Alice Cary

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Young readers are lucky to have a new book posthumously published by Bernard Waber, the talented creator of more than 30 titles, including the beloved Lyle the Crocodile series.

Ask Me is a tender story that’s full of Waber’s trademark naturalness. As a father and daughter set out for an autumn walk in the park, their conversation forms the entire text of this book, with the daughter’s words in black and her father’s responses in blue. Their world becomes our world, with no distractions from extraneous descriptions or quotation marks. For example,

Ask me if I like ice cream cones.
Do you like ice cream cones?
No. I love, love, love ice cream cones.

Dad lets his daughter lead their back-and-forth exchanges in a truly delightful way. These two understand each other completely on their day of gentle adventures: watching geese and butterflies; remembering a ride on a merry-go-round; frolicking in the leaves; brushing their teeth together later at home; and finally saying good night.

Award-winning artist Suzy Lee strikes just the right note with her colored-pencil illustrations, creating minimalist, scribbled drawings that shine with exquisite expression, color and movement. Despite the simplicity of Ask Me’s plot, Lee’s art brings this young heroine to life, whether she’s jumping down her front steps, kicking bright red leaves high in the sky or fleeing as her father pretends to be a bear.

It’s hard to imagine a sweeter father-daughter outing than this.

Young readers are lucky to have a new book posthumously published by Bernard Waber, the talented creator of more than 30 titles, including the beloved Lyle the Crocodile series.

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When author Jen White was 12, she and her sister and cousin were mistakenly left behind at a gas station for six hours during a family camping trip―no one had seen the girls get out of the camper. Years later, White’s first novel, Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave, begins with 12-year-old Liberty being abandoned by her father at a gas station along with her 8-year-old sister, Billie.

The sisters’ lives have been in turmoil since their mother’s recent death, and they’ve only recently been reunited with their estranged father, an uncommunicative, globetrotting wildlife photographer. Liberty is a quick-thinking, likable narrator whose first mission is to get away from the “creepy” attendant at this remote desert location. Running from one fearful situation to the next, they meet a succession of intriguing characters, including a lonely Star Wars fanatic being bullied by his older brother and a truck driver whom Liberty dubs “Tattoo Guy.” Liberty tries to navigate each dangerous situation by writing in her notebook, trying to adopt the defense tactics of various wildlife, both predators and prey. “Dad was like a shark,” she concludes, “interesting to look at from far away, but don’t get too close or you’ll be sorry.”

Survival Strategies is a page-turning adventure story about two sisters who are understandably wary to trust adults as they desperately seek safety. Although this plot occasionally has far-fetched moments, White writes in a fresh, believable voice while touching on heavy subjects such as mental illness and serious misfortune without being morose. There are many moments of humor and grace as Liberty learns vital lessons about self-reliance and trust in this compelling, sensitive tale.

When author Jen White was 12, she and her sister and cousin were mistakenly left behind at a gas station for six hours during a family camping trip―no one had seen the girls get out of the camper. Years later, White’s first novel, Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave, begins with 12-year-old Liberty being abandoned by her father at a gas station along with her 8-year-old sister, Billie.

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I have long been a fan of the superb artwork of Wendell Minor, and Daylight Starlight Wildlife is yet another winner in his long list of children's publishing accomplishments. It's a simple book, suitable for young preschoolers, yet full of understated depth in both prose and illustrations.

Minor explains and contrasts the variety of wildlife that surrounds us night and day, painting spectacularly luminous images such as a red-tailed hawk soaring over the treetops and a barn owl swooping through a full-moon night. These images are realistic, yet appealing―without ever being anthropomorphic or overly cute―containing scenes of mothers and their young and solitary animals making their way through the wilderness. A raccoon leads her cubs through swaying stalks of grass. An opossum forages as her family clings to her back, the bristling hairs of their fur begging to be touched.

Unlike some creators of this genre, Minor never talks down to his audience. Each page contains one stately sentence, for instance: “As the sun rises, stealthy bobcat and her kitten scope out the summer landscape.” As an informative nature guide, he also adds a short section of fun facts at the end.

At both its beginning and conclusion, Daylight Starlight Wildlife asks readers to consider the wild visitors that may lurk outside. “Look and listen,” the artist urges. Whether they’re searching for wild turkeys, swallowtail butterflies, luna moths, skunks or flying squirrels, young readers will be ready to do just that.

 

I have long been a fan of the superb artwork of Wendell Minor, and Daylight Starlight Wildlife is yet another winner in his long list of children's publishing accomplishments. It's a simple book, suitable for young preschoolers, yet full of understated depth in both prose and illustrations.

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BookPage Nonfiction Top Pick, June 2015

Kristen Green was born to write this book.

Growing up in the 1970s in Farmville, Virginia, she attended an all-white academy founded in 1959 by her beloved grandparents and others when white town leaders closed the public schools rather than comply with federal desegregation orders. Farmville’s schools remained shut for five years, depriving 1,700 black children (and some white children) of an education.

“During my childhood,” Green writes, “my family rarely discussed what had happened, and only in broad strokes.” 

After leaving Farmville, she became a reporter and married a man of Native-American descent, with whom she has two daughters (one named Selma). When her young family finally settled in Richmond, Virginia, Green began researching Farmville’s troubled past. 

The result of her investigation, Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County, deftly interweaves the personal and the historical into a compelling narrative that leaves no stone unturned. Green writes as only an insider can, with the added benefit of being a skilled journalist and the mother of multiracial children. 

Her account is not only fascinating but cinematic, with scenes such as the day in 1951 when 16-year-old Barbara Rose Johns organized her classmates to strike in protest of dismal conditions in Farmville’s black high school. Their dissent resulted in a lawsuit that later went to the U.S. Supreme Court as part of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.

Green also writes about her family’s adored housekeeper, Elsie, who sent her only child to be educated in Massachusetts after the Farmville schools closed. Although Elsie’s daughter refused to be interviewed, Green concludes with her own apology to Elsie for wounds of the past.

This is an award-worthy book and an eye-opening companion to other accounts of past injustices like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It’s hard to imagine how events like these transpired not so long ago. Nonetheless, tremendous racial problems continue to plague us, and Green’s powerful book can help to promote much-needed dialogue, remembrance and understanding.

 

This article was originally published in the June 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County, deftly interweaves the personal and the historical into a compelling narrative that leaves no stone unturned.
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Lane Smith is a hilarious, irreverent and award-winning children's illustrator and author, with titles under his belt like The Stinky Cheese Man and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. His first middle grade novel, Return to Augie Hobble, starts out just as one might expect.

Narrator Augie Hobble is a wisecracking, pun-loving kid with some seemingly overwhelming problems. After failing Creative Arts, he’s struggling to complete his portfolio in summer school. Meanwhile, a school bully named Hogg Wills is gunning for him, and there’s plenty going on as Augie helps out at his dad’s rinky-dink amusement park, Fairy Tale Place. Augie’s one salvation is his best friend, Britt Fairweather. Smith puts his humor and illustrating skills to imaginative use throughout by including supposed Polaroid shots taken by Augie as well as notebook pages from Augie’s many failed attempts to complete his art project, elements that kids will relish.

Not surprisingly, the plot makes great use of the amusement park setting, taking many rollicking twists and turns, including Augie’s fear that he may be turning into a werewolf. Just when things seem to be turning utterly silly, they become unexpectedly, completely serious—as in dead serious, with communications from beyond the grave. At first this sudden switch is unsettling, but at this point the book really hits its stride. Augie stops depending on jokes and starts sharing what’s truly in his heart as he begins to dig himself out of a very deep hole.

On his website, Smith writes that he likes “funny, odd books that excite and challenge a child,” and he has certainly created a whirlwind of a tale told by an exuberant, exhilarating narrator. At times there seems to be too many elements swirling around in this story—Smith threw everything into the pot, and perhaps his soup needed a bit more stirring to make all the creative juices and enthusiasm blend together—but kids will undoubtedly enjoy this zany tale.

Lane Smith is a hilarious, irreverent and award-winning children's illustrator and author, with titles under his belt like The Stinky Cheese Man and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. His first middle grade novel, Return to Augie Hobble, starts out just as one might expect.

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Years ago, as a small-town newspaper editor, I spent a night riding along with an officer on patrol. The shift began with a potential car dealership break-in and ended with an encounter with a drunk stumbling along the side of a lonely road. That night―as memorable as it was―pales in comparison to the drama that Steve Osborne shares with readers in The Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop.

Now retired, Osborne spent 20 years as a NYPD street cop, and afterward began recounting his experiences on “The Moth” radio show to much acclaim. This collection of 14 essays is a nonstop ride-along with a guy who always wanted to be a police officer, and who was told upon entering the police academy, "Kid, you just bought yourself a front row seat to the greatest show on earth."

Indeed, that seems to be the case. Not only was Osborne an excellent policeman (he retired as a lieutenant and the commanding officer of the Manhattan Gang Squad), he's a fabulous storyteller, crafting his memories into well-honed tales filled with drama, humor and heart.

In “Think Fast,” he remembers being a rookie in his squad car in Washington Square Park and witnessing a man whip out a knife, ready to stab another man. With no time to shout a warning or fire a shot, in a split-second reaction, Osborne "hit on the gas pedal and nailed him with the car." With this seemingly bizarre act, not only did he save the victim's life, he prevented a crime that would have sent the aggressor to prison.

Bystanders, however, having no idea what had transpired, suddenly turned into an angry mob and began throwing bottles at Osborne's brand new squad car. In these days of widespread public scrutiny of police actions making regular headlines, it's useful to hear from an officer like Osborne, who reminds us that things aren't always what they first appear to be.

Osborne shares a variety of compelling tales of fumbles, fun, triumphs and tragedies. “Big Day” recalls the excitement he felt as he was about to close a major narcotics investigation, and the incredulity he felt as everyone's priorities abruptly changed that horrible day of September 11, 2001.

“End of Tour” describes Osborne's last night on the streets before retirement, which he hoped would be peaceful. Instead, two brothers refused to stop fighting and one punched him, sending him to the ER. "God never wanted me to be an astronaut, or a doctor, or a lawyer," Osborne writes. "He put me on this earth to be a cop. And from the first day to the last, I did my job."

Luckily for his readers, Osborne survived to tell his many wonderful tales.

Years ago, as a small-town newspaper editor, I spent a night riding along with an officer on patrol. The shift began with a potential car dealership break-in and ended with an encounter with a drunk stumbling along the side of a lonely road. That night―as memorable as it was―pales in comparison to the drama that Steve Osborne shares with readers in The Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop.
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With 3.5 million nurses in the United States, they are the country’s largest group of healthcare providers. So it’s not surprising that after investigating sororities, geeks, overachievers and more, award-winning journalist Alexandra Robbins has turned her attention to The Nurses.

After interviewing hundreds, Robbins narrowed her focus to the personal narratives of four nurses. Although the author relies on pseudonyms and doesn’t identify the names of their hospitals or their locations, their stories are compelling in every way.

While undergoing fertility treatments, “Molly” quits her job at a hospital that treats nurses horribly and signs on with a nursing agency to seek out better working environments. A real-life Nurse Jackie, “Lara” is a highly skilled nurse who accidentally became addicted to narcotics while on the job. “Juliette” is an ER nurse who feels ostracized by a group of clique-y nurses. “Sam” is beginning her career and learning to navigate the ropes, with her first-day mantra being “Just don’t kill anyone.”

Interspersed with these narratives are discussions of nurse bullying, sex, on-the-job injuries, burnout, drug issues, heroism and more. There are horrific anecdotes (a nurse is ordered to keep working after being attacked by a patient, and ends up with a fractured neck), as well as heartwarming moments (Molly wheels a dying man and his wife of 68 years to watch their last sunrise together).

Robbins concludes by offering remedies for the many problems nurses encounter, with suggestions for what patients, families, nurses and aspiring nurses can do to make things better.

RELATED CONTENT: Read an interview with author Alexandra Robbins.

 

This article was originally published in the May 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

With 3.5 million nurses in the United States, they are the country’s largest group of healthcare providers. So it’s not surprising that after investigating sororities, geeks, overachievers and more, award-winning journalist Alexandra Robbins has turned her attention to The Nurses.
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Troy Andrews is a 29-year-old bandleader and jazz musician who has performed at the White House, the Grammys and with the likes of U2, Eric Clapton and Prince. He developed his own style of “SupaFunkRock” and, in a wonderful collaboration with award-winning illustrator Bryan Collier, shares his story in Trombone Shorty.

Addressing young readers in a warm, embracing style, Andrews integrates the sights and sounds of Tremé, his New Orleans neighborhood: “Anytime of the day or night, you could hear music floating in the air.”

Young Andrews begins by pretending to play instruments with his friends, and when the 4-year-old finds a broken trombone, his brother begins to call him Trombone Shorty. From that point on, “I took that trombone everywhere I went and never stopped playing. I was so small that sometimes I fell right over to the ground because it was so heavy.” In an exciting moment, Andrews’ young career takes off when he attends a Bo Diddley concert, and the famous musician calls him onstage to perform.

Collier’s magical pen-and-ink, watercolor and collage illustrations add perfect harmony to this memoir. In an informative illustrator’s note, he explains that he depicts “the sound of the music as beautiful colors and shapes that swirl out of Troy’s trombone.” Likewise, Andrews includes an author’s note that fleshes out his story and includes photographs of the budding musician.

Rarely do a picture book biography’s text, illustrations and endnotes unite so well to tell such an appealing, engrossing story. This book will no doubt speak to the soul of many young musicians waiting for their own turn to be called onstage.

Troy Andrews is a 29-year-old bandleader and jazz musician who has performed at the White House, the Grammys and with the likes of U2, Eric Clapton and Prince. He developed his own style of “SupaFunkRock” and, in a wonderful collaboration with award-winning illustrator Bryan Collier, shares his story in Trombone Shorty.

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It’s 1948, and 11-year-old Tate P. Ellerbee’s teacher wants each of her students to choose a pen pal, hoping that “new worlds will unfold in front of you, and you’ll see your own world through fresh eyes.” Tate decides to write to rising country singer Hank Williams. She pours her heart out to her idol in letter after letter, even though he sends her fan photos but never writes back.

At first, Tate’s life in the tiny town of Rippling Creek, Louisiana, seems fairly ordinary. She spends her days with her Aunt Patty Cake, Uncle Jolly and her annoying younger brother nicknamed Frog. But readers gradually learn Tate’s deepest secrets, such as the fact that her father really isn’t a globe-trotting photographer and her mother isn’t a movie star.

Fans of Kimberly Willis Holt’s award-winning When Zachary Beaver Came to Town will welcome another sensitive portrayal of a child trying to find her place as she longs for absent parents. The rich Louisiana culture shines through, as do the daily effects of World War II and a community filled with cultural fears of African Americans, the Japanese and Communists. (The historical aspects are nicely addressed in an afterword.)

As we learn our letter-writing heroine’s greatest secret of all, this seemingly gentle novel about a “simpler” time and place is packed with plenty of punch, all deftly handled by a writer who writes like Hank Williams sang—with heart and understanding.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

It’s 1948, and 11-year-old Tate P. Ellerbee’s teacher wants each of her students to choose a pen pal, hoping that “new worlds will unfold in front of you, and you’ll see your own world through fresh eyes.” Tate decides to write to rising country singer Hank Williams. She pours her heart out to her idol in letter after letter, even though he sends her fan photos but never writes back.
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Stephen King called Abigail Thomas’ memoir A Three Dog Life “the best memoir I have ever read,” and Thomas has another winner with her latest, What Comes Next and How to Like It.

The previous book focused on life after a tragic accident left Thomas’ husband brain damaged and, seven years later, dead. What Comes Next shares the aftermath as she contemplates life in her 70s.

Thomas bares her soul in a series of short chapters, some only a paragraph long. The result, while a breeze to read, paints a rich, multifaceted portrait of the author’s daily life in Woodstock, New York, with her beloved dogs. She is both forthright (“I am who I am and it has taken me a long time to get here.”) and self-deprecatingly funny (“Who sits in a dark room watching Burn Notice on a beautiful day?”).

Thomas frames her narrative with the story of how, years ago, her daughter Catherine had an affair with her best friend, literary agent Chuck Verrill, and how the repercussions affected her relationships with the pair for years afterward.

Catherine and Chuck continue to be mainstays in Thomas’ life, but also a source of continuing worry. Catherine, now happily married, undergoes treatment for breast cancer, while Chuck, divorced, suffers from serious liver disease.

When a student describes her as a “nice old lady with a tattoo,” Thomas reports that she is startled “because I think of myself as not nice, not old, not a lady.” That’s all the more reason, of course, that readers will treasure this journey with a writer who comes across as a compelling, lively friend.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Stephen King called Abigail Thomas’ memoir A Three Dog Life “the best memoir I have ever read,” and Thomas has another winner with her latest, What Comes Next and How to Like It.
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Sleepless Knight is a fun camping story told in comic book form for preschoolers and young elementary school students. Creators James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost have previously published a series of award-winning Adventures in Cartooning books, and the fun continues in their new story featuring the exuberant Knight and his sidekick, Edward the horse.

The Knight proclaims that this will be “the BEST camping trip EVER!” as he overloads Edward with things like his scooter, ukulele and even a cactus. Most important of all is the Knight's teddy―along with 30 bags of marshmallows.

This duo doesn’t make it very far from the castle with their huge load, but they do manage to pitch a tent and start a campfire. Later that night, Edward falls into an exhausted sleep while the Knight realizes that his beloved teddy bear is missing. Adventures ensue as the Knight searches high and low, encountering a helpful rabbit and a rather large bear.

Young readers will enjoy the madcap nighttime antics, and budding cartoonists will particularly relish the endpapers, which feature step-by-step guides for drawing the Knight, Edward, the rabbit and the bear, all in a variety of humorous moods, expressions and activities. No doubt many young artists will be inspired to create their own adventures featuring Edward and the Knight.

Sleepless Knight is a fun camping story told in comic book form for preschoolers and young elementary school students. Creators James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost have previously published a series of award-winning Adventures in Cartooning books, and the fun continues in their new story featuring the exuberant Knight and his sidekick, Edward the horse.

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BookPage Children's Top Pick, March 2015

The latest novel by award-winning author Pam Muñoz Ryan is a hefty yet riveting page-turner containing four interwoven stories.

The first is a fairy tale about a boy named Otto who becomes lost in a German forest. He is rescued by three mysterious maidens who happen to be characters in a book that he has just bought from a gypsy. This gypsy also gives Otto a unique harmonica that has special powers. “When you play it,” the maidens explain, “you breathe in and out, just as you would to keep your body alive. Have you ever considered that one person might play the mouth harp and pass along her strength and vision and knowledge?” Indeed, this instrument has amazing “pay it forward” abilities.

The fairy tale is followed by three novella-length stories of historical fiction, each connected by Otto’s magic harmonica. It first appears in Trossingen, Germany, in 1933, where a boy named Friedrich yearns to become a conductor. He’s tormented, however, by his disfiguring facial birthmark, and his safety is threatened by a Nazi law requiring sterilization of those with deformities. The harmonica’s next owner is an orphaned boy in 1935 Pennsylvania who fears being separated from his younger brother and loves playing the piano. And finally the harmonica turns up in Southern California in 1942 in the hands of Ivy Maria Lopez, a young Mexican-American girl whose family’s fortune changes after a Japanese family is sent to an internment camp. These interwoven tales unite in a majestic scene in 1951 New York, along with a short epilogue explaining how Otto passed along his magic harmonica to begin its magical journey.

These fast-paced stories are woven together to give young readers a wealth of historical information in an incredibly gripping way. In a novel filled with real-life examples of prejudice and injustice, Ryan repeatedly illustrates an important message uttered by Friedrich’s father: “Music is a universal language. A universal religion of sorts. Certainly it’s my religion. Music surpasses all distinctions between people.”

 

This article was originally published in the March 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The latest novel by award-winning author Pam Muñoz Ryan is a hefty yet riveting page-turner containing four interwoven stories.
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Bedtime at Bessie and Lil’s offers a delightful look at what bedtime routines are often really like. As Mama Rabbit diligently tries to read one of her favorite childhood books to her lovable yet active girls, Bessie practices headstands and Lil shows off her skipping abilities.

Sternberg’s breezily amusing text is spot-on. For instance, this exchange occurs after Mama reads a passage about tucking little bunnies in:

“I really like the word tuck,” said Bessie.
“I’d really like you to sit down,” said Mama.
“I want to say it ten times fast,” said Bessie. “Tuck, tuck, tuck, tuck, tuck, tuck―”

Poor Mama! Not only does her idyllic story time not go as planned, she frets that Bessie and Lil will wake the baby. Eventually Mama gives up and reads her treasured book to herself, and the girls decide they must go kiss the baby.

Adam Gudeon’s illustrations alternately depict the energetic bunnies’ reading session and the serene scenes in Mama Rabbit’s book, highlighting the stark contrast between the two. Gudeon’s primitive drawing style works well with his bright colors and clever artistic touches, such as the toy carrot car and carrot-shaped rocket in Bessie and Lil’s room, along with their carrot-accented headboards.

Bedtime at Bessie and Lil’s is a gentle family drama that reinforces the idea that despite the moments of chaos that naturally occur in a boisterous, loving family, in the end things often have a way of working out surprisingly well.

Bedtime at Bessie and Lil’s offers a delightful look at what bedtime routines are often really like. As Mama Rabbit diligently tries to read one of her favorite childhood books to her lovable yet active girls, Bessie practices headstands and Lil shows off her skipping abilities.

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