Entering Wolf Hollow feels like viewing a vintage photograph: warm, evocative, and reassuring. In 1943, three generations are cozily tucked into a rural home.  Annabelle and her younger brothers live within the security of hard-working parents, loving grandparents and postmistress Aunt Lily.
​The beautiful vignettes Wolk paints underscore this tranquil setting.

Her innocence is shattered with the arrival of Betty Glengarry, the dark and troubled granddaughter of neighboring family friends. ​ ​Annabelle experiences cruelty and injustice firsthand. With wisdom, often fair beyond her years, she decides what she can and should do.

This is a story compassion, redemption, and understanding in the face of blind ignorance, prejudice, and deceit.
While the language and story often seem deceptively simple, it is after all, a story told through the eyes of an eleven-year-old girl, the concepts are deep and  thought-provoking.
Wolves and hollows, pain and understanding are woven together in this compelling story.  One that I will not soon forget.

​Ultimately the book speaks to the power of friendship, the pain of grief, and a search of understanding and forgiveness.

Betty Davis warning holds true here. Every time I picked up The Secret Sea, I reminded myself to fasten my seatbelt. Reading this book is one wild ride.

​Ready? Now prepare to take an astounding adventure.
​Step with me into the pages of The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill.

Magic.
Barnhill creates magic.
"In Which a Story is Told" introduces readers to the storyteller, who spins a tale to a fretful child. "Of course this is a true story. Haven't you been listening?"
It all begins when the witch rescues an infant, accidentally feeding her moonlight which enmagicks the baby. The child's growing powers of magic have a profound effect on the world.
The ensuing narrative consists of intricately interwoven threads following a witch, a bereft mother, a monster, a tiny dragon, a young man on a mission, the enigmatic leader of the Sisters of the Star, and a girl named Luna.
Each travels a path which eventually leads to the forest where their fortunes come together in a most dramatic way.

The voice, or rather distinctive voices throughout the narrative are captivating.
Consider these examples:
Xan, the witch
      "Sorrow is dangerous. Or, at least, it was. I can't remember why, now. I think we both became accustomed to not                  remembering things. We just let things get...foggy."
Glerk, the monster,
     "As the Poet says, 'Oh, ever changéd Earth -'"
Fyrian, a tiny dragon
     "I love foolish things. And clever things. I love all the things."
Antain, the nephew
     "What if we are wrong about the Witch?"
Sister Ignatia, of The Sisters of the Star
     "Oh, sweet Antain! There is no cure for sorrow."
Madwoman of the Tower
     She is here, in the heart of the robin.
     She is here, in the heart of the crane.
     She is here, she is here, she is here, in the hearts of a falcon and a kingfisher and a swan.

The prose shines with Barnhill's sparkling writing. Examples of her signature style include the use of a conversation tone "Moonlight is magic. Ask anyone you like", her clever turn-of-phrase "It was the first lie she ever told. Even though her words were true" and a concluding statement followed by a contradiction "They thought she was gone forever. They were wrong, of course."

Story construction brilliantly leads the reader through the multiple story lines and results in a conclusion which is at times surprising, always logical, and ultimately satisfying.
Readers will be enmagicked.

All of Barnhill's books. Read them all. Each is a treasure.

As she brilliantly did with her award-winning book Ninth Ward, Jewell Parker Rhodes chooses to write about this episode in our country's history from a child's point of view. In this case, the child is a young girl born after September 2001. Young Déja "I'm ten, eleven next year" lives with more than her share of heartache: the family is homeless and currently residing in a shelter, she must attend a different school, and her father is no longer the man that she knew and loved.
When she arrives at her new school in Brooklyn she glimpses Manhattan from the classroom window. The view reveals a sight not familiar to her. Her perceptions of the world continue to expand as her teacher along with classmates Ben and Sabeen open her eyes to events of American's recent past.
"Sometimes it isn't about what you do, it's about what you see."
​
Parker tenderly takes young readers by the hand, as they follow Déja on her journey of self-discovery, learning what it means to be a part of a larger community. Young Déja slowly grasps the ways in which the past has shaped her present. She explores her connection to family, community, country, and history.
With the help of her friends and family, Déja begins to comprehend exactly what happened on that fateful September day and its long-reaching implications.
"America is my history. My story."

"I don't know how yet - but the towers falling is my history too. My friend, Ben, showed me. My friend Sabeen, shared hurt. Sadness. Sadness... History is about feelings, too. I'm happy I'm American. But sometimes American history isn't happy."

​Descriptions of the fall of the towers, while not overly graphic, are authentic and painful.
"The building whined. Inside it felt like there was an earthquake shaking the foundation, the walls, windows. and ceiling."
​
"Did you know, Deja, stretching steel shrieks, clangs as joints shift? Something told me the tower was dying."

Reading this book is not easy. I wept as I read. I mourned and ached. In spite of the subject matter the overall tone of Towers Falling remains hopeful and healing and serves as an excellent introduction to a period of history unfamiliar to many young readers. Along with time to read and absorb the message of this book, plan on time for plenty of discussion during and after reading.

Another aside: Look at the cover art for each book. So much sky. So much blue.

​MACHETES
(written for and read during Coretta Scott King Honor acceptance speech, 2016)
if you listen closely
you can hear the machetes
cutting the air
in half
connecting for half a second with something
breathing and growing
breathing and growing
before being chopped
down like sugar cane in a Louisiana field
yes there are machetes everywhere
the sound of them cutting the air
chop CHOP
chop CHOP
we try not
to bend in the wind
try not to bow or bow
try to wrap fingers around our own
saccharine souls
and brace ourselves
for the
chop CHOP
chop CHOP
the machetes
cutting the air in half
coming for us
seems like folks like us be best
when we broken open
when we melted down
when we easier to digest
if you listen closely
you can hear the machetes
cutting the ears off
us
chop CHOP
chop CHOP
cold steel against our cheeks
be black sheep siblings
be black boy pillows
be
chop CHOP
chop CHOP
ears lopped off
leaving our drums in the dirt
like we ever needed ears
to hear God
like we ever needed ears to hear
the machetes
cutting the air
in half
the machetes
cutting the eyes out
us
retinas ripped
light left as a stain on the angry end of a blade
life in black and white blur
like we ever needed eyes to see red
to see gold
to see sunshine laughing yellow
to see those machetes
cutting the air
in half
chop CHOP
chop CHOP
those machetes
cutting us
in half
chop CHOP
dropping us down
to a manageable size
like gigantism be the only reason we giants
what you gon do with this ten foot fire in my belly?
what you gon do with tidal wave under my tongue?
aint nobody ever told you we always find our legs?
if you listen closely
you can hear the machetes
cutting the air
in half
chop CHOP
and if you listen even closer
you can hear
in the sliver of silence
between those chops
the clapping
clap CLAP
clap CLAP
the clapping of yester-generation’s
freedom songs
protest warriors
unpopular opinions
uncomfortable confrontation
unhinging truth
clap CLAP
and this generation’s
freedom songs
protest warriors
unpopular opinions
uncomfortable confrontation
unhinging truth
hashtag
clap CLAP
clap CLAP
the clapping of kids in the street
and grandmas at church
the clapping of aunties watching
their nieces lead the march now
the clapping of new connections
new routes
new alleyways
new allies
new chances
new dances
at house parties
because we’ve never needed
eyes ears or legs
to boogie because boogie
be our heartbeat
and if you listen closely
you can hear our heartbeat
in syncopation with that
clap CLAP
clap CLAP
our laughter
clap CLAP
our singing
clap CLAP
our dancing
clap CLAP
our fighting
clap CLAP
our praying
clap CLAP
our crying
clap CLAP
or trying to breathe and grow
in the midst of all this
chopping
yes there are machetes everywhere
and if you look closely
really closely
closer than closely
you can see the machine
turning its wheels
churning out those machetes
this machine
distant yet all around
like sky
faceless
and cold
and perfect for sharpening steel
because it has no finger to prick
it has never felt the sting of skin rolling back
because it doesn’t have skin
and the excuses of history keep its conveyor belt
rolling
rolling out
machete after machete after machete to
to cut the air
of so many of us
in half
no this machine
it does not feel
but it does speak
it says
get to work
chop chop

This mélange of Latino culture, Aztec mythology and basic geology takes readers on an action-packed ride in Lupe's meticulously-detailed low-riding classic Impala. Lupe Impala and her sidekicks Elirio Malaria and El Chavo Flapjack Octopus set off to find their beloved cat Genie. Their search takes them deep inside the earth where they encounter Mictlantecuhhli, fierce Aztec god of the underworld. The story concludes with an extravagant Dia de los Muertos celebration. That is one wild ride!