Abir Mukherjee
The start of an enticing new
historical Calcutta-based
crime series from
award-winning author
A
Risin g
Man
who would I be?” wonders a child who
makes his way through Qualls and
Alko’s diverse cityscape; like Britt’s
poem, their images tease out the connections between individuality and
community.
The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse
Mac Barnett, illus. by Jon Klassen
(Candlewick)
“I may have been swallowed, but I
have no intention of being eaten,”
declares a duck who has set up (a rather
nice) residence in the belly of a wolf,
where a mouse has recently arrived. Like
previous Barnett-Klassen collaborations,
this is a witty story with real philosophical heft: when the theoretical worst has
happened, what do you do next?
The World Is Not a Rectangle: A
Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid
Jeanette Winter (Beach Lane)
Winter traces the life of Zaha Hadid
in this elegantly illustrated biography,
which highlights the architect’s perseverance in an industry dominated by
men and the inspiration she took from
nature to create daring and unconventional towers, stadiums, and other structures around the globe.
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown)
Time and again, Pinkney has demonstrated his skill for shedding fresh emotional light on familiar stories
and fables. His reinterpretation of this tale of hungry
goats and an ill-tempered troll
is no different, trading the
typical revenge-driven ending
for one that allows for grace,
forgiveness, and the possibility of change.
MIDDLE GRADE
All’s Faire in Middle
School
Victoria Jamieson (Dial)
Newbery Honor author Jamieson
immerses readers in Renaissance fair cul-
ture and the social travails of middle
school in this empathetic graphic novel
about a homeschooled girl’s rocky intro-
duction to public school life. Imogen’s
insecurities and struggles with friend-
ships and family will resonate broadly.
Big & Little Questions
(According to Wren Jo Byrd)
Julie Bowe (Penguin/Dawson)
Unwanted changes abound in Bowe’s
novel about nine-year-old Wren, who is
contending with both her parents’
divorce and with the fear of losing her
best friend to another girl. Bowe sensitively and realistically traces Wren’s
gradual recognition that she isn’t the
only one with secrets and unseen depths.
Bronze and Sunflower
Cao Wenxuan (Candlewick)
Chinese writer Cao, a recent recipient
of the Hans Christian Andersen Award,
transports readers to rural China during
the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s
and ’70s in this eloquent story about the
developing friendship between two children—one orphaned, the other mute. A
rewarding story for children and parents
to share together.
Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
Rita Williams-Garcia (Amistad)
The thrum of the blues serves as a
backbone to Williams-Garcia’s powerful
story, a National Book Award finalist, set
in present-day New York City. An
African-American boy named
Clayton adores playing the
harmonica alongside his
bluesman grandfather, but
when Cool Papa Byrd unexpectedly dies, Clayton is left
to contend with grief and
familial betrayal.
The Doorman’s Repose
Chris Raschka (New York
Review Children’s Collection)
Raschka brings readers to Manhattan’s
Upper East Side in this delightful novel
told through linked stories, set in and
around a fictional apartment building.
With a quasi-sentient elevator and sto-
