Check out our most recent reviews.
Book Review: The Best At It by Malik Pancholy (2/16/2022) - Review by: Brynne Diggins How do you get a bully to leave you alone? Be so good at something that no one can criticize you – that’s what Rahul Kapoor thinks, at least. In The Best At It by Maulik Pancholy, 12-year-old Rahul wants to find something he can be the best at in order…
Book Review: Dear Justyce by Nic Stone (2/16/2022) - Review by: Theresa Haider Voted as one of NPR’s Best Books of the Year, and a nominee for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults 2021, Nic Stone’s Dear Justyce ensnares readers in America’s juvenile justice system and leaves them asking what can be done to change it. Can Quan overcome what so many around him…
Book Review: We are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom (2/16/2022) - Review by: Taylor Lohman Keywords: Picturebook, Early Reader A beautifully illustrated children’s book portraying the indigenous-led fight against a monstrous, miles-long black snake, this true-story of the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline is both fantasy and reality, told through a lens both indigenous and feminist. This 2020 picturebook is narrated by a young girl…
Book Review: You Brought Me the Ocean, by Alex Sanchez and illustrated by Julie Maroh (12/20/2020) - Review by Sean Cameron Golden In a queer retelling of Aqualads origin story, Lambda Award-Winning author Alex Sanchez and illustrator Julie Maroh, capture first love through the eyes of a superpowered teen who is wrestling with his new powers and a crush on the swim team captain. Stuck in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, Jake…
Review: The Moon Within, by Aida Salazar. (12/14/2020) - The Moon Within is a poetic exploration of puberty, gender, first love, and coming of age, expertly and beautifully interwoven with a celebration of the author’s Mexican indigenous roots and Caribbean traditions.
Review: The Best We Could Do, by Thi Bui (12/13/2020) - Review by Emma Statt Get ready to take your heart on your emotional roller coaster. The graphic novel The Best We Could Do has been praised by the Pulitzer Prize- winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen as, “a book to break your heart and heal it.” Indeed, this National bestseller is a beautifully illustrated memoir describing…
Review: Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry and illustrated by Vashti Harrison (12/13/2020) - Review by Destyn Land What makes hair good or bad, and who gets to determine which is which? In our society manyyoung Black girls are told that their hair is much prettier or sometimes even told that it’s onlypretty if permed and straightened. The process of straightening and perming can do muchdamage to Black hair…
Book Review: 47,000 Beads by Koja Adehoya and Angel Adehoya, illustrated by Holly McGillis (12/11/2020) - Review by Emma Heckel How do you stay true to yourself when you don’t feel like you fit in? In 47,000 Beads, young Peyton discovers the power of family, culture, and community as she uncovers the very special role she has as a Two-Spirit person. 47,000 Beads offers readers a celebratory representation of the Lakota…
Book Review: Front Desk, by Kelly Yang (12/6/2020) - 10 year old Mia Tang immigrates from China to southern California. Her parents become the managers of a small motel, where the family also lives. It is at the Calivista motel that Mia learns many life lessons as she works at the front desk. 
Book Review: The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander (12/6/2020) - Review by Alexandra Renslo What are the rules of life? For 12-year old Josh Bell and his twin brother Jordan, it’s basketball and family. But it’s not necessarily such a clear shot to the hoop for the Bell brothers, especially as they encounter the ups and downs of seventh grade in Kwame Alexander’s engaging young…
Book Review: Always Anjali, by Sheetal Sheth and illustrated by Jessica Blank (12/4/2020) - Review by Sarai Roman-Mendoza What is the meaning of your name? Has anyone pronounced your name incorrectly? How did that made you feel? In Always Anjali, a little girl Anjali struggles in finding the beauty in her name, being in a culture that does not value it. Anjali and her two best friends want matching…
Book Review: Lubna and Pebble, by Wendy Meddour and illustrated by Daniel Egneus (12/4/2020) - Review by: Chelsea Jordan Lubna clutches her prized possession close to her heart. It’s just a small pebble, but it brings her strength and comfort during an uncertain time in the refugee camp. The pebble listens to her, smiles at her, and is her best friend. But when another young boy in the “World of…
Book Review: Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Yuyi Morales (12/2/2020) - Review by Katie Montes Depicted in this biography, Harvesting Hope, (also available as Cosechando Esperanza in Spanish) are paralleling journeys of Cesar Chavez, one of the key social justice leaders of the 20th century. Kathleen Krull not only chronicles Chavez’s journey across land, but also his journey of self-transformation as Chavez moves from the shy…
Book Review: Islandborn by Junot Díaz and illustrated by Leo Espinosa (11/23/2020) - Review by Cindy Liliana Gonzalez What if I asked you to draw a picture of your first country? What would you draw? That is what Lola, the protagonist in Islandborn, and her entire class are asked to do as a homework assignment by their teacher Ms. Obi. Lola makes part of a culturally diverse classroom…
Book Review: El Día En Que Descubres Quién Eres by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Rafael López (11/23/2020) - Review by Gustavo Hernández When was the day you began to be you? El Día En Que Descubres Quién Eres (Eng. original The Day You Begin) talks about cultural differences during the time when children are discovering themselves and their identity. It explores children feeling like outsiders among their peers because of their home language,…
Book Review: Something Happened in Our Town, by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, Ann Hazzard, and Jennifer Zivoin (11/22/2020) - Review by Claudia Pereira Emma asks her mom, “Why did the police shoot that man?” Josh asks his mom, “Can police go to jail?” Is police violence an appropriate topic for a children’s book? Should it be presented as reality or fiction? Something Happened takes up these difficult questions by telling a fictional story framed…
Book Review: Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love (11/17/2020) - Review by Gen McNaughton It’s rare to find a book for young children that covers sensitive topics like multiculturalism and gender expression, but this book manages to address both at once in a way that is both age appropriate and engaging. Julián is a young Latinx boy who notices some women dressed up as mermaids…
Children's Literature at UMN 