How It Went Down

From Publisher's Weekly…
Coretta Scott King Finalist

Structured similarly to Avi’s Nothing But the Truth, this provocative novel set in a neighborhood ruled by gangs offers multiple, contradictory perspectives on the shooting of an African-American youth. No one disputes that 16-year-old Tariq Johnson was shot on the street by Jack Franklin, a white gang member, but the motives of both killer and victim remain fuzzy, as do the circumstances surrounding the shooting. The nationally renowned Reverend Alabaster Sloan claims that racial bias was involved and criticizes the police for releasing Jack. Locals have differing opinions, which spur more questions. Was the killing a matter of self-defense? Did Tariq have a weapon? Was he a gang member? Even eyewitnesses disagree on many points. Expressing the thoughts of Tariq’s family, neighbors, friends, and enemies, Magoon (37 Things I Love [In No Particular Order]) creates a montage of impressions for readers to digest before drawing conclusions about the tragedy. Through this resonant chorus of voices, Magoon masterfully captures the cycle of urban violence and the raw emotions of the young people who can’t escape its impact. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michelle Humphrey, Martha Kaplan Agency. (Oct.)

Very good, although disturbing.  Too mature for middle school (drugs, gangs, violence, etc..)

Josephine

From Publisher's Weekly…
2015 Siebert finalist

Segregated American clubs were willing to let African-American dancer Josephine Baker (1906–1975) perform, but they wouldn’t let her use the front door. Powell (Frog Brings Rain) chooses a potent metaphor for Baker’s hidden anger: “hot magma, molten lava, trapped within.” When Baker arrived in France, the country embraced both her artistry and her blackness, and “Her deep volcanic core—filled with emotion, filled with music—erupted.” Robinson (Rain!) draws round faces gazing with amazement at the woman onstage whose pearl necklace flies one way and whose hips swing the other. Baker’s entire life spreads out in this tapestry of words, from a St. Louis childhood surrounded by music to her triumphs all over Europe—followed, sadly, by debt and illness. Robinson’s naif, folk-style figures look like puppets, and make some grim moments easier to endure (“Those ugly rumors incited some white folks/ to beat, murder, and burn black East St. Louis”). Although Powell’s focus is on Baker, the contrast between segregated America and welcoming France will not be lost on readers. Ages 7–10. 

Very interesting and what an inspiring woman!  The book itself is too young for ms.  

Noggin

From Publisher's Weekly…
National Book Award Finalist

Like baseball great Ted Williams, Travis Coates has his head surgically removed and cryogenically frozen after he dies (of leukemia at age 16). Unlike Williams, Travis is a fictional character, and five years after his death, technological advances allow doctors to attach his head to a donor body that’s taller and more muscular than the original. Whaley’s second novel (following his Printz-winning Where Things Come Back) is far more concerned with matters of the heart than with how head reattachment surgery would work. Travis awakens to restart where he left off—sophomore year—but everyone he knew has moved on. Best friend Kyle is struggling through college; former girlfriend Cate is engaged to someone else. As only the second cryogenics patient successfully revived, Travis is in uncharted territory; he’s “over” high school, but not ready to be anywhere else. Travis’s comic determination to turn back the hands of time and win Cate’s love is poignant and heartbreaking. His status in limbo will resonate with teens who feel the same frustration at being treated like kids and told to act like adults. Ages 14–up. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Apr.)

Very good…most appropriate for 8th graders.  

Threatened

From Publisher's Weekly…
2015 National Book Award Finalist

Schrefer switches focus from bonobos to chimpanzees in this engrossing, meticulously researched, and gripping tale of survival in the deep wilds of Gabon, a thematic follow-up to 2012’s Endangered. Luc, a 13-year-old orphan and debt slave, is hired by Prof, who wants to become the first African “janegoodall,” and the two venture into the jungle to study the chimpanzees that dwell within. When tragedy strikes, Luc is left alone, forced to survive by any means necessary. Forging a tentative truce with a small family of chimpanzees, he ekes out a desperate though increasingly satisfying existence. As man and “mock man” grow to understand one another, they take on all manner of threats, including human hunters, animal predators, and even another chimpanzee tribe. Schrefer’s passion for the material and empathy for the characters shows on every page, and his non-human subjects are every bit as complex and fascinating as narrator Luc. The setting comes fully to life, and Schrefer pulls no punches as he showcases the beauty and danger of both urban Gabon and the jungle. Ages 12–up. 

Excellent!  Good for middle schoolers.  

Hidden

From Publisher's Weekly…
2015 Batchelder Honor


Dauvillier’s graphic novel about a Jewish girl’s survival in France during the Holocaust balances the cruelty of the persecution she experiences with the miraculous generosity of her neighbors. Lizano’s artwork, too, lightens the story’s grimmer moments—the outsize heads and pin-dot eyes of the characters are almost reminiscent of the Peanuts gang. Dounia Cohen, now a grandmother, recalls for her granddaughter the growing strictures on the lives of Jews, culminating one terrible night with the arrival of the police; her parents have seconds to hide her before they’re taken away. After the Péricards, trusted neighbors, take Dounia in, Mr. Péricard is betrayed. Dounia, consumed up until then with her own grief, realizes that the war causes pain for others: “I think it’s from that moment on that I no longer wanted to cry.” Dounia’s confusion and sorrow as she waits for her parents’ return (her mother survives, her father doesn’t) are drawn with perception and care. That Dounia chooses to tell her young granddaughter a story she has never revealed to her own son conveys both the persistence of grief and the possibility of healing. Ages 6–up. 

Beautiful story and pictures…a little young for middle schoolers in some parts, but not in terms of content.  

Can't get the picture to load…will try later.  

Brown Girl Dreaming

From Publisher's Weekly…
2015 Newbery honor, Coretta Scott King, Siebert, National Book Award!

Written in verse, Woodson’s collection of childhood memories provides insight into the Newbery Honor author’s perspective of America, “a country caught/ between Black and White,” during the turbulent 1960s. Jacqueline was born in Ohio, but spent much of her early years with her grandparents in South Carolina, where she learned about segregation and was made to follow the strict rules of Jehovah’s Witnesses, her grandmother’s religion. Wrapped in the cocoon of family love and appreciative of the beauty around her, Jacqueline experiences joy and the security of home. Her move to Brooklyn leads to additional freedoms, but also a sense of loss: “Who could love/ this place—where/ no pine trees grow, no porch swings move/ with the weight of/ your grandmother on them.” The writer’s passion for stories and storytelling permeates the memoir, explicitly addressed in her early attempts to write books and implicitly conveyed through her sharp images and poignant observations seen through the eyes of a child. Woodson’s ability to listen and glean meaning from what she hears lead to an astute understanding of her surroundings, friends, and family. Ages 10–up.

Excellent!  

Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes

From Publisher's Weekly…
2015 Belpre honor


California Poet Laureate Herrera (The Upside Down Boy) profiles 19 famous Hispanic-Americans in this collection of short biographies. Each entry opens with a light-infused mixed-media portrait by Colón (Abuelo), followed by nearly three pages highlighting the person's life and career. The vignettes don't overwhelm with dates and places, instead providing interesting snippets about the scientists, entertainers, civil rights workers, doctors, artists, politicians, educators, and judges. Readers learn, for example, that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor "read every Nancy Drew novel she could get her hands on" when growing up, and that Civil War naval commander David Farragut's ("Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!") father hailed from Spain. Two final spreads break from the pattern of biographies, with one focusing on Hero Street in small Silvis, Ill., home to numerous war veterans of Mexican-American heritage. The last spread pays tribute to Victoria Leigh Soto, a teacher killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, with a poem: "your heart was strong/ To learn, to explore.../ A leader with heart, for all occasions." Source notes, a bibliography, and recommended reading conclude this retrospective look at some of the Latinos and Latinas who helped shape the United States. Ages 8–12.

Very interesting!  Good for middle school although a little young.  

And We Stay

From Publisher's Weekly…
2015 Printz Honor

Seventeen-year-old Emily Beam transfers to the Amherst School for Girls in the middle of her junior year carrying two secrets: her boyfriend Paul committed suicide after she broke up with him, and their breakup was motivated by her pregnancy and her parents’ pressure on her to have an abortion. Grieving and guilty, Emily discovers writing poetry to express her feelings, and Hubbard forms the novel with the same blend of prose and verse she used in her critically acclaimed debut, Paper Covers Rock. Less successfully, Hubbard forces a connection between Emily and Amherst’s most famous poet, Emily Dickinson, that never quite lives up to the younger Emily’s claim that “[her] brain has been hijacked,” despite her composing some charming Dickinson-style poetry. Hubbard’s writing is elegant and emotional in both styles, and the revelation of Emily’s history carries the first half of the book, though the plot falters when there is little of the past left to discover. Mature readers who enjoy a bit of melancholy and might spark to Dickinson will be in good company on Emily’s journey. Ages 14–up. 

Good, but not middle school appropriate.