Review of Just Jerry, by Jerry Pinkney

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Just Jerry

How Drawing Shaped My Life

by Jerry Pinkney

Little, Brown and Company, 2023. 146 pages.
Review written 3/23/23 from a library book.
Starred Review

Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney had the words to this book almost completely written before his death in 2021, but the pictures were only in sketch form. However, Jerry’s sketches still make wonderful illustrations for a book, so the editors took what he had made and put it together. And what he made includes at least one sketch for almost every page. The print is in a font that’s easier with kids with dyslexia to read, something Jerry wanted in particular.

This book tells the story of a kid growing up in a Black neighborhood in Philadelphia, surrounded by friends and having adventures. However, he wasn’t so happy about school, because he had dyslexia before it was common to get a diagnosis. He only knew that he had trouble reading.

But a wonderful and understanding teacher noticed how much he loved to draw and let him get extra credit by drawing pictures for the class. And that was the first of many ways adults noticed his passion and encouraged him.

The summer before eighth grade, he got himself a job selling newspapers across from an art supply store. He spent his first earnings on a sketchpad and started sketching in between customers. Before long, he was selling his sketches along with the papers. And that led to meeting an artist who drew a comic in the very papers he was selling. With encouragement from people like these, he began to envision his art as a way to make a living some day, despite his difficulties with reading.

I love the way the book ends. It’s not a spoiler alert if you know that Jerry went on to a distinguished career illustrating and writing children’s books.

I couldn’t even begin to dream of my art being shown in a place like the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I’d never even been to a museum.

But all that time I’d put into drawing, I was drawing my dream. And one day, more than fifty years later, the Philadelphia Museum of Art mounted a solo exhibition titled Witness: The Art of Jerry Pinkney.

Mother had turned out to be right. She had always said that I would make something of my name.

I had the privilege of hearing Jerry Pinkney speak more than once, and every time he left me with a smile. This book does the same, making me happy that the boy we read about went on to make so many other children happy with his wonderful art.

justjerrypinkney.com
lbyr.com

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Review of Still Stace, by Stacey Chomiak

Biography, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

Still Stace

My Gay Christian Coming-of-Age Story

by Stacey Chomiak

Beaming Books, 2021. 270 pages.
Review written May 8, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

Still Stace is a memoir about an earnest and devoted Christian teen girl who found herself attracted to other girls. She was told by her parents, friends, leaders, and even a Christian counselor that this was disgusting and sinful and she needed to change. Stace tried and tried. She prayed about her “struggle” for years. In fact, she sprinkles her story with prayers she wrote in her journals at the time. She desperately wanted God to change her, to give her victory over her desires. Over the years, she was told if she just prayed harder, she’d change and be okay.

Then when she went to an Exodus International event, hoping to become ex-gay, and met a girl who flirted with her and made out with her — she concluded that being ex-gay wasn’t possible. At the same time, her best friend confessed she was falling in love with Stace.

So she entered another relationship, but continued to feel guilty. And she hated hiding who she was from her parents.

But I love the chapter where she came to terms with how God saw her and how God made her. It involved a week-long retreat of praying and seeking God. In the end, after much agonizing, God answered her questions and flooded her with peace.

Full, soft, healing . . . peace. In that moment, I finally allowed this truth to enter my heart and resonate deep within. The fears in my head and fears of what God’s people thought of me were no match for the perfect love of God himself.

God said to me: I made you. ALL of you. Fearfully and wonderfully.

And the story continues as she experienced God’s abundant life, as the person she truly is.

This book is beautiful and was hard for me to stop reading. It’s not a graphic memoir, but she’s an animator, and fills the pages with wonderful illustrations. I grew up in an evangelical church and went to an evangelical university. I didn’t have the same struggle as Stace, but I had her same heart for following Christ and believing that meant following the rules I’d been told. I remember the struggles and shame once I did get a boyfriend, trying to not give into temptation. We solved that difficulty by getting married. And when I learned that some friends were gay, I was so sad for them. It all helps me begin to imagine what she must have gone through and have sympathy for her agonizing.

Now, I’ve since that time come to understand that what we read in the Bible in English today isn’t necessarily even close to what it meant to the Hebrew and Greek speakers when the Bible was written. But what I can trust in the Bible is that God created us. And God loves us. And I love the way Stace’s story reflects that same message.

beamingbooks.com

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Review of Muhammad Najem, War Reporter, by Muhammad Najem and Nora Neus, illustrated by Julie Robine

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review 0

Muhammad Najem, War Reporter

How One Boy Put the Spotlight on Syria

by Muhammad Najem
and Nora Neus
illustrated by Julie Robine
colors by Shin-Yeon Moon

Little, Brown and Company, 2022. 314 pages.
Review written May 10, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

This amazing graphic memoir tells the story of a Syrian kid who decided to let the world know what was going on in Syria — from the perspective of kids who lived there.

The war in Syria began when he was only eight years old. When he was thirteen, his father was praying at the mosque and was killed by a missile. His father had always been one to listen to everyone he met. He’d bring home their stories and tell his kids, “Everyone has a story.”

So when Muhammad got to be fifteen, he wanted to imitate his father and tell the world the stories of kids still living in the war zone of Syria. He began taking videos and posting them online. People warned him not to show his face, but he wanted to prove that real kids were being affected by the fighting. He hoped if the world knew what was happening, they wouldn’t be forgotten.

And then one day, Nora Neus of CNN contacted Muhammad. It turned out to be a few days before a big siege of Eastern Ghouta, where he and his family lived. But they moved to another part of Syria during a cease-fire, and CNN did an online article about him. That article went viral, and the world began to pay attention. Though there’s plenty of tension, because the fame makes Muhammad a target, and throughout the book his life is in danger.

This graphic memoir tells Muhammad’s story in a riveting way. It’s a story of a kid making a difference while lives were being uprooted all around him.

muhammadnajem.com
noraneus.com
julierobine.com
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Review of Sunshine, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Biography, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

Sunshine

How One Camp Taught Me About Life, Death, and Hope

by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Graphix (Scholastic), 2023. 240 pages.
Review written May 6, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

Sunshine is another graphic novel memoir from the brilliant Jarrett Krosoczka. But this one, unlike Hey, Kiddo isn’t about his difficult growing-up years so much as about a transformational experience he had the summer he was sixteen — working as an intern at Camp Sunshine, a camp for families who have a child with a life-threatening illness.

I’ll say right up front that I did not read this at a good time, and don’t actually recommend it to anyone in my family. It’s too much right now. Because two weeks ago my six-year-old niece Meredith was diagnosed with relapsed leukemia. After being initially diagnosed at three years old, she’s been through two years of treatments, and then a year we all thought she was fine, and now she’s relapsed. So when the sweet little kid pictured on the cover of this book had the exact same diagnosis as Meredith — and in the last chapter relapsed and died (some time after the camp experience) — it just had me sobbing.

It is a terrible thing when kids die.

But the beauty of the camp experience was that they gave those kids a chance to be the normal ones, a chance to goof off and play with friends and just be kids. And a chance for their personalities to shine through, way past the fact that they were sick. And a chance for people working at the camp to come to love them.

The author says right at the start:

Just about everyone who asks about the experience seems to have the same knee-jerk reaction: It must have been so sad.

But that could not be further from the truth. I mean, a camp for pediatric cancer patients shouldn’t be sad — those kids already have enough to deal with.

No, camp was happy, the happiest place I’ve ever been. It was a space where illness didn’t define the campers while they defied their diagnoses. It was uplifting, celebratory.

The kids I met weren’t dying — they were living. Living life to its fullest.

All these years later, there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think of them.

So yes, this book will touch your heart. And even though it struck way too close to home for me, I’m glad I read it. And I love the way he celebrated the lives of those kids. And showed that even kids whose lives are way too short make this world a better place, just by being ordinary kids.

[And medicine is constantly getting better and that was many years ago and we don’t even know Meredith’s prognosis yet.]

Excuse me, I’m going to go cry a bit more.

studiojjk.com
scholastic.com

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Review of My Name Is Jason. Mine Too, by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin

Biography, Poetry, Teen Nonfiction 0

My Name Is Jason. Mine Too.

Our Story. Our Way.

by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin

Atheneum, 2022. (First created in 2009.)
Review written February 26, 2023, from a library book
2022 Cybils Finalist – Poetry Collections

My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. is from the same two Jasons who created the award-winning Ain’t Burned All the Bright. This book came first, and was recently reissued. It’s a memoir in poetry and art — about two young guys who moved to New York City after college. One dreamed of being a poet and the other an artist. They were twenty and twenty-two years old.

It wasn’t an easy road for them. They were hungry. Their parents weren’t thrilled. And they thought maybe they were making a big mistake.

Now, I’m an old fogey. There’s probably lots of symbolism in the art that I’m not getting. But together with the words, there’s something powerful going on here. The book paints a portrait of two guys, trying to be adults in the world and yet also make art.

And wow! One of them went on to become the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

I hope there will be more collaborations in the future with these two Jasons.

jasonwritesbooks.com

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Review of Sisters in Science, by Linda Elovitz Marshall, illustrated by Anna and Elena Balbusso

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Sisters in Science

Marie Curie, Bronia Dluska, and the Atomic Power of Sisterhood

by Linda Elovitz Marshall
illustrated by Anna and Elena Balbusso

Alfred A. Knopf, 2023. 36 pages.
Review written March 31, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

I’ve read several books about Marie Curie, but I had never heard about her older sister Bronia who made her career possible.

And Marie also made Bronia’s career possible. This picture book explains that the sisters made a pact.

Yet, to achieve their dreams, Marie and Bronia needed to study in a real university, one that accepted women, like the Sorbonne in Paris, France.

But how could they possibly pay?

They concocted a plan:

Bronia would start at the Sorbonne immediately, while Marie would work as a tutor to pay for Bronia’s education.

When Bronia finished, they would switch. Marie would start, and Bronia would pay.

Marie and Bronia made a pact!

The book goes on to tell about both their lives and how they helped each other at crucial times.

Besides Marie’s stellar achievements, which most of us have heard about before, we learn that Bronia and her husband founded a hospital in Poland. And the x-ray machines that Marie developed were used there.

I love that this book about sisters is illustrated by twin sisters. The lovely illustrations make heavy use of scientific symbols, giving wonderful effects.

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Review of Abuela, Don’t Forget Me, by Rex Ogle

Biography, Poetry, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

Abuela, Don’t Forget Me

by Rex Ogle

Norton Young Readers, 2022. 198 pages.
Review written February 26, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award Finalist

Rex Ogle is the author of the amazing Free Lunch and Punching Bag, both of which were Sonderbooks Stand-outs. Those books tell about his difficult childhood and difficult teen years, dealing with poverty and abuse.

This book doesn’t continue the story so much as look at the story again, this time in the light of the constant in his life — his abuela.

Abuela now has dementia. Rex Ogle wrote this about writing this book:

A few years ago, after a particularly difficult call with Abuela – in which she forgot who I was halfway through – I sat down and cried. Then I wrote out a few words. Those words led to fragments of sentences. Those fragments led to verses. Those verses formed a poem, and before I knew it, the memories were flying out of me, all of them in verse.

In the foreword to this book of poems, he writes this tribute:

My abuela is the woman who encouraged me to read and write at an early age. Who bought groceries when my mom was unemployed and we were living on food stamps. She is the woman who offered her home to me when the violence at my mom’s became too much. Abuela is the woman who got me off the streets after my father kicked me out for being gay. She told me if I wanted to be a novelist, then I should pursue it, that if I worked hard, I could accomplish anything. By every definition of the word, my grandmother is an angel. My own personal fairy godmother. Abuela is the only parent I’ve ever known who showed me truly unconditional love, kindness, and support.

This book is another version of the author’s childhood and teen years. In this version, his abuela shines as a bright and beautiful example of unselfish, generous, unconditional love – going to a kid who needed it.

nortonyoungreaders.com

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Review of Spare, by Prince Harry

Biography, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review, True Stories 0

Spare

by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex
read by the author

Books on Tape, 2023. 15 hours, 40 minutes.
Review written April 15, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I’ve never been much of a celebrity-watcher, but I did watch Diana’s funeral so many years ago, and along with so many others, my heart went out to Harry, losing his mother far too soon. When he wrote a book, telling his story his own way rather than through an intermediary, I wanted to hear it, wanted to hear that his heart had healed.

And yes, this is a story of healing.

Though first, it’s a story of pain. It was heart-wrenching to hear how many years went by before he stopped believing that his mother had simply staged her own death and built a life for herself elsewhere and would one day call for him.

There are stories of romances with good people who couldn’t hold up to the horrendous persistent invasive attention of the press. (Prince Harry doesn’t like the press.) But the story of him meeting and falling in love with Meghan Markle simply shines with love.

He finally got therapy. He stood up for himself and sued the press. And he withstood basically being cast out of the royal family.

The end says that a large portion of proceeds from this wildly best-selling book are going to charity, but I hope he keeps some for himself and his family, as the story also includes how the royal family is no longer paying for his security or any living expenses. And I would have rolled my eyes about that before I heard this story. The work of the royal family is public relations. And that includes raising money for charity. That he’s continuing that work he was born into, despite being cast off, is admirable.

I’m left after reading this book wholeheartedly wishing for him and his family health, happiness, and continued deep love for one another. And goodness, I hope the press will start leaving them alone.

This one’s worth a read, and like all audiobooks where the narrator has an English accent, it’s well worth hearing with Harry’s own voice reading it to you.

archewell.com

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Review of The Tryout, by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review 0

The Tryout

written by Christina Soontornvat
illustrated by Joanna Cacao
colors by Amanda LaFrenais

Graphix (Scholastic), 2022. 272 pages.
Review written January 12, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

I will keep saying it: Graphic novels are the perfect format for memoirs of middle school. And memoirs of middle school are perfect reading for kids currently going through it, to understand they are not alone. The Tryout will take its place with Raina Telgemeier’s Smile, and Shannon Hale’s Real Friends as wonderful encouraging books for middle school readers, looking at the middle school years from the perspective of adulthood.

This graphic novel memoir tells about Christina Soontornvat’s experiences in middle school in a small town in Texas, where she and her best friend Megan were among very few students of color. Her father was from Thailand and her mother’s whole family from Texas. Megan’s father was from Iran. They’d been kindred spirits for years, and both decided to try out for cheerleading.

But they didn’t have classes together, and when they both decided to try out for cheerleading, Megan chose a different partner. Was Christina going to lose that friendship?

The tryout itself was the same as happened at my high school — the kids tried out in front of the student body, in this case, the whole seventh grade. Yes, that was as much pressure as you can imagine. Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao beautifully portray the anguish all the potential cheerleaders experienced.

With these books, it’s always fun to see pictures at the back of the author when she was actually in middle school, and I really enjoyed these. Yes, she survived the experience!

A wonderful graphic memoir about middle school that kids are going to love.

scholastic.com

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Review of The Light We Carry, by Michelle Obama

Biography, Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Starred Review, True Stories 0

The Light We Carry

Overcoming in Uncertain Times

by Michelle Obama

Crown, 2022. 318 pages.
Review written January 16, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review

Michelle Obama is a treasure. This book doesn’t contain profound new insights, but it does contain words and stories to inspire you to be your best, and to see the best in other people. She doesn’t pretend any of this is easy, but she tells stories about persevering when things are difficult.

I like the title, because Michelle Obama is exceptionally good at seeing the light in everyone. Everyone carries light inside them, and she is good at finding it in others. This is reflected in this paragraph talking about her book tour for Becoming:

When I looked out into those audiences, I saw something that confirmed what I knew to be true about my country and about the world more generally. I saw a colorful crowd, full of differences, and better for it. These were spaces where diversity was recognized and celebrated as a strength. I saw different ages, races, genders, ethnicities, identities, outfits, you name it — people laughing, clapping, crying, sharing. I sincerely believe that many of those people had turned up for reasons that stretched well past me or my book. My feeling was they’d shown up at least in part to feel less alone in the world, to locate some lost sense of belonging. Their presence — the energy, warmth, and diversity of those spaces — helped tell a certain story. People were there, I believe, because it felt good — it felt great, actually — to mix our differentness with togetherness.

She talks about living life in relationship with others — friends and family you let into your life. And there may not be anything earth-shaking there, but it is inspirational.

Here’s another paragraph I liked:

All I can do is try to draw closer to your uniqueness, to feel linked by the small overlaps between us. This is how empathy works. It’s how differentness starts to weave itself into togetherness. Empathy fills the gaps between us, but never closes them entirely. We get pulled into the lives of others by virtue of what they feel safe and able to show us, and the generosity with which we are able to meet them. Piece by piece, person by person, we begin to apprehend the world in more fullness.

It’s worth the wait on the Holds list.

michelleobamabooks.com
crownpublishing.com

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