Tag Archives: Family Life

Elem. – Do You Know Them? Families Lost and Found After the Civil War

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Keller, Shana. Do You Know Them? Families Lost and Found After the Civil War. Illustrated by Laura Freeman. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024. 978-1-665-91307-2. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades 2-4.

After the Civil War, many formerly enslaved people began searching for their lost family members, who were often sold or went missing before the abolishment of slavery. Lettie is a young African American girl who is hoping to reunite with her family. She lives in Richmond with her Uncle Charlie, who also is searching for his wife and children. Lettie works hard and saves her pennies, hoping to place an advertisement in the Richmond newspaper asking for information about her family. The young girl practices reading the newspaper with her uncle, focusing on the “Seeking the Lost” ads. Eventually, she becomes such a strong reader that the minister asks her to read the ads to the congregation, whose members do not all know how to read. One day, a woman and Uncle Charlie recognize one of the names. Another day, the congregation rejoices when Lettie reads an advertisement reporting that a father had been found. After many years, the young girl earns enough pennies to place a personal ad about her own family and is rewarded with a positive response. This engaging picture book brings to light the topic of using advertising to help find missing African American family members after the war. The author became intrigued when she learned how newspapers were read aloud to the illiterate in churches in order to share information in the hope of reuniting families. Keller includes the wording of some of the original advertisements throughout the text. The digitally rendered illustrations by Freeman are done on a large scale and show the range of emotions experienced by the characters. Images of Indian head pennies are sprinkled throughout the text and symbolize the longing and hopes of the African American community after the Civil War.

THOUGHTS: This poignant story is a great read aloud and is perfect for Civil War and slavery units. It  provides a unique perspective on African American life during the Reconstruction. Highly recommended for elementary library collections.

Historical Fiction
Picture Book

Elem. – Life is Beautiful

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Bingham, Winsome. Life is Beautiful. Illustrated by Molly Mendoza. Beach Lane Books, 2024. 978-1-534-46995-2 $18.99 Unpaged. Grades K-2.

Granny Dee lives in the heart of Harlem and takes three trains and one bus to visit her granddaughter Missy each weekend. Exuberant Granny Dee frequently reminds Missy that “Life is beautiful,” and these two make the most of their time together. Together the two enjoy nail-painting, bubble baths, silly-straw-sipping, getting out to new and familiar places, and “eating our way through the city.” Then one week Granny doesn’t arrive. Momma explains that Granny Dee is “getting too old for the trains and buses.” So Missy and her mother take those trains and buses to visit Granny Dee, in bed with a nurse by her side. Granny Dee is readying herself and her family for her departure: “Earth is a rented space; heaven is home.” When Granny Dee is gone, Missy and her Momma determine to grieve and celebrate Granny Dee’s life by living out her maxim “Life is beautiful” as they continue the weekend traditions that Missy and Granny Dee shared.

THOUGHTS: The soft watercolor illustrations joyfully express the strong connection between Missy, her grandmother, and her mother. A comforting message of love overcoming loss, this is a top choice for libraries serving young children. 

Picture Book

YA – After Life

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Forman, Gayle. After Life. Quill Tree Books, 2025. 978-0-063-34614-7. 272 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12.

Just like every other day Amber arrives home from school on her bike, only to put her mom into a screaming state of shock. Unable to process what is going on, Amber’s little sister Missy (now seven years older and referred to as Melissa) calmly explains that Amber died seven years ago after being hit by a car while riding her bike. Is Amber’s return someone’s idea of a sick joke, a twisted ___, or a miracle. Her once happily married parents now are divorced, and the love of Amber’s life is a shadow of his former self. It seems that Amber’s life (and death) had a major impact on those she knew and loved and others who only quickly met her. As Amber and her family try to figure out next steps, the question that begs to be answered is why Amber?

THOUGHTS: This was such a unique title, artfully written by Gayle Forman who has the ability to address tragic situations with compassion and ease. Its concise page count will attract reluctant readers who will race to figure out why (and maybe how) Amber’s family has been given another chance. Highly recommended for high school collections.

Realistic Fiction
Fantasy (Magical Realism)

Elem. – The Table

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Bingham, Winsome, and Wiley Blevins. The Table. Illustrated by Jason Griffin.
Neal Porter Books, 2024. 978-0-823-45642-0. $19.99. 56 p. Grades K-5.

What story would your kitchen table tell? Many family tables would tell of meals, homework, crafts, holiday celebrations, times of great joy and sorrow. Perhaps your own table would tell a remarkably similar story? The Table begins in a coal miner’s home with biscuits on the table, a child reluctant to eat peas, a grandmother learning to read, and a mother carefully stacking canned peaches and home-grown cucumbers for the needy while sorting through a pile of her own unpaid bills. When the family loses their home they leave the table on the side of the road, where it is found by a new family in need of a table. After carefully cleaning and restoring the sturdy table the new family begins making their own memories around the “new old” table. Crosswords and homework, bills, biscuits and unfinished vegetables once again become a part of the table’s story.

THOUGHTS: Jason Griffin’s beautiful mixed-media on paper illustrations brilliantly highlight the family table as the central character of this story. The Table reminds us that we all have more in common than not, and our families are truly more similar than different. 

Picture Book 

YA – The Glass Girl

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Glasgow, Kathleen. The Glass Girl. Delacorte Press, 2024. 978-0-525-70808-7. 464 p. $21.99. Grades 9-12.

Meet fifteen-year old Bella. With her parents’ fairly recent divorce, her beloved grandmother’s sudden death, and an ex-boyfriend who told her she’s “too much” as he broke up with her, nothing seems to be going right in her life. To compensate, Bella tries her best to keep it all together. She helps out with her very needing, annoying 7 year old sister; she acts like more of an adult when they stay at their dad’s apartment; she checks on her grandmother’s house for her mom; and she gets good grades – usually. Increasingly, Bella uses alcohol to escape the reality of her situation and ease the pain of seeing her ex with his new girlfriend. Everyone drinks, so she doesn’t see the big deal. Most of her friends are down for shoulder tapping to get a bottle of vodka and going to parties together, but Amber, who doesn’t drink, becomes increasingly worried about Bella. Then Bella starts losing fragments of time while drinking and eventually drinks so much that she wakes up in the hospital. Her only option now is rehab. But Bella isn’t an alcoholic, and she can stop anytime she wants. Her rehab roommates even call her Baby Bella because she just drinks. Will Bella be able to admit to her problems and start down the road to recovery, is she stuck in a downward spiral?

THOUGHTS: Addressing serious topics, like underage drinking, drug use, and self-harm, Glasgow creates characters readers will root for. Highly recommended for secondary collections where honest, character driven novels are popular.

Realistic Fiction

Elem. – Eight Sweet Nights, a Festival of Lights: A Hanukkah Story

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Offsay, Charlotte. Eight Sweet Nights, a Festival of Lights: A Hanukkah Story. Illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt. Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2024. 978-0-59380872-6. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades K-5.

In simple sentences, readers will see a family prepare to celebrate Hanukkah. Like many family traditions, recipes and stories are shared, while families celebrate and create traditions of their own. Hebrew words like Hanukkah sameach (Happy Hanukkah) Bubbe (grandmother) and Yiddish words like Bubbe (grandmother) are defined in call out boxes on each double page spread. Even if children don’t understand all of the words, Halberstadt’s detailed and expressive illustrations portray a diverse multi-generational family. Children who celebrate Hanukkah will be delighted by this joyful representation of their holiday, and those who do not celebrate will be well-informed about some of Hanukkah’s traditions.

THOUGHTS: Educators can use Eight Sweet Nights, a Festival of Lights: A Hanukkah Story as a great comparison tool about the similarities and differences between holidays. Librarians won’t want to cover up the end pages at the back which provide further information about Hanukkah. Highly recommended, especially for elementary collections seeking to add representation to their holiday selections.

Picture Book

Elem. – The Spice Box

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Sriram, Meera. The Spice Box. Illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat. Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. 978-0-593-42713-2. $19.99. Unpaged. Grades K-2.

Rishi’s grandmother is coming from India to visit, and he wants to help his Dad make her a tasty potato curry. Because his Dad is busy preparing for his grandmother’s arrival, Rishi decides to get started on the curry by himself. He gets the family spice box down from the shelf and reminisces about its history and meaning. It helped his grandmother become a great chef and was then handed down to his Dad when he left for a new country. After much practice, his Dad, too, learned to make delicious food with spices from the box. As Rishi raises the box into the air, he loses his grip and disaster strikes. The box falls to the ground, breaking apart and spilling spices everywhere. Rishi is devastated and must now figure out a way to carry on the family legacy, adding another chapter to the story of the family spice box. Lively, colorful illustrations accompany this touching story about family, tradition, and inheritance.

THOUGHTS: This is a wonderful selection for elementary librarians looking to diversify their collections. Back matter describes some traditional Indian spices and includes an easy-to-follow recipe for potato curry. This title could prompt some excellent discussions about food and family traditions in different cultures around the world.

Picture Book       

YA – What’s Eating Jackie Oh

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Park, Patricia. What’s Eating Jackie Oh. Crown, 2024. 978-0-593-56341-0. $19.99. 327 p. Grades 9-12.

(Jackie Oh is) not your model minority. From the first words on page one, readers will get to know Jackie’s desire to be anything other than what her workaholic, Ivy League parents want her to be. She just hasn’t had the heart to tell them that she has zero desire to “Study hard, get into an Ivy, land a corporate job, make babies. Repeat.” Instead, Jackie is “flunking” Global History and secretly sabotaging their dreams for her. And the pressure is on, especially since her brother ended up in prison (but we don’t talk about him). Jackie lives for spending time with Halmoni (her grandmother) and Haraboji (her grandfather) at Melty’s, their Midtown deli. The daily hard work of a line cook is nothing compared to the academics she couldn’t care less about. At Melty’s Jackie feels like herself; has the freedom to experiment with cooking; and, though a deli has pressures of its own, can enjoy life away from the pressure of her mom and dad (Umma and Appa). Jackie bonds with her grandparents and loves the time they spend cooking together and watching their favorite reality cooking show “Burn Off.” When Jackie has the opportunity to apply for a season of “Burn Off” for teen chefs, she has to figure out if she can win over her parents. At a diverging path in her life, Jackie must decide how she can achieve her American dream, despite the very stringent Oh Family Core Values.

THOUGHTS: Foodie fiction fans will rejoice with this Korean American family drama that gives reality television show vibes like those on Chopped or MasterChef Junior with a little bit of Hell’s Kitchen. I adored this audiobook and was rooting (and cringing) for Jackie Oh throughout. Get your food tasting (pun intended) display ready, and hand this one to fans of other family foodie fiction like With or Without You by Eric Smith, Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee, or Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love by Jared Reck.

Realistic Fiction

Elem. – Pizza for Pia

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Groban, Betsy. Pizza for Pia. Illustrated by Alison Steinfeld. Simon Spotlight, 2024. 978-1-665-94701-5. Unpaged. $17.99. Grades K-1.

This Level 1 Ready to Read title features Pia and her family (all with names that start with the letter P) getting ready for dinner. They all think that Pia loves pizza. As they discuss their favorite toppings, Pia tells everyone that tacos, not pizza, is her favorite food. Her family pivots and adds tacos to the menu!

THOUGHTS: This cute little story is perfect for beginning readers.

Leveled Reader
Realistic Fiction

MG – Are You Nobody Too?

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Cane, Tina. Are You Nobody Too? Make Me a World, 2024. 978-0-593-56701-2. $17.99. 320 p. Grades 5-8.

After being stuck at home learning through her computer due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Emily is forced to leave the comfort of what she knows and go to public school in Chinatown. For possibly the first time, Emily is not the only Chinese student at the school. But, that doesn’t mean she feels like she fits in. On top of that, Emily finds out that her adoptive parents have been keeping something from her. Emily works on coming to terms with the complexities of being a Chinese girl adopted by a white family.

THOUGHTS: This novel was very enjoyable. It handles tough topics like adoption, the isolation of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and finding your place in an approachable manner. There are parts of the novel that are a tad slow, especially in the beginning. This novel encourages readers to think introspectively and reflect. The novel did a great job of showing the complexities of identity and talking about microaggressions such as calling Emily a “banana” in the book. Overall, this is a solid middle-level read that I look forward to adding to the library.

Realistic Fiction
Novel-In-Verse