Angela Johnson (1)Recensioni

Coming-of-age

Beautifully delicate watercolor illustrations leave a lasting impression of the story of Juneteenth, when enslaved people in Texas learned they were free. The illustrator shows a range of reactions, trying to imagine what it was like. Back matter includes a timeline of important dates (1863-1865), a few paragraphs on "Juneteenth, Then and Now," a list of online sources, and a glossary of key terms. Now that Juneteenth is a federal holiday the back matter is not perfectly up-to-date, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater - this is still an incredibly worthwhile book.

Such a beautifully written and illustrated book that explains the history and movement of celebrating Juneteenth. It's written with language and emotion children can understand.

Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter. He is a single father after the death of his girlfriend.

Three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Angela Johnson and illustrator Loren Long have put together a masterful story depicting the contributions of Tuskegee Airmen.
A young African American boy tells the story of his great-great-uncle who took his love of flying from jumping off the chicken coop to smooth flying in the sky. Wind Flyers is the perfect book to educate young people about these heroes of World War II. This book gives a small glimpse into the role the brave heroes played in our country’s history.

I read this book lots of years ago, and I remembered so little that I decided to re-read it. This Angela Johnson lady is some kind of writer. What an amazing book. The characters are real - there are not cliches here. And the story is like a sucker punch in slow motion - the impact is so slow at first you don't even know you got hit, but you feel stunned when it's over. Everyone should read this, as well as the companion novels, Heaven and Sweet, Hereafter.

Sweet or Shoogy left home or was kicked out by her parents because no one really understands her. But Curtis does. She doesn’t really like school and she and Curtis like to be alone together. This is the third part of a trilogy, Heaven (1998) and The First Part Last (2003), but it is not entirely necessary to read the earlier books, though some of the same characters show up in this installment. Curtis lives in a small cabin on the shores of Lake Erie away from the town of Heaven and he is in the Army Reserves having served one tour of duty in Iraq. He is also in college and has books lining the walls of the cabin. He does not want to go back to Iraq and may have gone AWOL and the tragic ending is foreshadowed by the Prologue. As Sweet and Curtis fall in love, she struggles to give him space but cannot figure out how to help him. The story unfolds slowly with beautiful, evocative prose but despite its short length will not appeal to reluctant readers. It is more appropriate for sophisticated readers who like ambiguity and cryptic, spare writing. Buy this if Heaven and The First Part Last are popular in your library. Positive review in Booklist and starred Kirkus.

Together, a new author and a new illustrator make an outstanding debut. In a bedtime dialogue between a six-or eight-year-old girl and her mother, memorable incidents in their family history are reviewed. The eager, well-loved child asks her mother to recount favorite events, but they are so familiar that she really tells them herself with only occasional comments from Mama: the time Mama got even with a mean neighbor and Grandmama made her apologize--but also gave her an extra sweet-roll; the time Mama and Aunt Jessie went to stay with Great-aunt Rosetta for a few months because their parents had to work; the time Grandmama cried at the airport when Mama moved away. Love and a strong sense of continuity shine through partings and reunions, suggesting that the qualities that make a family strong are passed from one generation to the next through such a rehearsal as this. In watercolors that glow with the story's warm affection, Soman depicts the many times and places in this black family's past, using details of costume and setting to distinguish it from the present. His light-dappled style is realistic, but not overdefined; he is especially gifted at conveying subtle slates of mind through facial expressions and postures. A wonderful book for sharing.

A simple, beautiful telling of how news of freedom reached the last slaves in the South, those toiling in the hot Texas sun. Their celebration to mark the date lives on each June 19. Author’s Note, Illustrator’s Note, Timeline, Online Sources, Glossary.

The first person narrator is Lila, an 8-year-old girl who is so allergic to sunlight, that she can never go outside in the daytime. She tells us about the few months leading up to her ninth birthday. Her parents are only mentioned a few times, so we don't know them at all. Her sister, Monk, and her friend, David, we learn a little about. And then there is a big focus on two imaginary friends. In the end, Lila is the only character we actually get to know well, and not a great deal happens. I felt like there must be a great deal of symbolism, metaphor, etc. that I just totally missed.
The author also made the irritating decision to write the book without using any capital letters. If there was any reason for that, it too was lost on me.

Mya receives the gift of an Alaskan pig named Julius from her grandfather and they have many things to teach each other. Mya teaches Julius how to act more civilized and Julius teaches Mya how to dance to jazz and other fun things. It is a silly book that can help children to learn that you can learn something new from everywhere and you can even learn some things from the people-or pigs- you least expect to learn from.

Kyla's little sister follows her everywhere and wants to be just like her from the clothes she wears to the way she walks. A cute story about a little sister idolizing her older sister a lot like Angela Johnson's other book "One of Three." Johnson clearly likes to write a lot about families and sisters. The theme of the importance of family and the special relationship between sisters is clear in this book.

A little girl with two sisters who she does practically everything with - except she is the youngest and sometimes is excluded from her sisters. At times when she is excluded, she gets to spend time with her mother and father making a different kind of trio. It can be hard to be excluded especially from siblings and Johnson points out that even when siblings exclude you your parents will always be there for you. She can take comfort in her parents and realize that she gets one on one time with her parents which is special for her. A nice way of pointing out that there are always two ways to look at a situation.

Angela Johnson writes about a little girl who from the time she was born was interested in making music and her whole life wants to find people like herself. In the end, Violet finds other people like herself who want to make music too and she finds the people who are like her. The story teaches that as long as you are true to yourself you will eventually find the people who are like you and you can be friends with. A sweet message of acceptance and being your true self is the overall theme of this picture book.

I love sharing this one at my "welcome to the library" storytime, but it actually makes me a little sad on its own. It teaches ridiculous things like "no blowing bubbles at the librarian," but it also gives me the chance to dispel the angry-librarian myth by throwing in my own commentary.

Okay, so maybe I've been reading a lot of YA lit lately, but I LOVED this. Booktalking it for a class, and am so glad it was recommended to me.

00009044

00006330

The story does start when two young girls Minnie and her sister would past their mother's door and sneak out of the house to join Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The two young girls and the crowd were gathered around Dr. King to hear his speech. Minnie and her sister would mimic Dr. King by walking faster, clapping with their feet, and looking ahead. I love how everyone kept marching and holding hands by faith, however, I did not like it when they shout and scream at them. The white people shouted they not right, and equality is not theirs. I love how they point out the sun would get higher in the sky as Dr. King speaks about change and nonviolence. I love how Minnie and her sister sung freedom songs as they ran back home. I believe the red roses represent the last page when the girls return home to their mother safely. Also, when the mother smiles and hugs her girls, she was so proud of them because she realized that her girls want to make a change by marching for equality and freedom. It was interesting to see the young girl held her teddy bear throughout the whole story. I believe the red bow on the teddy bear represents hope. Also, the red bow, in my opinion, means the youth is important because they can make a difference and fight for what is right. Lastly, the American flag with red stripes represents freedom and change. This story was inspiring, uplifting, and amazing. I enjoyed every part of it and I learned so much from this story. I was smiling because those young girls made me proud of them by keeping hope alive. I love the illustrations in the story because it has this black and white charcoal drawing with a few punches of red. Also, the illustrations are very detailed and neat. I would read this story to the kids. This story is written from the first-person point of view from the sister's perspective.

Oh, I like this strong-girl, strong girls of color book!
I loved meeting all the girls at the back of the book, too.
Recommended!

The narrator and her sister Minnie race out of their house, slipping past their mother's door. It's revealed that they are running to a big crowd where people wait to march. On the next page, you see Dr. King and people gathered around him listening to his speech. Minnie and the narrator begin to march with everyone, although they are by far the youngest in the crowd. They stay through the whole march and listen intently to Dr. King's speech. Minnie and the narrator race back home, singing about freedom as they run back down the same path they took to get there. Their mom is worried when they get back, but she gives them a big hug and listens to their stories about the march. The narrator smells "a sweet smell of roses" as she marches in the midst of everything, as they chant together, as they gather together, and all through their house as they hug their mom. The smell of roses, based on where it's mentioned in the story, represent the hope or maybe togetherness that the two girls felt that day. The illustrations in this book are powerful; they are all in black and white with touches of red.