Elem. – You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce: The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce

Lee, Chiquita Mullins, and Carmella Van Vleet. You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce: The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce. Illustrated by Jennifer Mack-Watkins. Kokila, 2023. 978-0-593-40650-2. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades 1-3.

This fascinating picture book is a fictionalized account of the life of the African American folk artist Elijah Pierce. Born in Mississippi, Elijah was given a penknife as a young boy, which he used to whittle wood from a forest, creating animal figures or “…anything that came to mind….” Pierce learned the barbering trade and opened a barber shop in Columbus, but his passion for the wood arts remained with him his whole life. In this story, a boy comes into the barbershop with his dad, who tells him, “You gotta meet Mr. Pierce.” The barber-artist displays all his artistic creations in his shop and proceeds to show them to the boy after his haircut. Some are carved sculptures of a tiger and lion. Others are wall art like The Place of My Birth (1977), a carved and painted relief of a log cabin. Others depict stories from Pierce’s personal life, such as when he was falsely accused and accosted by an angry mob. Also displayed is what many call his masterpiece, The Book of Wood, created in 1932. Mr. Pierce carved Bible Stories on wooden panels, painted them and pasted them on cardboard to make a book. The unnamed boy, who was unsure of what to draw with the colored pencils from his mother, is now inspired to turn his own stories into art like his mentor. The artwork here is stunning. Mack-Watkins uses mokuhanga printmaking techniques and mixed media collages to create her drawings. The colors of the printed images are bold and vibrant and the observant reader will be able to pick out actual photos of a few animal carvings and of the artist’s family done as an overlay on the busy pages. The illustrator has truly captured the heart and  soul of this underrecognized African American’s talent. There is an author’s note that provides more details of Elijah’s life and an artist’s note that explains her techniques and preparation. Also included in the back is a gallery of Pierce’s art with titles and dates and a list of museums displaying his art.

THOUGHTS: This book is highly recommended for all elementary collections. Children will enjoy examining the images for the small details of the Caldecott quality art. This story could be paired with Bryant’s A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin to do a compare and contrast activity of the two African American folk artists.

Picture Book
Historical Fiction

MG – Black Americans of Distinction (Series NF)

Black Americans of Distinction. Reference Point Press, 2023. $32.95 ea. $164.75 Set of 5. 64 p. Grades 6-8.

Allen, John. Important Black Americans in Sports. 978-1-6782-0290-3.
Castilo, Kristina. Important Black Americans in Business and Commerce. ​​978-1-6782-0284-2.
Currie, Stephen. Important Black Americans in Civil Rights and Politics. 978-1-6782-0286-6.
Kallen, Stuart.  Important Black Americans in Arts and Culture. 978-1-6782-0282-8.
Nardo, Don. Important Black Americans in Science and Invention. 978-1-6782-0288-0.

Judging from the sequence of chapters in two of the books, the authors present information in chronological order with in-depth explanation of the history and distinguished professionals attached to these fields. Interesting textboxes highlight special events or pertinent people. This series is an updated, worthy series focusing on well-known and lesser-known Black Americans. Includes Other Sources and index.

THOUGHTS: I read the Business and Commerce and Sports titles and found valuable information suitable for the middle-grade researcher.

YA – Kin: Rooted in Hope

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Kin: Rooted in Hope. Illustrated by Jeffrey Boston Weatherford. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2023. 978-1-665-91362-1. 220 p. $18.99. Grades 8-12.

Weatherford has shared her collections of lyrical poems accompanied by the powerful illustrations of Jeffrey Boston Weatherford.  The poems follow her ancestors’ stories from the time that they were forced aboard the slave ships in Africa and up to the present day in America. The reader is immersed in these stories that Weatherford has woven beautifully into a powerful tribute to their family. Her poems are told through the voices of her family as well as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.

THOUGHTS: Powerful, lyrical, such an important collection of the voices of the ancestors of the author. This is not an easy read, but a necessary one. This is a mother-son duo who put together this collection.

Historical Fiction

Elem. – I’m From

Gray, Jr, Gary R. I’m From. Illustrated by Oge Mora. Balzer + Bray, 2023. 978-0-063-08996-9. 32 p. $19.99. Grades K-3.

A boy starts his day as many kids across America do, with breakfast and getting ready for school. A ride on the bus and a, “you better hurry up” from his dad. I’m from doesn’t mean a location, but more of an answer to who am I? What makes me, me? The boy encounters racial comments at school that make him visibly uncomfortable, but he moves on with his day as any child would. All of the small moments of his day are depicted with Mora’s illustrations in her characteristic collage layered with various paint mediums.  

THOUGHTS: A must purchase, as much for the story as for the illustrations. Would be a perfect title to include in an illustrator study of Oge Mora.  Could also be used to introduce a unit on memoirs or personal narratives.

Picture Book 

Elem. – There Was A Party For Langston

Reynolds, Jason. There Was A Party For Langston. Illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2023. 978-1-534-43944-3. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades K-3.

There Was A Party For Langston is a celebration of Langston Hughes and his words as well as the people that he inspired. It celebrates his poetry and showcases how he was able to use language and create things that made other people create things. It shows how he inspired Maya Angelou to create her stories. The way the illustrations add to the story will cause the reader to go back through this book several times to find different things that they missed.

THOUGHTS: This is Jason Reynolds’ debut picture book, and he hits it out of the park (which isn’t surprising). This is an excellent introduction to Langston Hughes, as well as other authors. The author’s note in the back of the book will make the reader want to know more about all of the authors that are featured in this book, as well as more about Jason Reynolds himself. Must own for every elementary, and even a middle school collection (even though the book is clearly for younger readers).

Picture Book

YA – Gone Wolf

McBride, Amber. Gone Wolf. Fiewel and Friends, 2023. 978-1-250-85049-2. 348 p. $17.99. Grades 6-10.

Inmate Eleven has never seen the sun. She is a Blue living in post-pandemic 2111. She is held alongside her wolf-dog, Ira, in a small room within the tall walls of Elite, the capital of Bible Boot—a future, isolationist portion of the United States post-Second Civil War. Inmate Eleven is given tests and bloodwork with frequency. She has been told through a series of Bible Boot-issued flashcards that Blues are racially inferior, hate is illegal, and Clones are irrefutably kind. Larkin, a white Clone, begins to meet with Inmate Eleven, and Inmate Eleven feels empowered to choose a new name for herself: Imogen. Unfortunately, Larkin’s father also happens to be the powerful, racist leader of Elite. Soon, Larkin and Imogen realize they must escape the walls of Elite where slavery has been fully re-instituted, and both Black and Blue people are enduring torturous treatment. But…who is Imogen, really, and what year is it…truly? Imogen is living two disjointed realities, and she’s fighting to go wolf in both.

THOUGHTS: Many aspects of this book are heartbreaking. The way McBride weaves this story together is poignant and unique. Without giving too many spoilers, this is a book that brings to light concepts of generational and racial trauma in the United States. The book’s underlying commentary regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, racial violence, and political polarization will also be highly relatable to middle school students. Big twists and turns, compounded by sad events, caused myself as reader to question where the story was going at first, but not in a negative way. Then, pieces clicked masterfully into place. Because the story is told from a first person limited perspective, McBride uses ends of each chapter to offer clarifying bits of information that will help all readers access the underlying themes and nuance of the story. The powerful messaging of Black resilience and a new lens of trauma will stick with readers for a long time. As an adult reader, I found myself thinking of Octavia Butler and Toni Morrison’s stories. An essential addition to middle school and even high school fiction collections.

Science Fiction

Elem. – Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll. 

Barlow, Charnelle Pinkney. Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll. Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2023. 978-0-593-57106-4. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades PreK-2.

Born in Arkansas in 1915, Rosetta Tharpe grew up surrounded by music. Her mother, a preacher, sang and played the mandolin and piano at home and at church. Her small rural town held weekly concerts where the young African-American girl enjoyed “clappin’ and twirlin’, dancin’ and singin’ “ to the rhythm of the music. When she was four, her mother gave her an acoustic guitar. Little Rosetta began to practice day and night by mimicking the sounds she heard around  her, such as  the “whirrrr” of a sewing machine, the clank of pots and pans and the “rummmmm” of a vacuum. She carried the guitar everywhere, and soon the efforts of all her hard work began to show. Rosetta was making music and people in town began tapping, humming, and snapping to the rhythm that her fast fingering made on the guitar. Within two years, she was a skilled acoustic guitarist. Sister Tharpe, as she later was known, began traveling around the world playing her unique style of music – a little bit Gospel, a little bit Jazz, and a little bit of Blues. She made the guitar “talk” by her incomparable style of fingerpicking. Her hit called “Rock Me” influenced other musicians like Elvis Presley and Rosetta became known as the “Godmother of Rock and Roll.” The author’s note gives more details of the guitarist’s life and includes a photo. Barlow has created striking colorful images using painted paper collage and adding pieces of cotton string for the guitar.

THOUGHTS: This gem of a book shines the light on a musical artist who has not always received the recognition she deserves. Her perseverance and passion for music may inspire budding young musicians, who would enjoy watching a portion of her “Didn’t It Rain” live performance from 1964. Pair this picture book with Troy Andrews’s Trombone Shorty for a truly musical storytime. Highly recommended.

Picture Book Biography
787.87166 Guitars, 921

Elem. – Ketanji Brown Jackson: A Justice for All

Charles, Tami. Ketanji Brown Jackson: A Justice for All. Illustrated by Jemma Skidmore. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2023. 978-1-6659-3526-5. $18.99. Grades K-3. Unpaged.

In 2022, Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. In this picture book biography, the author has outlined Jackson’s life from childhood to law school to her appointment to the Supreme Court. She faced obstacles along the way, including a guidance counselor who discouraged her from applying to Ivy League schools. However, she persevered as her ancestors did before her, and she eventually succeeded. There are several direct quotes incorporated throughout the story, and important figures who paved the way for Ketanji are acknowledged. End matter includes an author’s note, important dates, brief biographies of other important figures mentioned in the story, brief descriptions of relevant court cases, and a bibliography. Colorful, eloquent illustrations done in gouache and wax pencil perfectly complement this inspirational biography.

THOUGHTS: The historic significance of Ketanji’s appointment alone gives this title merit as a consideration for purchase. The book is also perfect for elementary libraries looking to diversify their biography section.

347.73 Law, Procedure and Courts
Biography

Elem. – The Whole World Opened Up

Richmond, Laylah, and Sharon Richmond. The Whole World Opened Up. Two Pigeons Press, 2023. 978-0-991-81619-4. $14.99. 64 p. Grades 3-6.

Aspiring author, third-grader, Laylah Richmond, loves to read, write, and draw. At dinner after church, her grandmother tells her about a reading contest sponsored by The Black Star Project in downtown Chicago: Black Girls Read for Cash and Glory. Though Laylah is hesitant–she sometimes gets confused with the different pronunciation of words–she consents to enter if her grandmother accompanies her. Further encouragement comes when her best friend, Ria, says she will enter, too. Unfortunately as the competition draws closer, her grandmother has to attend a funeral on the morning of the contest. Though nervous and disappointed, Laylah and Ria attend the competition located in the historic Chicago neighborhood called Bronzeville. Founder, Philip Jackson, hosts the event and offers the prizes; he recites his motto, “Educate or Die.” Laylah and Ria select writings of African-American women heroines and mount the stage to recite the words of Harriet Tubman and Josephine Baker. Inspired and proud, Laylah returns home after her day and soon learns she is the recipient of a second-place prize. She and her family are invited to the African-American owned radio studio where Laylah and the other winners will be interviewed. Not only does Laylah grow in confidence through this experience, she also learns about the accomplishments of famous African-American people, nationally and locally. The title, The Whole World Opened Up, harkens to a Mary McLeod Bethune quote: “The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.” This beginning chapter book, illustrated with folk-like style art by the authors, acknowledges the importance of reading and language and pays tribute to Philip Jackson (1950-2018), the founder and director of The Black Star Project and The Parent Revolution Radio Program. The cozy narrative of this book will draw in young readers. Like the Ryan Hart series by Renee Watson, the Richmonds’ book offers a story with African American characters in a modern, family setting with the added bonus of finding out about the history of people and places about which they may not yet know.

THOUGHTS: The Whole World Opened Up is a simply written book that manages to interject seamlessly lots of helpful information: difficult English words, famous Chicago places, African-American owned businesses, and African-American people. Laylah and Ria take on the challenge, even though they are nervous. Laylah wins, but Ria doesn’t –and it’s fine. It is obvious that the grandmother/grandchild writing team want to honor Philip Jackson, a local businessman and public servant who dedicated his life to activism, particularly in education. A photograph at the end of the book verifies that Laylah was an actual winner of the contest, but the story is not set up like a memoir. Share this book with young readers and writers as an example of plot or even read it aloud to generate interest in African-American businesses and heroes and heroines in their own towns. (Note: I read an e-book ARC from NetGalley and Lorraine Hansberry’s name was misspelled.)

Realistic Fiction 

Elem./MG – Rooting for Plants: the Unstoppable Charles Stewart Parker, Black Botanist and Collector

Harrington, Janice N. Rooting for Plants: The Unstoppable Charles Stewart Parker, Black Botanist and Collector. Illustrated by Theodore Taylor III. Astra Books for Young Readers, 2023. 978-1-662-68019-9. $18.99. Unpaged. Grades 2-6.

From “brainy boy” in Spokane, Washington, to world-renown mycologist* at Howard University, Charles Stewart Parker led a full and successful life as a botanist, professor, and researcher. Born in 1882, Parker founded an African-American newspaper, then enlisted to serve as a lieutenant in the 366 Infantry of Black soldiers during World War I. As a leader, he protested the discrimination his men faced in the military. After his return from service, he could not afford to buy a farm so he became a consulting horticulturist, teaching others how to farm, plant, and garden, while achieving a botany degree from the State College of Washington. His interest in exploring and cataloging plants brought him from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast. From his base at Howard University, he traveled to the American South collecting samples. His time at Penn State with mushroom authority, Lee Oras Overholts, though, revealed his expertise: fungi. He was the first botanist to write a clear, organized description of hypholoma. Through Parker’s eyes, young readers not only learn the parts of a mushroom, but also have the fungi elevated to something special. Theodore Taylor III’s clear, colorful illustrations engage the viewer of this picture book in varied frames: close-ups of plants, full-page spreads, or idyllic nature scenes. Esteemed in his field, Parker may be little known to the general public. In only 32 pages complemented by pictures, author Janice N. Harrington creates a well-rounded, informative biography of a scholar who can inspire many budding scientists. Includes glossary, timeline, spotlight of other African-American botanists and mycologists, and extensive bibliography.

*someone who works with fungi, like mushrooms 

THOUGHTS: A quick search on the internet still yields little on Charles Stewart Parker (Charles S. Parker), so this biography and the loads of information crammed into it (without being overwhelming) is welcome. Students interested in STEM, girls and African American students interested in science, anyone looking for scientists with different areas of expertise will use this book. The back matter is valuable as well and allows for the wider grade range. Parker’s life teaches more than mushrooms. He showed scholarship, determination, persistence, and passion, and he never gave up being a student. The importance of his studies at Penn State is a high point.

Biography