Heart of a Samurai
Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus Abrams/Amulet: New York, 2010; $12.45 What would you do if you were stranded on an island with your friends and you were rescued by people you know as...
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Book, movie, and media reviews by young critics
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Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus
Abrams/Amulet: New York, 2010; $12.45
What would you do if you were stranded on an island with your friends and you were rescued by people you know as barbarians? Now you have to live with them. You must feel hopeless, dreadful, desperate. Step right into the shoes of Manjiro, a Japanese child isolated from the outside world.
It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel, by Firoozeh Dumas;
Clarion Books: New York, 2016; $16.99
Have you ever desired to be like someone else or to lose everything that makes you different and just blend in? Desperate to belong in a foreign country, Zomorod Yousefzadeh is tired of who she is and that is exactly how she felt when she changed her name to Cindy.
Has anyone here ever killed a spider? Actually, I have a better question: has anyone here ever not killed a spider? The battle to keep spiders and other bugs out of the house is a fairly constant one, and most everyone, at some point in time, has found the easiest solution is to simply pick up a shoe and smash all small invaders—which is why I was so intrigued by Nikki Giovanni’s “Allowables...
Warm air, shining flowers, golden sunlight—summer in Chicago. And what summer would be complete without baseball? At historic Wrigley Field in Chicago, baseball has been a central part of summertime excitement for generations. I must confess that I am an avid baseball fan. I watch baseball, play baseball, listen to baseball, and read about baseball.
The Boy on the Wooden Box, by Leon Leyson; Atheneum
Books for Young Readers: New York, 2015; $8.99
Leon Leyson’s memoir of his experiences of Nazi Germany is a testament to the power of family and the amazing ability of kindness and good even in the darkest of times. Born Leib Lejzon, the author chronicles his family’s experience during World War II and the Holocaust.
Ghost Girl: A Blue Ridge Mountain Story, by Delia Ray;
Clarion Books: New York, 2016; $6.99
“I stopped cold, then turned around real slow. ‘What did you say?’ I asked. A big grin spread out over Dewey’s wide face. ‘I said, the Hoovers say they’re gonna build us a school.’
Set in 1930, Ghost Girl takes place on top of the Blue Ridge Mountains in West Virginia.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly;
Henry Holt and Company: New York, 2009; $17.99
Calpurnia Tate is the kind of eleven-year-old who is always asking questions—questions about nature and animals and insects, such as why do dogs need eyebrows, or can earthworms be trained? Such topics fascinate her.
The Queen of Katwe, by Tim Crothers;
Simon & Schuster: New York, 2016; $16.00
The Queen of Katwe is a true story about an amazing Ugandan girl named Phiona Mutesi. Phiona grew up in the slums of Katwe. Life in Katwe is tough—little or no education, poor sanitation, crimes, violence, and extreme poverty.
Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery;
Simon & Schuster: New York, 2014; $7.99
Few books copy the whimsy of childhood. Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables is a remedy to that lack of adolescent joy.
George, by Alex Gino; Scholastic
Press: New York, 2015; $16.99
George could not have come out at a better time. LGBT rights is an important issue, yet for kids unfamiliar with the acronym or those interested in the subject, like me, seeing this in a kids’ novel had never happened, until George. The main character of the book, George, is transgender.