they may enjoy the pictures, most younger elementary students will find the volume of text a little much.

Dewey: 591.47                                        Interest Level: Grades 4-9

Reviews and Awards:
Booklist, Kirkus Reviews Starred, School Library Connection, School Library Journal.

Younger readers might like: What are Nature’s Copycats? By Bobbie Kalman
Fiction Pairing: Sword in the Stacks (Ninja Librarians, Book 2) by Jen Swann Downey
On the web: 17 Amazing Animal Defense Mechanisms at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xpqS1jcJPw

Pimentel, Annette Bay (Illus. Nabi H. Ali). All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks eXplore, 2020.

Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins was born with Cerebral Palsy in 1981. She used a wheelchair to get around, and she was always ready to go. When it was time to enroll in Kindergarten however, Jennifer encountered obstacle after obstacle, from curbs with no cut-outs, to a school with stairs and policies that would allow her access to only part of a day of Kindergarten. Not long after starting school, Jennifer participated in her first protest for the rights of people with disabilities. By the time she was eight, Jennifer was a veteran activist and eager to participate in a protest in Washington, D.C. called the Capitol Crawl. It was 1990 and Congress was debating the Americans with Disabilities Act. As one of the few young activists in a group demonstrating to convince Congress to pass the legislation, Jennifer wanted to represent children with disabilities. She ignored the adults who thought she was too young to slide from her wheelchair and make the crawl up the Capitol steps, capturing the attention of the media and the legislators.  Her decision to make the Crawl played a significant role in the passage of the law. In 2020, thanks to the work of Jennifer and the many activists in the Disability Rights Movement, we are marking the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In All the Way to the Top, readers learn about the work of Jennifer and other activists who won access to places and services for people living with disabilities. People living with all sorts of disabilities go to work, school, concerts, movies, sporting events, the bathroom, on public transportation, and loads of other places that were inaccessible just 30 years ago. Pimentel also emphasizes the idea that young people can make a difference, too. Anyone who feels strongly that something is unfair can and should speak up. It is valuable knowledge for all kids.

Clear language and illustrations show the world from Jennifer’s point of view. In addition to a forward by Jennifer herself, the back matter includes definitions of terms used in the book, a photograph of Jennifer climbing the Capitol steps, a timeline, and more.  All the Way to the Top is strong addition to any elementary school library and a good way to mark the 30th anniversary of the ADA.

Dewey: 362.4                                                               Interest Level: K-Grade 4

Reviews & Awards: Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal.
Older students might like: The Survival Guide for Kids with Physical Disabilities and Challenges by Wendy Moss
Fiction Pairing: Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor
Film for older students: Lives Worth Living (2011). Unrated. Director Eric Neudel. Documentary. A look back at the dynamic Disability Rights Movement. Find it at https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/lives-worth-living/.

Coral Celeste Frazer. Vote!: Women's Fight for Access to the Ballot Box. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books, 2020.

In conjunction with the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, the one granting voting rights to women, comes a concise history of the long and determined struggle to win that civil right. Frazer pulls stories from the many brave and well-known suffrage leaders, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She also pays homage to the lesser known heroes and shares brief accounts of the likes of the Grimké sisters, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Esther Hobart Morris.

While 1920 is the year the United States’ Constitution was amended, several western states and territories had already passed legislation allowing women the right to vote. 51 years earlier, leaders of the Wyoming Territory gave white women the right to vote. Colorado followed suit and, with strong support from the Mormon church, Utah passed legislation in 1870. Idaho eventually passed a referendum in 1896, still well ahead of the national law.

Frazer doesn’t stop with the passage of the 19th amendment, but shares accounts of the fight to stop the discriminating practices in many states in keeping blacks and immigrants away from the polling booths. From the horrific historical event know as Bloody Sunday, during the Selma to Montgomery March, to her concise and visual explanation of gerrymandering, Frazer makes it clear that there exist continued struggles regarding voting rights.

This book is a solid introduction to the women’s suffrage movement and does a good job addressing the racism and classism present during the time periods. Given the timeliness of this topic, anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, it would make a useful addition to the library collection.

Dewey: 324.623 (Juvenile or Teen)                                        Interest Level: Grades 6-12

Reviews: School Library Journal, Kirkus, School Library Connection, Booklist

Younger students might like: Questions and Answers About Women’s Suffrage by Kate Light.
Fiction Pairing: Elementary/Middle: The Hope Chest by Karen Schwabach; Teen: The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters

Project: Help fund the making of Ahead of Her Time: Woman Suffrage in Idaho. This documentary is a joint project from Idaho Women in Leadership, Idaho State Historical Society, Idaho Public Television and many more partners and supporters. Learn more at https://www.idahowomen100.com/.

Online Exhibit from Library of Congress: Find the digital collection of primary sources on women’s history, including suffrage athttps://www.loc.gov/collections/?fa=subject:american+history%7Csubject:women%27s+history

Film: Suffragette (2015). The suffragette movement was happening in England as well as in the United States. This film dramatizes events from 1912 London. Rated PG-13. View before showing students.

Purnell, Sonia. A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win WWII. New York: Viking Press, 2019.

If you’ve not heard of Virginia Hall, that would have suited her just fine.  As one of the most successful spies of WWII, she excelled at being known only to those who needed to know.  A woman with a prosthetic leg in a time when spies were supposed to be young Ivy League men, she was the most unlikely of spies, overlooked and underestimated.  In many ways, the situation helped her excel at her job, despite being undermined and nearly exposed by those who were on her side.  The information she provided went a long way toward the defeat of the Germans and helped coordinate the efforts of the French Resistance.

A Woman of No Importance brings to the fore issues of societal expectations and living outside the norm, perseverance in one’s character and physical body, and unbelievable sacrifice for a cause.  It documents the beginnings of state-sanctioned spying in England and the United States and shows how the groundwork of modern intelligence agencies was formed.

Although this book is a little dense in some sections, the intrigue, excitement, and narrow escape or capture of the characters will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2019, it would make a strong addition to any display highlighting Women’s History Month coming up in March.

Dewey: 940.54                                                                   Interest Level: Grades 10 to adult

Reviews and Awards: Booklist Starred, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, New York Times, Publishers Weekly, NPR’s Best Books of 2019.

Younger Readers might like: The Dark Game: True Spy Stories from Invisible Ink to a CIA Mole by Paul B. Janeczko. (Grades 5-8)

Fiction Pairing:  Middle School: Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz

High School: Orphan, Monster, Spy by Matt Killeen

On the web:  The CIA’s website has a “Spy Kids” section with kid-appropriate articles on the goings-on at the CIA, including Spy Dogs, Stories, and Games at https://www.cia.gov/kids-page/index.html.

Bertagna, Julie. (Illus. William Goldsmith). Wildheart: The Daring Adventures of John Muir. Yosemite National Park, CA: Yosemite Conservancy, 2019.

Finding biographies that are accessible to younger or reluctant readers and still full of engaging and useful information about the subject can be trying. Enter this John Muir biography in graphic novel format. From early boyhood in Scotland (look up Scootchers!), to immigrating to Wisconsin with his family, and throughout the adventures of adulthood, John Muir always had a passion for the outdoors. While he is most closely associated with Yosemite in California, he traveled widely, became a successful inventor, author, farmer, and even hung out with President Theodore Roosevelt. Muir used his celebrity to become an early conservationist and was instrumental in establishing America’s National Parks.

Told in the first person, Wildheart does not get mired in detail nor address questions of inclusivity, rather it moves quickly providing readers with a broad idea of the origins of Muir’s philosophy and legacy in the form of a life-long adventure story. The artwork is skillfully done in color themes that change with the chapters and panels with lots of action. Like any quality nonfiction title, this one has sources in the back matter along with a chronology, glossary and a section titles “Parks are for You,” encouraging all to visit their local state and national parks. It’s a strong addition to the biography collections of elementary and middle schools, and a graphic novel title with lots of classroom uses.

Dewey: 333.72                                               Interest Level: Grades 3-6

Reviews and Awards: Booklist; Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books; Horn Book Magazine; Publishers Weekly Annex; School Library Connection; School Library Journal starred.
Younger readers might like: John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall by Julie Danneberg
Older readers might like: A Short Biography of John Muir by Richard Smith
Film for a YA audience: Mile, Mile and a Half: Hike, Laugh & Inspire on the John Muir Trail. (2013). Rated TV-14. Directors: Jason M. Fitzpatrick, Ric Serena. Documentary. Five friends hike and document the John Muir trail.
On the web: Lots more resources including recordings, film and video, and photos can be found at the Sierra Club vault at https://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/bibliographic_resources/john_muir_bibliography/film_and_video.aspx.

 

Denise, Anika Aldamuy. (Illus. Paola Escobar). Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré. New York: Harper, 2019.

We all probably have books in our collections that have won the Pura Belpré award for works of children’s literature that best portray, affirm, and celebrate the LatinX cultural experience. The beautiful Planting Stories achieves that goal through the story of Belpré herself, how she came to the United States mainland from Puerto Rico and became the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library.

In beautifully detailed, digitally created illustrations, after she arrives in New York and begins work in the New York Public Library, we see Pura searching for books in the library that contain the stories that she knows from Puerto Rico. When she discovers that they are not there, she writes them down herself and gets them published. The theme of planting the seeds of stories carries through the pages with plants and trees somewhere on every page, along side Pura telling her stories far and wide.

This title will delight students and warm librarians’ hearts and a must-have for picture book collections! Librarians everywhere will be on the hunt for suitable story hour candles of their own.

Dewey: 020.92 Interest Level: K – Grade 2

Reviews and Awards: Booklist, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Horn Book Magazine, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal starred.

Upper elementary students might like: Perez and Martina: A Portorican [sic] Folk Tale by Pura Belpré
High School Students might like: The Library Book by Susan Orlean

Fiction Pairing: Juan Bobo Goes to Work: A Puerto Rican Folktale by Marisa Montes

On the Web:
Learn more about Pura Belpré at the New York Public Library’s website: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2019/09/20/pura-belpre
And take a look at this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=375vw6lS4-Y

Book cover

Sorell, Traci. (Illus. Frané Lessac). “We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga.” Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2018.
It can be difficult finding really good picture books accurately depicting a modern Native American family. “We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga” is one of those books. Sorell, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, guides us through a year of seasons with a Cherokee family, ending with the celebration of Cherokee National Holiday.
We start in the fall, when the Cherokee New Year is celebrated with the Great New Moon Ceremony and finish up at the end of summer for the Cherokee National Holiday. In between, there are family traditions, cultural symbols, traditional food, and modern references like a family member leaving to serve in the U.S. military. Along the bottom, some pages provide pronunciation guides, English translations, and the Cherokee syllabary versions of words used in the text.
The colorful folk-art illustrations on double-page spreads show the diversity of people within the Cherokee Nation. The back holds a page of definitions, author’s note, and information about the Cherokee Syllabary. This book is simple beautiful and a must-buy for every Idaho elementary school library.

Dewey: 975.004 Interest Level: K-Gr. 2

Reviews and Awards: Booklist, Horn Book Magazine starred; Kirkus Reviews Starred; Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor, 2019; School Library Journal starred.

Upper elementary students might like: “Sequoyah and His Talking Leaves: A Play About the Cherokee Syllabary” by Wim Coleman (illus. Siri Weber Feeney). *Could be readers theater or a stage production, too.)

Older readers might like: “The Origin of the Milky Way and Other Living Stories of the Cherokee” published by University of North Carolina Press.

Fiction Pairing: “How Spirit Dog Made the Milky Way: A retelling of a Cherokee Legend” by Michael O’Hearn.

On the Web:
Learn more about Cherokee National Holiday at https://holiday.cherokee.org/.
Discover Cherokee Bean Bread with this short video: https://www.pbs.org/video/discover-cherokee-bean-bread-n5x5dk/

Carter, James. (illus. Mar Hernandez). “Once Upon a Star: A poetic journey through space.” New York: Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2018.

With all the activity around the anniversary of the moon landing, there is no shortage of books and programs around space for summer reading. This title takes a poetic approach that will appeal to the stargazer in the PreK to Grade 1 set, while still landing squarely in the nonfiction category. Poetry, science, and art – three in one!
Carter’s rhyming text is deceptively simple while touching on some big ideas. The concept of nothing existing as “Once upon a star/there were no stars to shine/no sun to rise/no sun to set/no day, no night/nor any time” is at once straight-forward and though provoking. The big bang is portrayed as a beautiful double page spread with “A mighty BOOM/a huge KERRANG.” Hopefully, the uplifting closing sentiment that the reader is made of stardust, and therefore, a star, will be taken to heart by all the kids who read this book!
Hernandez’s illustrations in Once Upon a Star are interesting and clear using a beautiful color palette. The more readers examine the art, the more they will like it; kids and their adults won’t tire of these pages.
This is a must-have for any elementary picture book collection and will be an equally effective read-aloud or lap-read.

Dewey: 523.1 Interest Level: PreK – Grade 2

Reviews and Awards: Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal.

Upper elementary students might enjoy: “Older than the Stars” by Karen C. Fox
Middle school students might like: “The Space Adventurer’s Guide: Your Passport to the Coolest Things to See and Do in the Universe” by Peter McMahon
Fiction Pairing: “The Stuff of Stars” by Marion Dane Bauer.

Westover, Tara. “Educated.” New York: Penguin Random House, 2018.

Tara Westover grew up in a rural part of southeastern Idaho in a separatist, survivalist family who also happens to be Mormon; she makes it clear in her Author’s Note that her story is not about Mormonism, nor any other religious belief. Upon reading, it is easy to see that her story is about enduring, overcoming, and making one’s own future.

Westover’s account of her off-the-grid upbringing seems more objective than the usual memoir since she uses interviews with her family to compare against her own memories.  In addition, she writes with a surprising amount of compassion for her neglectful parents and abusive brother.

“Educated” can inspire readers in many ways from making the most of education to accepting help to forgiving those who’ve harmed us.  This title is appropriate for older teens and adults (it is an Alex Award winner) and contains some graphic descriptions of abuse and injuries.  Living and working conditions were horrific and the abusive older brother became terrifying, making Westover’s escape and hard-won knew self-identity worth cheering.

This title is a strong addition to a high school memoir or Idaho authors collection that will be read by student and staff.

Dewey: 270                                                                        Interest Level:  Grades 10 and up

Reviews and Awards:  2019 Alex Award, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, New York times, Publishers Weekly starred, School Library Journal starred.

Another memoir for high school students: “Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table” by Ruth Reichl

On the web:

CNN interview with Tara Westover:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kgVliaMrXQ

Tara Westover fields questions from readers on PBS NewsHour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvYg_gp0JPc

 

 

 

Hendrix, John. “The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler.” New York: Amulet Books, 2018.

“The Faithful Spy,” which tells the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is certainly a graphic novel, but does not rely on panels. Rather, the images sweep over an entire page and use the best of the graphic novel format and informational text. Hendrix uses only green and red for color to great effect to indicate good and evil, resulting in a page-turner that builds suspense and keeps us on the edge of our seat, even though we may know the end.

As the title indicates, this story does not shy away from the role faith and religion played in Dietrich’s life and the decisions that bring him to the plot to kill Hitler. Although he did not survive the war, his story and the story of his (sometimes surprising) co-conspirators is truly inspiring. His internal battles of ethics and morality around plotting an assassination were very real and could inspire classroom discussion around the ethics of the gray areas of life.

“The Faithful Spy” is a good introduction to the German resistance, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German military, and others who worked to defeat Hitler from inside the Nazi party. Middle and high school students will find it an accessible start, and librarians and teachers may need to use their magnifying readers to read some of the smaller print.  A worthwhile addition to any secondary library.

Dewey: 230 (but could easily go in 940.53 or 920)                                  Interest Level:  Grades 6 and up

Reviews and Awards:  Booklist starred, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Horn Book Magazine, Kirkus Reviews starred, New York times, Publishers Weekly, School Library Connection starred, School Library Journal starred, YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults – Nominees 2019.

Readers might also like: The Plot to Kill Hitler: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Unlikely Hero by Patricia McCormick (Gr. 5-8)

Fiction Pairing: Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Gr. 6-9)

On the Web:

Bonhoeffer and his conspirators were not the only ones out for Hitler. Learn about a few other attempts on the Fuhrer at www.history.com -  6 Assassination Attempts on Adolph Hitler.

Explore a few of the poems written by Bonhoeffer during his time in prison at https://www.holytrinity.net/3-prison-poems-by-dietrich-bonhoeffer/

Film:

Valkyrie (2008). Rated PG-13 for violence and some language.  Bonhoeffer is not in the film, but it does dramatize the last assassination attempt described in the book.

 

 

 

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