New Kid

Gah! New Kid was the winner this year and it's now taken me three months to blog about it. In my defense, I had a baby and COVID-19 shut down the world in the interim, but neither of those things have really interfered with my ability to write a review.

I liked New Kid. It's the first ever graphic novel to win the medal (though there have been a few honors in the past decade) and deserved it. Jordan - the protagonist - is funny and made me laugh out loud on a few occasions (his comics in particular were hilarious). It was one of three 2020 Newberys about a kid going to a new school where he/she is a different race than most of the students (Genesis Begins Again & Other Words for Home were the others), but I appreciate that Jordan handles his situation with a little more humor. And I think the other students are kinder in general, which made it easier to read (I have a hard time reading about mean kids).

K, baby's crying. Gotta go.

Other Words for Home

One of my most passionate beliefs is that we (humanity) should always err on the side of inclusion. Let people in. Invite the girl who looks lonely to sit with you at lunch. Include the guy who smells a little funny to join your group. Invite the awkward kid to your birthday party. Ask the wallflower to dance (a policy that earned me some interesting admirers in high school, but I knew it came with the territory)! This belief has often lead me to be a single-issue voter in elections. That particular issue is immigration. Let everyone in! Allow others to find refuge here! Our lives will only be enhanced by their cultures, their languages, their talents, their religions and their backgrounds! That is probably one reason I love books about refugees coming to the United States and finding a 'new home' here.

I loved reading about Jude's experience moving from Syria to Ohio. She was honest and introspective and brave. I also loved those who did include her in genuine ways and it inspired me to look for opportunities to be more inclusive with those who may be feeling like Jude and her mom. One of Jude's safe havens in her American high school is her ESL class where there are three other students all from different countries: Grace from Korea, Ben from China and Omar from Somalia. I love how they connect so well despite how different they all are.

Some days
I still feel lost in the halls of school.
I know where I am going
but I can't shake the feeling that I won't,
that I don't,
belong in whatever classroom I end up in.

But whenever I walk
into Mrs. Ravenwood's
I feel safe.
I feel at
home. 

Ben is teaching us all
new American slang
words that he has learned. 

Boogie, he says.
Means fancy. Rich. 

Boogie? Omar says,
he pretends to dance
and then laughs.
Omar has a laugh
Like Issa's.
It makes you want to
join in. 

No, Ben says,
even though now
he is laughing too.
Boo-Gee. 

We all repeat after Ben,
the new word tasting like America
on our lips.

Scary Stories for Young Foxes

The first two "scary stories" in this compilation of scary fox stories are ABSOLUTELY terrifying. I had to stop after the first encounter with Mr. Scratch because I was legitimately spooked. I even told my husband I didn't think I could finish! But the stories got progressively milder after that and then I realized that all the stories were actually one big story and knowing that there would be a nice story arc and at least one fox would survive til the end (don't get attached to any foxes) because otherwise it wouldn't be one big story made the rest of the book completely manageable. The interesting thing is that the dangers and villains of this book are all completely legitimate dangers to foxes! Rabies and humans and alligators (I guess) and winter and murderous father figures. I certainly developed some empathy for foxes (one of the author's intents, I believe) and I was riveted til the end (after my pause following chapter two).

Recommendation: Absolutely, unless you're a huge fan of Beatrix Potter. Christian Heidicker is an excellent story teller, Mia and Uly are lovable fox heroes and the story itself is fresh and unique.

Genesis Begins Again

I had some rough times in junior high. I moved to a new school in 7th grade and I had the unfortunate tendency to wear high-waters, so people made fun of me. A kid in band kicked me once. Some guys used to call me "smurf." I didn't really make any friends until 8th grade, so I ate lunch alone most of the time. I remember crying to my mom about it on several occasions.

Maybe everyone goes through some rough patches like this, especially in middle school, but poor Genesis suffers to an extreme degree. She is really unhappy about the way she looks and goes to great, dangerous lengths to change her appearance (specifically, to lighten her skin). I got to a point where I was like, "There is no way anyone could be THIS unhappy about who they are and what they look like!" But even as I thought it, I knew they could be - I've known people like this! Everything is exacerbated by the fact that she has a super lame dad who is addicted to alcohol and gambling and fails to pay the rent and is mean to her. I just spent the whole book wanting to scream at Genesis that she was beautiful and wanting to scream at her mother to leave her husband. But that probably wouldn't have worked anyway because people have to reach their own conclusions about those sorts of things. And I think Genesis does a pretty good job at getting there by the end, but her mom does not. ::sigh::

Genesis is a cool protagonist in theory, but I was so overwhelmed by her negativity that I couldn't really enjoy her. The book did inspire me to go listen to some Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James, which was a great decision.

The Undefeated

About a year ago, I found a list of what some mommy-blogger had decided were the best children's books about kindness. I checked them all out and my son and I picked out our favorites. Probably among my top 5 was one called If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson. It was beautiful in its message, its simplicity and the artwork was aMAZing. And so I was excited to recognize his name as the artist of one of this year's Newbery Honor books - The Undefeated! And it actually won the Caldecott Medal this year - double win!

The book is a poem by Kwame Alexander (probably only around 200 words) about important black people who shaped American history and overcame all odds to succeed. The paintings are beautiful and the text is fine. I knew most of the people/stories featured, but it was cool to meet a few more - Wilma Rudolph, Thelonious Monk.

Since it doesn't actually tell a story, my 3-year-old felt meh about it. My enjoyment was higher than meh but lower than wow. I actually enjoyed reading the epilogue with all the mini-bios of the American heroes painted in the book more than the book itself. Poetry has its merits and its fans, but I always prefer a good story.

Leader by Destiny: George Washington, Man and Patriot

To the memory of the Man, first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.

I suppose it was nice to get a more concrete picture of a man I've only known in the abstract. But, like most (all?) biographies, I slogged through the majority of the details and could not remember names of people from one page to the next (what were all his brothers' names again?). 

Highlights:

-  Mentions of Mt. Vernon. I went there once to visit. I could picture the rooms and the trees and the vineyards and the slaves' quarters and the gift shop . . .
- The Sally Fairfax forbidden love thing had me so curious. I kept thinking, "I don't remember the first First Lady being named Sally Washington!" I actually looked it up on Wikipedia before I got to the part where he married Martha because I was so baffled. I think the biographer played up George's infatuation with Sally according to her own fantasy, but it seems like he never did anything unchaste and I appreciated that.
- The Marquis de Lafayette. I had only heard of him in a Hamilton song (I'm not that familiar with the musical, otherwise I would probably know a lot more about him!) and was surprised to learn how close he was with George Washington and how helpful he was in the Revolution. I'm a fan.
- The Constitutional Convention. Politics and history are pretty low on my interest list, but I had this overwhelming urge to be a fly on the wall to watch as so many opinionated, well-educated, passionate men debated the basic tenets of our government. Honestly, that probably would have been pretty interesting.

Lowlights:
- Battles.

Bad news:
- I can't find any more of my old Newberys online.

Good news:
- I can take a break from old Newberys for a bit because 2020 winners were announced this week! Yay!

Recommendation:
- Nah. Go visit Mt. Vernon instead. Or ride a horse.