Outstanding Books of the Month – June 2023
Each month we post an annotated bibliography of books that were rated ‘Outstanding’ at our previous meeting and nominated for our year-end Distinguished List. You can see full reviews of these books and many more in our BayViews blog. Interested in becoming a member? Join, come to our monthly meetings, and hear about these Outstanding books in person!
Biography
Holding Her Own, by Traci N. Todd, illustrated by Shannon Wright, Orchard, 2023.
Meet stylish Jackie Ormes, the first Black woman to publish a nationally syndicated comic strip. Lively illustrations and an informative narrative provide a unique window into the life of a notable mid-20th century Black American female artist. (Grades 2 – 5)
Fiction
Enter the Body, by Joy McCullough, Dutton, 2023.
Readers are thrown into a highly-emotional matrix as they watch the bodies of Shakespeare’s heroines drop into an imaginary trap room after their deaths onstage, and hear their personal narrations of their fates and desires. An interesting balance of poetry, stage direction and personal histories. (Grades 9 – 12)
Big Tree, by Brian Selznick, illustrated by Brian Selznick, Scholastic, 2023.
Multilayered story of dinosaur-era orphaned seedlings encountering the natural world in search of a place to lay down roots and grow. An epic story of the interdependence of all life done in Selznick’s signature novel-with-graphics style. (Grades 3 – 8).
The Next New Syrian Girl, by Ream Shukairy, Little, Brown, 2023.
Teenagers Khadija Shaami and Leene Taher share Syrian roots and a home as Leene and her mother arrive in suburban Detroit as refugees, but they have more differences than similarities until a mystery from Leene’s past forces them to work together and use both head and heart to solve it. (Grades 8 – 12).
The Manifestor Prophecy (Nic Blake and the Remarkables series, book 1) by Angie Thomas, illustrated by Setor Fiadzigbey, Balzer & Bray / HarperCollins, 2023.
This is a sharply written, fun fantasy adventure with a number of twists on many well-known tropes. (Grades 3 – 7)
Saints of the Household, by Ari Tison, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023.
This heartfelt YA novel explores how two indigenous brothers struggle with family trauma and domestic violence in their lives. Chronicling the restorative justice sessions they must attend after attacking a classmate, it artfully follows both brothers’ journeys toward healing and self-forgiveness. (Grades 9 – 12)
Non-Fiction
Race Against Death: The Greatest POW Rescue of World War II, by Deborah Hopkinson, Scholastic Focus, 2023.
This dramatically told WWII history focuses on the era’s largest rescue of prisoners of war, who were held at Cabanatuan prison camp in the Philippines. The voices of nurses, Filipinos, and many Latino soldiers are included. Filled with b&w photos and maps. (Grades 6 – 12)
Picture Book
Evergreen, by Matthew Cordell, illustrated by Matthew Cordell, Feiwel, 2023.
A fearful young squirrel travels through the forest to bring healing soup to Granny Oak. Filled with humor and delightful plot twists, the gentle story’s expressive sketches provide the perfect complement to language that rolls right off the tongue. (Grades Preschool – 2)
Reader
Too Small Tola Gets Tough (Too Small Tola series, book 3), by Atinuke, illustrated by Atinuke, Candlewick, 2023.
Three dramatic short stories full of warmth, humor, hardship and resilience reveal how Tola and her family negotiate Lagos’s Covid lockdown. Illustrated with appealing black, white and grey drawings. The final story will have readers cheering when Tola solves a math-based mystery. (Grades 1 – 3)
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