Review by Booklist Review
Ages 4-7. Grace loves stories, whether they're read to her or told to her or made up in her own head. She's always acting them out with herself in the most exciting parts, from Joan of Arc and Anansi the Spider to Hiawatha and an explorer of lost kingdoms. But when she wants to play Peter Pan in the class production, some of the kids tell her she can't--because she's a girl and because she's black. The story humanizes current slogans of political correctness and reveals the meaning of "I can be anything I want." Binch's vibrantly expressive watercolors show gap-toothed, pigtailed Grace in all her roles. Strengthened by her joy in imaginative play, by the confidence she gets from her loving Ma and her Nana, and by her total involvement in the part, Grace is the best Peter Pan. At the audition, she knows just what to do and all the words to say, "she had been Peter Pan all weekend." Like her smiling classmates, we are swept up by Grace's performance. ~--Hazel Rochman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
``Grace was a girl who loved stories.'' Empowered by the strength of her imagination and the love of her mother and Nana, this dramatic, creative girl constantly adopts roles and identities: Joan of Arc, Anansi the Spider, Hiawatha, Mowgli, Aladdin. When her class plans a presentation of Peter Pan , ``Grace knew who she wanted to be.'' She holds fast despite her classmates' demurrals; Nana, meanwhile, reminds her granddaughter that she can do anything she imagines. When Nana takes Grace to see a famous black ballerina--``from back home in Trinidad''--the determined youngster is aroused by the performance, and wins the role of her dreams. Featuring colloquial dialogue and endearing characters, Hoffman's ( My Grandma Has Black Hair ) tale is truly inspiring. First-timer Birch contributes evocative, carefully detailed watercolor paintings, which add their own share of emotional power and personal passion. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-- Grace loves stories, whether she hears them, reads them, or makes them up. Possessed with a marvelous imagination as well as a strong flair for the dramatic, she acts the stories out, always giving herself the most exciting parts. Thus, it is natural when her teacher announces a classroom production of Peter Pan , that Grace wants to play the lead. One classmate says she can't because she's a girl and another says she can't because she's black. When a saddened Grace relates the days events to her mother and grandmother, they tell her she can be anything she wants to, if she puts her mind to it. Inspired by her family's support, her own indomitable spirit, and an excursion to a weekend ballet starring a lovely Trinidadian dancer, Grace shines during her audition, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind as to who will play Peter Pan. Gorgeous watercolor illustrations portraying a determined, talented child and her warm family enhance an excellent text and positive message of self-affirmation. Grace is an amazing girl and this is an amazing book. --Anna DeWind, Milwaukee Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In the twenty-fifth-anniversary edition of a modern classic, Amazing Grace no longer imagines herself to be Hiawatha, a page in the original book that critics had cited as cultural appropriation in service of racial pride. That the images remain of Grace emulating Kipling's Mowgli and tying up one leg to play peg-legged pirate only goes to show just how complicated the diversity debate can be. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Murder at the Wabash Institute, a center for the study of language acquisition in infants and toddlers--an offbeat milieu played chiefly for wry laughs as tetchy, vulnerable Jeremy Cook (the Institute's ""resident genius"") helps goofy, shrewd Lieut. Leaf to investigate the death of colleague Arthur Stiph. Sleepy old Stiph is found dead at Cook's desk one morning, but it seems he was really killed in a hit-and-run. The clues: Stiph's head has been shaved; there's vomit from the killer (bourbon and ice-cream) on the floor; and weird, secretly nasty Stiph was going that night to meet a ""backfriend"" (an enemy turned chum). The suspects: the obnoxious senior staff of the Institute. Then Mrs. Stiph commits suicide, a visiting reporter is found dead in the river, the killer stalks the Institute--and can be identified only by analyzing the little sound of recognition made by a pre-schooler. This linguistic detection isn't very plausible. Nor is the very guessable killer's murky motive. But, though the Institute chat gets a little ingrown and talky, it's generally intriguing--and Cook, who eats disgusting food and spends much of his time trying to deduce which Institute employee called him a ""complete asshole,"" is an engaging oddball of a hero. Mostly fun. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
