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FIRST GENERATION

36 TRAILBLAZING IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES WHO MAKE AMERICA GREAT

A deeply patriotic look at how immigrants’ application of the American ideals of hard work and perseverance can have lasting...

The Wallaces and Nowicka take a look at the first members of families who immigrated to the United States and the impacts they have had on our lives and country through minibiographies and bright, illustrated portraits.

We all come from somewhere, and unless you are Native American, your people came here as immigrants or refugees. That is what makes America so beautiful. This book takes figures from all races, nationalities, and religions and looks at them as human beings and at the amazing things they have accomplished, from politics to art to science and everything in between. From the music of Yo-Yo Ma to the statecraft of Madeleine Albright or the runway walk of Halima Aden, immigrants have shaped this country. They gave us Google, the Sierra Club, and salsa music. Young readers will be constantly surprised by the impacts these new Americans have had without their ever having realized it. Bright portraits accompany each minibiography along with a box that includes highlights of each person’s life. The breezy format will give readers a taste of nonfiction and will ignite their curiosity to delve deeper into the lives of the people within the pages. Selected books and websites for further exploration as well as a bibliography will help them get started.

A deeply patriotic look at how immigrants’ application of the American ideals of hard work and perseverance can have lasting effects. (authors’ note, illustrator’s note) (Collective biography. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-316-51524-5

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018

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GUTS

With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many.

Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick.

Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina’s mother enrolls her in therapy. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Raina is white, and her classmates are diverse; one best friend is Korean American.

With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-545-85251-7

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019

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PRICELESS FACTS ABOUT MONEY

From the Mellody on Money series

A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information.

Two youngsters embark on a journey peppered with history, trivia, and skits while teaching money lessons.

Meet Mellody and John, the young stars of this currency showcase. Their very first dialogue offers a taste of the intriguing information to come, from the ancient Mayans’ use of cacao beans as payment to the origins of the piggy bank. The book offers a chronologically and geographically broad timeline of the history of money, encompassing the past 3.9 billion years (starting with meteorite crashes that scattered metals—“the very first bank deposit”) and referencing practices across five continents. Readers will find themselves eagerly sharing the facts gleaned here, including the centuries-old origins of terms and expressions still used today. Mellody and John’s fun banter crucially reflects their experiences with money, such as their families’ differing attitudes toward allowances. Both are savers as well as givers, sharing stories about giving to charity. In one especially entertaining section, a cat and a bunny converse in money-related catchphrases that are separately defined at the bottom of each page. Stevens’ watercolors are appropriately realistic and appealing, whether depicting Mellody’s pretend bank or Elizabeth II’s butler ironing a 10-pound note. Messages about money’s use as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, ensure that readers will think about their own purposes for their savings. Mellody and John are Black.

A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024

ISBN: 9781536224719

Page Count: 80

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024

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