“No matter how you describe it—smelly, foul, fetid, rank, putrid, bad, or reeking—in the summer of 1858, London’s River Thames STANK.” So begins a hilariously straightforward account of a grim subject: the pollution of the River Thames—and thus, Londoners’ drinking water—with sewage, and the eventual creation of a hygienic sewer system.
Starred Review of the Week
Pony
In 1860, sensitive, sheltered Silas, 12 lives with his father, Martin Bird, and Mittenwool, a ghost who’s been Silas’s companion for as long as he can remember.
Daisy
Named after her mother’s favorite flower, warthog Daisy gets teased about her name at school. “’You don’t look like a daisy,’ said Rose. ‘More like a thistle,’ said Violet.”
The Legend of Auntie Po
Chinese American Mei, 13, lives in a Sierra Nevada lumber camp in 1885. Her father, Hao, is the head cook; her best friend, Bee, is the white daughter of the camp manager.
Dawn Raid
Twelve-year-old Sofia, Samoan/white, living in New Zealand in the mid-1970s, is chosen to participate in a regional speech competition after wowing with a classroom presentation titled “About Me.”
The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
Eugene Yelchin’s funny, tender memoir recounts aspects of his childhood and young adulthood in Leningrad during the Cold War.
America My Love America My Heart
“America, the Brave. America, the Bold. / America to Have. America to Hold.” A picture book in which the opening lines suggest the celebratory and devotional goes on to asks unflinching, essential questions in a second-person narrative addressing America in the voice of individual Black and brown children.
Sorry for Your Loss
Evie is teased by other middle school girls at her Jewish private school because of her parents’ work–they run a funeral parlor; work that Evie is interested in pursuing someday.
Rosa Loves Cars / A Rosa le encantan los carros
Brown-skinned, glasses-wearing, curly dark-haired Rosa engages in active and imaginative play on her own and with friends in these bilingual (English/Spanish) board books.
Too Bright to See
Bug and Bug’s mom are grieving Bug’s Uncle Roderick, who lived with them and recently passed away after a long illness. It was Uncle Roderick who taught Bug about ghosts, so when spooky things start happening–doors open and close, objects moved around–Bug suspects it’s Uncle Roderick, trying to communicate something important.