Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang art by Gurihiru

A comic book set in 1946 with 2020 sensibilities features the traditional super hero trope: Man of Steel versus archenemy. ​The cast includes The Daily Planet’s mild-mannered Clark Kent, investigative reporter Lois Lane, spirited photographer Jimmy Olsen and bombastic editor Perry White. Metropolis is plagued with a sinister influence. It’s up to the caped crusader with an assist from a couple of kids to defeat this evil and protect the city’s citizens. ​But it’s more. Inspired by the 1940s Superman radio series “Clan of the Fiery Cross,” Gene Luen Yang chronicles a lesser-known aspect of bigotry and racism in American history: Chinese Americans targeted by white supremacists. ​​​The narrative has two plot threads. Alternating stories chronicle a Chinese American family's move from Chinatown to a new neighborhood. This is juxtaposed with the tale of a superhero arriving to earth from another planet. ​Both threads explore the plight of individuals who are perceived as different. ​Both are stories of immigrants. Stories of aliens.

In the Role of Brie Hutchens by Nicole Melleby

Every weekday morning for the past eight years Gabrielle Hutchins has buttoned up a white shirt, slipped on her plaid skirt and headed off to parochial school. ​Now things are changing. Gabrielle, known as Brie, has begun to seriously examine who she is and what she believes. She realizes that she may not be the person her mother expects her to be. Her life is complicated. There’s a financial aspect. Her father lost his job and is now her school’s custodian, which is embarrassing. School tuition is a expensive. There’s the matter of religion. Mom is devoted to her faith. Brie doesn’t want to disappoint her mother but she questions the teachings of the church. Cozy afternoons Brie and her mother spent watching soap operas seem to be a thing of the past. Brie desperately seeks her mother’s attention and approval, so she resorts to lies. One lie results in a major family spectacle. School is a problem. Brie is not motivated by academic excellence and wants to leave private school and attend a school for the performing arts.

Once Upon a Space-Time! by Jeffrey Brown

This is not your normal Once Upon a Time. This is Once Upon a Space-Time. Jeffrey Brown takes readers on a journey into the final frontier.Two young recruits: Jide the science nerd and Petra the sci-fi fan are selected for a mission to Mars. Tobey the alien will be joining them along with several other aliens named Tobey. Not surprisingly Brown uses the classic Shakespearean line: Tobey or not Tobey. It’s a space adventure jam-packed with silliness and word play, along with a dose of bathroom humor. When the kids put on their space suits for the first time, a dozen panels reveal close-ups of myriad items which must be pulled up, snugly fitted in place, layered on and snapped shut. Then Jide realizes that he needs to go to the bathroom. The procedure is reversed. Everything comes off. Following a quick trip to the bathroom, the entire suit goes back on again. That's when Commander Gusevich informs Jide that all suits have built-in diapers.

Comics Conquer Space

Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim

Hurrah! A middle grade book that is funny. And heartwarming and painfully honest. Bonus: It is served with a side of tasty Korean barbecue. Meet Yumi Chung, eleven-year-old daughter of immigrant parents. Pressure. She constantly feels parental pressure to excel academically. It's particularly difficult because her older sister Yuri is the embodiment of the ideal Korean daughter: accelerated educational advancement and currently a medical school student. Not Yumi. Earning high marks and academic accolades are not that important. What she really loves is stand-up comedy. This seems bizarre, as she is painfully self-conscious. Mom has decided that Yumi will spend her summer with tutoring sessions in preparation for the SSAT, Secondary School Admission Test. ​​​Yumi grudgingly heads off for morning test prep sessions combined with three hours of afternoon study at the library.

Holy Hot Cheetos! It's Yumi's Super-Secret Comedy Notebook Yumi picked up a tip from her comedy idol Jasmine Jasper. She maintains a journal, recording her observations and reactions to events in her life. These entries could be the basis for possible jokes and comedy routines. Readers will find several pages from Yumi’s notebook scattered throughout the first person narrative. Yumi accompanies her entries with personal emojis that express her current mood .

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed, and Iman Geddy

Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed's When Stars Are Scattered introduces readers to the reality of survival for displaced individuals, an existence filled with deprivation, uncertainty, and boredom. Jamieson is a masterful storyteller. She brilliantly describes her childhood interests in Roller Girl, a Newbery Honor Award book and All’s Faire in Middle School. Now she steps away from personal experience to chronicle the childhood of Somali refugees Omar Mohamed and his younger brother Hassan. ​The narrative is based on Omar’s memories. He and Hassan escaped Somalia's civil war, lost contact with their parents, and were given shelter at a camp located in Kenya. Looked after by a kind woman, they subsist on meager rations and sleep in a tiny tent. Omar assumes responsibility for disabled brother's daily care. Life changes when a UN worker suggests that Omar attend a school organized for the camp's children. Education becomes his lifeline and an escape from the grim reality of camp life. Fifteen long years later, the two resettle in Arizona.

Want to Do More?

The Great Upending by Beth Kephart

There’s something about Beth Kephart’s writing. Instantly she draws me in, exquisitely capturing the moment with sensory imagery. I'm right there, sitting on a windowsill, gazing at the night sky with eleven-year-old Sara Scholl and her younger brother Hawk. Hawk kicks his bare feet. I kick mine. The air freckles up with fireflies. The trees wave their hands in the breeze. This summer Sara is grappling with a physical condition that seriously affects her heart, a mysterious man who has taken up residence on the family farm, and the aftermath of a devastating fire. Sara stands out among her peers. Literally. Taller than both of her parents, she is extremely thin and her feet are flat. She has a condition known as Marfan syndrome which affects the connective tissues throughout her body. Of critical concern is the possibility of an aortic rupture. A surgical procedure could save her life, but it requires the services of an expensive specialist in faraway Cleveland.

The List of Things That Will Not Change
by Rebecca Stead

Bea experienced a major life disruption four years ago when her parents divorced. Now she divides her time equally between the apartments of her supportive mother and understanding father. To ease her anxiety, they presented her with a green notebook to record "The List of Things That Will Not Change." They started the list with: Mom loves you more than anything, always. Dad loves you more than anything, always. They encourage Bea to look for things that remain constant, things that she can depend on. School, relationships with peers, and the distinctive parenting styles of her mother and father are predictable. ​The irony is that her life is about to change in several surprising ways. Without revealing an important plot point, it is safe to say that the most significant change that occurs is the change in Bea herself.

Blue on Blue 

Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen by Sarah Kapit

Vivian J Cohen is a typical eleven-year-old. She likes cheese sandwiches and pizza. She likes baseball. Vivy enjoys watching televised professional games with her dad. Her favorite player is VJ Capello. In some respects she may be a not-so-typical fifth grader. She is a baseball (NOT softball) pitcher and can throw a mean knuckleball. She dreams of becoming the first female to play professionally. She is autistic, prone to meltdowns and flapping her hands when she gets anxious or excited.  When she was eight years old, she met minor league pitcher VJ. He took her aside and taught her how to throw a knuckleball. She has never forgotten him. Three years later Vivy has a letter-writing assignment. She opts to write to VJ. They begin a lively correspondence, mainly via email. ​Kapit begins the epistolary novel on the first day of spring training and concludes with the league's final game for the season. Their emails include plenty of play by play baseball action.

When Germany began relentlessly bombing London some parents sought to protect their children by sending youngsters overseas to places of relative safety. A luxury ocean liner, the SS City of Benares set sail on September 12, 1940 departing from Liverpool and bound for Canada. The ship carried 406 people, including over 90 children. Terror struck five days into the journey when a German U-boat fired a torpedo, sinking the ship. Meticulously researched, the narrative describes the ordeal endured by passengers and crew set adrift in the icy Atlantic. The story of six boys who spent eight days clinging to a lifeboat until they were rescued is particularly harrowing. ​​Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of “The Children’s Ship” chronicles this catastrophe and the fate of its few survivors. ​A story of tragedy and suffering.  A story of heroism and hope. Narrative nonfiction at its best.

Our Castle by the Sea by Lucy Strange

Two sisters, along with their parents live in a lighthouse set on a clifftop overlooking the sea. Nearby are four upright stones, which local lore believes are four girls turned into stone. Petra suspects that she is destined to become a part of this ancient legend. With the threat of a German invasion, Britain relocates individuals with German heritage and possible enemy sympathies to internment camps. Petra Zimmerman Smith's mother is German. A tribunal determines that this wife of a British citizen may be a threat to security. She is sent to an internment camp. It is evident that there is a saboteur within the community. Petra is determined to discover the traitor's identity and exonerate her mother. It's a dangerous mission. The enemy is ruthless and will stop at nothing to silence anyone who interferes with plans to aid a German invasion. Petra risks her life to save her family and her country.  Our Castle by the Sea is a fantastic intertwining of mythology, history, and intrigue.

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

​Neglect and abuse are all that Ada has ever known. She and her club foot are concealed in shame within a small apartment. When the threat of bombing reaches London, she and her brother escape. Posing as evacuees, they travel to Kent and are placed in the home of Susan Smith. This benefactor offers the siblings a clean warm home with plenty of nourishing food. She arranges a consultation with a doctor who believes that the deformed foot can be corrected. Ada learns to read, makes a friend, and watches for German spies. ​Most wondrous of all, Ada cares for and rides the beautiful pony in the adjoining pasture. ​ While the threat of an enemy invasion is constantly on the minds of everyone, within the home of Susan Smith each one is fighting a personal battle. The War That Saved My Life is satisfying and heartwarming. A story of conquering fear and learning to love.

The Body under the Piano: Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen
​by Marthe Jocelyn ill by Isabelle Follath

Twelve-year-old Agatha Caroline Morton, an inquisitive girl living in nineteenth century England is never without her notebook, recording her observations and penning verses. She lives with her rather eccentric grandmother, her grief-stricken mother still mourning her husband's death, nursemaid Charlotte, and dog Tony. The drama begins when Aggie discovers a corpse under the dance studio piano. It's the body of obnoxious Mrs. Irma Eversham, mother of Aggie's classmate Rose and sister-in-law to the dance instructor. Aggie wonders: who would want to murder Mrs. Eversham? (Well, almost everyone.) Why would someone want to eliminate this odious woman? (Possibly anger, revenge, or greed?) How did she die? ( Was it rodent poison?) Not one to sit around and wring her hands, Aggie sets out to uncover the truth and determine the culprit's identity. She enlists the assistance of a new friend, Belgian refugee Hector Perot.

​​"chopped up in a suitcase, shoveled into a well, hurled from a clifftop, locked in a cupboard."

​"as steamed as a runaway train, as spiky as a hothouse cactus, as fierce as a stampeding rhinoceros, ready to erupt like a volcano..."

Follath captures the personalities of the major players with a deft hand. I frequently referred to these portraits of leading characters. Very helpful.

Meet Agatha Christi

This very British, very charming murder mystery is a clearly a homage to the great detective novelist Agatha Christi. ​Born in Torquay in 1890, she taught herself to read at the age of five. She was an accomplished pianist. However her shyness prevented her from performing for those she did not know. Christie's books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation.