Eye-opening, thought-provoking history for every classroom and bookshelf.
In this true story, teenager Adama Bah’s life is turned upside down by unjust laws in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The new I, Witness series of chapter books brings true stories of young people living through historic moments to young readers. In this volume, Guinean immigrant Bah recounts how her life changed after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City. Bah, 13, is at an Islamic boarding school in Buffalo when the attacks occur. She returns home to New York City to celebrate Ramadan wearing full niqab. But her city and her country have changed: She is the focus of hateful treatment, and in 2005 she and her father are detained. The officers interrogate Bah while denying her constitutional right to an attorney, lying to her, and treating her with complete disrespect. After her release, the aftereffects continue to disrupt her life, and she eventually decides to fight back through the courts. Bah writes with an honesty and urgency that will keep readers turning pages through this fast-paced story. With large font, generous spacing, and simple language, it makes for a very accessible introduction to serious topics. The direct access to Bah’s thoughts as she lived through this painful experience helps readers identify with the humanity inside us all and eschew the politics of othering. Series companion Hurricane, by Salvador Gómez-Colón, relates the experiences of a Puerto Rican teen in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
Eye-opening, thought-provoking history for every classroom and bookshelf. (timeline) (Memoir. 8-14)Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-324-01663-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy.
Through the author’s own childhood diary entries, a seventh grader details her inner life before and after 9/11.
Alyssa’s diary entries start in September 2000, in the first week of her seventh grade year. She’s 11 and dealing with typical preteen concerns—popularity and anxiety about grades—along with other things more particular to her own life. She’s shuffling between Queens and Manhattan to share time between her divorced parents and struggling with thick facial hair and classmates who make her feel like she’s “not a whole person” due to her mixed White and Puerto Rican heritage. Alyssa is endlessly earnest and awkward as she works up the courage to talk to her crush, Alejandro; gushes about her dreams of becoming a shoe designer; and tries to solve her burgeoning unibrow problem. The diaries also have a darker side, as a sense of impending doom builds as the entries approach 9/11, especially because Alyssa’s father works in finance in the World Trade Center. As a number of the diary entries are taken directly from the author’s originals, they effortlessly capture the loud, confusing feelings middle school brings out. The artwork, in its muted but effective periwinkle tones, lends a satisfying layer to the diary’s accessible and delightful format.
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy. (author's note) (Graphic memoir. 8-13)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77427-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many.
Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick.
Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina’s mother enrolls her in therapy. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Raina is white, and her classmates are diverse; one best friend is Korean American.
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-545-85251-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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