Cooper is angry. His dad left the family three years ago; since then, he has emotionally isolated himself from his mom and younger sister, Jess (who holds out hope that their dad will contact them).
Starred Review of the Week
Outside, Inside
A gently reassuring narrative explores the hardships and triumphs of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown without directly naming the virus.
Ever Cursed
Jane, 18, is the oldest of the five Spellbound princesses of Ever, each cursed to go without something particular from the moment she turns 13. Jane can’t eat, Nora can’t love, Alice can’t sleep, Grace can’t remember. Eden, about to turn 13, will go without hope.
The Range Eternal
“On cold winter days in the Turtle Mountains, I helped Mama cook soup on our woodstove, The Range Eternal.” On the blue enamel stove in the Anishinaabe narrator’s childhood home, her mother deftly feeds wood into the fire even as she stirs.
Say Her Name: Poems to Empower
“Black girl / you are more than magic / you are a miracle …” (from “Black Girl Miracle”). A collection of poems centered around Black female experience explores themes of racism, violence, body image, misogyny, but also, so importantly, self-love, sisterhood, strength, and the miracle of survival.
Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything
Sia (Artemesia) Martinez’s mother was deported to Mexico three years ago and disappeared while trying to make the desert crossing back to the United States; she’s now presumed dead.
Bye, Penguin!
A small penguin is separated from its community when the ice on which it’s standing breaks away.
Legendborn
African American Bree, 16, grief stricken since her mother’s death in a car accident, is in the Early College program at UNC-Chapel Hill, her mom’s alma mater.
We Are Not Free
The voices of 14 teenagers and young adults, all friends and acquaintances from San Francisco’s Japantown, narrate this story of Japanese and Japanese American imprisonment during World War II.
Skunk and Badger
Enjoying a quiet, solitary life in the brownstone owned by Aunt Lula, a pine marten whospeaksveryfast, Badger is dismayed by the Skunk’s arrival, battered suitcase in paw, with an invitation from Aunt Lula to stay there, too.