[Many Calling Caldecott posts this season will begin with the Horn Book Magazine review of the featured book, followed by the post's author's critique.]

A skateboarding tale of "Epic" proportions that exalts readers to “BE YOU!” Ivan, nicknamed Epic, a slender Black boy with an impressively expansive afro, has moved and needs to find a new posse with a passion for skateboarding as fervent as his own. What’s the use of amazing moves without “compadres to cheer ‘em”? Dad assures Epic that just as he has never nailed a new skateboarding trick on the first try, if he keeps an open mind, friends will come.

Morrison’s signature graffiti art and penchant for giving readers a view into the protagonist's world from a variety of unique vantage points make this picture book a visual feast. In one double-page spread, Epic appears to fly above his skateboard, feet spread apart, arms balancing, with the bottom of skateboard facing the reader as if we are sitting on the sidewalk below Epic, checking out his tricks. These interesting angles and visual perspectives put readers in the position of those friends who finally emerge...who have probably been watching him, this wheeling whiz kid, all along.

Many of these scenes also exude a positive urban experience. Even while Epic sleeps and dreams, the striped lights that illuminate his face — black, white, and red — hint at the lights that shine into his window from this busy cityscape in which he lives. Reminiscent of the elongated African American figures in Ernie Barnes's painting "The Sugar Shack" (of Good Times sitcom artistic fame), Morrison’s characters embody movement and attitude. Morrison’s illustrations of characters’ eyes reveal their surprise, fear, uncertainty, and curiosity, and even without accompanying body language. Also true to the urban space in which the story takes place, the characters have skin color in every shade, and facial features and hairstyles capture the uniqueness of each person.

This gritty, fast-paced story, which rolls along as swiftly as does Epic, will speak to readers who love wheels but also to those who need a little encouragement to find the friends they deserve.