Early December Cybils Reading

I'm a Round 1 Nonfiction judge so I'm reading as many of the nominated books in my triple category as I can. There's the picture books, the middle grade books, and the high school books, all clamoring for my attention. Somehow the calendar keeps ticking, so somewhere I need to find a lot more time!

Ugh, it's Tuesday, so I'd better get this out now. And then work on my post on the rest of my reading that I meant to put up yesterday.

High School Nonfiction

The New Queer Conscience, Adam Eli. I raised my eyebrows at the introductory example. After the Pittsburgh shooting of a synagogue, Jews from all over the world came together to support the community and decry the horror. But there was not a similar response to attacks on homosexuals by governments in Soviet republics, or to the high rate of murders among Black trans women over a three month period. Eli would like to see the queer community come together like the Jewish one does, and he lays out a plan for this in his book. 

But he doesn't at all address how the different ways the communities are formed might affect their traditions and responses. Definitions of queerness are always in flux, as they are based on what is "normal" which is also constantly shifting. I completely agree that people should be kinder to each other, and especially in the queer community I'd love to see a universal dedication to inclusion and support, but I don't see any new ideas here. Many communities are supportive and have been for decades; others are still learning how to be part of a larger whole.

Citizenship, Race, and the Law, Duchess Harris & Kate Conley. A look at citizenship laws in America with a lens of their racial intents and impacts, from the definition of citizens as white people in the 1800s through the anti-Asian laws of the 1800s and quotas, caps, and refugee limits in the 1900s and the reaction to 9/11, DACA and Trump's revival of nativism. It's written in clear and concise language with enough illustrations, photos, and blocked out definition and clarifications to keep the pages visually interesting but not condescending. It's clearly didactic in intent, with discussion questions ending each chapter and summaries and lists at the end. 

I'm not sure I'd give it to kids for pleasure reading, but it would be a great classroom read. I wasn't impressed with the bibliography, which was short and heavy on articles from The Atlantic (a good magazine but not a primary source) but that was followed by source notes from each chapter which were much more thorough. The index looked good and there were some suggestions for further reading (which leant towards this publishers offerings). A good introduction to the subject for junior high or early high school readers.  

The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess. Strong memoir of a maturing (16-19) during the Bosnian civil war, when the Serbs decided to kill all the Muslims. And maybe the Croats, but definitely the Muslims. Her life very quickly went from idyllic to horrific, which bombings, starvation, and fear all her daily companions. Her family is adopted by a cat at the start of the conflict, and the cat symbolizes all their hope and kindness. 

I really liked this memoir, and as a teen I would have adored it; it fits right in with all the Holocaust stories I devoured. But this one is closer to the present for today's kids. Amra puts in a lot of detail -- you get to know her family, her neighbors (good and bad), the boy she has a crush on. She has several chances to escape but is reluctant to abandon her family and the tension and conflict is shown vividly. It's never graphic, but the threat of rape is real and is something she is aware of many times. At the end, she comes to America but still wants to keep close to her family back home. It's very well written and a gripping story.

Call Me American: The Extraordinary True Story of a Young Somali Immigrant (Young Readers Edition), Abdi Nor Iftin & Max Alexander. Gripping story of a boy growing up in wartime conditions and his struggles to stay true to himself (Muslin but not a killer) and find a way to live; inspired by his childhood love of American movies he works to learn English and becomes a journalist, eventually leading to an American sponsor for his green card and a move to Maine. 

The writing isn't amazing, but that may be because this is the Young People version. The story itself is strong -- he starts with his young childhood where his parents have started making a good living in Mogadishu but lose everything in the war; his parents separation because soldiers are killing all the intact families they find; his baby's sister death from starvation, and then growing up among bombs and constant warfare with the threat of increasing radical Islamazation creeping up. Mr Iftin graduated from a madrassa (memorized the Koran) but declined to become an apprentice teacher because he couldn't stomach beating the students as much as tradition required. He also thought there might be other stuff worth learning, which was frowned upon. 

The end shows his arrival in America, and his attempt to navigate between Somali conservatives who want to send money home but not assimilate, and American racists who bring their own form of tribal warfare to bear against people they consider too foreign. It's a great immigrant viewpoint. 

Body Talk: 37 Voice Explore Our Radical Anatomy, Kelly Jensen (editor). A bit of a mixed bag -- some essays were sharp and incisive, others a bit meandering. And obviously, some were more personal to me than others. (There were a couple on testicular cancer, which prompted my college son's horror when I asked him about self-exams.). It felt like wandering through an art gallery where some paintings spoke to me, some looked powerful and talented, and some just lay there on the walls. 

Overall it was very body positive, and even looked at what body positivity means and how it's more complicated than Rah! Love Your Body! (what if you are uncomfortable in your body? what if you don't want to be told how to feel about it?). I liked the careful use of intersectionality, although there was a bit of "this is how I felt, so let's extrapolate that to the world". There were some essays that pushed against that as well.  

Middle Grade Nonfiction

John Lewis: Civil Rights Leader and Congressman, Duchess Harris & Tammy Gagne. A good text on John Lewis's importance in the Civil Rights movement (highlighting the Selma March and the March on Washington) and in politics. I like that it talks about his books as well, not neglecting his amazing graphic memoirs March 1 2 and 3. There are good photographs along the way. Chapters end with some comprehension questions and also some activities that engage the reader more directly, such as adapting speeches to specific audiences or evaluating the effectiveness of various strategies. I think they would work well in a classroom. The end has suggestions for more reading and a good index. 

The publisher provided me with a copy for review.

Lifting As We Climb, Evette Dionne. There are a lot of books about women's suffrage out this year, and this one is special. It looks at the Black women working for their rights, pushed back by both abolitionists and suffragists. Dionne looks at how women working for equality had to deal with attacks from people who disrespected them for both their color and their gender. There's a lot of attention to the ways the women's suffrage movement worked with Southern women to try to get the vote by promoting white women's votes as another way to minimize the chance that Black people would be able to make changes. This is the kind of thing women's history often tries to skip past. It also looks at the issues of education, job opportunities, and lynching as key issues -- Black women such as Ida Wells realized that the right to vote was a hollow shell if not accompanied by other changes.

I liked the quick boxes that focus on various individuals, and I really liked the introduction with the pilgrimage to put "I Voted" stickers on the gravesites of Black women leaders, which helped inspire the writing of this book. 

Becoming Kid Quixote: A True Story of Belonging in America, Steven Haff & Sarah Sierra. Sarah Sierra is one of the kids in the theater troupe Steven Haff directs in New York, where the kids write and then perform their play based on retelling Don Quixote in modern times. Sierra is the fourth grade star, and she tells the story of spending her afternoons and weekends in Hoff's workshop where she helps brainstorm the ideas for the next stage of the story and travels to perform the current work at nearby colleges and other spaces. Along the way she talks about her life with her cousins and family and school, worrying about relatives back in Mexico and fitting in here in America. It's necessarily political, because many of the people she knows struggle with immigration laws and policies and they correspond with kids being held in a ICE facility. No one ever knows which letter will be the last to be exchanged, and they rarely find out the ultimate fates of their pen pals. But we do see Sierra encourage her little sister to take on a singing role in the play, and then watch her rise to meet the challenge.

March Fong Eu, Duchess Harris & Samantha A. Bell. I like when kid books teach me things I didn't know. Eu was a Californian politician who broke a lot of barriers as a woman and as a Chinese American. It just shows how clueless I am, since I was in California for some of her career and probably voted for her.

This book concentrates on her political career especially as she works through racism and sexism to win elections. It's written clearly and simply and with an admiring tone. The book has a lot of fun with her iconic move -- she smashed a toilet to pieces to protest charging for public bathrooms but not for urinals. It didn't get the bill she wanted out of committee, but the publicity led directly to Gov Reagan making an edict. 

 There are short activities after each chapter, some drawing on web resources from the publisher, and a set of reflections at the end as well as a short index. It would be a good book in classrooms, but not really a thing a kid would pick up for fun. Well, I might've. I was a nerdy kid. 

 The publisher shared an ecopy of this book with me for review. 

The Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears, Duchess Harris & Kate Conley. Most juvenile histories of the United States for classroom use try to make the government look good, but that's a big ask with the Indian Removal Act and Conley doesn't even try. It's pretty clear the act was a power grab motivated by greed and a deep conviction that Indians didn't count as people. The chapters end with questions and activities to help kids think deeper about the events, and it does bring up the apology that Congress passed and Obama signed, but overall it's a history of America being racist murderers. Oops. 

I didn't learn much new from this book, which I guess means I'm sometimes educated? But it's all stuff that Americans should know. In the backmatter, before the small section on ideas for further reading, or the QR links to more information from the publisher, or the glossary, are some final facts and questions that explicitly challenges kids to care even if they aren't connected to any Native American Tribes. There's a new court case about Oklahoma lands that would maybe be an interesting addition for future editions. That would be new info for me! 

 I received a e-copy of this book for review. 

Guardians of Liberty: Freedom of the Press and the Nature of the News, Linda Barrett Osborne. A look at America's relationship with the press, and the slow backing away from government censorship, which is not as far back as we like to think. The final chapters are a delicate touch, because President Trump has led an unceasing attack on the free press but also an ineffective one, so how much can the book criticize him? It turns out a lot, but it tries to do it in a very calm way. We live in such bizarre times. 

 It's the kind of book I really liked as a kid -- idealistic but also pragmatic, with a look at the past that happened and the past that we wish had happened, and a hope for the future. There's a sense that values such as a free and trustworthy press are worth cherishing.

Aretha Franklin: Legendary Singer, Duchess Harris & Tammy Gagne. Having read several picture books about Aretha Franklin I was especially pleased to step up into a middle grade biography for more detail. Her connection with the civil rights movement had been celebrated but this one gave more details. Her support of Presidents before Obama was also made explicit. The writing is clear and focussed, designed for comprehension but with a good flow. There are classroom moments-- the end of each chapter comes with an activity to encourage kids to reflect and expand on their reading. There are also links to web pages with more information, although these don't always match the reading level of the book itself. 

There's a read more section (books from the same publisher), and index, and a glossary. I don't see sources for this book. The quotes at the end of the chapters (with the activities) are sourced though. I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher for review.

Voices of Young Heroes: A World War II Book for Kids (History Speaks!) , Kelly Milner Halls. This is a collection of mini-biographies of minors who found themselves caught up in World War II, either by accident or plan. As I kid I steadily read my way through most of the WWII books in my elementary and middle school libraries, starting with fiction. So I would have loved this one -- true stories but told in quick narrative bursts. 

The title is a bit off -- it includes many heroes; kids who took action against the Nazis or to protect their family or to help their countries, but there are also stories of kids caught up in the horrors of war. These kids I guess are heroes for surviving? Which I can accept now but I must say my nine year old self would not. As a parent I frown a bit on the kids (14 and younger!) who lied about their ages to join the US armed forces, but as a kid those would have been my favorites. And I frown at England for the 14 year old bugle boy who joined legitimately. But times have changed and we now enforce childhood much harder. I would have liked a few more Asian characters. 

The list of resources and references is nice and long as well as varied -- books, articles, web sites and videos which should encourage kids to look for more information. There's a good glossary and index to help look for stuff. 

Becoming Muhammad Ali, James Patterson & Kwame Alexander. I listened to this on audio, and while the voice was great and really put me into the scenes, it was also a little confusing because there were several viewpoints and I wasn't always clear on which was which. The narration changed between young Clay and other voices (mostly Lucky?) which was probably obvious on the page but I kept getting lost. 

 I loved Ali's enthusiasm and confidence going back to his boyhood. Very aware of the barriers of racism and poverty, he had confidence in himself and who he was and where he came from, knowing that his family, community, and friends would always have his back. Adulthood was zipped through in the last chapter, but it was a strong finish with discussion of Ali's boxing career, stand against the draft, Parkinson's diagnosis, and death. The audio was very energetic and felt like kid Clay was there in the car, shadow boxing and plotting greatness. 

The Constitution: Decoded Annotated and Explained, Katie Kennedy. This was a great idea, but I wasn't sold on the execution. It slowly walked through the entire US constitution and explained what each phrase meant, and then through in some explanation and cute facts and stuff. The problem was that often the explanation wasn't much clearer than the original text -- I wanted something fresher; a better translation. And sometimes things I knew were actually a bit fuzzy were presented as clear -- there's a lot more confusion about what the 2nd Amendment means, especially with its bizarre punctuation. And I was cranky when the book suddenly forgot about women's right to vote in a sentence on the 24th Amendment explaining that poll taxes "were a way of keeping Black men ... from voting." Humph. Black women were supposed to be able to vote too! But mostly I wanted more from the supporting boxes -- we get a box explaining how there's a square of land in Idaho were it may be impossible to try people for crimes because there's no one to put in a jury, which I don't believe is a firmly accepted piece of law, but then ignore more significant controversies over other bits. 

So I want this book, but I want Kennedy to go back and do it again. You know, more like how I want it.(Yes, I know how unreasonable I am.)

Elementary Nonfiction

This Is How I Grow, Dia L. Michels. A fun book featuring eight baby animals. Each get two 2-page spreads to be born and grow up, talking about how long it takes for eyes to open, how long they nurse, and what they do when they are grown up. It's cute and cheerful, with softly realistic drawing that have interesting unobtrusive details to catch the eye, such as lurking predators or other local species. 

In the back there is a bibliography with web pages for kids to explore, and then several pages of common questions that are answered with more details of the animals. I like this; it would help the book work for higher and lower level readers, or a family with kids of different ages. The text isn't sparkling; it's a cosy book that I'd read with kids, but nothing explodes off the page with greatness. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review. 

Women in Biology, Mary Wissinger. Sometimes I find mediator characters in nonfiction kludgy -- the reader-insert there to prompt the book to give up information about the subject. But this one works for me -- a little girl is asking questions as she investigates nature in a childish way, and that gives us the chance to learn about women scientists in biology from the start of the discipline. I like how we casually learn that women have been doing science from earliest times. I like the choice of people, from Barbara McClintock (who I had heard about) to people I didn't know (Linda Buck).

The back matter gives some more details which would help any adult reading the book to kids, and also some activities as ideas for teachers sharing this book. There's also a glossary and some websites to explore.

Everything Awesome About Sharks and Other Underwater Creatures!, Mike Lowery. This book is a grinning enthusiast wandering around a marine biology museum, excitedly calling out the cool exhibits and delightedly claiming the Shark Hall as his favorite. There's even an art corner in the back -- the final chapters are quick lessons in how to draw some underwater cuties. The cartoons and handwriting font give an informal feel; the book is more for browsing than study but it's a fun browse and the chapters are well organized so the information is sorted and easy to absorb. 

A few times I was inspired to look for more information; disconcertingly when I did so for the Giant Lego Man I found stuff that contradicted the text (it's not really a mystery) but that was really just bad luck; most of the facts seem solid. There are good sources in the bibliography although they are not kid friendly so only for the truly committed.

For Which We Stand: How Our Government Works and Why It Matters, Jeff Foster. This does what it says on the tin -- there are chapters for all the branches of government and discussions about different levels of administration (local, state, federal). I like the color coded sections so it's easy to navigate between chapters; I wish more oversized but long books had that. It's message is that our government is good and your participation will make it better, and even before kids are old enough to vote there are ways for them to participate. The details about how government work are given clearly; it's a good resource. 

There's a good index and a glossary in the back. This would be a good book for a school library. It's right on the border of my categories here; it's for advanced early readers but would work in upper elementary grades as well.

Cityscape: Where Science and Art Meet, April Pulley Sayre. I love the concept -- crisp photographs showing the science and art of city architecture and planning. But the execution didn't work for me -- the photos seemed static instead of living and the words were simple but not truly compelling. Maybe if it hadn't tried to rhyme? It was a good picture book but required a lot of work from the adult reading it to address the connection between science and art, and the backmatter would only help a little. 

ABC What an Informed Voter You'll Be!: An A-Z Overview of US Government, American Politics and Elections for Children, Modern Kid Press. This is a fun little ABC book, but for an adult a lot of the fun is seeing how they'll manage to shove in a rhyme. Kids will have a good time with the words, which are all related to government or voting, and the pictures are simple but bold. The first few were black and white with enough white that I'm pretty sure my kids would have colored them in. 

I would aim this at the younger grades, although the older kids will probably retain the vocabulary longer. But it's a good place to start a talk about civics. The rhyming scheme was rather unnecessary though. It doesn't really work.  

I Am A Promise, Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce & Ashley Rousseau. Fun autobiography of an Olympic gold medalist in track. She describes her childhood which included poverty but also a dedication to running and community support that made that happen, as well as a recurring theme of people (grandmother, mentors, coaches) telling her she was a promise or she had promise. She builds on this until we see her first Olympic event, where she realizes the promise is to do her best, which in this case is spectacular. A good simple biography that has a satisfying feel for adults and children. 

Backmatter includes more details of Pryce (list of medals one, fun facts & achievements, and author blurbs for her co-writer and illustrator.  

Who Will It Be?: How Evolution Connects Us All, Paola Vitale. This is a visually lovely picture book that meditates on the relationship between human development and evolution. I use the word "meditate" because it moves fairly seamlessly between imagination and science, jumping from the shape of a zygote, embryo or fetus to a similar creature in it's bright pages and vibrant text. Then it will come back to the developing baby before jumping away again. At the end it connects all this musing with a description of evolution and how it affects fetal development, again alternating between almost abstract depictions of chromosomes and cell division.

It's lovely and delightful, but I think it needs the presence of both the child and someone who understands the concepts. It would work as a picture book both for the very young, who would be content with the visuals, but also with older kids who can discuss the concepts and understand the details given in the backmatter. I'm not sure that a kid reading this on their own would get as much out of it. It's a good gift for the family where an adult is uncomfortable with the whimsy of children's books; this book is both a literary feat and also a chance for some science talk.

Dreambuilder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon, Kelly Starling Lyons. I learned a lot! Philip Freelon was the lead architect for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and this book traces him from his artistic and intellectual childhood, with parents who encouraged his talents while acknowledging the racism of America that would pose extra hurdles for him. He mixed his love of science, math and art in architecture, and resolved to use his work to improve the community. The NMAAHC was the culmination of his career; he built a team of American and African architects and resolved to finish before Obama left office (he succeeded). 

The art is in warm tones that depict the many places he found inspiration and the many people who helped support him. The colors accent the many African Americans in the pages -- Freelon sees his work as explicitly for his community. Back matter has an essay on how the author learned about Freelon and determined to write this book, as well as an essay from Freelon himself. 

Underground: Subway Systems Around the World, Uijong Kim. This was a lot of fun! I don't think I learned much about subway systems; the only fact I remember is that the Russian subway is over 99.9% on time, and I seriously doubt that figure. But the people crammed in the illustrations were fun and I enjoyed seeking out all the doo-dads. If I found myself getting frustrated I just had my agreeable son find them for me. (The New York taxi would have stymied me for ages.) 

Can a Tree Be Blue?, Audrey Sauble. This is not quite a know-your-colors book, but it doesn't make a lot of assumptions about what the reader knows. It looks at a lot of colors in nature and what they are doing. Small spoiler -- the Blue Spruce is blue! Reading this at Christmas, that was my gut reaction to the question so some of the impact was lost. I was kinda hoping for a twist, like that it only seems blue because of some sciency thing, but apparently it's legitimately blue.

Thank to Frances Perkins: Fighter for Workers' Rights, Deborah Hopkinson. This is the second Perkin's biography book I've read, so sadly I did not get the thrill of learning new things. Frances Perkins was Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor and the one who invented social security and the idea of worker's rights as something governments should protect instead of squash under an iron boot. This book concentrates on the many benefits to society of Perkin's accomplishments and is very admiring of her work. The soundness of social security to a society is not questioned.

The art work is gentle but attractive. Maybe colored pencil? I got nothing. There's a tiny bibliography and 3 or so sources for quotes. The "learn more" section is more robust, and there's an interactive hook where readers are ask to calculate how long until they reach retirement age of 62. The question is at the start, and then the end helps with the math and discusses retirement savings and the benefits of having it be a government program. 

Pretty Tricky -- The Sneaky Way Plants Survive, Etta Kaner. Sneaky here is defined as interacting with other creatures, particularly animals, so this is a book about how many plants rely on animals for seed dispersal, pollination or nutrition. Sometimes the sneakiness is nefarious -- the animals don't gain but may lose everything from their lives to a chance to reproduce to an expected snack, but sometimes everyone gains -- the plant gives a treat of a tasty syrup to lure an animal into pooping into it. 

The illustrations are bright and clear and the text is cheerful and interested as well as clear. The author is enthusiastic about how the plants are getting their way and seems equally delighted when there's an explanation or when scientists are still working on it. Plants are labeled with their name and habitat so kids get some context. The back has a few pages on scientific details of plant reproduction and photosynthesis, and then a quick index, glossary and selected sources, which leads off with David Attenborough. So we know these authors are cool. 

The Fighting Infantryman: The Story of Albert D.J. Cashier, Transgender Civil War Soldier, Rob Sanders. A biography of the Civil War veteran who was discovered to have female anatomy when he was hospitalized at the end of his life. After some rough treatment -- his pension was suspended and he was forced to wear women's clothes, his fellow soldiers argued successfully for him to be treated as the soldier he was. This book follows him from his girlhood in Ireland, where he began wearing boy clothes to help with the sheep, and then kept in boy clothes as he and his stepfather immigrated to America. He moved out west and took the name Albert, and joined the army at 19 under that name where he served for three years. 

The book speculates that he was lonely and private because of being transgender, and that is definitely possible. As the book discusses in the endnotes, we can't really know how Albert Cashier felt; the modern concept of transgender wasn't available. Did he just want the freedoms and opportunities that men got, or did he truly feel himself to be a man? There's no way to know whether those are even questions that make sense. Regardless, this book shows that gender was never a simple binary, and that the history of nonbinary people goes back a long way in every culture, including our own. 

The back matter has an author note that includes some of the evidence given in the government investigation and some context for Cashier's motivation and transgender people in history. There's also a glossary for the more uncommon words, pictures of Albert, and a source list. There's a timeline on the back spread, but I'm annoyed at how not-to-scale it is. 

Weird and Wonderful Animals, Christina Banfi.  Lovely large book with big appealing pictures of various animals, and then some facts about them around the page. I loved the images -- it's a very aesthetically appealing format, and the facts are there mostly as an excuse to linger on the illustrations. The facts themselves were fine, but the organization wasn't superb; I'd occasionally find myself puzzling over a sentence or a diagram. I should report that my nephew claims that I'm crazy and the text isn't confusing in the least. So the experts say I'm wrong. 

 I received a copy of this book for review.