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.
Informational
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.
Make a Pretty Sound: A Story of Ella Jenkins—The First Lady of Children’s Music
“Ella is a South Side girl, a Bronzeville bird, skipping in streets that smell of sweets and black-eyed peas.” A narrative that pulses with rhythm and sings with lyrical language describes the life of Ella Jenkins, who was attuned to the sounds of the world around her, including music, from the time she was a child growing up in Chicago.
The Fabulous Fannie Farmer: Kitchen Scientist and America’s Cook
Fannie Farmer loved cooking as a child. When she lost the use of a leg as a teenager due to polio, her love of cooking helped reshape her vision for the future; while she recovered, she cooked. Fannie noticed that the imprecise instructions and measurements in most recipes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (e.g., “a suspicion of nutmeg”) made for inconsistent results.
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic
“You are a narwhal—shy, swift, small (for a whale).” Full of sensory detail, this narrative focusing on the life and activities of the “unicorn of the Arctic” begins on a “biting-cold December day,” in the dark of the Arctic, as “you,” a male narwhal, clash your tusk with that of another male.
The Monarch Effect: Surviving Poison, Predators, and People
An engrossing, detailed work of nonfiction delves into not only the behaviors and characteristics of monarch butterflies, but also the long history of human fascination—and, unfortunately, interference—with monarchs.
As Edward Imagined: A Story of Edward Gorey in Three Acts
A playful biography of artist and writer Edward Gorey is staged in three acts. “Act One: An Artist Is Born” introduces a precocious child who taught himself to read at age three and soon began crafting his own “deliciously sinister” tales.
City of Leafcutter Ants: A Sustainable Society of Millions
Beneath a Central American rainforest there exists a bustling, thriving city of eight million. Leafcutter ants, that is. They’re sisters, all of whom come from the same queen, the colony’s founder.
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.
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.