“To see an owl is magic.” A girl fascinated by owls draws them, dreams about them, and goes in search of them with her mom, to no avail.
Starred Review of the Week
Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers’ Rights
“When adults … refuse to acknowledge that adolescence isn’t a time of innocence and ease for everyone, when they try to take away books that reflect the wide range of experiences of young people, they are attempting to change the narrative of what it means to be a teen in the United States” (Isabel Quintero). Fourteen creators of books for youth whose works have been among those targeted by censors challenging materials in school and public libraries in recent years offer their perspectives on book bans and censorship in the United States.
At Home in a Faraway Place
Lissie (white) hopes to learn Spanish on the trip she’s taking with her dad and grandma to visit her dad’s friend Raúl, who lives “where most people speak Spanish.” Word by word, phrase by phrase, Lissie’s Spanish skills expand in that faraway place where she has both new and familiar experiences and meets many kind people.
Somadina
Long before Sọmadịna and her twin, Jayaike, were born, the creation of the Split ended the Starvation War. A yawning chasm, the Split severs the rest of the world from Sọmadịna’s island, where most people receive one magical ability from the goddess, Ala, when they come of age. When the twins manifest multiple gifts—and one of Sọmadịna’s causes her to murder a violent peer against her will—they are deemed “abominations” by their mother and harshly shunned by the community.
Picking Tea with Baba
Joining Baba in picking tea leaves on the mountain near their Chinese village is “a special treat” for this book’s narrator and his brother. Mama joins them, too. After a steep trek, the family reaches a “serene” garden striped with orderly rows of green tea shrubs.
How Sweet the Sound: A Soundtrack for America
An exuberant, lyrical text celebrates the rich history and variety of music made and influenced by Black Americans. The chronological account begins with the beat of talking drums, “the fireside chorus / of the motherland,” before moving to forms of music that “shouldered” the enslaved and “lifted / the insufferable weight off our world”: hymns, field hollers, juba, litanies, spirituals.
The Zuzu Secret
Siblings Josie, 12, and Abe, 15 (both white), have just moved to a Silver Spring, Maryland, when a car accident leaves their mom with a concussion and Josie in secret possession of a bearded dragon.
Everything Is Poison
On her 16th birthday, Carmela is finally allowed to begin training at La Tofana, the apothecary run by her mother and two other women in 17th-century Rome. Sometimes called a witch, Carmela’s mother, Giulia, and her staff, Maria and Laura, treat a host of run-of-the-mill ailments. They also secretly help women, including Laura’s childhood nemesis, Violetta, end unwanted pregnancies.
Raven’s Ribbons
“Boom-boom. Shuffle-shuffle.” Raven loves taking part in round dances, holding his grandma’s hand as “round and round they go” with other members of their Indigenous community. Raven especially admires the vibrant ribbon skirts worn by girls and women. Many of them were sewn by his grandmother, the colors carefully chosen for each individual.
Who Owns the Moon? And Other Conundrums of Exploring and Using Space
As NASA’s Artemis program works to return humans to the moon within the next few years, a timely account offers insight into the challenges of international cooperation as it relates to space exploration.