Your Eyes in Stars
By M.E. Kerr
HarperCollins, $15.99
Ages 12-15 years
It’s 1934. Jessie’s father is warden of a prison in upstate New York. Most other places they’ve lived, that has made her family top of the social heap, but not here, and that’s hard for her mother to bear. Jessie’s father is sure that his new inmate, Slater Carr, will lead the prison band to a championship, because what else could he have to care about? Elisa, a German girl whose father is studying at nearby Cornell University, becomes Jessie’s friend, and they share crushes on local boys and on gangster John Dillinger. When Elisa and her father return to Germany for her grandmother, Elisa and Jessie correspond. Nothing is as simple as it looks, and it takes years before the final truths emerge. M.E. Kerr does not let history override character de-velopment. Elisa and Jessie are believable high school freshmen.
Jackie’s Bat
By Marybeth Lorbiecki, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Simon & Schuster, $15.95
Ages 7-10 years
The number of words on every page will tell you that this is an illustrated story for older readers, not a baby’s picture book. The storyteller is a bat boy for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He’s not a paragon of tolerance or overly impressed by Jackie Robinson, and he won’t clean the new player’s spikes at first: “He’s colored.” As the season progresses, the boy’s perspective changes, until he’s on Robinson’s side in more than just a literal sense. A good look at what Robinson’s arrival felt like, not only on the field but in the clubhouse.
Uncle Peter’s Amazing Chinese Wedding
By Lenore Look,illustrated by Yumi Heo
Atheneum, $16.95
Ages 5-9 years
This isn’t the standard “Intro to Cultural Wedding Customs 101,” because Jenny, the narrator, feels as if she’s losing Uncle Peter, “the coolest dude, a girl’s best buddy.” So everyone else is happy but Jenny. Of course, we know she’ll be reconciled to Aunt Stella eventually; after all, Aunt Stella is a cool science teacher and has “a mean forty-yard pass.” The fun is Jenny’s slightly distant commentary all throughout the day, especially when she’s watching her ever-commenting, ever-cooing aunties.
This Is the Dream
By Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander, illustrated by James Ransome
Amistad/HarperCollins, $15.99
Ages 7-9 years
Remember the rhythm of “This is the house that Jack built?” Diane Shore and Jessica Alexander’s rhymed story first describes the world before desegregation and then returns to show how everything–the school, the bus, the restaurant, the library–has been transformed. James Ransome’s combination of painting and collage bestows an energetic realism on the text.
I Lost My Tooth in Africa
By Penda Diakite, illustrated by Baba Wague Diakite
Scholastic, $16.99
Ages 5-8 years
If you bury a lost tooth in Mali, you might get a chicken (so don’t think tooth-fairy tasks are so difficult here in North America). The author tells of a childhood visit to her father’s family in Mali. Her father’s illustrations–with large pictures of the village, framed with details from the story–carry the day.
