Despite vibrant visuals, this tale fails to capture the essence of either its child protagonist or its rich urban setting.
An ode to two Harlems.
Datcher attempts to celebrate both the year his daughter Harlem turned 4 and “the magical fourth year of the 1900s,” when Philip A. Payton Jr. founded the Afro-American Realty Company—an act that would make housing more readily available to African Americans moving north during the Great Migration. In Part 1, a Black father narrates, offering a poetic tribute to his confident, creative daughter, Harlem. As the two stroll through the neighborhood she was named for, the narrator mentions historical events and works of art such as John Coltrane’s album A Love Supreme. Father and daughter never appear in Part 2 as readers learn more about Payton and the history of Harlem. While all readers, regardless of their knowledge of Harlem, will be able to enjoy Morrison’s lively, graffiti-inspired illustrations, the same cannot be said of Datcher’s text, which tries to cover too much ground and uses language and phrasing that most children won’t understand. A reference to how the “government / sought to cage Black Panther Afeni Shakur” doesn’t elaborate on who Shakur was and will leave young readers confused, as will the highly academic backmatter that expands on the topics mentioned in the text. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Despite vibrant visuals, this tale fails to capture the essence of either its child protagonist or its rich urban setting. (historical notes, bibliography) (Picture book. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593429334
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
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