Tom Paine Freedom’s Apostle
Tells about the author of the pamphlet, “Common Sense”, who was virtually unknown when he arrived in America from England, but whose name became a household word.
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A dry, boring account of Thomas Paine’s life. He did some interesting things in his post-Revolution days, but they were not presented in an interesting way in this book. Not worth the read.
Rating: Meh
Americans Before Columbus
A history of the Native American peoples living in the Americas before Columbus arrived. This history features detailed photographs and drawings of the artifacts left behind.
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This is a dense text which attempts to cover the the entirety of the history of Indigenous peoples in North and South America. This book swings from crystalline moments of admiration and understanding of Indigenous art and accomplishments, as well as their betrayal and decimation by white colonizers, and moments where Columbus is lionized and outdated terms are used. Although it may have been useful for its time, the outdated history, science, and understanding of Indigenous peoples means this book has no real place or purpose in today’s world.
Rating: Meh
A Wish in the Dark
All light in Chattana is created by one man — the Governor, who appeared after the Great Fire to bring peace and order to the city. For Pong, who was born in Namwon Prison, the magical lights represent freedom, and he dreams of the day he will be able to walk among them. But when Pong escapes from prison, he realizes that the world outside is no fairer than the one behind bars. The wealthy dine and dance under bright orb light, while the poor toil away in darkness. Worst of all, Pong’s prison tattoo marks him as a fugitive who can never be truly free.
Nok, the prison warden’s perfect daughter, is bent on tracking Pong down and restoring her family’s good name. But as Nok hunts Pong through the alleys and canals of Chattana, she uncovers secrets that make her question the truths she has always held dear. Set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world, and inspired by Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.
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This is a much newer Newbery book than the others I’ve reviewed in this post so far, thank goodness! I enjoyed this book about Pong, a prison escapee; Nok, the former prison warden’s daughter; and a community ready to rise up against the Governor who gave light to the city of Chattana. It’s exciting, sad, sweet, and magical. (Spoiler alert: later in this post I review another Newbery book by this author, and it is also very enjoyable!)
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Fighting Words
Ten-year-old Della has always had her older sister, Suki: When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. When their mom’s boyfriend took them in, Della had Suki. When that same boyfriend did something so awful they had to run fast, Della had Suki. Suki is Della’s own wolf — her protector. But who has been protecting Suki? Della might get told off for swearing at school, but she has always known how to keep quiet where it counts. Then Suki tries to kill herself, and Della’s world turns so far upside down, it feels like it’s shaking her by the ankles. Maybe she’s been quiet about the wrong things. Maybe it’s time to be loud.
In this powerful novel that explodes the stigma around child sexual abuse and leavens an intense tale with compassion and humor, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley tells a story about two sisters, linked by love and trauma, who must find their own voices before they can find their way back to each other.
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This was a difficult read, but ultimately a hopeful one. Della and her sister Suki are in foster care after the rape that their mother’s boyfriend perpetuated on them, and their struggles in school, work, and relationships afterward. It’s a Newbery book that may be best enjoyed by older kids.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Pancakes – Paris
There was magic in that box of pancake flour. Charles was sure that if he just knew how, he could make French crêpes for Mardi Gras, the crêpes they always had to celebrate the day before Lent in Paris. But how to make French crêpes from a package of ordinary American pancake flour—that was the puzzle. Charles could read French quite well—he was just ten years old—but he couldn’t read English, and all the directions on the box were printed in English.
It was a difficult problem that required deep thought, but Charles was equal to it. He not only solved the problem, but he kept the surprise for his mother and little sister Zézette, and made very good friends of two American GI’s besides.
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This short, illustrated story tells about a young boy and his small family trying to scrape by in post-WWII France. Two American soldiers provide a box of pancake mix for Mardi Gras, and a sweet story ensues. Unsurprisingly for this book published in 1947, there are problematic depictions of Black people, from the Black porter at the American embassy to the Aunt Jemimah pancake box. Because of this, although I enjoyed the sweet story, it isn’t a book that I would give to a child.
Rating: Good but Problematic
The Avion My Uncle Flew
Johnny Littlehorn kicked like a steer when his parents told him he’d spend the summer in a dull little French town instead of on their Wyoming ranch. “What a way to spend a summer,” Johnny thought disgustedy. That was before he discovered a pistol hidden in a loaf of bread … and got on the trail of a fugitive Nazi spy and a stolen fortune!
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A somewhat interesting book about John, a boy recovering from a leg injury in the French countryside. He must fix his leg, learn to speak French, and defeat Nazi spies before the summer is over. It’s not a super exciting book for all that–I thought it would be action packed and adventurous, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Box
What have I to fear?
My master broke every promise to me.
I lost my beloved wife and our dear children.
All, sold South. Neither my time nor my body is mine.
The breath of life is all I have to lose.
And bondage is suffocating me.Henry Brown wrote that long before he came to be known as Box, he “entered the world a slave.” He was put to work as a child and passed down from one generation to the next — as property. When he was an adult, his wife and children were sold away from him out of spite. Henry Brown watched as his family left bound in chains, headed to the deeper South. What more could be taken from him? But then hope — and help — came in the form of the Underground Railroad. Escape!
In stanzas of six lines each, each line representing one side of a box, celebrated poet Carole Boston Weatherford powerfully narrates Henry Brown’s story of how he came to send himself in a box from slavery to freedom. Strikingly illustrated in rich hues and patterns by artist Michele Wood, Box is augmented with historical records and an introductory excerpt from Henry’s own writing as well as a time line, notes from the author and illustrator, and a bibliography.
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This Newbery book pairs gorgeous art with poems about the horrors of slavery and the story of how Henry Brown mailed himself to freedom. It’s a fascinating true story, beautifully told here.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Bhimsa the Dancing Bear
Set in India, Bhimsa, the Dancing Bear follows the adventures of two boys, David and Gopali, as they roam the country with a dancing bear.
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David and Gopala and their dancing bear, Bhimsa, adventure through the villages and jungles of India. As usual in these early Newbery books, racism and colonialism is prevalent throughout, so this book is not really worth the read.
Rating: Meh
The Story of Appleby Capple
A new kind of alphabet-nonsense book, divided into twenty- six chapters.
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What could be a fun alphabet book with endearingly silly characters is hopelessly marred by the continual racist representation of Indigenous people. I love the idea of a nonsense alphabet book, but this one can’t be salvaged.
Rating: Skip This One
Watercress
Driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl’s parents stop suddenly when they spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. Grabbing an old paper bag and some rusty scissors, the whole family wades into the muck to collect as much of the muddy, snail covered watercress as they can.
At first, she’s embarrassed. Why can’t her family get food from the grocery store? But when her mother shares a story of her family’s time in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged. Together, they make a new memory of watercress.
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This recent Newbery picture book is filled with gorgeous art, illustrating a short but extremely touching story. Although it is a picture book, older kids and adults will also appreciate it–possibly more than a young child can.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Too Bright to See
It’s the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug’s best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare. For Moira, this means figuring out the right clothes to wear, learning how to put on makeup, and deciding which boys are cuter in their yearbook photos than in real life. But none of this is all that appealing to Bug, who doesn’t particularly want to spend more time trying to understand how to be a girl. Besides, there’s something more important to worry about: A ghost is haunting Bug’s eerie old house in rural Vermont…and maybe haunting Bug in particular. As Bug begins to untangle the mystery of who this ghost is and what they’re trying to say, an altogether different truth comes to light–Bug is transgender.
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Part ghost story, part coming out story, part story of coming to grips with grief and loss. This is a short and sweet book about a young trans boys growing up and into his identity. I loved the characters, but I found the plot slower moving than I would have liked.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Black Fox of Lorne
“Now we shall go a-Viking,” Harald Redbeard announced, and so it was that Jan and Brus, Harald’s twin sons, found themselves on the dragon-prowed Raven of the Wind, its striped sails set for England. But storms, ancient enemies of the sea-faring Norsemen, swooped down, and in their wake left disaster. Their mother’s ship was lost and the Raven was wrecked on the Isle of Skye, stronghold of the giant Scot, Began Mor.
Then Jan and Brus met Gavin, the Black Fox of Lorne, and began the long journey that was to take them across half the wild land of Scotland, in search of their mother and their father’s murderer. The story is like a panorama of 10th century Scotland. Loyal clansmen at war with marauding Picts and invading Englishmen; staunch crofters and kindly shepherds; arrogant, powerful lairds – and among them the young Norsemen, practicing the clever deception that saved their lives. For no one in this strange land knew that there were two boys, identical in appearance, and by the time the secret was revealed, it had served its purpose, and the long quest was ended.
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Swinging back again to the old Newbery books, this one features a decent story of two Norse twins who become stranded in Scotland and have to pretend they are both the same person. The book is filled with extensive passages about the effect Christianity had on these two boys and the other people that they meet, which is a bit jarring to read in a modern context.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Men, Microscopes, and Living Things
Katherine Shippen collaborated with Anthony Ravielli, the illustrator to give a history of the study of biology for students in the middle school grades. She beautiful tells the story of the progression of scientific discoveries that built upon one another to give us our present day understanding of the created world. First published in 1955, Shippen republished it in 1968 under the title of So Many Marvels.
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This is a fairly boring history of important figures in biology as of the 1950s. Women and people of color, unsurprisingly, are not represented. The book does give readers an understanding of important discoveries in the history of biology, as well as the personal histories and characters of the scientists. However, if you have a child who is interested in science, I would bet that there are much better, up to date and much more inclusive versions of this book that they could find.
Rating: Meh
Red, White, and Whole
Reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she’s the only Indian American student, and home, with her family’s traditions and holidays. But Reha’s parents don’t understand why she’s conflicted—they only notice when Reha doesn’t meet their strict expectations. Reha feels disconnected from her mother, or Amma, although their names are linked—Reha means “star” and Punam means “moon”—but they are a universe apart.
Then Reha finds out that her Amma is sick. Really sick.
Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can’t stomach the sight of blood, is determined to make her Amma well again. She’ll be the perfect daughter, if it means saving her Amma’s life.
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Told in poems, this brief novel shows Reha, the daughter of Indian parents, growing up in the US in the 80s and doing her best to balance her Indian and American values. It is sad, sweet, and filled with loving friends and family.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
The Last Cuentista
There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita.
But Petra’s world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children – among them Petra and her family – have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race.
Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet – and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity’s past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard – or purged them altogether.
Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?
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A futuristic dystopian novel which focuses on the importance of stories and diverse experiences. I would love to read another story set in this world starring Petra, Voxy, Suma, and the other kids, as this book ended somewhat abruptly. Still, this is one of my favorite Newbery books of the past few years.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
All Thirteen
On June 23, 2018, twelve young players of the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach enter a cave in northern Thailand seeking an afternoon’s adventure. But when they turn to leave, rising floodwaters block their path out. The boys are trapped! Before long, news of the missing team spreads, launching a seventeen-day rescue operation involving thousands of rescuers from around the globe. As the world sits vigil, people begin to wonder: how long can a group of ordinary kids survive in complete darkness, with no food or clean water? Combining firsthand interviews of rescue workers with in-depth science and details of the region’s culture and religion, author Christina Soontornvat–shows how both the complex engineering operation above ground and the mental struggles of the thirteen young people below proved critical in the life-or-death mission.
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A gripping, detailed retelling of how the Wild Boars soccer team was rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand. The author’s goal was to highlight the lifesaving contributions of Thai people and how Thai culture played a part in the rescue, along with explaining exactly how the elite cave divers from around the world made it through to the boys. Copious photos, illustrations of the cave, and author interviews with all the participants in this daring rescue makes this a nonfiction read you can’t put down.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
A Snake Falls to Earth
Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She’s always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories.
Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he’s been cast from home. He’s found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake.
Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli’s best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven’t been in centuries.
And there are some who will kill to keep them apart.
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An earnest story featuring the Animal People and Nina, a human who may have connections with the spirit world, as they work together to try to save Ami, Oli’s toad friend. All the characters–particularly the animal characters–are wonderful to read about. I love seeing Indigenous authors and their stories being more recognized by Newbery in the past few years, and I hope to see more stories by this author receiving awards in the future.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Better Known as Johnny Appleseed
The life and legend of Johnny Appleseed presented in nine stories, each named for a variety of apples which Johnny may have planted in the Midwest river valleys. Each story takes him westward from the Youhioheny to the Mississippi.
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Boring and racist. I spent the entire time reading the book wondering how much of this history of Johnny Appleseed was true–the author herself says that she is imagining the details, so it is not even useful as a biography of sorts.
Rating: Skip This One
Gandhi, Fighter Without a Sword
Gandhi, Fighter Without a Sword is a biography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi written for children by Jeanette Eaton. It is illustrated by Ralph Ray. The biography was first published in 1950 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1951.
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A much shortened but not terrible biography of Gandhi and the major events of his life. I didn’t mind this book, but I think children would have a hard time getting through the many dry pages.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
The Many Ways of Seeing
An introduction to art appreciation through a brief history of art, an explanation of various techniques and styles, and suggested exercises for the amateur.
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A really interesting look at how to understand art, and ideas on how to get started creating art to further your understanding. Although this is a Newbery book, it is written in a manner that will appeal to adults. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this and how much I actually learned about art.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
The Last Mapmaker
As assistant to Mangkon’s most celebrated mapmaker, twelve-year-old Sai plays the part of a well-bred young lady with a glittering future. In reality, her father is a conman—and in a kingdom where the status of one’s ancestors dictates their social position, the truth could ruin her. Sai seizes the chance to join an expedition to chart the southern seas, but she isn’t the only one aboard with secrets. When Sai learns that the ship might be heading for the fabled Sunderlands—a land of dragons, dangers, and riches beyond imagining—she must weigh the cost of her dreams.
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A really fun, beautiful, adventurous story; it is similar to the author’s previous Newbery honor winner (see above!). Sai and her friends and shipmates go on an adventure to discover new lands in the southern seas, but there is more than meets the eye about their travels. I really enjoyed this fantastical but relevant adventure story.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Maizy Chen’s Last Chance
Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota. . . until now. Her Mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance (where she and her family are the only Asian-Americans) and at The Golden Palace—the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations—she makes some discoveries. For instance:
• You can tell a LOT about someone by the way they order food.
• And people can surprise you. Sometimes in good ways, sometimes in disappointing ways.
• And the Golden Palace has Secrets.But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has. Like, why are her mom and her grandmother always fighting? Who are the people in the photographs on the office wall? And when she discovers that a beloved family treasure has gone missing—and someone has left a racist note—Maizy decides it’s time find the answers.
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This book offers a quick introduction to Chinese American history and modern day racism that AAPI people face. But it isn’t just that; it’s also a story of family, of friendship, of learning that others aren’t always what they seem on the surface. Maizy and her mom go to tiny Last Chance, Minnesota to care for her dying grandfather and help her grandmother run their restaurant, the Golden Palace. As Maizy learns more about her family’s history, she meets new friends and watches her mother come to grips with her past. I cried buckets of tears at certain parts, but on the whole this book is a warm-hearted exploration of what it can mean to be Chinese American.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Iveliz Explains it All
Listen up:
The end of elementary school?
Worst time of my life.
And the start of middle school?
I just wasn’t quite right.
But this year?
YO VOY A MI.Seventh grade is going to be Iveliz’s year. She’s going to make a new friend, help her abuela Mimi get settled after moving from Puerto Rico, and she is not going to get into any more trouble at school . . .
Except is that what happens? Of course not. Because no matter how hard Iveliz tries, sometimes people say things that just make her so mad. And worse, Mimi keeps saying Iveliz’s medicine is unnecessary–even though it helps Iveliz feel less sad. But how do you explain your feelings to others when you’re not even sure what’s going on yourself?
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A challenging, powerful read about a seventh grader, her mental health challenges, and her family and friends. I felt for Iveliz deeply, as she feels that she has no one to turn to as she falls deeper and deeper into depression and PTSD. An important read.
Rating: Good
Freewater
Under the cover of night, twelve-year-old Homer flees Southerland Plantation with his little sister Ada, unwillingly leaving their beloved mother behind. Much as he adores her and fears for her life, Homer knows there’s no turning back, not with the overseer on their trail. Through tangled vines, secret doorways, and over a sky bridge, the two find a secret community called Freewater, deep in the swamp.
In this society created by formerly enslaved people and some freeborn children, Homer finds new friends, almost forgetting where he came from. But when he learns of a threat that could destroy Freewater, he crafts a plan to find his mother and help his new home.
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A fascinating, though highly fictionalized, account of the maroon communities of formerly enslaved people living in swamps in the American South. Homer, Ada, Sanzi, Billy, and all the other characters are courageous (sometimes foolishly so) as they work to free themselves and those they love. Each character must figure out for themselves what bravery and freedom truly mean.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Abraham Lincoln’s World
With her whimsical and informative illustrations and timelines, Foster has magnificently captured a remarkable age and a remarkable man. The author earned her reputation by her masterful display of “horizontal history” telling the story of world events in the geo-political sphere, while giving as much importance to advances in science, medicine, music, art, literature, and exploration.
Thus, while Abe Lincoln was a boy romping the woods of Kentucky, Thomas Jefferson was completing his eighth year as president, George III reigned in Great Britain and Napolean was about to meet his Waterloo. Beethoven and Sir Walter Scott were at the height of their creative powers, while Victor Hugo was staging plays at school. By the time Lincoln was old enough to help his father chop wood, other young boys and girls were being prepared for the future parts they would play. Harriet Beecher was reading anything she could get her hands on, Charles Darwin was collecting toads, crabs and shells, and the impoverished boy Dickens was working in a shoe blacking factory in London.
When Lincoln opened his shop in Salem, David Livingstone was exploring Africa, and thousands of Americans were opening up the West on the Oregon Trail. The spirit of freedom was moving around the globe as the abolitionist movement gained power in the States and serfdom saw its demise in Russia. Technologically the world was bursting with the invention of the telegraph, the railroad and the steamboat.
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I skimmed this one because from start to finish, the treatment of Native Americans and other marginalized groups was hard to read, and I ultimately decided that I did not have to read every word of this book to get the gist of it. Although I love the idea of exploring the contemporaries of famous figures, this book could benefit greatly from a modern day update. Unfortunately, the racism and sexism of the day keep this book from being readable for modern readers.
Rating: Skip This One
Newbery and Beyond 