5 stars A powerful and inspiring picture book recounting Malala Yousafzai’s activism for education for all. The illustrations perfectly match the tone of the author’s words. They show the hardships in the environment but also the beauty of change and the power of people coming together. The story itself gives some of the basic details…
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2 stars I went into this without realizing it has a Christian focus. That’s my bad for just looking at the title and cover, and not going any further before checking it out from the library. Note: I am not a Christian so this will be a biased review. Good for what it is: a…
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5 stars Adapted from Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi‘s Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You A fantastic adaptation of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You for a younger audience. This is such a great series to adapt for different age groups and the kids and teens version have both been amazing. One aspect that is especially fun about the…
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3 stars Another good nonfiction read in the I Survived series. This one follows different animals in their quest for survival and the humans who helped them along the way. Great for those interested in learning about animals. It should be read with the knowledge that not all the stories are entirely happy. They each…
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3 stars Nice progression for fans of the I Survived series to nonfiction encounters. I initially grabbed this one because of the sharks attacks of 1916. It is the only true story featured in this collection that Tarshis has written a novel about. Others are tangentially related to books in the I Survived series (I…
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5 stars A heartfelt book recounting Omar Mohamed’s experiences growing up in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. The book goes through Mohamed’s daily life and long-term struggles including taking care of his brother, arguments with friends, trying to get an education in the camp, learning English, coping with food shortages, fighting for resettlement in…
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3 stars A picture book telling the story of Ivan, how a gorilla became a shopping center attraction and the public’s changing understanding of animals in captivity. The book goes through some of the main events of Ivan’s story, including some dark times. It touches on various aspects of human treatment of wild animals and…
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3 stars A lovely picture book that goes beyond Aretha Franklin’s career as a singer and delves into her activism and faith. Abdurraqib’s text is lyrical with some lovely images created. He focuses not just on Franklin’s most well-known song, but how it inspired others to act and its continued effect in bringing people together…
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3 stars Context-wise, I think it’s helpful to read the Epilogue before the actual book. When I first started reading, I was a bit confused on the format and it helped to understand what the book was and how it came about. This book is a compilation of Renee and Herta’s recountings originally told for…
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3 stars I’ll start by saying I’m not usually a huge fan of realistic, middle-grade graphic novels and did not initially realize this was a memoir. Overall, I thought the story was okay. There is plenty readers can relate to: parental divorce, fighting with siblings, new friendships, school drama, growing need for independence, friends moving…
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