bookshelf

DOG TRACKS

Name: DOG TRACKS
Author: Ruby Slipperjack
ISBN: 978-1-927083-59-8

by Ruby Slipperjack ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2021

A tale of new beginnings in a place with deep roots.

bookshelf

Abby’s priorities drastically shift when she moves away to a small reserve in this rerelease of a 2008 title.

Twelve-year-old Abby lives with her grandparents in Nibika, a small Canadian town. She speaks a mixture of English and Ojibwe with her grandmother, Goom, and grandfather, Choom. After her grandfather has a health scare and needs more support than her grandmother can provide, her grandparents move into her Aunty Gilda’s small house, and Abby is sent north to Bear Creek First Nation to live with her mother, stepfather, and little half brother. Abby’s stay gets off to a rocky start, but she settles in as she slowly learns more about her family and culture. She helps her community as they set up and run what they dub “the Real Anishinawbe Experience,” through which tourists can experience life as it was during the 1800s. Shortly after coming to the reserve, Abby gets a puppy they call Ki-Moot, who brings into her life all the joys of a canine companion. The heart of the story is the Ojibwe culture that readers learn about along with Abby. She is given a new name by the Medicine Man and tries to learn skills like sewing and embroidery. Slipperjack’s (Ojibwe) quiet, gentle story of a girl moving to a smaller place and getting the chance to connect with her community is accentuated with values of family and friendship.

A tale of new beginnings in a place with deep roots. (map) (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-927083-59-8

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside

Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

bookshelf

CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

by Christina Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2021

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

bookshelf

An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.

Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

bookshelf

EACH TINY SPARK

by Pablo Cartaya ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 6, 2019

A pitch-perfect middle-grade novel that insightfully explores timely topics with authenticity and warmth.

bookshelf

A nuanced novel about a neurodiverse preteen’s political and social awakening by a Pura Belpré Honor–winning author.

Sixth grader Emilia Rosa Torres sometimes has a hard time keeping up with schoolwork and concentrating on one thing at a time, but her software-developer mother and superinvolved abuelita help her keep on task. Days before her father’s return to their Atlanta suburb from his most recent deployment, her mother goes on a business trip, leaving the middle schooler to juggle his mood swings, her friend troubles, and her looming assignments all on her own. When a social studies project opens her eyes to injustices past and present, Emilia begins to find her voice and use it to make an impact on her community. Writing with sensitivity and respectful complexity, Cartaya tackles weighty issues, such as immigration, PTSD, and microaggressions, through the lens of a budding tinkerer and activist who has ADHD. The members of this Cuban American family don’t all practice the same religion, with Emilia’s Catholic grandmother faithfully attending Mass multiple times a week and the protagonist’s mother celebrating her culture’s Yoruba roots with Santería. Conversations on race and gender crop up through the narrative as Emilia’s grandmother likes to emphasize her family’s European heritage—Emilia can pass as white, with her fair complexion, light eyes and auburn hair. All of these larger issues are effortlessly woven in with skill and humor, as is the Spanish her family easily mixes with English.

A pitch-perfect middle-grade novel that insightfully explores timely topics with authenticity and warmth. (author’s note) (Fiction. 9-12)