Coughlin Corner - LIS 721

Historical & Contemporary Realism The War that Saved My Life     Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. The War that Saved My Life. 352p. 2016. Tr. $9.99. ISBN 9780147510488. The War that Saved My Life  tells the story of a young girl finding the strength, resilience, and hope to leave behind the pain and abuse of her past and embrace a new life, set against the backdrop of an anxious England heading into the second World War. Protagonist Ada lives in a small London flat with her brother, Jamie, and her abusive mother, Mam. Ada was born with a club foot, and because of this, Mam has deemed her unsuitable to leave the house. Being trapped in their small home all day, Ada become a constant target for Mam's physical and emotional abuse. As the attacks from the Germans begin to threaten London, many children, including Jamie, are sent to the countryside to wait out the danger. Refusing to stay behind, Ada takes her first step towards freedom, sneaking away with Jamie to the countrys...

 Graphic Novels Fox & Rabbit Ferry, Beth. Fox & Rabbit . illus. by Gergely Dudas. 96p. 2020. Tr. $12.99. ISBN. 9781419740770. Fox & Rabbit by Beth Ferry follows the episodic adventures of the two title characters. Gergely Dudas's simple, yet adorable illustrations perfectly match the tone of Ferry's writing. The illustrations successfully bring Fox and Rabbit to life, showing the characters' emotions and actions without over shadowing the text.  This graphic novel is perfect for transitional readers. The situations the two friends find themselves in are ones that many young readers can either clearly understand or relate to. Ferry's writing meets the reader where they are at, and does not complicate the plot with ideas or events that are over their heads.  Fox & Rabbit  is the first in Ferry's  Fox & Rabbit  series. As readers fall in love with Fox and Rabbit, they can continue reading about the two friends in  Fox & Rabbit...

 Beginning & Transitional Books Stop! Bot! Yang, James. Stop! Bot! illus. by James Yang. 40p. 2019. Tr. $17.99. ISBN 9780425288818. Stop! Bot!,  written and illustrated by James Yang, would fall into level one of Kathleen T. Horning's easy reader level evaluation system. This colorful children's story that follows a doorman's mission to retrieve a young boy's runaway robot includes many of the level one indicators. The sentences in  Stop! Bot!  contain an average of five to seven words, words that primarily contain one or two syllables. The majority of these limited syllable words are also common sight words that early readers are beginning to learn and recognize. No only can these sight words be found on each page, but many of the same words are repeated throughout the book, supporting the reader's recognition and understand of these crucial vocabulary words. Additional, each page is covered in illustrations that support the reader's understanding of the te...

 Books of Information Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre Weatherfold, Carole Boston. Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre . illus. by Floyd Cooper. 88p. 2021. Tr. $17.99. ISBN 9781541581203. In this gripping tale, Carole Boston Weatherford recalls the horrific events surrounding the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Weatherfold has dedicated her career to sharing Black history with readers through her countless and celebrated picture books.  Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre,  masterfully informs readers about the events that took place on May 31st and June 1st of 1921, while also using powerful illustrations to accompany the text. As evident in the Author's Note, Weatherford took the time to research and study this event before making it the subject of her book.  This book would best be suited for intermediate elementary grade to middle school grade readers. The content is presented in a manner that is not too advanced or graphic for this demographic, while still givin...

 Poetry Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience Ada, Alma Flor. & Campoy, Isabel F. Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience . illus. by David Diaz. 96p. 2016. Tr. $8.99. ISBN 9781580895491. With their collection of poems, Alma Flor Ada and Isabel F. Campoy give an inside look into the lives of the over 50 million Latinos and Latinas that make up the United States. To make their vignettes more authentic, and to avoid employing stereotypes, Alma and Campoy worked with countless Latinx writers, storytellers, and community members and leaders to include poems and prose that represented a wide range of backgrounds under the Latinx umbrella. The poems are arranged in a chapter-like format, with a table of contents that differentiates each poem based on the name of its fictional subject and the specific culture they represent. For example, the book contains poems such as: "My Name Is Juanita," the story of a Mexican American scho...

  Traditional Literature Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection Dembicki, Matt. Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection. 232p. 2010. Tr. $17.99. ISBN 9781555917241. Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection edited by Matt Demicki continues the long kept tradition of sharing Native American stories. Specifically, Demicki's goal is to expose a new generation of readers to Trickster Tales. As explained in the opening remarks, Trickster Tales have been told in one form or another across Native American tribes for centuries. These tales teach listeners, or this case readers, important life lessons and morals at the expense of the misguided and/or bold trickster creature. As stated in the introduction, "Quite simply, it's because we needed them in the past, and, in a world filled with new lessons to learn, we need them even more today" (Bruchac, pg.5). When introducing each tale, Demicki makes sure to give credit the author and il...

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Martin Jr., Bill & Archambault, John.  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom . illus. by Lois Ehlert. 36p. 1989. Tr. $7.99. ISBN 9781442450707  This alphabet board book introduces emerging readers to lower case and uppercase letters in a fun and colorful manner. The authors’ use of rhyme and repetition is sure to engage the reader as they can familiarize themself with the pattern of events, as more letters climb up the coconut tree and ask, “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, will there be enough room?” Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Martin Jr., Bill & Carle, Eric. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? . illus. by Eric Carle. 24p. 1992. Tr. $8.99. ISBN 9780805047905. This classic concept board book exposes emerging readers to animals and colors through Eric Carle's pairing of vibrant colors to common animals. Bill Martin Jr.'s repetition of the lines "What do you see?" and "I see a ... looking at me." gives the reader a pattern that they...

 Picture Books The Undefeated Alexander, Kwame.  The Undefeated . illus. by Kadir Nelson. 40p. 2019. Tr. $17.99. ISBN 9781328780966.  This powerful poem shares the story of B lack figures throughout American history who made their mark on this country despite the oppressive forces working against them. Kwame Alexander uses repetition throughout his poem, primarily the line: “This is for the...” By repeating this line , Alexander is able to connect the subjects of his poem that are differentiated based on their successes, contributions, and places throughout history.   Kadir Nelson’s simple, yet powerful illustrations perfectly accompany the text by giving life to the poem’s subjects without overshadowing the words on the page. The illustrations also give an additional weight to Alexander’s words, especially as the line : “This is for the unspeakable.” is repeated across three pages towards the end of the poem. In this sense, the illustrations perfectly ref...