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Wishing you all a good week ahead!
Yes, I managed to finish it, but it took a week because I kept re-reading different parts; I wanted to remember every single thing. Then I went back to browse through Dear Martin, wanting to remember more of Justice and Quan together. I can't tell all the story. You don't want to miss this, the thoughts of both, but this time particularly the inside/outside cries for help from Quan, cries for someone to "see" him and to "love" him. This is one that can break your heart from both sadness and relief from breath-holding. How can it be that a youngster is held in a juvenile correction facility for two years without a trial? It's a tragedy that must be addressed! Nic Stone writes in her afterword that much of Quan's story is true. Nic Stone interviewed many juveniles in prisons and used their experiences to help her write. Other characters are there, too, with their own poignant stories. It's a story I hope lands in classes and school libraries everywhere.
Thanks to Candlewick Press for this copy!
Sweet Gustavo, yes, he's shy, lived unseen in his world, even for a ghost! Flavia Z. Drago shares this sweet story for young readers about someone who is terrified to make friends, never "dared to speak to any of the other monsters". Her words tell it plainly but her illustrations show his fear with creativity. Gustavo remains close but he's disguised as a balloon, sneaks into a painting, or in a clothesline sheet, and is not seen! His true love is named Alma, an invisible girl who wears glasses. A Mexican feel is noticeable in the art like the colorful papel picado banners and skulls tucked in everywhere. In some good self-pushing, Gustavo decides he must be brave, so decides to invite everyone to a violin concert, his favorite thing. What happened after that made Gustavo glow and will make readers "glow" too, with lots of smiles. (When they are there, I always check out the endpapers to see what has been done. This time, the opening shows Gustavo in a strip of pictures like one from a photobooth. You can imagine what the back shows - a happy GROUP with Gustavo!
Thanks to NetGalley for this book!
Based on his own son and experiences through that young son's life, Michael Waters tells a family story of Jeremiah and his persistent questioning about the shootings, particularly of young black boys but also including that of five police officers. Jeremiah is waiting for his hair to grow so he can have locks and there's a chuckle when he gains permission plus later comparing it to the patience people must have when working for equal rights. As he grows, more tragic shootings happen and the phrase, "That doesn't make sense" repeats. Beautiful black boys like Jeremiah fight for better, shown in "also beautiful" illustrations by Keisha Morris. There are two pages of activities for extending the learning at the back.