Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




The Works of Vaunda Micheaux Nelson


Cover art for POSSIBLES
CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 12, 1995

"From the author of Mayfield Crossing (1993), a lovely, lyrical story of love, loss, and the nobility that exists in others once we look beyond their masks. (Fiction. 8-12)"
 Her beloved father recently dead, Sheppy Lee faces a summer of sorrow and diminished means. Read full book review >
Cover art for MAYFIELD CROSSING
CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 4, 1993

"Characters aren't well individualized, but the Turner family dynamics are wholesome, and the playground interaction and the ultimate resolution believable. (Fiction. 8-11)"
 The eight kids at Mayfield Crossing are a tightknit group who enjoy playing baseball together; but now, in 1960, their little school is closed and they're bused to larger Parkview Elementary, where they don't get much of a welcome—they're not even chosen for the lunch-time ballgame. Read full book review >
Cover art for ALMOST TO FREEDOM
CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 1, 2003

"Reread Deborah Hopkinson's Under the Quilt of Night (2001) instead. (author's note, limited glossary) (Picture book. 6-10)"
A doll's-eye view of slavery and escape fails to succeed. Read full book review >
Cover art for WHO WILL I BE, LORD?
CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 27, 2009
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by Sean Qualls

"Quall's lovely, textured illustrations depict realistic figures against backgrounds suffused with blues and purples. (Picture book. 5-10)"
In this substantive yet never heavy offering, an African-American girl reflects on the people in her family, wondering, after lovingly considering each: "And what will I be, Lord? Read full book review >
Cover art for BAD NEWS FOR OUTLAWS
CHILDREN'S
Released: Nov. 1, 2009

"Here, children can saddle up with a genuine Western hero in a narrative that hits the bull's-eye. (glossary, timeline, bibliography, notes) (Picture book/biography. 7-10)"
He rode tall in the saddle and excelled at riding, shooting, tracking and every other skill required of a man representing the law in the vast and often lawless American frontier known as Indian Territory in the late 1800s. Read full book review >
Cover art for NO CRYSTAL STAIR
CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2012

"A stirring and thought-provoking account of an unsung figure in 20th-century American history. (author's notes, source notes, bibliography, index) (Fictional biography. 12-18)"
Lewis Michaux provided a venue for his fellow African-Americans to have access to their own history and philosophy at a time when the very idea was revolutionary. Read full book review >