FOR BEAUTIFUL BLACK BOYS WHO BELIEVE IN A BETTER WORLD

Name: FOR BEAUTIFUL BLACK BOYS WHO BELIEVE IN A BETTER WORLD
Author: Michael Waters
ISBN: 978-1-947888-08-1

by Michael Waters ; illustrated by Keisha Morris ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 2020

Encouraging but simplistic, the book strives to offer dignity, agency, and hope for a new generation of black youth but...

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One family navigates their young son through what seems to be an unending cycle of race-related gun violence.

Pastor, professor, and activist Waters draws on intimate family experiences in this attempt to answer many of the critical questions that have arisen over the past decade. Violence seems to be everywhere Jeremiah looks. On the computer is the story of Trayvon Martin; on the television, Michael Brown. In the paper is the Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church. One night, the gunshots even ring outside Jeremiah’s home as the family gathers together. All the while, Jeremiah accumulates these experiences until he finally exclaims: “I’m tired of people hurting each other! I’m tired of people shooting each other!” His parents recognize his deep frustration and encourage him to channel the energy, as they do, into actions that combine to create new realities: voting, marching, praying, organizing, and educating. For them, all these strategies show that change is possible and will come one day if we commit to them en masse. However, Waters conflates police violence, white-supremacist violence, and neighborhood violence into one simplified linear narrative. Although they all affect communities like Jeremiah’s, they demand different remedies, a critical understanding that’s not made explicit for young readers. Morris’ simple, heartfelt illustrations reflect the book’s emotions.

Encouraging but simplistic, the book strives to offer dignity, agency, and hope for a new generation of black youth but doesn’t quite manage. (author’s note, discussion guide) (Picture book. 6-10)

Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-947888-08-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Flyaway Books

Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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LITTLE DAYMOND LEARNS TO EARN

by Daymond John ; illustrated by Nicole Miles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.

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How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!

John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 21, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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HORRIBLE HARRY SAYS GOODBYE

From the Horrible Harry series , Vol. 37

by Suzy Kline ; illustrated by Amy Wummer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 27, 2018

A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.

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A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.

Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.

A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)