Jason Reynolds transforms love, hope, and promise, into powerful words and characters. We readers are helpless to resist embracing his realities, be they windows or mirrors. 

Patina is a coming of age novel about a young girl learning to find or make her place in the world. It is the second in Reynolds' Track series for elementary and middle grade students. Ghost is the first. The novels address the lives of members of a track team. It looks like they are companion books rather than series since so far, it doesn't seem necessary to read them in order, although readers learn more about the coaches in the first book. Every school library should have at least one copy of each of these in their collection!

Through the team, members learn important lessons about how to help each other be their best selves both on and off the field. Patty Winters, (Patina) is one of the runners who has a lot to run away from. All too often it seems like she has taken the weight of the world on her shoulders. She is trying to adjust to going to a prestigious, high falutin, charter school. Navigating her way through this social and academic quagmire is stressful. She takes on responsibility for her younger sister who she loves deeply. While she is reliable and dependable, she has a temper that she tamps down inside of her. She also has an unhealthy obsession with winning. 

Patty's father died just before her younger sister, Maddy was born. Their mother is unable to look after them. Due to complications from diabetes, she lost her legs and has kidney disease. Patty and Maddy live with their aunt and uncle. While their lives are complicated, they are surrounded by smart, caring adults. 

I am infatuated with Reynolds capacity to write such authentically rich and complex characters. It isn't just that he crafts remarkable protagonists, although he does indeed. It's that all the secondary characters are equally full and interesting. As a reader I want to know more about all of them, from the members on the track team to the students at Patty's new school. 

I can hardly wait to read Sunny's story next!

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC of this book. It will be published August 29th, 2017. Mark your calendar.

If you haven't read Ghost, you will want to purchase it as well!

This is the true story of Nokomis (Grandmother) Josephine Mandamin who began Mother Earth Water Walkers, a movement of women (and men), who walk to raise awareness of how precious water is to us.

Nokomis loved nibi (water) in all its iterations. 

Nokomis gathered her friends around her, and in 2003, they set out walking around the Great Lakes. A movement was begun. She herself has worn out three knees and eleven pairs of sneakers. In 2005 she walked almost 4,500,000 steps for water!

The story is told using Ojibwe vocabulary. At first this was disconcerting but I was mostly able to figure out the story without peeking into the glossary at the end of the book. The illustrations help to make the new vocabulary clear. I still went back and reread it a few times to check my interpretations.

The illustrations are bright and bold with stylized people and lots of colour. I love how Nokomis' love of nibi is captured in the first pages. 

Later on the images reveal all the ways water is threatened; from individuals letting water run while brushing their teeth, to corporations spilling oil and dumping toxins into oceans.

My only wish is that the text was formatted differently. It is small and some pages are almost overwhelmed by it. 

This is an important book to use during a unit on the hydrosphere with all ages of students. It pushes beyond basic understanding of the water cycle into its importance for our survival. At the same time as it introduces readers to cultural awareness of nibi, it directs students of all ages to think politically about water. Perhaps they can come up with their own powerful ways to answer the Ogimaa's question, What are you going to do about it?

Josephine Mandamin is an indigenous woman from Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island. She now lives in Thunder Bay Ontario, Canada. Click here to find out more about Mother Earth Water Walkers.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for reviewing it. Let me say before I go any farther, that you are going to want to preorder your copy for September 5, 2017. If you haven't read the first in the series, Mighty Jack, you better order it too. You don't have to take my word for it, eight year old Payton, who read my digital copy while we were camping, was mesmerized by the story and is now hooked on graphic novels.

In this sequel to Ben Hatke's Mighty Jack, the illustrations once again explode with rich colours and magnificent depictions of other worlds. Readers are guaranteed to spend hours immersed in the splendour of these details.

Spoiler alert here! If you haven't read the first book, you might want to skip this next bit.

The story begins where Mighty Jack ends, with Jack and Lily chasing after the ogre who has taken Jack's sister, Maddy. Jack's emotional state impairs his ability to think clearly. He's impervious to Lily's attempts to talk sense to him. Soon Jack leaps into a fight with a larger and more powerful foe and Lily saves him, but at great cost to herself. Still nothing can impress caution in Jack, and undaunted, he continues on. Lily follows him.

As the two of them cross a rotting vine bridge, they are attacked and separated. From this point on, in a series of one action packed scene after another, the story alternates between their separate adventures.

Before Jack can reach them, the ogre takes Maddy into what seems to be an impenetrable fortress. Responding to a cry for help, Jack helps an old goblin, Jerry, make his way back into the pipes on the outside of the building. This good deed is rewarded when Jerry and his friend Tig show Jack how to climb up the pipes to get into the fortress. 

Meanwhile, Lily is in serious trouble. If rats didn't terrify you before, they probably will now.

Luckily she is rescued from her battle with the rats by a group of goblins who treat her with goblin medicine. I adore the energy, charm, and language of these goblins. They remind me of Skarper in Philip Reeve's Goblin series. From the goblins Lily learns that they are at a Nexus Point, 'a place of connection between several worlds.' This place and other worlds have been taken over by giants and rats.  

Just as Jack is about to leap in to rescue Maddy, and probably kill himself in the process, Phelix, Maddy's dragon friend saves him from his foolhardy attempt. They come up with a plan. Phelix will wait on the top of the fortress for them and fly them to safety once Jack has freed Maddy. Once inside, Jack discovers that Maddy is to be fed to 'the beast.' It's here that we make a connection to the original Jack In The Beanstalk tale, when the ogre states that the beast will, 'boil her blood and grind her bones.'

It looks like Lily has landed in clover until it is revealed that she is expected to be the bride of the Goblin King. Rather than marry the him, Lily challenges him to single combat. 

There is much in this book that enthralled me. Humour makes it's appearance in many of these scenes with the goblins, such as where where, 'the Majestic Goblin Hideaway' is a sewer, and when the Goblin King asks his followers, 'Is make me look fat?'

This is a satisfying read with even a bit of romance. I finally got some of my questions answered about the man who sold those beans to Jack in the first place. It doesn't seem to be a big deal in the book, but I was excited that Maddy started to talk and eventually spoke Lily's name. The title is a delightful surprise. I love that Lily is set out on her own trajectory that will include the other children, but she sure isn't following Jack anymore.

I was not expecting this ending, and am now waiting for the next book in the series. It's full of promise of more adventures to come. The worst thing about finishing this book is that the next one isn't ready yet.

I hate to wait.

An older version of this title was first published in 1995.  This version acknowledges Saoussan Askar's contributions to the story and is presented with a different illustrator. The book is as profound now as it was then. Given the political climate, it might be even more important. 

Immigration is part of our story here in North America. Green's illustrations show us a Muslim family who were forced to leave their country because of war. Readers will empathise with Saoussan, as she struggles to make her way in this new land. Her world is fraught with difficulty as she learns a new language and navigates her way through new cultural traditions. Just needing to use the toilet can be a nearly overwhelming obstacle. The Halloween episode is especially poignant. From my teaching experience, it is one of the strangest for children to get used to, and eventually the one that students 'from far away' embrace readily. It also reminds us that many of the children who come from war torn areas have memories of horrific realities that can be triggered by what we consider to be ordinary things. 

I especially appreciate how Rebecca Green's illustrations portray the multicultural classrooms I taught in across my teaching career. It both represents the reality and shows us how we can all come together in love and hope for the future. 

What I didn't know until I read the note from Saoussan at the end, is that this story is based on her experiences. When she was in second grade she wrote a letter to Robert Munsch telling him of her challenges here in Canada. The two of them exchanged letters and this book was the result. The royalties are split between the two authors. 

While learning more about this book I discovered this little film created by the National Film Board of Canada that is based on Saoussan's experiences. 

       From Far Away, Shira Avni & Serene El-haj Daoud, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

While this story takes place here in Canada, it is an important message for readers everywhere to help us understand and find compassion for others. I highly recommend this book for school and classroom libraries. 

This wordless book tells the story of a man who held political views in opposition to the government. The differences between the two stances are portrayed symbolically by people carrying signs with orange circles and an army with black squares. During a peaceful protest the man was arrested and thrown in prison.

The illustrations show us what it was like for him in solitary confinement and capture his descent from anger to despair.

His memories while in prison show us the man as an ordinary person with a loving family. It is a reminder that, 'there but for fortune, may go you or I.'

All kinds of people, old & young, famous and ordinary, from across the globe write letters in many different languages to the man in prison. When the prison is bombarded by these letters, the prisoner is finally freed.

The book ultimately highlights the importance of Amnesty International's Write for Rights campaign and shows us the power of letter writing to make change. It does this by bolstering hope and reminding prisoners that they are not alone. Ultimately it can force governments to release people and change their policies.

At the end of the book is a letter from the author providing more information about Amnesty International's Write for Rights campaign.

We are warned in the endpapers. 
'The story you are about to savor is a fictional tale with a helping of truth.'
It sets the tone for the rest of this delectable reading adventure. 

Mr George Crum really was a renowned chef of mixed Native American and African American descent. Before he started cooking he had many other adventures, but those are not included in this book. 

He owned a famous restaurant where people came from far away to taste his inventive 'sorbets, souffles, stews, succotashes, ragouts, and goulashes.' He introduced them to all kinds of strange delicacies. 

Then came the day Filbert P. Horsefeathers, a peculiarly dressed man, came into the cafe and ordered, 'Just potatoes.'
George tried feeding him potato wedges fried in lard, but the customer sent them back. George then fried potatoes with thinner wedges. Again the man declined them. 

Eventually George created the perfect potato chip that satisfied the 'finicky, persnickety Filbert Punctilious Horsefeathers.'

George Crum was known to have a playful sense of humour, and the illustrations in this book capture this spirit delightfully. 

I love the luscious language. I've given you a hint earlier on as to the alliteration, but the interjections used by Gladys, the waitress, are just as priceless:
Well, huckleberry biscuits!
Well, flying flapjacks!

I urge readers to search out the definition of horsefeathers and other words in the book. Never will using a dictionary be so much fun!

The book begs to be read outloud. The reader will have as much fun, if not more, as the listeners. 

The backmatter contains additional (and authentic) information about this remarkable person. I hope the book inspires young readers to learn more about him. It did me. That's how I learned all about what he did before he took to cooking!

I absolutely adore this book. I laughed out loud numerous times, but it's more than just a humorous graphic novel. It's full of all kinds of adventures and mishaps, but ultimately this is a book about love and family.

In the beginning Fox reminded me a bit of Wile E. Coyote from the Looney Tunes cartoons of my youth. That slightly slapstick humour wends it's way through the entire narrative, but there is also a tender sweetness that adds depth and richness to the melodramatic plot.

Fox is a failure at being a bad fox. No one takes him seriously; not even the animals, who, on his excursions to the farm, feel so sorry for him they send him home with baskets of turnips to eat. 

When Wolf comes up with a plan to steal some eggs to hatch and eat, Fox agrees with it. The problem is that it is Fox who ends up sitting on the eggs and looking after the chicks once they hatch. And once they imprint it isn't long before Fox becomes attached to the little chicks in return.

When Wolf decides it's time to eat the little birds, Fox has to save them no matter the danger he puts himself into.

These characters are brilliant. The bumbling Fox is sure to capture your heart. In the end he is prepared to do anything for those chicks. The images of him playing different games with them are just priceless. 

The secondary characters are equally delightful. Wolf is a truly dastardly character. The lazy guard dog is hilariously rendered. The hen is both motherly and militant.

These lovely watercolor illustrations are the icing on the cake. Here is a bit of a preview of the beginning of the book. 

A note at the end says it is being turned into an animated film. You won't want to miss either the book or the film!

Upon finishing this novel I was reminded of this line by Sherman Alexie, 'If it's fiction it must be true.' 

Scarborough is a diverse cultural community within Toronto, Ontario, a major city in Canada. This novel is about a low income community who live in or near a shelter in the neighbourhood. It centres around a group of families and children who live in the shelter and attend a literacy/breakfast program run by a Muslim woman, Miss Hina.

Hina and three children, Laura, Sylvie and Bernard, the primary characters, are introduced to us first.

Laura's mother packs up Laura and her things and drops her off at a bowling alley for her father, Cory, to pick her up. Cory is a poor, white, alcoholic, aging skinhead. He loves his daughter, but has no idea how to be a parent.

Sylvie, an indigenous child, and her mother, Marie, are rushing home to the shelter from a doctor's appointment where Maria was trying to get help for her three year old, Johnny, who she knows has something wrong with him.

Bing, a gifted Filipino boy, waits for his mother, Edna, in the nail salon where she works, and remembers the day they fled from his crazed father.

Hina is hired for the position of Program Facilitator at the Rouge Hill Public School location of the Ontario Reads Literacy Program.

Their stories unfold through multiple perspectives. Not only do we see the world through the lenses of these primary characters, we see it through the eyes of their parent’s and other front line workers. This patchwork of voices enables the reader to more fully comprehend the inhabitants, how they function individually and as a collective. It reads like a series of connected vignettes that grabbed me by the throat and forced me to bear witness to these many different lives as they experience racism, despair, tragedy, friendship, and success. As a teacher I understand that parents, except in very rare circumstances, always do the best they can for their children. Despite the hardships, this is abundantly clear here. 

I cried. I laughed. I rejoiced.

For some of these children, their lives only get better when they die. This line near the end, continues to haunts me.

'It feels so good to hug someone who will never hit you.'

Hernandez' writing is brilliant. In an interview with Susan G. Cole from Now, she stated, 'If I’m not shit-disturbing, what’s the fucking point in writing?” I hope she continues doing both for a very long time.