CCBC Weekly Book Reviews
Joyful Song: A Naming Story
This Shabbat service will be special for brown-skinned Zachary and his Jewish family. It’s his baby sister’s first Shabbat, and he and his moms (one of whom is Black, and one white) will announce her name to the world.
September 2, 2024
Born Naughty: My Childhood in China
n utterly delightful, early chapter book memoir chronicles author Jin Wang’s life in Nan Ba Zi, a village (“about eighteen houses…and a tiny store”) in Inner Mongolia, China, the year she was eight.
August 26, 2024
Looking for Smoke
Four Blackfeet teens relate their versions of events following the murder of their friend, Samantha, during an Indian Days ceremony. The community is already on edge after the disappearance of Loren’s sister, Rayanne, a few weeks prior; when Rayanne’s body is found, it’s clear that her and Samantha’s murders are connected.
August 19, 2024
The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage
Moving from the reserve where he’s grown up to Winnipeg for his dad’s new job, Alex (Cree) starts grade 6 without his best friend George or his old hockey team, the North Stars. A skilled player, Alex is doing great at tryouts for a new team in Winnipeg; then another kid, Terrence, calls him “Chief” while aggressively checking him.
August 12, 2024
Just Like Millie
When this book’s young, white narrator and her mom move into a new apartment in a new city, she feels comfortable and safe there. She enjoys reading and independent play. But meeting new people? That’s a different story.
August 5, 2024
Everybody’s Book: The Story of the Sarajevo Haggadah
Repeatedly evading theft and destruction with the help of many over several centuries, a treasured book becomes a symbol of hope in a war-torn land.
July 29, 2024
Shut Up, This Is Serious
An affecting debut novel explores intersecting challenges in the lives of two teenage girls. Ever since Pa left, taking the family’s savings with him, Mexican American Belén has been struggling both in school—she’s flunking—and at home. Her mom is either absent or, if she’s home, crying; her older sister, Ava, works constantly to help support them.
July 22, 2024
The First State of Being
In August 1999, 12-year-old Michael Rosario is preparing for possible disaster with the turn of the new century (Y2K) when he meets Ridge, a teenager who’s time-traveled from 2199.
July 15, 2024
Let’s Go! / haw êkwa!
“Cacussh! Cacussh! Cacussh!!” A young Cree boy watches from his window as a skateboarder goes by. “haw êkwa! Let’s go!” His mom brings home her old skateboard and he begins to learn to ride.
July 8, 2024
The Fastest Drummer: Clap Your Hands for Viola Smith!
When Viola Smith first played the drums, “She lost the beat, made a terrible racket, and had more fun that she’d ever had before!” Born in 1912, Viola grew up in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, where she and her sisters had a family band, the Smith Sisters Orchestra.
July 2, 2024
49 Days
In Buddhist tradition, a person is in a transition state called bardo for 49 days after death. This graphic novel opens on “Day 1.” Korean American Kit wakes in a lonely landscape of rocks and water with a map, a distant destination marked by an X.
June 24, 2024
Safiyyah’s War
In Nazi-occupied France, Safiyyah and her family (Algerian French) live in an apartment in the Grand Mosque of Paris, where her father, Baba, and uncle, Ammo Kader, work. The presence of German soldiers in the city streets has everyone on edge, but Baba is particularly tense. His efforts with the Resistance—hiding injured Allied soldiers and making fake identity papers for Jews, saying they’re Muslim—puts his family at great risk.
June 17, 2024
The Mochi Makers
Emi is making mochi with Obachaan. As the rice cooks, Obachaan tells her granddaughter about bringing the recipe she learned from her mother and grandmother when she came to America from Japan.
June 10, 2024
Poetry Comics
A collection of original poems full of quiet surprises and small moments of pleasure is presented in comic format. Organized around the seasons, many of the short poems explore familiar scenes and subjects (e.g., nature, swimming, back to school, snow), but offer the delight of the unexpected in moments of reflection, fresh observation, and wondering.
June 3, 2024
With a Little Luck
High school junior Jude has a big, loving family; a supportive, insightful best friend in talented songwriter Ari; a love of drawing and creating D&D adventures for his friends; and a fear of asking out Maya, whom he’s had a crush on since 7th grade. Why set himself up for rejection?
May 28, 2024- More Books of the Week