Age: High School

A great contribution to the GLBTQ literary genre in YA for it's unique subject matter, including Laura being in a long-term lesbian relationship without familiarity --and sometimes rejection--of the queer scene and her lesbian identity. Furthermore, the character is Cuban-American and the complexity of coming out as a Catholic. However, the superfluous writing style went beyond stylistic flavor and into downright boring. While I cared about the characters enough to want to know the ending, I felt annoyed where the writer chose to place her time and her strained use of character development.

"But it took a long time, story-wise, to get to this point. Each chapter seemed to have at least one scene with a meandering conversation that summarized things we already knew -- e.g., Laura updating her best pal Soli on the goings-on at her job or her not-relationship with Francisco -- or a meandering conversation about things that didn't have much relation to the story at hand -- e.g., Soli, Laura, and Tazer talking about their quinces. Plus, most chapters started with several paragraphs (or pages) of summary about the things that had gone on between the end of the last chapter and the beginning of the new one. This resulted in a conversational, almost bloggy style of storytelling, which perhaps works for some readers, but it also meant that a lot of events were happening offstage. For instance, the reader is told about Laura's relationship with Francisco, but he rarely pops up as a character with an active role in a scene, and by the time a climactic scene does happen between the pair, it's hard to muster the appropriate emotion when the story itself hasn't spent much time helping the reader get invested in the conflict. Better developed were the relationships and conflicts between Laura and her surrogate family, and Laura and her mom" (Lauren's review at http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/158565205).

Age: 8-10 years
Media: ink and watercolor

With hope and tender care from two children and an old man, an old cherry tree blossoms for the first time after a war has ravaged the country.

Does not shield children from the realities of war, but offers hope for a better tomorrow.

Age: 7-12 years
Media: colored pencil and watercolor

A lovely tale for children about the origins of Buddhism and the savior who led this new religion. Page 13 strongly pushes Buddhism as the right religion, so be careful when sharing with children in the library.

Age: 6-10 years

The artwork's not the best but the story consists of dedication and perseverance against the odds to save a loved one.

Age: 8-11 years

This book has some excellent stories for telling to tweens including "The Flying Head" and "The Chenoo."

Excellent source notes.

First in a series of 11 (last written in 2008)

As a 13-year-old, Georgia confronts typical middle-school drama with a unique humor involving her savage cat, a Sex God, uncool parents, and ever-changing friends' statuses (friend today, enemy tomorrow, friend day after tomorrow).

The format of this book as a diary appeals to the middle school age where some girls may start keeping their own diaries. Although the obsession with appearance can get annoying, it is a concern of the audience. The British setting gives readers an exposure to a country outside the U.S. where things aren't quite so foreign (helps ease uncertainty towards unknown).

Age: preschool-second grade
Media: acrylic paint
Illustrator Style: Large, bold images of three main characters--makes it easy for youngins to focus on singular objects

An interesting realtion to the fable of the Hare and the Tortoise, this Chocktaw tale explains why turtles shells are cracked and why we never see Rabbit racing Turtle today. This has a very didactic undertone of cooperation while incorporating the trickster who finally shows the bully not to mess with physically weaker animals.

Age: Preschool - 2nd grade
Media: crayon and acrylic paint, perfect transfer for teacher-size copies
Illustrator Style: Large, full page pictures of people's faces to emphasize the beauty of various colors

After Lena declares that the color brown is just brown, her mother takes her to see all her friends of varying colored skin. Each skin color is celebrated with a positive and, sometimes, delicious depiction that inspires Lena to mix her paints to create all varying colors of brown.

Age: Preschool
Media: pencil and ink
Illustrator Style: Large, simple pictures with plenty of white space for an early listener to focus

With Inuit characters, this universal storyline explores the loving embrace of a mother and how it may sometimes lead to jealousy and greed for the child. In the end, mother explains to the older brother that there is always room on mother’s lap for everyone—even baby brother—to sit.

ALSO a picture book

Age: Preschool-third grade
Media: watercolor
Illustrator Style: watercolor helps the blending of colors, much like the blending of colors in the children's skin


A non-fiction poem of an interracial couple married in 1960 where their marriage violated segregation laws in 28 states in the U.S. This poem supersedes the political impact and focuses on the lessons of similarity and respect of diversity that this family shares in their color palette. While the poem is delightful for little ears, read it to yourself first to understand some hard-to-catch meanings behind certain statements.