CCBC Weekly Book Reviews
Freedom Swimmer
In Guangzhou province, China, 1968, teenage Ming lives with other older orphans and works in the fields like everyone else in his village. Six years before, Ming’s mother, like many in the village, died during the great famine that the government attributes to natural disasters when in fact it was the result of poor policy.
January 10, 2022
Mighty Inside
African American Melvin is about to start high school in Spokane, Washington, in the 1950s, following in the footsteps of his high-achieving older brother, Chuck, and older sister, Marian. It would be a daunting prospect even if he didn’t have a stutter.
January 3, 2022
The Great Stink
“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.
December 27, 2021
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.
December 20, 2021
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.”
December 13, 2021
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.
December 6, 2021
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.”
November 29, 2021
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.
November 22, 2021
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.
November 15, 2021
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.
November 8, 2021
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.
November 1, 2021
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.
October 25, 2021
Blackout
Six stories by six different contributors are set during a citywide blackout in New York that begins on a hot summer day and extends into the night, ending at a Brooklyn block party where all the characters converge.
October 18, 2021
Sona Sharma: Very Best Big Sister?
Sona lives in India with her parents, Amma and Appa; her paternal grandparents, Paati and Thatha; and her “talking” stuffed elephant. Her maternal grandmother, whom everyone calls The President, lives nearby.
October 11, 2021
Wishes
“The night wished it was quieter.” A series of arresting poetic “wish” statements together with the illustrations each is paired with create a powerful, poignant story following the journey of a refugee family.
October 4, 2021- More Books of the Week