Category Archives: children

It’s a Privilege Just to Be Here, by Emma Sasaki****

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Emma Sasaki makes her fictional debut with the darkly amusing story of a mother and daughter caught up in a scandal at a prestigious private school. My thanks go to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio galley. This book is for sale now.

Wesley Friends School is the prep school to which presidents and other high placed politicos send their teens, a place where they are nurtured as completely as any hot house flower, and then sent onward, hopefully to an ivy league college. Aki Hiyashi-Brown abandons her PhD and accepts a teaching job there in order for her daughter, Meg, to be able to attend; otherwise the tuition would be impossibly expensive. The school is overwhelmingly Caucasian, and so perhaps it’s unsurprising that Aki finds her face prominently displayed on all of the promotional materials the school disseminates, along with those of the few other teachers of color.

That’s all fine and good until the day when the fence outside is vandalized by spray paint reading, “Make Wesley white again.” Aki is ready to do what she’s been taught from the cradle: keep her head down, do her job, and not say anything. But Meg and her classmates have no intention of remaining silent. Before she knows it, Aki finds she has been assigned to be the head of the Racial Equity Task Force, a token job on a token committee that has more to do with appearances than with any actual desire for change.

She is given a script to follow and told not to offer up any of her own observations or opinions.

Soon, things spiral beyond the control of Wesley’s administration, and Aki is caught between doing what her bosses want her to do, and supporting her daughter and students in their quest for genuine change.

This book, which the author notes is based on her own experience, has me at hello. Though I am not a wealthy or connected individual, I did send my child to a private school for a few years, one which was very white, and which used my half-Japanese daughter’s face on its pamphlets a lot. I can’t not read this book, and whenever I have earbuds in, this is what I listen to. I find it well paced and engaging, setting just the right tone without over-moralizing or becoming strident. There are some great side characters as well; I like Aki’s husband and mother particularly, and appreciate the bond between Aki’s half-Japanese daughter and her Issei (first generation) grandmother.

However, my own husband is also Issei, and I asked him to listen to the reader during one of the many passages in which the grandma speaks to Aki in Japanese. “Is this reader’s Japanese as good as I suspect?” I asked, somewhat proud of my first year Japanese skills. He listened to two lines, laughed, and shook his head.

For this, I really do have to knock one star off my original five star rating. Perhaps if I had a digital review copy I could have rated that version higher, but I have what I have, and it’s problematic. Nevertheless, I appreciate this novel and the message it delivers, and I greatly look forward to reading whatever Sasaki publishes next.

Butt or Face? Volume 2, by Kari Lavelle****

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This engaging little science book for early readers is a gem. My thanks go to Net Galley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the review copy. This book will be available to the public April 2, 2024.

The title is the content in a nutshell. One page has a large, sometimes whole page photograph, but we don’t know what animal it belongs to, or what end we’re looking at. These are cleverly chosen and stumped me about half the time. When I set it down, my spouse picked it up, began leafing through it, and I heard him say, “What? You’re kidding!”

There is no real story here. You open the book, and you leap right in. Picture, then the solution, right down the line. Whereas I like a bit of scaffolding and accompanying narrative myself, I also know that there are children that will prefer this book exactly the way that it’s written. Children in early elementary school that are in the stage of development in which they find potty jokes gut-bustingly funny will absolutely adore it.

I was previously unfamiliar with Lavelle’s work, and hadn’t seen the first in the series, but after perusing this one, I knew my grandsons had to have it, and since this one won’t be out till spring, I bought the first volume of Butt or Face for the second grader’s Christmas gift. That’s a strong endorsement.

Mothman’s Merry Cryptid Christmas, by Andrew Shaffer***

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My thanks go to Net Galley and 8th Circle Press for the review copy. This book is for sale now.

When I saw the cover of this children’s book, I thought it had strong possibilities. It’s original, and I thought it was conceptually strong, so I read it. Having done so, I have come away underwhelmed.

For a book like this, a takeoff on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, two things are important. We need resonant, bold, eye-catching artwork to engage the little person that is reading it, or to whom it is being read, and we need a regular cadence. We’re supposed to be singing this book to the same tune as the song, and while the text certainly rhymes, it’s nowhere near in pocket. It’s awkward as hell, actually. Get out your metronome and try it, I dare you.

And as for the artwork, it can best be described as minimalist. When I saw Mothman on the cover, I was thrilled. Kids would love it, I thought. But that’s basically what’s on every single page. Mothman, plus a small amount of unengaging other stuff. There’s no bold artwork at all, and very little art of any kind. The illustration of our protagonist is the entire show, over and over.

I’ve since learned that this is a series. I haven’t seen any of the other books, but I’m going to guess they are more of the same. In fact, if I continue writing much longer, I will talk myself into dropping the rating to 2.5 stars instead of 3.

It feels lazy to me; it didn’t come close to meeting my expectations. When I took the galley, I thought that if this book was as good as I hoped it might be, I would purchase a copy of it for my grandsons. I’m not going to do that now, and if I won’t, I cannot recommend you buy it either.

Love Is Loud: How Diane Nash Led the Civil Rights Movement****

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Just in time for Dr. King’s birthday! This lovely biography by Sandra Neil Wallace introduces a little-known leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Diane Nash. Nash fought for equal rights for people of color, and had a significant part in the changes that were won.

My thanks go to Simon and Schuster for the copy I received for review purposes. This book is for sale right now.

Most of us have never heard of Nash, who was active during a time when Black people and women were sometimes overlooked, and at other times, excluded in historical narratives. She grew up in the South side of Chicago, where there were many skin colors and cultures, but not many Caucasian people. It was when she went to college in Nashville that she gained firsthand experience of Jim Crow laws, which required separate (and generally inferior) facilities for African-Americans. And Diane was having none of it.

This sumptuously illustrated picture book details the key stages of her development and achievements. My one concern is with the references to “love” in the title and text which are never explained. Is the love in reference to her religion, a philosophy, or something else? The word is thrown in there several times with no context at all. If her mission was to bring change about using nonviolent methods, as Dr. King chose to do and encouraged others to do as well, it is not mentioned. Did she see Gandhi as a role model? We aren’t told. Instead, it appears that the word is injected to sanitize, to offset the word “fight,” perhaps because this story is written for young people. But children aren’t stupid, and without any cohesive portrayal of Nash’s character and underlying motivation, I fear they may forget her. Literature has power, and so although I am glad to see Nash introduced to young people, the effect is diluted when proper character development—which is necessary, even in a children’s picture book—is not provided.

That said, the literacy level is perfect for upper elementary students, and would also make a fine read-aloud for a teacher to frame a single lesson around. It would also be first rate for a sub plan, and teachers know that’s something we always need on hand.

Bryan Collier is the illustrator, and his artwork fills every inch of every page, with the text superimposed on top of it. This is lush, gorgeous work that elevates the story with its presence.

Recommended for classrooms, libraries, and to parents and other guardians of children in grades 4, 5, and 6.