Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace
by Ashley Bryan; illus. by the author
Middle School, High School    Dlouhy/Atheneum    107 pp.
10/19    978-1-5344-0490-8    $21.99
e-book ed.  978-1-5344-0491-5    $10.99

Ashley Bryan was a nineteen-year-old art student when he was drafted into a segregated army unit of stevedores, where he used every opportunity to sketch and record his experiences, from training to D-Day and its aftermath. Bryan’s present-day text serves as a kind of voice-over to the scores of images included: original paintings and drawings, letters, journal passages, photos, maps, and army posters. This wealth of overlapping visual elements could have resulted in a cluttered presentation; instead, the dynamic book design and lavish production choices make this a fully immersive experience. The ultimate gift book for Ashley Bryan fans. (Some of this material can be seen in “Ashley Bryan’s WWII Drawings” by H. Nichols B. Clark in our May/June 2018 issue.) LOLLY ROBINSON

From the November/December 2019 Horn Book Magazine. More by and about Ashley Bryan.

Sulwe
by Lupita Nyong’o; illus. by Vashti Harrison
Preschool, Primary    Simon    48 pp.
10/19    978-1-5344-2536-1    $17.99
e-book ed.  978-1-5344-2537-8    $10.99

In a story partially based on the author’s childhood in Kenya, “Sulwe was born the color of midnight.” So begins a journey to self-love for a little girl whose name means “star” and who, because of her dark skin, does not feel beautiful. At school she is treated differently from her lighter-complexioned sister, who is given nicknames such as “Sunshine,” “Ray,” and “Beauty,” while Sulwe is hurtfully called “Blackie,” “Darky,” and “Night.” Desperately attempting to make herself lighter, the despondent girl tries to remove “a layer or two of her darkness” with an eraser, eats only light-colored foods, and offers fervent prayers to God, but nothing works. Then one night a visit from a shooting star changes everything. Swooped up into the cosmos, Sulwe learns about two sisters, Night and Day, from “the beginning of Time.” Through the allegorical tale the star tells her (unfolding over much of the book), Sulwe comes to understand that her ebony skin is beautiful and that darkness and light are equally necessary to the universe. Glowing illustrations capture the beauty of both light and dark; Nyong’o’s text is clear and engaging. An author’s note expresses the hope that “more and more children begin their lives knowing that they are beautiful.” MONIQUE HARRIS

From the January/February 2020 Horn Book Magazine.

The Bell Rang
by James E. Ransome; illus. by the author
Primary, Intermediate     Dlouhy/Atheneum     40 pp.
1/19     978-1-4424-2113-4     $17.99
e-book ed. 978-1-4814-7671-3     $10.99

“The bell rings, / and no sun in the sky. / Daddy gathers wood. / Mama cooks. / We eat.” Ransome paints a heartbreaking picture of an enslaved family existing within the confines of an inhumane institution. Using deceptively simple, repetitive verse, a young enslaved girl narrates her family’s daily activities over the course of a week, beginning on Monday. Every morning, the bell rings, signaling the start of a long, arduous day of labor for her mother, father, and older brother, Ben. Every day, the bell rings; every day, Ben tells her goodbye. Until Thursday — when her family discovers that Ben has run away, leaving them simultaneously grieving Ben’s absence, praying for his safety, and hoping for his freedom. When the two boys Ben fled with are apprehended, returned to the plantation, and whipped, the question of what happened to Ben hangs in the balance. The author succeeds in communicating the myriad and complex emotions of individuals choosing to flee chattel enslavement and the aftermath for those left behind. Through lush watercolors that expertly frame and highlight the characters, the reader is drawn equally into scenes of tenderness, joy, terror, and despair. Without sugarcoating or minimizing the complexity of human emotion, the illustrations communicate what words cannot: the tender love of family, the cruelty of enslavement, the emptiness left after the loss of a loved one, and the ever-present dilemma of self-emancipation for those who lived in bondage. The book’s open-ended final page will leave the reader with more questions than answers. MONIQUE HARRIS

From the January/February 2019 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

Read reviews of the 2020 CSK Author Awards here. For more, click on the tag ALA Midwinter 2020.