Embrace the Darkness

IN DARKNESS by Nick Lake. Bloomsbury, 2012

This winner of the 2013 Printz Award features two unforgettable narrators in Shorty a teen gang member in contemporary Haiti and Toussaint L'Ouverture, former slave and liberator of Haiti in 1804. In chapters titled THEN and NOW, the two stories move forward. Both protagonists are in darkness: Shorty is buried in the rubble of a hospital after an earthquake. Toussaint is confined in an underground cell. As the stories move back and forth, readers will certainly draw parallels between the two. Though the violence and devastation are intense, the writing is incredibly lyrical.

Seeing with new eyes

I, TOO, AM AMERICA by Langston Hughes. Illustrations by Bryan Collier. Simon and Schuster, 2012.


Collier's illustrations a mixture of collage and painting, give a new look to the classic poem by Langston Hughes. How I wish that textbooks would replace the stark black ink on a white page with the array of illustrations Collier has created for this poem. From the young man peering through the stripes of the flag on the front cover of the book to the jubilant young girl that graces the back cover, this is a perfect way to engage readers young and old in the poem, in the work of Langston Hughes and in the art of this accomplished illustrator.

Creeptastic!

CREEPY CARROTS by Aaron Reynolds. Illustrations by Peter Brown. Simon and Schuster, 2012.

Jasper Rabbit loves carrots. He yanks up a few each time he passes the carrot patch. Soon he is seeing creepy carrots everywhere. They spy on him as he brushes his teeth and lurk in the closet. His mother thinks Jasper's imagination is getting the better of him. To be on the safe side, though, Jasper prepares a plan to keep the carrots confined. Black, white, gray and just the creepiest of orange illustrations perfectly capture the humor (and maybe a little terror) of the book.