(2) YA Nishat is a Bengali Muslim teen attending a conservative Catholic school in Dublin. When she comes out as lesbian to her parents, she is met with near-silence. Meanwhile, Nishat creates a henna business for a school competition, and her longtime crush Flávia (an Afro-Brazilian Irish classmate) complicates things by creating a rival business. As the competition heats up, so do the young women's feelings for each other. Their will-they-or-won't-they? romance will keep readers engrossed. Jaigirdar's debut novel features realistically complex queer girls of color at its center and honestly addresses the conflicts they face as such--micro- and macro-agressions, hitting up against family traditions while trying to pursue one's own desires and wants--though always standing in Nishat's corner is her supportive sister Priti, who offers the approval the protagonist longs for from her family. All major conflicts are tied up, and probably most touching of all is the hopeful understanding that Nishat and her family reach.

Reviewer: Sara Danver | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers series. Each of these engaging biographies introduces readers to the creator of a popular classic kids' toy or game. The texts are generally positive (and overuse exclamation points) but don't ignore difficulties and hardship, both personal and business-related. Captioned photos, archival reproductions, and "Fun Fact" boxes liven up the pages. The topics have ready-made kid-appeal; readers will glean insight into product development and the challenges of running a business. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers titles: Hot Wheels Developer, Lincoln Logs Creator, My Little Pony Pioneer, Nerf Genius, Nintendo Innovator, and The Slime Queen.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers series. Each of these engaging biographies introduces readers to the creator of a popular classic kids' toy or game. The texts are generally positive (and overuse exclamation points) but don't ignore difficulties and hardship, both personal and business-related. Captioned photos, archival reproductions, and "Fun Fact" boxes liven up the pages. The topics have ready-made kid-appeal; readers will glean insight into product development and the challenges of running a business. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers titles: Hot Wheels Developer, Lincoln Logs Creator, My Little Pony Pioneer, Nerf Genius, Nintendo Innovator, and The Slime Queen.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers series. Each of these engaging biographies introduces readers to the creator of a popular classic kids' toy or game. The texts are generally positive (and overuse exclamation points) but don't ignore difficulties and hardship, both personal and business-related. Captioned photos, archival reproductions, and "Fun Fact" boxes liven up the pages. The topics have ready-made kid-appeal; readers will glean insight into product development and the challenges of running a business. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers titles: Hot Wheels Developer, Lincoln Logs Creator, My Little Pony Pioneer, Nerf Genius, Nintendo Innovator, and The Slime Queen.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) YA Pham, founder/CEO of women-centered online platform Mogul, dishes on her success in this pep-talky self-help book for teens. The workbook-like volume includes lists, activities, and writing prompts. Pham's tone is chatty and infectiously positive as chapters ranging from fashion to finance to failure mix personal anecdote, practical business skills, inspiration, and feminism. "Mogul mentor" inserts offer additional advice. Young women will learn to set their sights high.

Reviewer: Erica Wetter

(2) YA Interned during WWII, the Katsuyama family was forced to sell its flower shop and spent years earning enough to buy it back. Contemporary teen CJ Katsuyama, who works in the family shop, fights for the shop after learning it might be sold to a corporation. The story paints an engaging picture of a girl facing the past--both her family's and her own--in service of her future. Ind.

Reviewer: Christina L. Dobbs | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers series. Each of these engaging biographies introduces readers to the creator of a popular classic kids' toy or game. The texts are generally positive (and overuse exclamation points) but don't ignore difficulties and hardship, both personal and business-related. Captioned photos, archival reproductions, and "Fun Fact" boxes liven up the pages. The topics have ready-made kid-appeal; readers will glean insight into product development and the challenges of running a business. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers titles: Hot Wheels Developer, Lincoln Logs Creator, My Little Pony Pioneer, Nerf Genius, Nintendo Innovator, and The Slime Queen.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers series. Each of these engaging biographies introduces readers to the creator of a popular classic kids' toy or game. The texts are generally positive (and overuse exclamation points) but don't ignore difficulties and hardship, both personal and business-related. Captioned photos, archival reproductions, and "Fun Fact" boxes liven up the pages. The topics have ready-made kid-appeal; readers will glean insight into product development and the challenges of running a business. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers titles: Hot Wheels Developer, Lincoln Logs Creator, My Little Pony Pioneer, Nerf Genius, Nintendo Innovator, and The Slime Queen.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers series. Each of these engaging biographies introduces readers to the creator of a popular classic kids' toy or game. The texts are generally positive (and overuse exclamation points) but don't ignore difficulties and hardship, both personal and business-related. Captioned photos, archival reproductions, and "Fun Fact" boxes liven up the pages. The topics have ready-made kid-appeal; readers will glean insight into product development and the challenges of running a business. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Toy Trailblazers titles: Hot Wheels Developer, Lincoln Logs Creator, My Little Pony Pioneer, Nerf Genius, Nintendo Innovator, and The Slime Queen.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Don Tate. Bolden spotlights the life, work, and legacy of African American farmer and businessman Groves, born into slavery, who became known as the "Potato King of the World." As a free man, he worked on a Kansas potato farm and, over time, built an empire. Bolden's use of alliteration and folksy language lightens the fact-packed narrative. Quotes from Groves fill boxed insets in Tate's unpretentious, sunny-hued art. Timeline. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Katy Wu. The famous Paris bookstore Shakespeare and Company narrates its own story and stresses the value of books in text unevenly rhymed but with offbeat appeal. The free-spirited American store proprietor, Sylvia Beach, stocks the building with "...books, from ceiling to floor!" Soon, early-twentieth-century literary luminaries (of whom brief biographies are appended) come for tea, readings, and lively conversation. Colorful digital illustrations capture the bookstore's bohemian spirit.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) YA Cyrus Field's funding of a transatlantic cable across Newfoundland and the Atlantic Ocean to Ireland was a costly and arduous venture, often delayed by violent storms and human error. Cowan's meticulously detailed biography provides insight into the particular persistence that drove Field's project as well as into nineteenth-century urban life. Archival drawings and photos (inexplicably blue-tinged) enhance the information. Reading list, timeline, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies series. Short chapters present straightforward biographies of inspiring female food entrepreneurs and cover the evolution, growth, and success of their empires. Each volume's second-person-perspective introduction provides a you-are-there connection for readers. Captioned color photographs, "Food Bite" sidebars of additional facts, and an appended "By the Numbers" statistics section are included in every book. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies titles: Angie Bastian, Debbi Fields, Marie Callender, Peggy Cherng, Rose Totino, and Ruth Fertel.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies series. Short chapters present straightforward biographies of inspiring female food entrepreneurs and cover the evolution, growth, and success of their empires. Each volume's second-person-perspective introduction provides a you-are-there connection for readers. Captioned color photographs, "Food Bite" sidebars of additional facts, and an appended "By the Numbers" statistics section are included in every book. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies titles: Angie Bastian, Debbi Fields, Marie Callender, Peggy Cherng, Rose Totino, and Ruth Fertel.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies series. Short chapters present straightforward biographies of inspiring female food entrepreneurs and cover the evolution, growth, and success of their empires. Each volume's second-person-perspective introduction provides a you-are-there connection for readers. Captioned color photographs, "Food Bite" sidebars of additional facts, and an appended "By the Numbers" statistics section are included in every book. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies titles: Angie Bastian, Debbi Fields, Marie Callender, Peggy Cherng, Rose Totino, and Ruth Fertel.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies series. Short chapters present straightforward biographies of inspiring female food entrepreneurs and cover the evolution, growth, and success of their empires. Each volume's second-person-perspective introduction provides a you-are-there connection for readers. Captioned color photographs, "Food Bite" sidebars of additional facts, and an appended "By the Numbers" statistics section are included in every book. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies titles: Angie Bastian, Debbi Fields, Marie Callender, Peggy Cherng, Rose Totino, and Ruth Fertel.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies series. Short chapters present straightforward biographies of inspiring female food entrepreneurs and cover the evolution, growth, and success of their empires. Each volume's second-person-perspective introduction provides a you-are-there connection for readers. Captioned color photographs, "Food Bite" sidebars of additional facts, and an appended "By the Numbers" statistics section are included in every book. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies titles: Angie Bastian, Debbi Fields, Marie Callender, Peggy Cherng, Rose Totino, and Ruth Fertel.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies series. Short chapters present straightforward biographies of inspiring female food entrepreneurs and cover the evolution, growth, and success of their empires. Each volume's second-person-perspective introduction provides a you-are-there connection for readers. Captioned color photographs, "Food Bite" sidebars of additional facts, and an appended "By the Numbers" statistics section are included in every book. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies titles: Angie Bastian, Debbi Fields, Marie Callender, Peggy Cherng, Rose Totino, and Ruth Fertel.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Unscrupulous Peter and self-effacing Rachel are next-door neighbors but not friends. When Rachel becomes the unpaid intern of Peter's neighborhood business empire, she swiftly comes to resent being exploited. Rachel launches a competing business venture, but guilt and ethical dilemmas plague both entrepreneurs until they reach a rapprochement one wishes real-life adults would emulate. Unexpected heart prevails in this entrepreneurship story; business tips are included.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(3) YA This enthusiastic history of Google starts with Larry Page and Sergey Brin as Stanford doctoral candidates then clearly and comprehensively traces the company's growth and diversification. Emphasizing Google's motto, "Don't be evil," the conversational text celebrates the company's revolutionary products, business model, and work culture. This book is timely, given Google's pervasiveness. Photographs, archival screenshots, and sidebar anecdotes are scattered throughout. Bib.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin