As if anyone needs an excuse for it, February is the time for love. Children and adults create and purchase Valentines or love tokens for their loved ones. But no one needs to wait for a holiday to share their heartfelt sentiments or say, “I love you.” The following book reviews, written by members of the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group explore the infinite varieties of love to be found in recent publications.

GRADES K-3 

LaReau, Kara. (2012). Mr. Prickles: A quill-fated love story. Illus. by Scott Magoon. New York: Roaring Brook Press. 
Poor Mr. Prickles, a porcupine, has difficulty making friends. Although he tries to be friendly with the other animals in the forest, things just never work out.  Food gets stuck in his quills during playtime, and his spines are certainly unwelcome at a sleepover. Refusing to frolic with him anymore, the other animals end up telling him he isn’t cute, cuddly or playful. This saddens Mr. Prickles, and he becomes very lonely. But one day he meets Miss Pointypants and they begin to have fun together. They swim and splash in a dark lake. They dine on twigs and bark. They even watch the moon rise over the water. The forest animals make fun of the two porcupines and say hurtful things about the pair. Fortunately, Mr. Prickles realizes that what the other animals have to say doesn’t matter and that it is much nicer to be alone with someone who loves his quills—Miss Pointypants. This sweet love story may spark discussions on finding friends in unlikely places and getting along with others who might not look like us. 
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

Harper, Charise Mericle. (2011). Henry’s heart: A boy, his heart, and a new best friend. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
This hybrid picture book includes two genres: realistic fiction and nonfiction. At the top of each page, in a circle, is a narrative story about a boy named Henry. Information and facts about Henry’s heart can be found in tiny illustrations and speech bubbles on each page. Children could enjoy this book in multiple ways—reading the narrative, exploring the facts/information about hearts or reading both the story and the nonfiction facts at the same time. Henry’s mother wants his heart to get some exercise. As soon as Henry begins running in the sunshine, his heart begins to beat faster. Small illustrations of Henry’s heart state, “I think I got up to 130 beats per minute on that hill” (unpaginated). Henry’s heart beats even faster when Henry meets a brown-haired girl in a polka-dotted red dress. One full page shows the different snacks that keep a heart healthy. Another page has a table with activities and exercises that help our hearts. A funny love story twist occurs in the conclusion.
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

Knudsen, Michelle.  (2011). Argus. Candlewick Press. Illus. by Andréa Wesson.
When Sally’s teacher hands out eggs for the class science project, Sally notices that hers looks a little different than the other students’ eggs. Her desktop incubator hatches the egg, which turns out to be a small dragon. As Argus the dragon grows, he presents major problems for the classroom such as possibly eating the other hatchlings and creating chaos in the school. Feeling as though he doesn’t belong, Argus runs away. At first Sally is relieved to be rid of her “project” because he is unlike the other chicks. Eventually, though, she realizes that she loves her irrepressible dragon and misses him. The other children in the class help Sally look for Argus, and everyone rejoices when he is found. The author and the illustrator work together to make sure young readers recognize Argus’s true nature  as his identity as a dragon is never mentioned directly in the text. The theme of loving something that is a little—or in some cases, a lot—different will make this a great read aloud for story times.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Nivola, Claire. (2011). Orani: My father’s village. New York: Frances Foster/Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.
In text and watercolor illustrations, the author skillfully enables young readers to experience the same sights, sounds, smells, and feelings she encountered as a young girl visiting her father’s native village.  The words she uses to describe Orani, Sicily, bring the village to life and show her love for a place and time that exists only in her memories. This text is ideal for showing children how to expand a moment and to bring sensory impressions to their own writing about their experiences.  Nivola deftly illustrates how experiences—common or uncommon—can become sensory feasts through careful word choice and description. Readers can almost taste the cool water and dine on the sumptuous meals being laid out on dinner tables before wandering through the village’s winding streets. This loving tribute evokes a sense of place in memorable fashion.
- Terrell A. Young, Brigham Young University

Ogburn, Jacqueline K. (2011). Little treasures: endearments from around the world. Illus. by Chris Raschka. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
This American Library Association Notable Book for 2012 is filled with several ways to say “I love you” through phrases and endearments from 16 cultures around the globe. Each endearment is written in the native language with an English translation and a pronunciation guide. Alphabetic characters from different parts of the globe make the book even more appealing. Children will delight in hearing some of the endearing ways adults let children know how they are loved, including “ducky” (unpaginated) from England, “little coconut candy” (unpaginated) from Brazil, “possum” (unpaginated) from Australia, “hug bunny” (unpaginated) in Finland, or “little mischievous pea” (unpaginated) in China. Terms of affection used within families transcend cultures, bringing the world a little closer in this title with familial love as a universal theme. Caldecott-winning Raschka’s watercolor, gouache and ink illustrations portray the culture of each loving phrase with non-stereotypical color and design.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Urbigkit, Kat. (2011). The guardian team: On the job with Rena and Roo. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.
Who knew that a pup and a wild donkey could become friends? In this delightful picture book, Rena, the runt of the litter, and Roo, a scruffy burro, slowly learn to trust one another and become an integral part of life on a sheep ranch in Wyoming. These unlikely guardians keep close watch over the lambs, protecting them from predators or unwanted intruders. The text describes how each animal is introduced separately to the lambs that will be their responsibility and then the dog and the burro are introduced to each other. Over time, they form an alliance, working together to keep the herd where it’s supposed to be. The large photographs trace the animals' growth over a year as well as documenting the bond that grows among canine and burro and their fluffy charges. An Author's Note provides additional information about guardian animals, and the references will provide more reading material on this topic. Once again, this reliable author presents interesting information in an engaging way sure to appeal to many young readers. Life on a ranch may be hard work, but clearly it’s a labor of love for Rena, Roo, and Urbigkit.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

GRADES 4-6

Weeks, Sarah. (2011). Pie. New York: Scholastic.
When Alice’s beloved Aunt Polly passes away and leaves her incredibly delicious pie recipes to her cat, Lardo, the mystery begins. Alice has inherited Lardo but cannot understand why her aunt would pass her famous recipes along to a cat that certainly can’t use them. The whole town mourns the loss of Polly and the closing of her pie shop since everyone loved her pies. In fact, each of them had a favorite type of pie. When Polly’s pie shop is vandalized, Alice realizes that someone is after her aunt’s famous pie recipe. As Alice and her family work to solve the mystery,  the whole community is drawn into the story. Set in 1955, the atmosphere of this book is from an era of close community ties. An epilogue from 1995 brings comforting closure to the story. An added treat is the collection of pie recipes that introduce each chapter of the book. This book is sure to make a pie-lover out of the most devoted cake or ice cream lover.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

GRADES 7-8

Hilmo, Tess (2011) With a name like Love. New York: Margaret Ferguson Books/Farrar Straus Giroux.
Ollie and her traveling preacher father, Everlasting Love, and the family arrive in 1957 Binder, Arkansas, on the heels of a murder. The family usually stops in towns for a 3-day revival before moving on, but this time they stay a bit longer. Ollie happens to meet Jimmy Koppel, the son of the woman accused of killing Jimmy’s father, an abusive man.  As their friendship develops, Jimmy convinces Ollie that his mother has been wrongly accused. Not only do the Loves carry the right surname, but they also live up to their names, reaching out the hand of trust and looking for justice in the world.  With Ollie in the lead, they embrace Jimmy in his time of need. Debut author Hilmo has developed a cast of characters that will draw readers into this murder mystery as they empathize with the Loves’ attempts to open the hearts and minds of the townsfolk who don’t seem to want to know the truth about the murder.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

GRADES 9-12

Chambers, Aidan. (2012). Dying to know you. New York: Amulet Books/Abrams.
Desperate to impress his new girlfriend Fiorella Seabourne, Karl Williamson, a plumber's assistant who struggles with reading and writing, seeks help from her favorite novelist. The relationship is in its early stages, and Fiorella longs to know his innermost thoughts about a wide variety of topics, including love. Karl, in turn, wants to impress her with his ability to express himself. Drawn to Karl's plight and identifying with his dyslexia, the narrator agrees to help. He encourages the romance between the two through his ability to express the taciturn Karl’s feelings through writing. Not surprisingly, the romance hits a rocky patch as Karl continues to mourn his father, who died when he was twelve. When he uses art to express his feelings, the local thugs ridicule his work and his friends fail to understand the meaning of his work. This is an exquisitely written reminder of the power of art, love and friendship to fill the emptiness that consumes someone after a loss. The author describes effectively the contrast between the young and the old while also hinting that the two often have more in common than expected. As the narrator comes to know Karl better, he also learns quite a bit about himself and his own ability to possibly love again.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Coriell, Shelley. (2012). Welcome, caller, this is Chloe. New York: Amulet Books/Abrams. 
Junior year is not going well for Chloe Camden. When her social network deserts her, leaving her with no friends and nowhere to sit at lunch, she must find a place to fit. While Chloe navigates the high school halls in her fashionable shoes, she also is in the middle of a conflict between her mother and her grandmother whose Parkinson's makes it dangerous for her to live alone. Plus, her counselor refuses to accept her independent study project and steers her toward a project involving the school radio station. Although she becomes involved reluctantly, she makes her presence known immediately. Relying on her people skills and exuberant, larger-than-life personality, Chloe hosts a call-in show that quickly becomes popular with listeners. Working with the radio folks, Chloe realizes that she isn’t alone in needing to belong somewhere. She also finds romance with fix-up guy Duncan Moore who has home problems far more complicated than she could ever imagine. Despite all the rumors that are being spread about her, Chloe finds her way back to herself, realizing that listening is just as important as speaking up for what matters.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Green, John. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Dutton Books.
Best-selling YA author John Green takes on the topic of two teenagers with cancer in his latest release. Hazel Lancaster and Gus Waters meet at a cancer support group. Their friendship blossoms into love, and they share each other’s lives as they deal with their cancer. Hazel is particularly drawn to a book, An Imperial Affliction, and invites Gus to read it. As they become equally enthralled with this novel about cancer, they decide to seek out the author who is living in Amsterdam. Brushes with death from their cancer have given the young couple insight into life that readers will admire. Seeing how Hazel and Gus celebrate each day that they have together and ask hard questions about what comes next will inspire teen readers, possibly helping them cherish the time that they have.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Griffin, Paul. (2011). Stay with me. New York: Dial Books.
Two troubled teens, both from dysfunctional families, meet at the pizza place where they are employed. Although they fall in love at first sight, they could not be more different from each other. Cece is a smart, straight-A student applying for admission to a gifted and talented program, and Mark is a high school drop-out, a shy but volatile teen with a record. Mark’s passion for rescuing pit bulls draws Cece’s attention and admiration, causing her to eventually overcome her fear of the dogs. Their love for each other grows until Mark makes a terrible mistake. Minor characters add to the story’s depth with believable dialogue and interactions. This poignant story of love and heartbreak will also appeal to dog lovers.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Michaelis, Antonia. (2012). The storyteller. New York: Amulet Books/Abrams. 
The very different worlds of German schoolmates Anna and Abel collide when Anna finds a doll belonging to his six-year-old sister Micha. After following him, Anna realizes that the school’s drug dealer is taking care of Micha by himself since their mother has disappeared. Their plight must remain secret until he turns eighteen so that social workers won’t take Micha away from Abel. The neighborhood in which Abel and Micha live and the grinding poverty they endure is foreign to Anna who has always lived in the lap of luxury, the only child of highly educated parents. Despite the cautionary words of her friends, Anna is drawn to Abel for his gift for storytelling. To entertain his sister, he crafts a fairy tale about a little orphan queen with a diamond heart who is pursued by hunters trying to steal that treasure. When Anna begins to notice parallels between the story and some of the disturbing events in the lives of Abel and Micha, she wonders if the boy she loves may also be a killer. In Anna’s eyes, Abel's love for his sister redeems him from the mistakes he makes. This is a magical, heartbreaking story for older teens that illustrates how unimaginably cruel the world can be, and how alluring fantasy can be for someone faced by grim reality. As Anna becomes caught up in Abel's world, she leaves her own far behind.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

- Tadayuki Suzuki, Western Kentucky University

by Judith Hayn

The Sons of Liberty
by Alexander Lagos and Joseph Lagos; Art by Steve Walker; Color by Oren Kramek
Random House, 2010, 176 pp., $12.99
Historical fiction/Graphic novel
ISBN: 978-0-375-85667-9

The Sons of Liberty: Death and Taxes
by Alexander Lagos and Joseph Lagos; Art by Steve Walker; Color by Oren Kramek
Random House, 2011, 176 pp., $12.99
Historical fiction/Graphic novel
ISBN: 978-0-375-85668-6

In book one, Graham and Brody, two young slaves, flee a bounty hunter and his brutal pack of dogs. In an experiment gone awry and conducted by Ben Franklin’s treacherous son William, they now possess electrically charged superpowers. Taken under the elder Franklin’s wing and with the protection of abolitionist Benjamin Lay, the boys gain revenge on their tormentors when they return to the plantation. By using their newly acquired powers, they avenge the cruelties done to them. 

In the second book, Graham and Brody are living as free teens in Philadelphia where they work in Franklin’s print shop while he is in England trying to arrange peace. The brothers decide to use their superhuman talents in the pursuit of good, which includes supporting the Sons of Liberty and sabotaging the Tory soldiers stationed nearby. 

This eventual graphic novel trilogy moves historical and fictional figures in and out of harrowing trials and complex circumstances. Snippets from primary sources flavor the dialogue and commentary. een fans of slick comic superheroes will appreciate the dazzling artwork and vibrant colors that add to a literate, although embellished, retelling of colonial American history. The texts will delight teachers seeking solutions to meet the challenges of literacy in the content areas from the Common Core State Standards.

Dr. Judith A. Hayn is an Associate Professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

This article is part of a series from the Special Interest Group Network on Adolescent Literature (SIGNAL).

As teachers we want our students to use writing to get to know themselves and our world and to discover why we write. By sharing children’s and young adult literature in different genres from fiction to memoir to poetry, our students will be able to think about how texts can help their own writing. Through literature our students can find topics, genres, styles, forms and craft techniques. Books can be shared in their entirety or teachers may choose to share one passage or poem to spark writing or show a writer’s techniques. In this column from the Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association (CL/R SIG), we discuss recent picture books and novels that can be used as writing mentors for K-12 classrooms. 

Grades K-3

Neftali, the curious boy who would grow up to become the Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda, loved the natural world that surrounded him in his Chilean home. He also fell in love with words, in part through the influence of a teacher. This picture book biography traces the early influences on the poet and then follows his growth as a writer, drawing inspiration from everything around him, but also using his words to call for justice and to bring attention to unsafe working conditions. The author creates particularly effective phrases to describe Neruda’s writing topics; for instance, the poet “wrote about stones tumbling down the mountaintops and stones in the hands of the stonecutters” (unpaginaged) and “dolphins playing in the surf and rusty anchors washed ashore" (unpaginated). This is a wonderful writing mentor text because of the savory word choice employed to trace Neruda’s journey as a writer but also because of his keen observational skills, discovering treasures in the forest as well as along the bustling streets of Santiago. The colorful illustrations are filled with soft greens, blues, and bits of reds, swirling Spanish and English words all around the page.  Through illustrations and text, readers are reminded of the influence of words and ideas on the budding poet, and his own use of words to change the world.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

This picture book begins with, “All is peaceful on the banks of the river. Everyone is relaxing in the morning sun, until…” (unpaginated). The illustration portrays a smiling crocodile hiding in swamp water. On the next page the crocodile is walking through grass and the text says, “Uh-oh, here comes trouble!” (unpaginated). The crocodile makes the frogs jump and they tell him, “Go away, Solomon. You’re nothing but a pest” (unpaginated). Solomon isn’t dismayed and continues to wreck havoc with the dragonflies, the storks and the hippos. Each time the animals remark with the same repeating line, “Go away, Solomon. You’re nothing but a…” Teachers could point out this repeating line and show how it changes with each animal. Rayner also uses ellipses effectively, causing the reader to pause as they turn the pages. Students could discuss why authors use ellipses in their writing. Young children could then be invited to try repeating lines or ellipses in their own book making adventures.
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

Schimel, Lawrence. (2011). Let’s go see Papa! Illus. by Alba Marina Rivera. Translated by Elisa Amado. Toronto: Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press.
While her father works in the United States, a young girl counts the days that pass with him gone—one year, eight months and twenty-two days—and records all the events he has missed in a notebook that she mails to him, a way to insure that the family’s important moments are not forgotten. She eagerly awaits his weekly phone calls on Sunday, but this time Papa shares news that leaves her without words to write in her notebook. Now that he has saved enough money for the family to be reunited, she is eager to see him and yet anxious about leaving behind the familiar and navigating a new place.  The typical doubts assail her as she wonders how she will fit in when she moves to a new home, leaving behind her dog and grandmother. As the plane rises into the air, she begins her first letter to her grandmother, a fresh page in another notebook intended to keep the family bonds tied even across a great distance. For her, writing offers a way to express her feelings while also sharing parts of her life with loved ones. The story blends humor and pathos as she tries to find a way to take as much of her present life with her when she leaves. The illustrations are particularly effective in showing the emotions in the eyes and faces of the story's characters, both human and canine.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Fans of The Quiet Book (2010) are likely to find this companion title equally delightful as the author celebrates things that are loud.  Clearly, each of us has different levels of tolerance for loud sounds. Young readers will have no problems in identifying the good and the bad kinds of loud as the animals featured in the book experience loudness at various volumes. Consequently, they may jump in surprise as they recall the always unexpected cruelness of the loud alarm clock that greets them in the morning. They may smile at the sheepishness of someone slurping up the last sips of a favorite drink and making a rude sound. Few of us would fail to recognize the particularly annoying "candy wrapper loud" caused when someone tries surreptitiously to open a package of candy in an otherwise quiet cinema, resulting in disapproving glares from the audience members directed at the offensive noisemaker. Together with its predecessor, this title would be useful as a writing mentor text focusing on all the different levels and kinds of sounds or as a mentor text for simple description since the simple ones contained in this book are so evocative. It also might prompt readers to be more observant of ordinary sounds heard around them. The pencil and digitally colored illustrations featuring stuffed animals are wonderful too. The perspective is unique with some illustrations showing fuzzy bears, fluffy bunnies, and well-groomed hedgehogs looking upward in amazement or a wide-eyed bunny, trying to fall asleep amid a cricket's clamor. Merely reading each page aloud to youngsters will prompt creative responses for an effective writing lesson. The message about the volume of sounds that surround us may be subtle, but it's clearly found on the book's pages.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Grades 4-8

A fictional character as interesting as Huckleberry Finn must surely have plenty to say about his creator, and in this amusing picture book biography, the straw hat-wearing rapscallion offers his version of the life and times of his creator, author Mark Twain whose books The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are considered American classics. Describing a carefree childhood filled with adventures and the unexpected death of his father when he was eleven, Huck also relates the allure the Mississippi River had for Twain—the author’s pen name—back when he was known as Samuel Clemens and worked on a steamboat.  A brief sojourn as a Civil War soldier and a fruitless search for silver in Nevada led him to his destiny as a news reporter, and he became skilled at reporting the news as well as sometimes making it up. There is much to like about this title including the narrator's voice and authentic vocabulary as well as the clever use of fonts throughout the book and the endpapers featuring important elements in Twain's life. A Warning to the Reader informs readers that the author has used unusual spellings, improper grammar, idioms, and word choices. Soft pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations show Twain (and Huck) enjoying life, traveling along the Mississippi River, and creating his stories, many of them drawn from Twain’s own experiences. Huck Finn is ever-present as Twain lives out his larger-than-life existence.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

In the author’s note Sallie Wolf describes how her seventh grade teacher set up bird feeders outside the classroom and taught students how to keep detailed records of the birds that fed there. This experience led Wolf to a life-time of bird-watching.  Her journal shows the power of observing, thinking, evaluating, recording and creating through poems, sketches and water color illustrations. Through each season she identifies the birds that she notices and uses these lists to write poems. One example is, “Seagulls hang out at the mall. / They laugh. They squawk. They strut. / They’re not shy. / They travel in packs, / fighting over French fries / and scraps of burgers-- / just like the kids from middle school (p. 19). Teachers could provide nature journals for their students to record observations of wildlife around their school. Children could imitate Wolf by jotting down their observations, sharing their feelings or wonderings, sketching or drawing the animals or natural habitat, and eventually creating poems.
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

Grades 9-12

Completely written in verse this novel shares the story of a Mexican American family who immigrates to Texas. Lupita, the oldest of eight children, takes over the role of mother when Mami is diagnosed with cancer. She writes her secrets, including poems and stories, in a composition book to help her make sense of the changes that are occurring in her family and the struggles of growing up. She escapes to her favorite writing place: “The mesquite is my confidant. / I lean back against its sturdy trunk /and read aloud every word / imprinted en mi corazón. / The mesquite listens quietly— / as if the poems budding in my heart, / then blossoming in my notebook, / are Scripture—and never tells a soul / the things I write” (p. 123). Middle school and high school students will be encouraged as they read about a character who is a writer. They will be reminded that writing can sooth and heal the ups and downs of friendships, family and school.
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

New, Jennifer. (2011). Dan Eldon: Safari as a way of life. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. 

As the result of an unusual upbringing with independent-minded parents, Dan Eldon spent most of his formative years in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was drawn to the land and its people. When traditional British schooling dampened his creative spirit, Dan transferred to the International School of Kenya where he thrived as the result of its diverse student population and many field trips. These experiences as well as his travels to 47 different countries during his short life and his friendship with many Kenyans nurtured his creative spirit, and he maintained fascinating multi-layered journals filled with notes, essays, photographs, and whatever realia he could find to paste in their pages. This book describes the young photojournalist’s incredible life before being killed in 1993 at the age of 22 in Mogadishu. The author details Dan's adventures, supplementing them with actual pages from his journals. Readers learn about someone who took action to solve some of the world's problems. For instance, after creating a student organization to raise money to aid refugees, Dan and his college friends traveled to Malawi themselves in order to make sure the $20,000 they had raised was used wisely. While his travels and personality loom large in this book, equally impressive is how his spirit lives on almost two decades after his death through the efforts of family, friends, and others who have been inspired to make a difference. This beautiful volume hints at a life well-lived, brief though it was, and readers will be fascinated at Dan’s sophisticated thinking and ability to lead others to places they’d never have traveled otherwise. For Dan, the journey was far more important than the destination.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

This series of K-12 book reviews from the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) concludes with this list of fabulous texts that follow the theme “Wheels of Change.” 

Grades K-3 

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Grades 4-7

Although Pacy is excited to visit Taiwan for her grandmother’s sixtieth birthday for a month during summer vacation, she is also nervous because she will be in an unfamiliar place. After all, she doesn’t speak the language, and her parents have signed their three daughters up for cultural enrichment classes.  Even in her art class, Pacy feels inadequate and is unable to understand her teacher. She forms an immediate dislike for another classmate, Audrey Chiang, because she is not very friendly, and the two girls are competing for a prize to be given during the final week of the class. As is the case for many of Pacy’s first impressions, it turns out that there are reasons for Audrey’s behavior. Over the course of her stay, Pacy’s eyes are opened to a world and culture that are new to her. While she relishes some experiences, there are others she won’t want to repeat. Even the public bathrooms and train travel are different than what she’s accustomed to.  She even eats many different foods that she had never eaten in the U. S. such as frog eggs, stinky tofu, quail, and chicken feet.  Although she struggles to survive in a different culture and language, the delicious dumplings she consumes as often as possible always comfort her stomach and ease her homesickness for her American friends.  When Pacy and her family return home, she takes along a little bit of Taiwan in her lap and in her heart, and for the first time she understands her own parents’ experiences of feeling caught between two cultures. This book provides insight into others experiencing the same conflicting emotions and cultural dissonance but does so in a gentle way.  This delightful continuation of the adventures of characters first introduced in The Year of the Dog (2005) and The Year of the Rat (2008) sparkles with humor, insight, and familial love. There are all sorts of treats hidden within the book’s pages, and the descriptions of Taiwanese cuisine will leave readers’ mouths watering. Fans of the author will surely hope that she draws on her own personal experiences for even more stories such as these. 

Osborne, Linda Barrett. (2012). Miles to go for freedom: Segregation & civil rights in the Jim Crow years. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers. 
This companion book to the author's earlier Traveling the Freedom Road (2009) relies on moving first-hand accounts and powerful photographs to provide perspective on the years preceding the modern civil rights era and the protests of the 1950s and 1960s. Examining events that occurred in the South and in the North, the author begins in 1890 when the state of Mississippi crafted an amendment to the state constitution requiring voters to pay a poll tax or pass a literacy test in order to vote. She concludes the book with a discussion of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruling declaring unconstitutional racial segregation in public schools. In between, she covers Plessy v. Ferguson upon which the concept of "separate but equal" facilities would be based, segregated military units during WWI, the Great Migration to the North, race riots, protests, and acts of courage, both small and large. The text is appealing and inviting to readers, particularly since there are so many personal vignettes being shared. These are the stories of brave men and women looking for a way to change a system that had become entrenched in the nation's daily practices. A helpful timeline, notes, and a note on sources provide additional resources for interested readers. Two points are particularly worth considering: (1) Segregation was not solely a Southern practice. Osborne makes it clear that as African Americans moved to the North, there was strong resistance to their trying to buy houses in certain neighborhoods or perform certain jobs. (2) The Library of Congress possesses incredible resources for anyone wishing to study segregation and the civil rights movement. Relying on these voices from the past, the author draws readers into the book, relating the events with a sense of urgency. This title is essential reading for young students of American history. Interested readers can learn even more at the Library of Congress website at http://www.loc.gov/topics/americanhistory.php or the National Visionary Leadership Project at http://www.visionaryproject.org where they can find an oral history archive. 
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Smith, Jennifer E. (2012). The statistical probability of love at first sight. New York: Poppy/Little, Brown and Company. 
When seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan misses her flight to London by the narrowest of margins, she is stuck in the airport waiting for the next plane. But all is not lost since she passes the time chatting with a handsomely charming British college student. He helps her with her luggage, and they while away the hours getting to know each other. They sit together on the plane, and as sometimes occurs, against all odds, their attraction grows as they share their histories with one another while the plane flies across the Atlantic. Hadley had become estranged from her father after her parents’ marriage broke up. Now, she’s flying off to be an attendant in his wedding to his another woman. Oliver merely hints at his own reasons for flying home. The two kiss briefly, get separated in the crowded airport, leaving Hadley to find her way to the wedding. After the ceremony, she goes in search of Oliver with the only clues she has about his whereabouts. Hadley becomes open to the possibility of the love that may lie in her future even while she realizes that the love between her father and his bride will never supplant his love for his daughter. As Hadley and Oliver face beginnings and endings, their chance meeting just might be the change both of them need. 
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Farish, Terry. (2012). The good braider. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish. 
Fifteen-year-old Viola, her brother Francis, and her mother flee their Juba, Sudan, home because the family can no longer live safely there. Not only are they expected to become Muslims as the result of a civil war, but Viola is repeatedly raped by a soldier. Because Viola has an uncle in the United States, the family is eventually able to arrange transportation to Cairo, Egypt, where they wait for two years before being allowed to travel to Portland, Maine. The journey to freedom is difficult and has high costs, but becoming accustomed to a new way of life with a new language and different cultural expectations is just as challenging in its own way. When Viola's mother burns her hand severely after she spends time with a boy, it is clear that the clash between traditional and modern ways has resulted in pain on both sides. Viola's voice is clear and determined, showing her increasing strength and independence sometimes at odds with the traditional values of her Sudanese culture. This novel in verse is filled with beautiful descriptions of the journey Viola's family takes and their determination to fashion a hopeful future by pulling together pieces of the past and the present. The author raises difficult questions about the meaning of home and belonging and makes palpable Viola's fears about revealing her past as well as her determination to master English and leave behind her ESL class. As was the case with Inside Out & Back Again, this book shows just how present the past may be. 
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

The International Reading Association’s Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) continues its celebration of life in motion in the second installment of the “Wheels of Change” series of reviews of books for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Grades K-3

Watkins, Angela F. (2011). My Uncle Martin’s words for America. New York: Abrams. Illus. by Eric Velasquez.

The niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. provides an insider’s perspective with her version of how he used words to change the world. Watkins provides perspective on how far-reaching those changes have been by beginning with accomplishments that many of us are likely to take for granted such as the election of an African American president and the appointment of a Supreme Court justice as well as African-American film makers and television hosts. How much progress toward social justice and civil rights and just how far the nation has actually have come since the days of Jim Crow laws and segregation are made clearer because of the examples. The text highlights the words that mattered to King and those that comprised his message, including love, nonviolence, justice, freedom, brotherhood, and equality, while describing the protesting, marching, speaking, and writing that would make a change in practices and laws, effectively insuring that civil rights would be protected by law. The illustrations are appealing and eye-catching, showing the human side to this famous figure. Back matter includes notes from the author and illustrator as well as a timeline showing how these important words and the protests they inspired resulted in changes in the nation’s law. A glossary and additional references add to the appeal of this picture book which would fit well with a text set using Doreen Rappaport's Martin's Big Words or Watkins’s earlier title about the human side of her uncle, My Uncle Martin’s Big Heart (2010).
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Grades 4-7

Katz, Susan. (2012). The president’s stuck in the bathtub: Poems about the presidents. Illus. by Robert Neubecker. New York: Clarion Books.

For historical perspective on the changes that have swept this country since its founding fathers first wrote the Declaration of Independence, readers may want to turn to this poetry anthology dedicated to the nation’s Presidents. Savvy teachers will quickly regard this collection as having many possibilities for integrating social studies and language arts. The 43 poems are short, informative, and often humorous. There is a poem for every man who has assumed the nation’s highest office, insuring political parity since every President gets his just desserts with a send-off or two. The poems are accompanied by some little-known fact or quirk with which kids will love regaling others, such as Abe Lincoln's proclivity for storing notes in his stovepipe hat, Ulysses S. Grant's distaste for hunting or, in the title poem, William H. Taft's need for a much larger bathtub than the White House provided. These footnotes often make connections from one President to another as well. The India ink and digital color illustrations are vivid and depict the human side of the Presidents as effectively as the poetry. Back matter includes brief notes and a quotation from each President. A quick refresher course for adults who may have slept through their American history class, this volume might kindle an interest in history young readers especially during this election year.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Touga, Shelley. (2012). Little Rock Girl 1957: How a photograph changed the fight for integration. Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point Books.

Using the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Will Counts on the cover, this book brings the school integration movement to readers of all ages although the author started this book with the intention of bringing the civil rights era to middle grade readers. On September 4, 1947, nine African American students took the first steps into their Little Rock, Arkansas high school as part of court-ordered school integration. They were met by an angry mob intent on stopping them from entering the building and the Arkansas National Guard whose job it was to insure that they could do so. The author has used interviews and photographs to capture that first day of school for these brave teens and the days following to show how America crept forward to create equality in the nation’s public schools. These stalwart students came to be known as The Little Rock Nine—Elizabeth Eckford is shown on the book’s cover trying to enter the school alone—and changed the color of the faces inside the public schools of those days.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Grades 8-12

Edwardson, Debby Dahl. (2011). My Name is Not Easy. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish.

One of the finalists for the National Book Award this year, My Name Is Not Easy tells the story of native Alaskan brothers as they are sent to the Sacred Heart Catholic boarding school from 1960 to 1965. Although this story is a novel, Edwardson bases her story on actual experiences from the Inupiaq culture as they sent their children to be educated. Readers will sense the dramatic contrast and similarities in cultures as boys and girls from Eskimo, Indian, and white families are displaced from their homes and must share their new living arrangements at the boarding school, which is sometimes abusive. Set in the era of burgeoning civil rights in the lower forty-eight states, the author’s story provides insight into the rights of indigenous people in Alaska. Feelings of loneliness, displacement, confusion, isolation and occasionally a bit of fun are shared by these young people. Hear the author read from her book during the National Book Award ceremony: http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2011_ypl_edwardson.html
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Whitaker, Alecia. (2012). The queen of Kentucky. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Like so many freshmen, Ricki Jo Winstead, 14, decides to take advantage of the fresh start high school offers. She changes her name to the more worldly Ericka, buys a new wardrobe, and studies fashion magazines to achieve a new look. Additionally, she attaches herself to four attractive, popular freshmen girls, and tries out for the cheerleading squad. Before she knows it, she’s crushing on the aptly named Wolf, the flirtatious basketball star in her Spanish class. He teases her a lot, but sometime the teasing contains barbs that hurt her feelings. Even though her parents are supportive and Luke, her next door neighbor and best friend, insists that she doesn’t need to change, Ericka gives in to her own insecurities and trades off her self-identity for a place among her new friends. Social pressure causes her to behave in ways Ricki Jo never would have, and Ericka comes dangerously close to losing the good parts of herself. Although this book offers important lessons, it also contains many hilarious scenes including one night spent drinking that ends in a cow pattie. Clearly, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. At least in the case of Ericka, readers will say, “Thank goodness.” Whether she goes by Ricki Jo or Ericka, this is one delightful heroine who will touch readers’ hearts and remind them to be true to themselves.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University