Bartali's Bicycle

The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy's Secret Hero

Quill Tree Books

(HarperCollins Publishers)

(pub. 2.23.2021) 

40 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Megan Hoyt
       and illustrator: Iacopo Bruno

C haracter: Gino Bartali

O verview:

       

    "Gino Bartali pedaled across Italy for years, winning one cycling race after another, including the 1938 Tour de France. Gino became an international sports hero! But the next year, World War II began, and it changed everything. Soldiers marched into Italy. Tanks rolled down the cobbled streets of Florence. And powerful leaders declared that Jewish people should be arrested.

     To the entire world, Gino Bartali was merely a champion cyclist. But Gino’s greatest achievement was something he never told a soul—that he secretly worked with the Italian resistance to save hundreds of Jewish men, women, and children, and others, from certain death, using the one thing no authority would question: his bicycle."

T antalizing taste: 

     "He knocked on doors and delivered small packages. With a quick nod, he was off again, leaving startled families to wonder: Was that the famous Tour de France winner, Gino Bartali? Was he now a secret courier for the resistance?

     By the time they realized who he was, Gino was speeding toward the next town." 

 And something more:  In her Author's Note, Megan Hoyt explains that "when DELASEM (Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants) leader Giorgio Nissim died, his sons found diaries filled with information about Gino Bartali's rescue efforts. Without these diaries, the world may never have known about Gino's work. And there is a reason for that. Gino did not want anyone to know.

     'Those who have suffered in their soul, in their heart, in their spirit, in their mind, for their loved ones are the real heroes,' Gino said. 'I am just a cyclist.'"

Jump at the Sun

The True Life Tale of Zora Neale Hurston

Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

(Atheneum Books/ Simon & Schuster) 

(pub. 1.12.2021) 

48 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Alicia D. Williams
       and illustrator: Jacqueline Alcantara

C haracter: Zora Neale Hurston

O verview:

       

    "Zora was a girl who hankered for tales like bees for honey. Now, her mama always told her that if she wanted something, “to jump at de sun”, because even though you might not land quite that high, at least you’d get off the ground. So Zora jumped from place to place, from the porch of the general store where she listened to folktales, to Howard University, to Harlem. And everywhere she jumped, she shined sunlight on the tales most people hadn’t been bothered to listen to until Zora. The tales no one had written down until Zora."

T antalizing taste: 

     "Soon she got to thinking: I want to be a famous author too. So Zora jumped again. She got herself a typewriter, and her fingers got tah tappin' and all her Eatonville memories poured into them pages. One of her stories was even about a little girl, sitting atop a gatepost!"

And something more:  Alicia D. Williams writes in her Author's Note that "it was deeply inspiring to learn of this  unstoppable storycatcher who'd hopped into her Ford coupe, aptly named Sassy  Susie, and traveled throughout the South's back roads during a time of lynching and Jim Crow laws. Zora similarly traversed the deepest parts of Haiti, Jamaica, and the Bahamas and amassed cultural songs, dances, tales, religious practices, and children's games, so that we all may enjoy them today. If it is true that we learn from our ancestors, then her folklore collection is a vast treasure of knowledge."

Joni

The Lyrical Life of Joni Mitchell

Harper Collins

(pub. 2.25.2020) 

48 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor and illustrator: 

      Selina Alko
  

C haracter: Joni Mitchell

O verview:

       

"When Joni Mitchell wrote songs, her lyrics told stories. When she sang, her music spoke the truth.

But before composing more than two hundred songs, Joni was a young girl from a town on the Canadian prairie, where she learned to love dancing, painting, birdsong, and piano. As she grew up into an artist, Joni took her strong feelings—feelings of love and frustration, the pain of having polio, and the turbulence that came with being a young woman—and wrote them into vivid songs.

Brought to life by Selina Alko’s rainbow collages and lyrical language, this heartfelt portrait of a feminist and folk icon is perfect for parents, children, and music lovers everywhere."

T antalizing taste: 

"Next, Joni followed her music to New York City. Her neighborhood, Chelsea, was abuzz with energy. There were a thousand stories on a single block. The sounds of horns and people and pigeons drifted through butterscotch curtains.

Joni wrote her feelings of joy and wonder into a song called 'Chelsea Morning.'"

And something more:  In the Author's Note, author-illustrator Selina Alko explains that "in creating Joni's story for this picture book, I felt as if I was on a  personal journey of self-discovery, remembering my earliest creative and artistic influences - a captive on my own 'carousel of time.'"

Numbers in Motion

Sophie Kowalevski, Queen of Mathematics

Creston Books

(pub. 3.3.2020) 

32 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Laurie Wallmark
       and illustrator: Yevgenia Nayberg

C haracter: Sophie Kowalevski

O verview:

       

    "Sophie Kowalevski was both a brilliant mathematician and a talented writer. Creative work nurtured her mathematical research, giving her a flexibility of thought she treasured. A wonderful STEAM figure, she not only did mathematical research, but she also created many literary works. This inspiring title tells the story of Sophie's journey as the first woman to receive a doctorate in mathematics, which required original research, holding a university chair in mathematics, and becoming the editor of a major scientific journal."

T antalizing taste: 

     "As a young girl, Sophie paid little attention to the toys scattered about her bedroom. Instead, she spent hours staring at pages and pages of  math problems covering her walls from floor to ceiling. When her father had run out of wallpaper for their new home, he had pasted his old college math notes on her walls instead.

      With her finger, Sophie traced the mysterious numbers and symbols, searching for patterns. She was fascinated by the secret language of calculus. Although she couldn't yet understand  it, that didn't matter. It was if the concepts were entering through her fingertips, travelling up her arm, and finding a home deep inside her brain."

And something more:  The Author's Note explains that "Sophie was the first woman to be a professional mathematician since Hypatia in fifth century Egypt." And "while teaching and doing mathematical research, Sophie still found the time to write a memoir, novel, short stories, newspaper articles, two plays, and hundreds of poems. Her most famous work, Nihilist Girl, is a novel about a young aristocratic woman who wants to devote her life to social justice. Through this story, Sophie made the argument that women should have the same opportunities and freedoms as men."

    Happy International Women's Day!

Digging for Words

Jose Alberto Gutierrez

and the Library He Built

Schwartz & Wade Books

(Penguin Random House)

(pub. 9.8.2020) 

40 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Angela Burke Kunkel
       and illustrator: Paolo Escobar

C haracter: Jose Alberto Gutierrez

O verview:

 

"In the city of Bogata, in the barrio of La Nueva Gloria, there live two Joses. One is a boy who dreams of Saturdays-- that's the day he gets to visit Paradise, the library. The second Jose is a garbage collector. From dusk until dawn, he scans the sidewalks as he drives, squinting in the dim light, searching household trash for hidden treasure . . . books! Some are stacked in neat piles, as if waiting for José. Others take a bit more digging. Ever since he found his first book, Anna Karenina, years earlier, he's been collecting books--thick ones and thin ones, worn ones and almost new ones-- to add to the collection in his home. And on Saturdays, kids like little Jose run to the steps of Paradise to discover a world filled with books and wonder.

With an evocative text by a debut author, and rich, stunning illustrations from an up-and-coming Colombian illustrator, here is a celebration of perseverance, community, and the power of books."

T antalizing taste: 

"Jose walks home from the garage. He pauses on the step to unlock the door, balancing books in the crook of his arm.

 A few pages to read, a few hours to  dream, and then it is a new day. Tonight, he revisits Macondo, a magical village deep in the jungles of Colombia, and he is lost in a place where time moves by its own rules."

And something more:  The Author's Note explains that "over ten million people live in the city of Bogota, Colombia. There are only nineteen libraries. There was no library in La Nueva Gloria barrio until 2000, when Jose Alberto Gutierrez took matters in his own hands.

A lifelong Bogota resident, Gutierrez is a former garbage collector who is known as the Lord of the Books... Today, in addition to running his library, Gutierrez directs the foundation he established, La Fuerza de las Palabras (The Strength of Words), which provides reading material to schools, organizations, and libraries across Colombia... Gutierrez himself went back to school in his fifties. It took  him three years to earn his high school diploma, but in building his library, he  empowered himself as  well as others."

Exquisite

The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks

Abrams Books for Young Readers

(pub. 4.7.2020) 

48 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Suzanne Slade
       and illustrator: Cozbi A. Cabrera

C haracter:  Gwendolyn Brooks

O verview:

 

"Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) is known for her poems about 'real life.' She wrote about love, loneliness, family, and poverty—showing readers how just about anything could become a beautiful poem. Exquisite follows Gwendolyn from early girlhood into her adult life, showcasing her desire to write poetry from a very young age. This picture-book biography explores the intersections of race, gender, and the ubiquitous poverty of the Great Depression—all with a lyrical touch worthy of the subject. Gwendolyn Brooks was the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize, receiving the award for poetry in 1950. And in 1958, she was named the poet laureate of Illinois. A bold artist who from a very young age dared to dream, Brooks will inspire young readers to create poetry from their own lives."

T antalizing taste: 

"Gwendolyn grew up in the big city of Chicago with little money to spare.

Yet her family owned great treasure - a bookcase filled with precious poems.

Each night, her father read fine poetry aloud, passionate and proud. Nothing sounded sweeter to Gwendolyn than Father's deep voice reciting the rhythmic words.

Gwendolyn memorized those lines - fine words in time to share with her big-hugging aunts."

And something more:  As an author who values primary sources, I appreciated Cozbi A. Cabrera's Acknowledgement: "A special thank you to the staff at the University of Illinois of Urbana-Champaign's Rare Book and Manuscript Library, where all of Ms. Brooks's personal papers are archived. Holding her handwritten papers and notebooks in my very hands was like her message in a bottle - so overwhelming and tender, it reverberates. Doing the research for the illustrations illuminated just how Gwendolyn Brooks overshadowed and transcended lack, limitation, oppression, and every established boundary line with the power of her discipline and the persistence of her love." 

Perkin's Perfect Purple

How a Boy Created Color with Chemistry

Disney Hyperion

(pub. 10.6.2020) 

56 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Tami Lewis Brown

       and Debbie Loren Dunn
       and illustrator: Francesca Sanna

C haracter: William Henry Perkin

O verview:

 

"Many years ago, the color purple was available only to a privileged few. Making purple was tricky. The dye was concocted from a certain snail, and later, from plants, bugs, and rocks. Then it had to be soaked in minerals and . . . urine! The process was very complicated and expensive (not to mention smelly!).

Until 1856, when a boy named William Henry Perkin invented a new way. While testing a hypothesis about a cure for malaria, he found that his experiment resulted in something else -- something vivid and rare for the times: synthetic PURPLE. Perkin, a pioneer of the modern scientific method, made numerous advances possible, including canned food and chemotherapy. But it was his creation of purple that started it all."

T antalizing taste:    

"This is how it happened.

William's father was a successful carpenter.

His brother, a proud architect.

Young William dreamed of being an artist, a musician, a photographer, or a botanist ...

William was interested in everything!

When he was twelve, a friend showed him experiments with crystals, and he knew this was far more exciting than any other subject.

He began to collect glassware and equipment, and set up a lab in his house, in Shadwell, East London.

There he mixed and measured, experimented and examined."

And something more:  The Authors' Note explains "the color of our world is not the only thing William changed. The dyes that followed from Perkin's discovery allowed medical researchers to stain invisible bacteria and microbes, leading to cures for tuberculosis, cholera, and even anthrax. Methods he and others developed for changing the molecular structure of organic compounds, a process known as 'Perkin's Synthesis,' yielded synthetic smells and tastes that never existed before. Our world looks, smells, tastes, and feels different because of William Perkin."