2014 Children and Teens Department Summer Favorites

1 PICTURE BOOKS

Never turn the page too quickly. Never assume you know what happens next. These are the rules for reading Rules of Summer (Arthur A. Levine, $18.99). In this tale of two brothers’ summertime adventures and mistakes, Shaun Tan creates a world in which meteors are caught like fireflies, robots populate parades, Kazuno Kohara animates the sleeping hours in and a giant rabbit menaces those who leave The Midnight Library (Roaring Brook, $16.99), red socks on the clothesline. Tan’s sweeping a charming tale of the nocturnal life of a library surreal paintings pair with sparse text to create and the librarian who shepherds its animal a world of commonplace marvels that invite patrons. Characters will inspire giggles in young the full participation of the reader. His work readers and ring true to daytime librarians: never confines a reader to a single, easily the loud squirrel musicians, the tortoise who interpretable narrative. Its appeal is part wonder, has plodded only halfway through his tome by part adventure, and part lurking menace. Wildly closing (sunrise). The linocut illustrations’ bold inventive and richly layered, this meditation outlines and minimal color palette add a layer on friendship, childhood, and imagination will of nighttime fantasy and heighten the book’s engage a wide range of readers. The book’s an magic. A sweet homage to librarians, the book adventure in itself, the kind to which one returns also works as a bedtime read, closing with a again and again. All ages. Amy Dickinson sleepy story shared between the librarian and her patrons. Ages 3-5. Amy Dickinson (Available Opening Green is in June) a Chile Pepper (Chronicle, Can you spot The $16.99) is like Odd One Out? stepping into a (Big Picture Books, favorite candy $14.99). Take time shop. The to enjoy this little colors, tastes, gem with your and effortless youngsters. Britta rhythm found Teckentrup’s on each page bold, beautiful are a palpable delight to the senses. Roseanne patterns present Greenfield Thong’s cheerful rhyming verse short, visual colorfully describes both common staples of puzzles on each everyday life and treasured celebrations of Latino page, some more culture (a simple glossary at the back defines challenging than any unfamiliar Spanish words). John Parra’s others. Look closely to see which ostrich pecks enchantingly detailed folk-style art tempts at the ground, which bird gets the worm, which the reader to spend extra time with each page. panda has lost its shoot of bamboo, which seal is

www.politics-prose.com • (202) 364-1919www.politics-prose.com Who knew learning your colors could be such a already eating his dinner, and many more. Ages delectable endeavor? Ages 2-5. Renée Bosco 3-6. Kerri Poore 2 An ominous rumble explores beyond the edges of the kingdom, where alarms five carpenter she makes some perplexing discoveries. K.G. ants inside their Campbell, illustrator of the 2014 Newbery Medal P ICT URE B OO K S wooden stump. It may winner Flora & Ulysses, creates an enchanting be a sneaky gray but relatable tale of a mermaid full of character aardvark, worries one and grit in The Mermaid and the Shoe (Kids Can, of the ants, but when $16.95). Ages 4-8. Emily Ellerbe another ant drills a hole to see better, Herman Blount, though the cautious ant he lived in Birmingham, declares that It’s an Alabama, hailed from Orange Aardvark! Saturn; and, as soon as (Greenwillow, $17.99). Michael Hall provides an he could, he changed insider’s view of the stump with clever use of torn his name to Sun Ra— paper, acrylic-painted textures, and die-cuts that Herman was no name reveal a different color of the rainbow with each for a Saturnian. The drilled hole. Delightfully personable ants and a infinitely curious Sun cunning ending ensure that this cumulative tale is Ra could play piano destined to become a favorite to share and read and notate music by the age of 11. By high school, aloud. Ages 4-6. Mary Alice Garber he was leading his own ensemble. By adulthood, he’d mastered blues, doo-wop, and jazz. Watch Out for Some called it “too far out,” but Sun Ra always the Crocodile followed his own sound, from conscientious (Gecko, $17.95), objection to World War II to the foil crowns his yells Tora to band wore at shows. Chris Raschka’s swirling her father. abstract paintings are a perfect match for The Tora’s dad, Cosmobiography of Sun Ra (Candlewick, $15.99), usually a very lending life and movement to this fascinating look boring dad, at a poet, philosopher, and musician for whom life has taken Tora and art were inextricably intertwined. Ages 4-8. on a camping trip. Tora is yearning for some Amy Dickinson adventure, so she vividly imagines many wild animals along the trail to their campsite, such as You don’t notice 5015 Connecticut Ave NW • Washington, DC 20008 a boa constrictor (or perhaps it is an anaconda), them because you a flock of giraffes, and resting hippopotamuses. believe they’re Her dad’s imagination, however, is a little bit not there. You rusty, especially when he is using his GPS and don’t think about answering calls on his cell phone. This lovely tale them because by Lisa Moroni, accompanied by her mother Eva they haven’t been Eriksson’s illustrations, reveal a pair of campers created yet. But who really let their imaginations run wild. Ages Dan Santat proves 4-7. Kerri Poore that they’re alive, thriving, and very Each of King Neptune’s much real in The fifty daughters has a Adventures of special gift, except for Beekle: the Unimaginary Friend (Little, Brown, “useless” Minnow, who $17). Born on an island where imaginary friends has only questions. are created, Beekle waits patiently for his turn Where do the bubbles to be chosen, until he does the unimaginable: go? Why don’t crabs summoning the idea of a human friend to bring have fins? And, him courage, he journeys out into the real world. one exciting day, In a dark place, Beekle follows a familiar sight, what is that thing and everything begins to feel a little less strange. floating down into Dan Santat’s wonderfully magical tale may make the underwater kingdom? Minnow leaves her you wonder where your imaginary friend gifted but scornful mermaid sisters behind and is. Ages 4-8. Allison Trotter 3

Alan Rabinowitz recalls for us his painful, voiceless childhood as a stutterer. “The teachers “Hi, Koo!” (Scholastic, $17.99) says each season to think I am broken. Am I?” His voice froze when a special panda bear, who enjoys every one with he tried to speak to humans, but was released his human friends. Autumn brings new clothes, when he was with animals: the small pets he the chance to dance, and warm cookies. Winter collected at home, and one special jaguar at knocks at the door with an opportunity for a the Bronx Zoo. Caged in a bare room, the jaguar powdery stomp. New leaves, new grass, and seemed as trapped and voiceless as young new sky bring spring, allowing Koo to observe, Alan was, and so he swore that one day he quiet and still. Finally there’s summer: fireflies would speak for animals. Cátia Chien’s delicate and kites. Jon J. Muth’s playful watercolors illustrations bring to life the story of A Boy and a and accompanying haikus encourage us to Jaguar (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99), and remember—or embrace—our childhood, using a heartfelt promise made and, incredibly, kept. familiar sensory images to capture the heart, soul, Ages 5-8. Emily Ellerbe and innocence of each passing season. Ages 4-8. Allison Trotter

Maria and Mouse Mouse are an unlikely pair with In 1824, to curry favor with the King of France, a big secret and more similarities than they know. the Pasha of Egypt decided to present him with A human and a rodent, they have to keep their an extraordinary gift… a baby giraffe named friendship hidden. One night, as Maria and Mouse Zeraffa Giraffa (Frances Lincoln, $17.99). The Mouse get ready for bed, Maria in her room and execution of this act of generosity proved a bit Mouse Mouse in her hole under the floor, neither difficult. The trip entailed travel downriver with can find her mother to tuck her in! Searching Zeraffa’s attendant Atir, “until they came to the frantically among kitchens, living rooms, and place where the sea sipped up the Nile.” After outrageously detailed illustrations, the two must crossing the Mediterranean, they WALKED the stop to ask “Where’s Mommy?” (Schwartz and 550 miles across France to Paris, where Zeraffa Wade, $17.99). Beverly Donofrio’s heartfelt story was settled in the Jardin des Plantes and became and Barbara McClintock’s whimsical illustrations an instant celebrity with the Parisians. Author www.politics-prose.com • (202) 364-1919www.politics-prose.com work together to create a clever tale that shows Dianne Hofmeyr’s elegant prose and Jane Ray’s that children aren’t the only ones with secrets. exquisite illustrations bring this suprising historical Ages 4-8. Allison Trotter journey to life. Ages 5-8. Renée Bosco 4 P ICT URE B OO K S

Torben Kuhlmann’s Lindbergh (North South, $19.95) introduces readers to an inventive “We have new friends.” These simple words are mouse living in turn-of-the-century Hamburg, whispered to the baker, the librarian, and the where mysterious mechanical contraptions farmer—and accommodations are made for (mousetraps) have forced hundreds of friends the Jewish family hiding in Anett’s basement in into exile. Thwarted from boarding a transatlantic a small Danish village in the early 1940s. Only ship to America by a malevolent cat, the mouse two more days, then a boat can take the secret decides to build a flying machine for transport friends away from the Nazis, to Sweden. But how to the fabled new land. Inspired by the creatures will they get to the harbor when there is no moon, and inventions of the times, his machine grows and clouds blanket the cold sky, on the night of increasingly complex and effective. Yet his their departure? The Whispering Town (Kar-Ben, nemeses grow in number as well. Kuhlmann’s $17.95) is born. Jennifer Elvgren’s new take on sepia-toned illustrations create a sense of a true story, just right for introducing younger mystery and familiarity, and the intriguingly readers to the Holocaust, is perfectly balanced by named sections build suspense, exploit by exploit. Fabio Santomauro’s charming illustrations. Ages Will the brave mouse cross the Atlantic by air? 7-10. Allison Trotter And, if he succeeds, how might he influence history? Ages 5-10. Amy Dickinson 5015 Connecticut Ave NW • Washington, DC 20008

Choose from a variety of colorful and creative parts to assemble your own bird, made to order A great-grandfather remembers when Mahatma from Aviary Wonders Inc. (Clarion, $17.99). Gandhi visited his village. Gandhi arrived with his Providing the opportunity to assemble and design satyagrahis, the followers he called his soul force, a unique bird since 2031, Aviary Wonders Inc. and invited the gathered crowd to join them if offers up this Spring Catalogue and Instruction they desired A Taste of Freedom (Walker, $17.99). Manual, addressing common concerns and Gandhi explained that they would fight the British assembly mishaps. Kate Samworth’s stunningly without hurting them. They would march to the beautiful oil paintings make this clever, tongue-in- sea to make salt, which was illegal, since they cheek picture book into a work of art. As natural were required to buy it from the British. Elizabeth birds face extinction, Samworth’s futuristic vision Cody Kimmel offers a glimpse into Gandhi’s of made-to-order birds for purely aesthetic philosophy of nonviolence using the example of delight is clearly satirical, yet the beauty and the Salt March. Giuliano Ferri’s soft watercolor creativity of her art and concept make this a illustrations and decorative motifs enhance the picture book to launch a thousand art projects. story. Ages 6-9. Heidi Powell Ages 8-12. Courtney Burtraw 5 EARLY READERS In the first book in Archie Morningstar is thrilled her new Masterpiece to finally get to ride in his Adventures series, dad’s taxi for Take Your Kid The Miniature World to Work Day. He has to wake of Marvin and James up extra early (at midnight!), (Holt, $15.99), Elise and the adventure only gets Broach introduces weirder when he finds out younger readers that his father’s taxi is no to the beloved ordinary one. It’s a Space characters Marvin Taxi (Little, Brown, $14.99 and James from her hardcover, $5.99 paperback) and the customers award-winning 2008 are aliens. In between navigating around planets novel Masterpiece. and wormholes, Archie and his father get mixed Marvin and James are best friends, but sometimes up in an intergalactic crime mystery. This is the their relationship is complicated, because James is first installment in a series from Wendy Mass a boy and Marvin is a beetle. In this story, Marvin (beloved by older readers for Pi in the Sky, Mango- is sad because James is going to the beach on Shaped Space, and the Willow Falls series, among vacation, but he manages to find adventure—and others) and science teacher Michael Brawer. Ages danger—with his cousin Elaine, in an electric 6-10. Emily Ellerbe pencil sharpener. Ages 6-9. Heidi Powell Annika Riz, Math Whiz (Farrar, A quiet, rather indifferent Straus and Giroux, $15.99) young boy poses a new just cannot get enough of challenge for Lulu and the numbers and word problems. Rabbit Next Door (Albert She absolutely adores figuring Whitman, $13.99). Lulu and things out mathematically. She her cousin, Mellie, worry loves math so much she even that the new neighbor is names her dog Prime. And not properly caring for when there is a math contest at school his pet rabbit. Through a involving the popular number game Sudoku, variety of ingenious plots, third-grader Annika is determined to win and be the girls ensure a happier the one to send the lovable principal into the dunk existence for the rabbit and gradually develop tank as her reward. However, first, Annika must a friendship with the new boy. With spirited best her clever classmate, fellow math enthusiast illustrations by Priscilla Lamont, this newest title Simon. With high jinks and humor, Claudia Mills’s in Hilary McKay’s series about a young girl who second book in the Franklin School Friends series loves all animals is as engaging as the first book. (following Kelsey Green, Reading Queen) is sure to Ages 6-9. Mary Alice Garber entertain. Ages 7-10. Kasie Griffitts

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Join our Signed First Editions Club and receive a book by a well-known author or llustrator www.politics-prose.com • (202) 364-1919www.politics-prose.com each month (tiny.cc/fb2ufx) 6 new in paperback

Gorilla, by Anthony Browne My Summer of Pink and Green, by Lisa Greenwald Lilly’s Big Day, by Kevin Henkes Shadow on the Mountain, by Margi Preus

In the Sea, by David Elliott, Personal Effects, by E.M. Kokie ill. Holly Meade The Elite, by Kiera Cass Ellray Jakes is Magic, by Sally Warner The Fault in Our Stars, The Unforgettable Season, by Phil Bildner, by John Green ill. S.D. Schindler Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins A Seed is Sleepy and An Egg is Quiet, by Diana Aston, Out of the Easy, by Ruta Sepetys ill. Sylvia Long On the Road to Mr. Mineo’s, Coming this Summer by Barbara O’Connor DK Eyewitness Books (June) Pi in the Sky, by Wendy Mass Third Grade Angels, by Jerry The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle, Spinelli (July) by Christopher Healy Bo at Ballard Creek, by The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Kirkpatrick Hill (August)

Man Swamp, 5015 Connecticut Ave NW • Washington, DC 20008 by Kathi Appelt Fake Mustache, by Tom Angleberger (July)

Ruby Redfort: Take Your Last Al Capone Does My Homework, Breath, by Lauren Child by Gennifer Choldenko (July)

The Books of Elsewhere 4: The The Apprentices, by Maile Strangers, by Jacqueline West Meloy (June)

Seven Wonders Book 2: Lost in Babylon, The Thing About Luck, by Cynthia by Peter Lerangis Kadohata (June)

The Water Castle, by Megan The Brotherband Chronicles 3: The Hunters, by Frazer Blakemore John A. Flanagan (June)

Theodore Boone: The Activist, After Iris, by Natasha Farrant (July) by John Grisham Pinned, by Sharon G. Flake (June) Hurricane Dancers, by Margarita Engle Firecracker, by David Iserson (June) 7 Elementary Fiction With a dash of When Theodora Dickens, a fairy- Tenpenny’s snatching witch, grandfather dies, he a talking cat, and leaves behind exactly a bright girl who $463 and a rent- believes in magic, controlled Greenwich Sally Gardner’s Village apartment modern fairy tale for Theodora and races along. Left her increasingly in a hatbox at unstable mother. Stansted Airport Theo is resourceful, and having the but even for her, misfortune to the odds don’t look be adopted by a good—until an dreadful couple, Emily escapes from drudgery accidental spillage of rubbing alcohol on one of when she inherits a shop. Far from ordinary, her grandfather’s paintings reveals a potentially Wings and Co. is a fairy-folks shop dedicated priceless Renaissance masterwork hiding Under to untangling mysteries. Emily finds herself at the Egg (Dial, $16.99). It should be a windfall, the heart of Operation Bunny (Holt, $12.99) and except that her grandfather had been a security dealing with lots of pink bunnies. David Roberts’s guard at the Met, and the painting might be illustrations brilliantly portray the fascinating stolen. In Laura Marx Fitzgerald’s charmingly good and evil characters in this quirky caper. offbeat novel—evocative of E. L. Konigsburg at her Ages 8-11. Mary Alice Garber best—Theo and the unlikely band of misfit friends and allies she picks up along the way investigate Ophelia Jane the painting, and through it, her family’s own Worthington- history. Ages 9-12. Courtney Burtraw Whittard does not consider herself Bored of waiting for brave, and, as a his father to come member of the home from building Children’s Science the last leg of the Society of Greater transcontinental London, she railroad, Will scoffs at magic. impulsively boards Yet when she a train to look for accompanies her him. Within hours, he father, a Leading has found his father International and encountered Expert on Swords, an avalanche, a to a museum in a mysterious city shrouded Sasquatch, and a thief! by snow, Ophelia encounters a Marvelous Three years later, Will is proud to join his father Boy trapped in a dusty hidden room. Through on the maiden voyage of The Boundless (Simon a keyhole, he spins a story of magical owls, & Schuster, $16.99), the longest train in the world, wizards, and centuries-long imprisonment by an as it travels across the country—and unprepared evil Snow Queen. Against her scientific judgment, for the adventure that awaits him on the journey. Ophelia aids him in locating three keys and a Some of the characters from his past are among magical sword, meeting birds of misery, ghostly the 6,495 passengers aboard the Boundless, and girls, and werewolves along the way. Author Will and a traveling circus are the only things Karen Foxlee skillfully incorporates elements standing between his father and a ruthless of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” murderer. Kenneth Oppel, author of the beloved heightening the magical delight of Ophelia and Airborn fantasy series, brings us an invigorating www.politics-prose.com • (202) 364-1919www.politics-prose.com the Marvelous Boy (Knopf, $16.99), a book about 19th-century coast-to-coast adventure aboard strength, loss, family, and the wonder of belief. the elegant and powerful Boundless. Ages 9-12. Ages 8-12. Amy Dickinson Emily Ellerbe 8 Though all the actual a housemaid and groundskeeper, respectively. Secrets of the Terra- They soon notice some creepy features of the Cotta Soldier (Amulet, household: evidence of someone walking through E lemen t $16.95) have yet the house in the middle of the night, a tree that to be revealed, as grows into the side of the house with a hole in it China’s excavation that grants your heart’s desire—but at a very high of Emperor Qin Shi cost. Jonathan Auxier has written a satisfying Huang’s mausoleum is tale that will keep you awake at night and make ongoing, Ying Chang you ponder the value of telling the truth. Ages Compestine and Vinson 10-14. Kerri Poore Compestine’s new novel gives an imaginative ar Since her father died, and action-packed account of their interpretation Piper has been scraping of the mystery. Ming, a young boy coming of by as a “scrapper,” y age during Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution,

collecting the remnants F icti on joins forces with Shí, an animated terra-cotta of other worlds that soldier, to unearth and protect the location of this fall in frequent meteor eventual World Heritage Site. Along with actual showers. One day photographs, the authors use the alternating Piper rescues from voices of Ming and Shí to bring the reader into two falling debris a girl who distinct and crucial periods of Chinese history. remembers nothing Ages 10-12. Renée Bosco about herself. The only clue to this mysterious It is the summer of 1940 girl’s past is The Mark of the Dragonfly when Mr. Bro Wiley, (Delacorte, $16.99) tattooed on her arm, signifying the last living man that she is under the protection of the king of who had been a slave, the Dragonfly territories. Piper is determined and Bean’s unofficial to help the girl get home safely, and maybe grandfather and fount see more of her world along the way. Sneaking of wisdom, dies. Bean aboard the 401, the glorious train that travels to and his best friend the Dragonfly territories but is guarded by an Pole are devastated,

eccentric and loyal crew, is only the beginning 5015 Connecticut Ave NW • Washington, DC 20008 but also proud to of their adventure. In her debut novel, Jaleigh finally be old enough Johnson has crafted an intricate world and a to be included in The rollicking ride that will keep readers turning the Sittin’ Up (Putnam, pages. Ages 10-14. Eowyn Randall $16.99), a wake for the dead. As they prepare to pay tribute to the dead, a potentially devastating Gently, kindly, and with summer storm is brewing, set to hit right in the beautiful prose, author middle of the sittin’ up. A poignant coming-of-age Tracy Holczer leads story packed full of humor and charm, this latest us through Grace’s life from acclaimed storyteller Sheila P. Moses is one following the sudden to remember. Ages 10-13. Courtney Burtraw death of her mother—a mother who believed Pick up The Night that if you listened very Gardener (Amulet, closely, you could hear $16.95) for a thrilling, The Secret Hum of a suspenseful tale of Daisy (Putnam, $16.99). young storyteller Moving to her mother’s Molly and her younger hometown and into the home of a seemingly brother Kip, orphaned stern grandmother whom she has never met, as children. Fleeing Grace slowly unravels the truth of her past and the Irish Famine, her mother’s ever-present sadness. She gradually desperate to make a gets to know her grandmother, makes new living, and ignoring all friends, and follows a mysterious treasure hunt warnings, Molly and much too similar to the ones her mother often Kip take work at the created for her. Ages 10-14. Kerri Poore Windsor Estate as 9 Teen Fiction In the astonishing world created by debut novelist S.E. Grove, dynamic, non-traditional maps are sought by explorers and created by “cartologers” in their attempts to make sense of a world where the continents were forced into different time periods. In this unsettled time, 13-year-old Sophia embarks with refugee Theo on a treacherous journey to find her kidnapped uncle, a renowned cartologer. Told in flawless prose, this riveting adventure is woven with themes of time, the power of memories, and the role of history. Beautifully crafted maps of the New and Unknown World of The Glass Lionel convinces his best friend, Anisa, for a lark, Sentence: Mapmakers, Book One (Viking, $17.99) to sneak through a construction site on their way complement this exceptional read. Ages 11-14. home. But this jaunt to kill time on a long day of Mary Alice Garber (Available in June) summer vacation turns serious when they hear crying and discover a baby abandoned in the site. Basketball and verse? An Danette Vigilante gives the reader a compelling unexpected collaboration of and believable narrator in Lionel, as he relates subject and literary composition, what happens in the aftermath of this discovery. but Kwame Alexander delivers Lionel is determined that this baby will know with Crossover (Houghton she is loved, so he sets about Saving Baby Doe Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99). (Putnam, $16.99) and learns a lot about himself Josh Bell—known as Filthy and the remarkable characters around him along McNasty—is always “agitating / the way. Ages 11-14. Eowyn Randall combinating/ and elevating” his game. His twin brother Jordan is also a “baller” but is recently Alfie’s dad, Georgie, distracted by another equally engrossing game: was among the first girls. Alexander’s verse weaves, pump fakes, men to enlist in and slam dunks across the page, adding visual the British military excitement to this “running gunning/ shooting” in 1914. He was story of sibling rivalry and, ultimately, brotherly sent to France to love. Ages 11-14. Renée Bosco fight in the war declared on Alfie’s Shortly after Veda wins fifth birthday, a competition for her the war that was flawless performance of supposed to be Bharatanatyam, she is involved over by Christmas. in an accident that leaves But now Alfie is her an amputee. Fitted for a nine and the war prosthesis and encouraged to still hasn’t ended. retrain her body, she begins a Alfie and his mom physical and spiritual journey stopped getting Georgie’s letters a while ago. that will lead to A Time to Dance (Nancy Paulsen, Alfie’s mom insists that Georgie is on a secret $17.99). Inspired by the lives of dancers who have mission, but Alfie isn’t convinced. And his father overcome physical trauma, Padma Venkatraman can’t get the confusing instructions out of his vividly portrays contemporary India with its head: Stay Where You Are & Then Leave (Holt, traditions, religious diversity, and emphasis on

www.politics-prose.com • (202) 364-1919www.politics-prose.com $16.99). Although John Boyne depicts the impact family. Her use of free verse adds rich texture to of WWI on the soldiers, their loved ones, and the novel as it evokes the musical rhythm of the society, his story remains relevant today. Ages ancient South Indian dance form. Ages 12-14. Mary 11-14. Heidi Powell Alice Garber 10 Please move I Kill the Who dug the Panama Mockingbird (Roaring Canal, sacrificing their Brook, $16.99) to the homelands, families, Teen F icti on top of all required and safety, and reading lists. In fewer risking mudslides and than 200 pages malaria? Who made the and with laugh-out- rules, assigning jobs based loud humor and on skin color, ensuring memorable lines, unequal wages, hours, this is the story of sanitation, clothing, and three best friends food? Who witnessed who, before their the destruction of their rainforest home, howling, freshman year, flapping, shrieking, and falling? Although turn the world of Margarita Engle’s powerful book is a tribute required reading on its head. What happens when to the low-wage workers known as The Silver all the copies of To Kill a Mockingbird are nowhere People (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $17.99), to be found? The answer lies in Paul Acampora’s the book contains all of these voices from the delightful novel that celebrates family, friends, Panama Canal. Using free verse, Engle expertly and the love of books. It’s a classic in the making. weaves the distinct voices into a compelling Ages 12-14. Mary Alice Garber historical narrative. Ages 12-15. Heidi Powell

The Life and Times of When a citywide Benny Alvarez (Harper, blackout traps strangers $16.99) aren’t always Lucy and Owen in an what they’re cracked elevator in their New up to be. Benny is York City high-rise, a normal seventh- the effects span more grader, navigating than a single evening. middle school with the From the rooftop typical lack of finesse. of their apartment Seen as the downer, building to Scotland, negative type, Benny San Francisco, Seattle, has to deal with and London, Jennifer 5015 Connecticut Ave NW • Washington, DC 20008 classes, like poetry, E. Smith’s novel The in which he isn’t the Geography of You and Me (Little, Brown, $18) least bit interested and with trying to figure out tracks the separate journeys of two teenagers the opposite sex, in which he is very interested. as they navigate family, grief, a succession of Stuck in between a wild, hyperactive younger new homes, and their developing connection, brother and an older sister who believes she is maintained—sometimes, just barely—through always right, Benny seeks comfort and refuge a string of postcards and emails. Told from from his elderly grandfather. His loving parents dual perspectives, populated with well- are there to help and offer Benny some advice, drawn peripheral characters, and set against especially when his grandfather’s health begins to wanderlust-inducing descriptions of various decline. Peter Johnson’s novel is the perfect read cities, the book embraces the awkward and for any middle-schooler trying to fit in and make incendiary moments of a new relationship, and sense of the early teenage years. Ages 12-15. Kasie will satisfy travelers and romantics alike. Ages Griffitts (Available in June) 12-15. Amy Dickinson

We offer classes for kids and teens! Check out our current list at tiny.cc/unlyfx 11 In his second book on the David Klass plunges readers deep into a fast- great apes, National Book paced tournament of wits and willpower. Ages Award finalist Eliot Schrefer 13-15. Kasie Griffitts transports us to Gabon, into the impoverished Since Sam’s mother left him and desperate life of Luc, with his grandparents in Des an orphan who escapes Moines, only music consoles essential servitude through him. He retreats to his bed the cunning and wiles of the at 6 p.m., listens to Nirvana, Prof, from Northern Africa, and longs for his old life in who dreams of becoming an African Jane Goodall. Aberdeen, where he wrote The two voyage into the nearly impenetrable songs with his buddies. In Gabonese forests to study chimpanzee his new life, he cultivates behavior. Thoroughly compelling and thought- invisibility: don’t talk, don’t provoking, Threatened (Scholastic, $17.99) gives make eye contact, don’t feel. Until he meets us a glimpse of a relationship between a human Luis, a tough-looking Latino kid with a fierce and a species of ape that is humans’ closest living scar, who challenges Sam to connect with relative, sharing 99.8% of our DNA. Ages 12-15. the world. Told from Sam’s point of view, and Kerri Poore interspersed with poems that provide insight into Luis’s life and character, Patrick Flores- Though she has always Scott’s first novel, Jumped In (Holt, $16.99), is a dreamed of being an moving story of the fallibility of first judgments astronaut, Maisie Danger and the power of friendship and poetry to Brown was born with only inspire. Ages 13-17. Amy Dickinson one working hand. Between her disability and her family’s The prestigious and elite income level, her dream Selwyn Academy is a haven seems destined to remain for artistic students, allowing unfulfilled, until a chance each talented teen to pursue entry in a cereal-box competition changes his or her artistic passion everything. Having won a spot at an intensive alongside more mundane summer astronaut-boot-camp program, Maisie high school requirements. has no idea of the magnitude of the conspiracy That is, until this year. School she is about to uncover, or the ramifications it will authorities have allowed have, both for her and for Earth. Shannon Hale’s a trashy reality television Dangerous (Bloomsbury, $17.99) is a science- competition show, For Art’s Sake, to be filmed fiction thriller with heart, an action-adventure on campus, and snarky purist Ethan and his story that makes you think even as you root for friends are appalled. Inspired by the Ezra Pound the remarkably resourceful young heroine. Ages unit in English class, The Vigilante Poets of 12-16. Courtney Burtraw Selwyn Academy (Knopf, $16.99) produce and distribute a long-form poem protesting the show. Daniel Pratzer is a freshman Kate Hattemer’s novel cheekily examines the on the chess team, not really difference between art for pleasure and for profit, good at anything, struggling and humorously displays different ways artistic with grades and fitting in passion can both augment and detract from with his fellow classmates. your more typical high school drama. Ages 14-17. Therefore, he is taken by Courtney Burtraw surprise when the leaders on the team request that Life as a crewmember on he and his father take part a cruise ship is far from in a weekend-long chess glamorous, but Shy hopes to tournament, promising a large cash reward and earn enough money to make bragging rights. Chess doesn’t seem like the most the summer job worth it. It’s adventurous of games, but when Daniel discovers grunt work, but between www.politics-prose.com • (202) 364-1919www.politics-prose.com that his father is a Grandmaster (Farrar, Straus flirting with fellow staff and and Giroux, $16.99) of the game with deep secrets, the totally out-of-bounds this weekend parent-child chess tournament passengers, he is making turns into a life-or-death battle for the truth. out all right. That is, until 12 the Big One hits: the earthquake that Californians As winter approaches in Door have been dreading for years, bigger and more County, the lake freezes devastating than could be imagined. And that’s and teenage girls begin to T EEN FICTI ON just on land. Stranded in the middle of the ocean disappear. With these serial on a sinking cruise ship battered by residual slayings as background, tidal waves, Shy and a small group of fellow Maggie, newly moved to passengers—The Living (Delacorte, $17.99)—face the small-town peninsula, impossible challenges as they battle nature itself forms a deep friendship with in a fight for their lives in Matt de la Peña’s latest the impossibly beautiful riveting adventure. Ages 14-17. Courtney Burtraw and childlike Pauline, and Liam, her quiet best friend. The novel is narrated in part by a In this groundbreaking lonely ghost, whose own story is tragically and and beautifully mysteriously caught up in the fate of these constructed work three friends. Jodi Lynn Anderson’s newest of LGBT literature, novel, The Vanishing Season (HarperTeen, photographer and $17.99), is a complexly layered story of teenage author Susan Kuklin friendship and love, set in a climate where cold allows transgender kills as insidiously as any serial killer. Ages 15-18. teens to communicate Courtney Burtraw (Available in July) their personal journeys in their own words. Amy is a bright student With a respectful and with cerebral palsy whose pleasing mix of dialogue, text, and photography, need for a walker and a Beyond Magenta (Candlewick, $22.99) is a communication device has jubilant celebration of difference. Each story is limited her interactions with exceptional yet relatable, a mix of remarkably peers. Matthew, with his own familiar teen issues and the unique concerns secret problems, has closely of transgender identity. The bravery of these observed the solitary Amy. teenagers in speaking candidly about their When Matthew suspects experience of taking action to acknowledge their that an optimistic essay gender preferences is arresting. Some stories written by Amy is false, the are heartbreaking, some funny, and some two teenagers’ worlds collide. Matthew becomes triumphant, but all are strikingly honest and one of Amy’s school-day assistants; and, as their 5015 Connecticut Ave NW • Washington, DC 20008 impacting, and all are equally important. Ages friendship blossoms, each wonders if this is more 14-18. Courtney Burtraw than just affinity. Cammie McGovern’s honest and redemptive Say What You Will (Harper Teen, The Strange and Beautiful $17.99) is a much-needed book about the loneliness Sorrows of Ava Lavender felt by teens, especially those with disabilities, and (Candlewick, $17.99) is the unexpected connections that bind. Ages 15- mystifying. Is this young 18. Mary Alice Garber (Available in June ) adult novel by Leslye Walton a surreal fantasy “Dear Kurt Cobain, Mrs. Buster or a poignant family saga? gave us our first assignment The reader is immediately in English today, to write a informed that Ava was born letter to a dead person.” Thus with wings. Some considered opens Ava Dellaira’s haunting her an angel, others a curious freak of nature. The epistolary debut novel, story begins with Ava’s grandmother, Emelienne, Love Letters to the Dead in a small village in rural France and concludes (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, on a hill in the Ballard district of Seattle. In $17.99). Without turning in the the intervening years readers encounter the assignment, Laurel continues unusual relationships of the peculiar Roux family to write letters to dead personalities, from Judy back in the old country and with the suspicious Garland to Allan “Rocky” Lane, Amy Winehouse, community in the Pacific Northwest. It is haunting and John Keats. These letters to others, who had and mystical, yet oddly realistic. The book is their own burdens and sadnesses, become her impossible to put down and leaves the reader method for acknowledging what has happened to questioning: who or what was Ava Lavender? Ages her and understanding the sudden death of her 15-18. Renée Bosco older sister, May. Ages 15-18. Kerri Poore 13 Poetry and Music “Let’s play!” No better summertime invitation exists. And that’s exactly how editors Debjani Chatterjee and Brian D’Arcy invite readers into their Unless they’ve time to slip into a dreamy reverie, latest compilation readers had best steer clear of Goodnight of poetry, Let’s Songs (Sterling, $17.95), a collection of previously Play! Poems unpublished poems by famed children’s author about Sports and Margaret Wise Brown. The book casts a spell. Games from around the World (Frances Lincoln, Each poem has been reimagined in song by $19.99). This joyful collection travels the globe, Tom Proutt and Emily Gary, whose mellifluous the game spectrum, and time. It highlights play soundscape, included on CD, works as an extended as diverse as tobogganing, kung fu, and Snakes lullaby while intricately pairing instrumentation and Ladders, poetic forms from shape poems to lyric: the yawning trombone of “Sleep like a to simple rhymes, and even reaches into the 19th Rabbit,” Celtic rhythms in the sea tale of “Song for century for a spirited remembrance of a cricket Estyn.” Twelve preeminent illustrators gathered match. Shirin Adl’s accompanying illustrations to produce the art. Though diverse in media and are equally exuberant, employing collage and style—from Carin Berger’s tiny 3-D stage to Eric drawing to create bright representations of the Puybaret’s acrylic on linen—the pictures create a joy of play, in whatever form, in whatever place. mood of mystery and whimsy, filled with details Ages 5-10. Amy Dickinson (Available in June) sure to enchant adults and children. If any book can capture the hushed comfort of that moment between awake and asleep, this one has done it. Ages 3-6. Amy Dickinson

Imagine for a moment your favorite instrument or From Emily Dickinson to William Carlos Williams, style of music. How does it sound? What emotions Paul B. Janeczko has gathered work by some does it evoke? Take another moment to remember of the finest poets to mark the changing of the that there is Music Everywhere! (Charlesbridge, seasons in this collection of “very short poems,” $7.95), and join Maya Ajmera, Elise Hofer Firefly July (Candlewick, $16.99). Melissa Sweet’s Derstine, and Cynthia Pon on a tour of culture, evocative and whimsical illustrations match the sound, and pure joy. Though the instruments of poems beautifully, capturing the famous fog that Indonesia and Venezuela may be different and “comes on little cat feet” and the glowing fireflies the beats of Ghana and France unique, all children of the collection’s title poem. This is a book to clap, sing, pluck, rattle, and scrape, and ultimately be savored in little bits, or swallowed whole. find refuge in the comfort that their music However you approach it, it makes a wonderful www.politics-prose.com • (202) 364-1919www.politics-prose.com brings. “Music has many moods.” It brings people and accessible exploration of the breadth of together from the United Kingdom to Timor-Leste; poetry’s capabilities for the earliest readers, and it is a language that we can all understand. Ages a reminder of the power of word and image for us 4-8. Allison Trotter all. Ages 6-10. Eowyn Randall 14

Benny Goodman Fifty years P oe t r grew up in the after The early 1900s on Beatles Chicago’s West (Frances Side, playing Lincoln, $18.99) his clarinet in took the the synagogue United States marching band. by storm, y

Teddy Wilson sparking and grew up around the same time in countrywide Tuskegee, Alabama, playing multiple instruments, Beatlemania with their performance on the Ed but especially piano. Influenced by jazz and Sullivan Show, it is remarkable to look back at the blues, Goodman and Wilson each performed at origin stories of the four Liverpool lads who would segregated venues until they met and, in 1936, become the Fab Four. Mick Manning and Brita M us ic made history by performing together. With free Granström’s irreverent yet thorough approach to verse and vivid illustrations, Lesa Cline-Ransome the story allows the personalities of the musicians and James E. Ransome bring to life the historic to shine through, particularly their uniquely period when swing was born, in Benny Goodman British sense of humor. Chronologically arranged & Teddy Wilson: Taking the Stage as the First with a mix of cartoon illustrations and blocks of Black-and-White Jazz Band in History (Holiday explanatory text, The Beatles is perfect for old House, $16.95). Ages 6-11. Heidi Powell and new fans alike. Ages 8-12. Courtney Burtraw Graphic Novels Sticks and stones will notable explorers to traverse the South Pole, as break my bones but he and his team members fight for survival and words will never hurt me. journey from coast to coast. Hunger, disease, In Shadow Hero (First and brutal weather conditions are all part of Second, $17.99), Gene this harrowing tale, as Shackleton struggles Leun Yang (American to succeed in his lifelong goal and bring all his Born Chinese, Boxers and men back home alive. Ages 12-18. Kasie Griffitts

Saints) and Sonny Liew’s (Available in June) 5015 Connecticut Ave NW • Washington, DC 20008 Sticks and Stones are tongs that literally break Hank’s bones, while he Illustrator Jillian Tamaki attempts to defend his dad from their extortion and author Mariko schemes in a 1940s Chinatown. At his mother’s Tamaki have crafted a insistence, he becomes a superhero who tries gorgeous graphic novel to bring American justice to old-world Chinese of adolescent summer thugs, all the while attempting to keep his friendship. Rose and Windy dignity as cops sling racist words at him. This is a try to enjoy This One classic golden-era superhero tale, with the spirit Summer (First Second, $21.99 guardians of China lurking in the shadows. Ages hardback, $17.99 paperback) 12-18. Emily Ellerbe (Available in July) at Awago Beach despite the harsh realities of family life and their entry into adolescence. Nick Bertozzi details Thoughtful and introspective, Rose diverts her an epic expedition attention from her mother’s not entirely explained in his latest graphic withdrawal from the family by observing the novel, Shackleton: island’s older teens and their activities. Open, Antarctic Odyssey loud, and whimsical, Windy gossips with Rose (First Second, $16.99). about possibilities, and they try to enjoy a light- Through rich artwork hearted summer vacation. Jillian’s artwork places laced with fun and you firmly into summer at the lake; informative graphics, dramatic and beautiful depictions Bertozzi delves into of the water contrast with the bleak, fast-paced dynamic panels of Windy’s dancing adventures of Ernest exploits, full of movement and life. Shackleton, one of the most Ages 15-18. Kerri Poore 15 ART

Long before he was a famous abstract artist, Vasya Kandinsky spent hours learning to be a “proper Russian boy,” studying etiquette and being seen but not heard. When he was given a paint box to encourage an appreciation of art, For an interactive introduction to Pablo Picasso no one expected the explosion of creativity it (Princeton Architectural, $24.95) and Alexander inspired. To his parents’ dismay, Vasya painted Calder (Princeton Architectural Press, $24.95), symphonies rather than landscapes and portraits. try the Meet the Artist series. Both books include Bold sweeping colors and shocking shapes innovative lift-the-flaps, pull-tabs, and pop-ups, cascaded in a cacophony of expression from which bring the artists and their work to life. The Noisy Paint Box (Knopf, $17.99), because Try your hand at a Calder-style wire portrait. Vasya thought that “art should make you feel… Or make a cubist collage like Picasso. Spanish like music.” Mary Grandpré’s exuberant acrylic author and illustrator Patricia Geis has created painting and paper collage alludes to Kandinsky’s text, illustrations, and interactive elements that style, but never feels derivative, in Barb inspire children to learn, dream, and reflect on Rosenstock’s joyous celebration of originality. the history and work of these great artists. Ages Ages 5-8. Courtney Burtraw 8-12. Kerri Poore

Bottle caps, In late 19th- and early old ice-fishing 20th-century Biloxi, decoys, broken Mississippi, George toys… items E. Ohr was ahead of destined for the his time. Ohr, who wastebasket? dubbed himself The Hardly! Author Mad Potter (Roaring and illustrator Brook, $17.99), Lois Ehlert experimented considers such with glazes and items tools shapes, creating of her trade and inspiration for her colorful and “art ware” that future generations would admire quirky illustrations. In The Scraps Book (Beach and even covet. He was a showman who created Lane, $17.99), Ehlert uses her signature collage a persona to lure tourists and locals to flashy technique to tell her own story, and includes demonstrations at his potter’s wheel. But few photographs of her family, childhood home, of Ohr’s contemporaries recognized his genius, and workspace. Ehlert’s whimsy and sense of preferring to purchase his clay trinkets. Award- humor are evident as she describes her blending winning authors Jan Greenberg and Sandra of miscellany from nature, discarded household Jordan (Ballet for Martha) introduce readers items, and just plain color, from wherever the to this underappreciated artist and his art with source. References to her inspiration for particular engaging text and captivating photographs. books and a spread of all her book covers will Today you can see Ohr’s work at the Gehry- delight current fans and send others to the designed Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in www.politics-prose.com • (202) 364-1919www.politics-prose.com bookstore! Ages 5-9. Renée Bosco Biloxi. Ages 9-12. Heidi Powell 16 Sports

In the summer of 1941, a nervous American population watched the European conflict from afar. But New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio Soccer is arguably the most popular sport in the offered a welcome respite from the worries of world, with players and leagues from Brazil to a concerned nation. The Streak (Calkins Creek, Nepal all trying to make a Goal! (Holt, $17.99). $16.95) began quietly. Using his special bat, Author Sean Taylor travels from country to nicknamed Betsy Ann, DiMaggio hit successfully country, using Caio Vilela’s photographs to in game after game. The record was broken illustrate how different children play the sport all at 42, but Joe continued to make contact. His over the world, with whatever they have on hand. ultimate record of 56 games thrilled a nation While many kids use the traditional ball, some and is unlikely ever to be broken. Author Barb make do with round fruits, and sticks and rocks Rosenstock adds poignancy to this often-told stand in nicely for goal posts. Taylor’s exploration historical achievement as she portrays the mental of soccer also provides the basic rules and some anguish DiMaggio endured during the streak. interesting history of the game, perfect for the Terry Widener’s impressionistic illustrations are burgeoning World Cup star in your household. spectacular. This book is, well… a “hit.” Ages 7-10. Ages 4-7. Kasie Griffitts Renée Bosco 5015 Connecticut Ave NW • Washington, DC 20008 Baseball Is… If the first athlete you think (Margaret K. of when you hear the name McElderry, $17.99) a “Babe” is Babe Ruth, no one beloved game that could really blame you, but means something after reading Babe Conquers special to each the World (Calkins Creek, devoted fan. One $16.95) you might have some may value the misgivings about who is memories and the most important Babe historical significance in sports. This biography of of particular players: Babe Didrikson Zaharias by Babe Ruth, Jackie Rich Wallace and Sandra Neil Wallace is fast- Robinson, or Roberto paced and entertaining, just like Babe herself. Clemente. Or maybe the ambiance of an actual Babe was a complicated figure: she won many venue is the attraction: a favorite old ballpark, an Olympic gold medals, set many world records, impressive scoreboard displaying innumerable and tore down many barriers against women in statistics, or simply the green expanse of a sports, but she was also brash and egotistical. freshly-chalked field. It is obvious that author The Wallaces don’t just chronicle Babe’s deeds, Louise Borden knows the game. Her precise prose they depict her in all her complexity, and include coupled with Raúl Colón’s recognizably textured important moments from history as well, illustrations puts you ten rows above first base, bringing Babe’s era to life and contextualizing anticipating the first pitch of the evening. Ages how impressive her achievements were. Ages 5-10. Renée Bosco 9-12. Eowyn Randall 17 History, Biography, Geography “Sugar Hill (Albert Whitman, $16.99), protest movement in our nation’s history has Sugar Hill where life is sweet/ embraced My Country, ‘Tis of Thee (Holt, $17.99) And the “A” train stops for the as an anthem. The great Bryan Collier’s signature black elite” begins Carole Boston collages enhance this important but accessible Weatherford’s snappy ode to approach to the history of civil rights. Ages 5-10. Harlem’s historic neighborhood Emily Ellerbe (Available in June) and its residents. R. Gregory Christie’s bold, vibrant illustrations Elizabeth Freeman, known as reflect the positive mood of Sugar Hill in its heyday, Mumbet, was born a slave in the Harlem Renaissance. Sugar Hill contained an the 18th century and owned by a impressive collection of African-American artists, family living in Berkshire County, writers, performers, and intellectuals, “Where Massachusetts. She was horribly Duke and Count plunk out new tunes/ and Zora mistreated and constantly spins stories by the moon.” All residents of Sugar dreamed of freedom. Living Hill, particularly its children, benefited from the during the time of America’s quest for freedom from culturally rich environment, “Where Talent blooms Britain, she questioned why she was excluded from in pageants, choirs;/ and prized Books fuel independence. When the Massachusetts Constitution creative fires.” Together, Weatherford and Christie was finally passed, it was time for Mumbet’s offer young readers a lively introduction to the Declaration of Independence (Carolrhoda, $17.95) Harlem Renaissance in the context of a unique and she went to court to win her freedom. Gretchen neighborhood. Ages 4-8. Heidi Powell Woelfle’s engaging account of Mumbet is boldly and dynamically illustrated by Alix Delinois. Ages 7-10. From Kiana and Allen in Honolulu, Mary Alice Garber Hawaii, to Abby in Apia, Samoa, author Clotilde Perrin takes readers Seven years before Brown v. on a journey throughout the world. Board of Education, the family of At the Same Moment, Around the Sylvia Mendez worked to bring an World (Chronicle, $17.99) illustrates the end to segregation in California’s various tasks and customs of children schools. Inspired by interviews throughout their average days. Nadia with Sylvia Mendez and with the in Dubai watches construction workers use of actual dialogue from court transcripts, Pura build a new tower at ten in the morning. At the same Belpré winner Duncan Tonatiuh relates the dramatic moment, Pablo is fast asleep in Mexico City, where efforts of the Mendez family to make known to all it’s well past his bedtime. Employing illustrations that of California that Separate is Never Equal (Abrams, depict each country’s traditional way of life, Perrin $18.95). Codex-style drawings with digital collage imparts cultural knowledge and an elegantly simple and double-page spreads heighten the intensity demonstration of how time zones work. Beautifully of this little-known, but very relevant, story of civil illustrated, with a fold-out world map at the end, the rights. Ages 7-11. Mary Alice Garber book allows readers to learn something new on each page. Ages 4-8. Kasie Griffitts When he was twelve years old, Arun Gandhi moved Fifty years ago, Marian Anderson from South Africa to the subtly but meaningfully changed Sevagram ashram in India the lyrics of “America” (better to live with his Grandfather known by its first line, “My Gandhi (Atheneum, $17.99), Country, ‘Tis of Thee”) as she the Mahatma. With cowriter performed on the steps of the Bethany Hegedus, Gandhi’s fifth grandson tells Lincoln Memorial—an anniversary the story of trying to live up to the Gandhi name that has been poignantly during the tempest of adolescence, and shares celebrated this year. Claire Rudolf Murphy’s wisdom learned from his grandfather that cooled meticulous research brings to life the history of him down and eventually inspired him to live his life www.politics-prose.com • (202) 364-1919www.politics-prose.com this song, demonstrating that Marian Anderson in the service of peace and nonviolence. Evan Turk’s was neither the first nor the last to manipulate the striking cut-paper and mixed-media illustrations lyrics for the cause of civil rights. From suffragettes dramatically render both India in the 1940s and the to slaves to American Indians, it seems that every conflicts of youth. Ages 7-12. Emily Ellerbe 18 Beloved children’s author and For the first 128 years of illustrator Peter Sís (The Wall, American history, there were Madlenka) gives us the story no women elected to the Hi s t of The Pilot and the Little United States Congress. In A Prince: The Life of Antoine de Woman in the House (and Saint-Exupéry (Farrar, Strauss Senate) (Abrams, $24.95),

and Giroux, $18.99). As a Ilene Cooper shows us, or young man in France, Antoine chronologically, woman wanted to fly so much that he built his own flying after woman who struggled to pave the way for machine by the age of twelve. It didn’t fly, but he equal rights, fighting against stereotypes and the y

wasn’t discouraged. Accompanied by Sís’s unique deeply held belief that women were inferior to , B i o g raph y and striking artwork, we follow Antoine through men, to champion their rights and beliefs. Through his childhood, the achievement of his goal of flying segregation, Prohibition, and numerous wars, each planes—first by delivering mail for Aeropostale of these women fought to be heard and to make and later through his service as a war pilot—and her nation a better place. Ages 10-14. Kasie Griffitts ultimately his immigration to New York City, where he wrote and published the book for which he is While doing research for his most famous. Ages 7-12. Kerri Poore award-winning book Bomb, Steve Sheinkin discovered a Ibn Battuta was not ready to lesser-known story he wanted settle for a life of mediocrity, to tell, that of The Port Chicago so at the age of 21, in the year 50 (Roaring Brook, $19.99). In 1325, he left his home in Morocco the segregated U.S. navy of and set off on his donkey the 1940s, black men could , Geo g raph y to journey to Mecca and to serve only as low-ranking have as many life experiences sailors. One group of black sailors was stationed as possible. Spanning almost 30 years, Ibn at Port Chicago, outside of San Francisco, where Battuta’s travels ranged from sightseeing in the conditions were dangerous. The sailors had beautiful landscapes of India and Jerusalem to virtually no training in loading bombs and crates extraordinary feats of daring, escaping ravaging, of ammunition onto ships, and the white officers wild hyenas in Africa. The Amazing Travels of Ibn encouraged speed by pitting the divisions of black Battuta (Groundwood, $17.95), presented without sailors against one another. Some of the sailors, elaboration by author Fatima Sharafeddine and recognizing the dangers and inequities, took a 5015 Connecticut Ave NW • Washington, DC 20008 coupled with colored pencil illustrations by Intelaq stand that helped spark this country’s civil rights Mohammed Ali, will mesmerize readers as they movement. Ages 11-15. Heidi Powell journey with Ibn Battuta. Ages 8-11. Kasie Griffitts Courageous does not begin to As author Georgia Bragg describe the people who risked proclaims in the foreword, How their lives during Freedom they Choked (Walker, $17.99) is “full Summer (Holiday House, $18.95). of bad news!” Bragg doesn’t go College students from all over easy on history’s most prominent the country volunteered; local figures, and truthfully depicts blacks welcomed the civil rights all their failures and misdoings. workers into their homes and From the captain of the Titanic churches. The plan was to register blacks to vote to a famous baseball player who cheated, this and to establish Freedom Schools. The state’s book details the biggest blunders and unknown institutional racism was legendary: many law failures of the most famous and noteworthy. Take enforcement officers were members of the Ku Klux Isaac Newton for example. Although many know Klan, and white Mississippians felt threatened by him as the brilliant scientist with groundbreaking the goals of the project. Susan Goldman Rubin discoveries and formulas of gravity and calculus, tells the compelling, heartbreaking, and inspiring Bragg shows readers just how turbulent his story of Freedom Summer. She provides historical life really was. Filled with an obsessive, violent context while deftly moving the narrative forward nature, Newton was also a bounty-hunter and an by focusing on the disappearance of and search alchemist. With humorous illustrations by Kevin for three civil-rights workers. Parents and their O’Malley, this follow-up to How They Croaked children should share and discuss this important is sure to entertain readers with little tidbits of book during this 50th-anniversary year. Ages 12 unknown history. Ages 10-14. Kasie Griffitts and up. Heidi Powell 19 science Broccoli, lightning, and mountain ranges cannot be described as cylinders, spheres, or cones, so what shape are they? Sarah C. Campbell uses stunning photography and clear language to describe and explain the Mysterious Patterns Think birds make sound only with tweets and (Boyds Mill, $16.95) that make up these and chirps? Think again. Some birds trill by rubbing many other natural phenomena: fractals. their feathers. Melissa Stewart’s Feathers: Not First described by Benoit Mandelbrot, shapes Just for Flying (Charlesbridge, $17.95) compiles comprised of repeating parts of different sizes an array of facts intriguing enough to make make up much of the world around us, from ornithologists of the most science-averse readers. the Colorado River to Queen Anne’s lace. An Sarah Brannen’s detailed watercolors softly tease afterword by mathematician Michael Frame, who out every ridge, hue, and wisp of the dozens of worked with Mandelbrot, describes how humans featured feathers. Together, the illustrations and have harnessed nature’s mysterious shape for text create analogies between the versatile work technologies from the internet to the invisibility of feathers and various human inventions, from cloak. Ages 6-10. Emily Ellerbe kayaks to parasols. The book is nearly as versatile as the feathers it describes: it’s well suited to early Fossils, bunkers, gems, elementary classroom exploration, a summer and farms. These are hike, or an afternoon spent daydreaming near the just a few of the things window, watching the action in the trees. Ages 4-7. that lie steps, or miles, Amy Dickinson below our known world. In Underworld: They may be pesky Exploring the Secret and unwelcome in World Beneath your the garden, but as Feet (Kids Can, $18.95), any child who has author Jane Price invites picked dandelions readers to explore the tunnels of cave cities, the knows, Weeds Find tombs of pharaohs, French catacombs, terra- a Way (Beach Lane, cotta soldiers, and other underground worlds 16.99). With vibrant that you may not have encountered before. From and brightly colorful hibernating bears and complex subway systems depictions, Carolyn to buried treasure and underground science labs, Fisher’s illustrations immerse yourself in James Gulliver Hancock’s capture the way these often dreaded intricately detailed illustrations and descend into plants can be colorful and beautiful, peeking up the unknown. Ages 9-12. Allison Trotter through cracks in our industrial landscape, while the poetic prose of Cindy Jenson-Elliot highlights their hardiness and adaptability. Unlikely heroes they might be, but in this non-fiction picture book it is hard not to root for the weeds, relentlessly and optimistically poking their heads up despite the odds. Ages 4-8. Courtney Burtraw www.politics-prose.com • (202) 364-1919www.politics-prose.com

5015 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20008