(2) YA Tracy is running out of time. It's been seven years since her father was wrongly convicted of a double murder. Every week, Tracy writes to Innocence X, an organization that represents people who are unjustly convicted and sentenced to death, and tries unsuccessfully to convince them to work to get her father absolved and released. As if that burden weren't enough, Tracy's older brother Jamal is accused of killing Angela, a young white woman with whom he was secretly romantically linked. Now, Tracy not only has to get help for her father, whose execution date is less than a year away, but also must solve the mystery surrounding Angela's death, so that her brother doesn't suffer the same fate. This suspenseful story is unfortunately all too familiar--Black people suffering at the hands of police violence, an unjust legal system, and disproportionate incarceration rates--a narrative that is at once heroic and heartbreaking. Tracy is left to unravel a mystery that highlights and humanizes a number of pertinent issues regarding racism in America, the role of media and social bias in our perceptions of one another, and the grief and despair of the families of the incarcerated.

Reviewer: Monique Harris | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(1) YA In this How It Went Down follow-up, Peach Street grapples with shock, sorrow, and outrage after yet another "officer-involved shooting." A thirteen-year-old girl heading home from tutoring has been killed; the community wants accountability and justice. In a mesmerizing narrative told in a series of character vignettes, Magoon explores systemic injustice and collective trauma while humanizing the people who are directly and deeply affected by them. The masterfully interwoven vignettes are often searing and heartbreaking; love and hope are also prominent.

Reviewer: Monique Harris | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2019

(2) YA A schoolwide "dare" game and new social dynamics throw all of African American seventh grader Shayla's relationships into turmoil. She also becomes increasingly aware of the Black Lives Matter movement when the officer in a police-shooting case is acquitted. Shayla's first-person account is honest and accessible, her emotional and civic maturation believably portrayed. Ramée's debut novel presents a nuanced view of race, self-discovery, and social justice.

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) YA Senior year, Filipino American teen Jay Reguero learns of his pen-pal cousin Jun's untimely death in the Philippines. Haunted by the lack of information, Jay goes to the Philippines to investigate and eventually connects Jun's death with President Duterte's (real-life) draconian war on drugs. Ribay brings this coming-of-age story to vivid life through themes of addiction, complex family dynamics, and the experiences of children of immigrants. Bib.

Reviewer: Monica Tapia Boyer | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019

(2) 4-6 Straightforward text and comics-style sequential art combine in a (fictionalized) account of the Black student–led protest in 1976 Soweto, South Africa, in opposition to a law requiring half the school lessons be taught in Afrikaans. Separate chapters follow three individuals, including twelve-year-old Hector, whose lifeless body appears in a black-and-white photograph at book's end. An afterword describes how that photograph "became a powerful symbol." Lovingly illustrated portraits further humanize the three main characters. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(3) YA In 1958 California, four goodhearted Mexican American boys find themselves in deep trouble when they stumble upon the body of a murdered homeless person along the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks that run through their town. Told from the perspective of twelve-year-old Manuel, this coming-of-age story is also a moving exploration of institutionalized racism.

Reviewer: Katie Darrin

(3) YA This coming-of-age novel in verse centers on seventeen-year-old best friends Noah, who's white, and Walt (a.k.a. Swing), who's black. A conversational tone belies the multivalence of this story about the complexities of friendship, romance, patriotism, and prejudice. Life seems on the upswing until a wrenching, pulled-from-the-headlines incident shatters the boys' lives and underscores Noah's feeling that "America is sometimes / not so beautiful."

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) YA Shade Me series. This finale to the trilogy begun with Shade Me finds Nikki Kill, who has synesthesia, trying to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death, although her police-detective ally and romantic prospect now suffers from amnesia. Significant suspension of disbelief is required, particularly with the gimmicky synesthesia, but fans of this fast-paced mystery series will be pleased to see loose ends tied up satisfactorily.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(3) YA Living amid violence is an unfortunate reality for African American twins Marvin and Tyler. After a shootout at a party, Marvin is left to deal with the heartbreaking aftermath of Tyler's disappearance and subsequent death at the hands of police. Poverty, police brutality, and gang violence are held in equal tension and intensity in this poignant story about brotherhood, friendship, death, and resilience.

Reviewer: Monique Harris

(2) 4-6 Dyslexic seventh-grader Mason is grieving the death of his best friend, Benny, and is a victim of intense bullying. Lieutenant Baird of the local police believes Mason knows more than he's saying about Benny's death. When new friend Calvin goes missing, too, Mason is again under suspicion. Mason's voice is honest and true, and the multifaceted characters both enrich and propel the narrative.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2018

(3) YA In this verse novel, Joe, seventeen, is reacquainted with his older brother Ed, who's on death row, just before Ed's execution date. Free-verse poems effectively interweave the past and present to cast doubt on Ed's guilt in the death of a police officer and to realize the emotions involved in the brothers' complex family situation.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) K-3 I Can Read Book: My Community series. Illustrated by Catalina Echeverri. Through simple, kid-friendly framing stories, children learn about the possibilities and the variety in each community-helping career field. Softly colored cartoon illustrations show a diverse array of approachable-looking characters and match the books' conversational tone. Each easy-reader narrative flows naturally while providing controlled vocabulary and concrete explanations for emerging readers. Review covers these I Can Read Book: My Community titles: I Want to Be a Doctor, I Want to Be a Police Officer, and I Want to Be a Veterinarian.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Devlin Quick Mysteries series. With the discovery of a gold doubloon, twelve-year-old sleuth Devlin Quick (Into the Lion's Den; Digging for Trouble) and her best friend Booker embark on a pirate-treasure adventure during a summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard. To determine the coin's owner, Devlin must once again draw upon her sound detective skills (and access her police-commissioner mother's resources) to solve this satisfying third mystery.

Reviewer: Grace Enriquez

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Maurizio Zorat. Eleven-year-old Conor MacRae has two passions: ice hockey and his dog, Sinbad, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Sinbad's expensive medical treatment eats into the limited money that also must fund Conor's hockey participation, so Conor earns money by washing cars throughout his Southern California neighborhood. The first-person, present-tense narrative juxtaposes Conor's enthusiastic hockey commentary with tender, character-focused interactions with his cop single father and his dog.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(4) K-3 This informational picture book highlights how police serve communities, with (amateurish) childlike illustrations in marker and gouache depicting different roles. A preface by the author-illustrator's son (who's a lawyer, author, and Fox News personality) frames the book as a patriotic antidote to negative portrayals of police. Despite this politicization, the book is a straightforward, folksy addition to the community-helpers oeuvre.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) K-3 When I Grow Up series. Illustrated by Silvia Baroncelli. In a cheerful series of career books aimed at younger readers, each begins with a child imagining what he or she will do as a grownup. Overall, the series' cast is eclectic in gender and race, and there's welcome diversity in the occupations represented. The job descriptions are clear, and the cartoony illustrations are appealing. A hands-on craft activity is included. Glos. Review covers these When I Grow Up titles: When I Grow Up I'll Be a Carpenter, When I Grow Up I'll Be a Librarian, When I Grow Up I'll Be a Police Officer, When I Grow Up I'll Be a Teacher, When I Grow Up I'll Be a Truck Driver, When I Grow Up I'll Be an Engineer.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(2) 1-3 Translated by Julia Marshall. Illustrated by Gitte Spee. In the fourth Detective Gordon entry, toad Gordon's protégé Buffy realizes that she doesn't know the fate of her mouse family she was separated from when coming to the forest. The detectives set off on an urgent mission, solve the case, and reunite Buffy with her family. The adventure moves along briskly, but deeper issues permeate the story. The future is bright both for the forest police and for readers hoping for another installment.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(3) YA Students are injured by police--and African American protagonist Moss's boyfriend is killed--in a series of escalating altercations in California's West Oakland High School. Moss, who suffers panic attacks due to his father's earlier murder by police, finds the courage to fight back. A large, diverse cast of characters and many plot threads shed light on issues related to police brutality from multiple angles, and the climax is compelling.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 1-3 Color by Jose Garibaldi. In Pilkey's latest cartoon-style graphic novel for young and reluctant readers, George and Harold turn to William Golding's Lord of the Flies in a frenetic existential exploration of goodness. Delving into his past, Petey (Dog Man's feline nemesis) reveals the root of his evil: childhood betrayal; meanwhile, clone Li'l Petey balances the nonstop action with innocent wisdom, probing questions (the constant why?), and silly-terrible knock-knock jokes.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) K-3 Translated by Nuria Molinero. Color by Jose Garibaldi. In this thoughtful and eminently readable Spanish translation of the third installment (Tale of Two Kitties) in Pilkey's Dog Man graphic-novel series, translator Molinero has clearly taken care to provide an understandable Spanish-language text for beginning readers of Spanish, regardless of their national origin. The thoughtfulness extends to Pilkey's child-emulating cartoon-style illustrations, where all the signs, storefronts, and advertising are here in Spanish.

Reviewer: Tim Wadham