Month: August 2023

Picture Day by Sarah Sax (Brinkley Yearbooks)

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Summary:  Although her mom urges her to keep a low profile in middle school, Olivia wants to be seen.  Renaming herself Viv to differentiate herself from all the other Olivias, she takes to heart the words of a social media follower to be true to herself.  She chops off her hair right before school pictures are taken, causing a buzz around school.  Encouraged, Viv begins staging spectacles that get her noticed by the cool kids.  But her old friends Milo and Al feel left behind, and when Viv tries to include them in one of her spectacles, it’s a disaster.  Viv is forced to do some soul searching to decide where her loyalties lie, and ultimately she’s able to find a way to keep her old friends while being true to herself.  Includes an author’s note about an interesting way she generated story ideas that led to this graphic novel.  288 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  Another fun middle school graphic novel with a positive message about being yourself but not at the expense of others’ feelings and with some good observations about social media.  The author’s website says this book one of a planned series of four.

Cons:  Creating spectacles in middle school = extremely cringy.

Two books about Sister Rosetta Tharpe

~ Janet Dawson ~ 2 Comments

Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

Published by Doubleday Books for Young Readers

Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll! Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock and Roll by Tonya Bolden, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Published by HarperCollins

Summary: Two picture books celebrate the life of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, an early pioneer of the music that would become known as rock and roll. Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar focuses on Rosetta’s childhood in Cotton Plant, Arkansas. When her musical mother gives her a guitar, Rosetta plays it night and day, incorporating the sounds she hears in her community to create a song that she performs at her church’s anniversary. The last few pages tell about Sister Rosetta’s career as an adult, and there’s an author’s note with a photo and additional information.

Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll! is a celebration of Sister Rosetta’s entire life, told in a rhythmic second-person narrative (“With music in your air, in your hair, in your bones, wiggling your toes–that travelin’ bag sure stayed packed.”). The celebration is all about her music, which was some of the earliest rock and roll. The book ends with a two-page timeline and an author’s note, citing her influence on such musicians as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, and Aretha Franklin. Both books are 40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros: I knew nothing about Sister Rosetta Tharpe, so I very much enjoyed these high-energy celebrations of her life, each with their own distinctive illustrations. Take a look at this YouTube video to hear how ahead of its time her music was. These books will bring her some much-deserved recognition.

Cons: There’s not a lot of biographical information in the stories and no additional resources listed, although Rock, Rosetta, Rock! does have a list of sources.