An indelible family adventure exploring all things American—the good, bad, and ugly.
Neri embarked on an unforgettable journey when he crisscrossed the U.S. with his parents and two older brothers in 1976.
“All my stories begin with some experience I’ve had out on the road,” Neri reveals—including this book. Thus far, he’s been to 48 of the 50 states and to such faraway destinations as Antarctica and Siberia. His adventurous spirit was spurred at age 8, when his mother suggested that the family commemorate the Bicentennial with a road trip: “We could be in Washington, DC, for the Fourth of July!” Their 1967 station wagon was equipped with a pop-up tent trailer as they prepared to drive 8,000 miles through 26 states in seven weeks. Highlights were many: the Grand Canyon, Gettysburg, New York City, Chicago, St. Louis, Las Vegas, and Texas, where they visited Neri’s cousins. Neri acknowledges the challenges of tight quarters and occasional breakdowns. He’s also sensitive to less celebratory details: Confederate flags, a visit to a former slave plantation, immigrant roundups, racial and economic inequality. Artist Wilkin returns for a third collaboration, transforming Neri’s adventures into eye-popping multilayered collages of maps, photographs (both personal and stock), doodled lists, and detailed illustrations. His cartoon version of expressive young Neri in striped shirt and “Bing Surfboards hat” is particularly affecting. Neri and his family, all with brown skin, are of Mexican, Filipino, and Creole descent.
An indelible family adventure exploring all things American—the good, bad, and ugly. (author’s note, more about the U.S. and American history, recommended reading, source notes, photo credits) (Memoir. 7-10)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781536239577
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.
A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.
Writing in free verse, Woodson starts with her 1963 birth in Ohio during the civil rights movement, when America is “a country caught / / between Black and White.” But while evoking names such as Malcolm, Martin, James, Rosa and Ruby, her story is also one of family: her father’s people in Ohio and her mother’s people in South Carolina. Moving south to live with her maternal grandmother, she is in a world of sweet peas and collards, getting her hair straightened and avoiding segregated stores with her grandmother. As the writer inside slowly grows, she listens to family stories and fills her days and evenings as a Jehovah’s Witness, activities that continue after a move to Brooklyn to reunite with her mother. The gift of a composition notebook, the experience of reading John Steptoe’s Stevieand Langston Hughes’ poetry, and seeing letters turn into words and words into thoughts all reinforce her conviction that “[W]ords are my brilliance.” Woodson cherishes her memories and shares them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and city streets will linger long after the page is turned.
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share. (Memoir/poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25251-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless.
Tales of a fourth grade ne’er-do-well.
It seems that young Jordan is stuck in a never-ending string of bad luck. Sure, no one’s perfect (except maybe goody-two-shoes William Feranek), but Jordan can’t seem to keep his attention focused on the task at hand. Try as he may, things always go a bit sideways, much to his educators’ chagrin. But Jordan promises himself that fourth grade will be different. As the year unfolds, it does prove to be different, but in a way Jordan couldn’t possibly have predicted. This humorous memoir perfectly captures the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling many kids feel and effectively heightens that feeling with comic situations and a splendid villain. Jordan’s teacher, Mrs. Fisher, makes an excellent foil, and the book’s 1970s setting allows for her cruelty to go beyond anything most contemporary readers could expect. Unfortunately, the story begins to run out of steam once Mrs. Fisher exits. Recollections spiral, losing their focus and leading to a more “then this happened” and less cause-and-effect structure. The anecdotes are all amusing and Jordan is an endearing protagonist, but the book comes dangerously close to wearing out its welcome with sheer repetitiveness. Thankfully, it ends on a high note, one pleasant and hopeful enough that readers will overlook some of the shabbier qualities. Jordan is White and Jewish while there is some diversity among his classmates; Mrs. Fisher is White.
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless. (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64723-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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