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WORLD MADE OF GLASS

Name: WORLD MADE OF GLASS
Author: Ami Polonsky
ISBN: 978-0-316-46204-4

by Ami Polonsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 17, 2023

Simultaneously sad and life affirming; a poetry-filled, inspiring call to activism.

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It’s the height of the AIDS panic in New York City, and Iris’ father is dying.

Last year, when Iris Cohen was in sixth grade, her parents got divorced because her dad came out. Her folks still love each other and even live in the same building. Dad’s boyfriend, J.R., is so wonderful and kind that it’s hard work to hate him (“If you lost your focus for even a minute, you started to love him”). But it’s 1987, Dad is dying of AIDS, and the panic over the so-called gay plague is at a fever pitch. Iris discovers his diagnosis is no secret when the best teacher at her mostly White private school overreacts with ludicrous terror when Iris gets a splinter and there’s a tiny drop of blood on her finger. How can you grieve when people are so scared that they won’t go near a dead man’s ashes without protective gear? Framed by lovely acrostic poems by Iris and her dad, the book shows a girl focusing her rage and pain into love through the nascent radical activism of ACT UP. An informative author’s note describes the complex relationships of early AIDS activists with Dr. Anthony Fauci and adds factual historical nuance to various elements of the story as presented. The homophobia of the 1980s and the horror of AIDS deaths are softened for the middle-grade audience but still clearly present.

Simultaneously sad and life affirming; a poetry-filled, inspiring call to activism. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-316-46204-4

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022

Categories:

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THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING

by Shelley Pearsall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.

Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)