(3) YA This detailed and devastating account of the House Un-American Activities Committee and "The Hollywood Ten" explores the HUAC's attack on First Amendment rights. This proved to be a precursor to the rise of McCarthyism in the 1950s, which destroyed the lives of many innocent Americans. Brimner effectively utilizes transcripts from the hearings, archival photos, and secondary sources to document the events. An author's note makes the connection between "then and now." Websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Bendall-Brunello. Little Puppy and bigger Bear become friends and spend the rest of the summer playing together...until Bear doesn't show up one day. But it's just because school has started, and Bear reassures Puppy that they can still play after school. Inconsistent anthropomorphism in the watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations muddies the plot in this tame story of different-age friendship.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(2) 4-6 Brimner's narrative about the 1961 Freedom Ride from Washington, DC, to New Orleans and the civil rights events leading up to it focuses in particular on the violent, turbulent days when the thirteen riders ventured into the Deep South. He recounts the highlights, but the main attraction of this book is its photographs. A striking and spacious book design with black-and-white images provides immediacy. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(2) 4-6 Charles Mallory Hatfield claimed he could coax rain from the sky; in 1915, he promised to fill San Diego's Morena Reservoir. Brimner's well-paced account provides history of pluviculture and the people (mostly shysters) who practiced it. Hatfield considered himself a real scientist, though, and readers are tantalizingly left to contemplate whether he was mostly effective or mostly lucky. Excellent archival photographs appear throughout. Reading list, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(2) YA Brimner's comprehensive history recounts the movement for better wages and working conditions among migrant farm workers in the Southwest, from California's burgeoning need for farm workers in the twentieth century to the story of César Chávez, the United Farm Workers of America, and the Delano grape workers' strike. The compelling narrative includes both textual and visual primary sources. Reading list, timeline, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(3) YA Brimner's well-researched text, centered on Birmingham, Alabama, chronicles the often bloody confrontations between the forces of freedom fighter Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and segregationist Eugene "Bull" Connor. Sidebars include additional historical details (e.g., Emmett Till's murder, McCarthyism). Many well-captioned archival photographs and pull-quotes enhance the presentation. Reading list. Ind.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dominic Catalano. Old Armadillo waits cautiously inside his home while trick-or-treaters Roadrunner, Peccary, Coyote, etc., gather outside. Suspense builds as the narration, alternating between the inside and outside action, reveals that Old Armadillo has a scary surprise for his friends. The Southwest setting is captured within the muted pastels and the (wordy) text, sprinkled with Spanish vocabulary. Glos.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) 4-6 After introducing the four girls killed in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, Brimner backtracks to provide historical context on segregation and desegregation in the U.S. The well-researched details--particularly regarding the efforts to bring the bombers to justice--and the numerous black-and-white photographs make this volume a worthwhile addition to civil rights movement collections. Reading list.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(3) 4-6 Brimner's engaging narrative style gives quietly forceful life to this biography of a man whose heritage nurtured his lifelong participation in nonviolent solutions to social injustice. The telling is sometimes straightforward, sometimes speculative ("The stories made Bayard's heart ache"). Many archival photos, some depicting violence, extend the gravity of the story. Source notes are included.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith