The Library in the Woods, by Calvin Alexander Ramsey & R. Gregory Christie

     The Library in the Woods just arrived in the our library yesterday, and the cover artwork was so wonderful I had to sit and read it right away! This picture book tells the story of a library built for Blacks in Roxboro, North Carolina in 1933, and frequented by the author, Ramsey, when he was a boy in 1959. Although the overall story is fictional, it is based on Ramsey's young life when his family moved from Maryland to North Carolina. At that time Blacks were not allowed to do many things that Whites could, and using a library was one of those many things. So Black libraries were built in various places around the South, and when young Ramsey discovered this one for the first time, it changed his life.

    That said, Christie's artwork in The Library in the Woods is so wonderful! He uses acrylic paint on illustration board, and the effect is realistic and yet a little abstract at the same time, giving his images a feeling like you are right there where the story is taking place. The basic idea of the story, that such a wonderful place as a library, was not (and is not) available to everyone and anyone across the world, but especially in this country, makes me pause (not paws), and be a little sad. I'm glad there were (and are) people who help to fix these problems...maybe you are one of those pups? Or will be someday...everyone should have access to books! 5 paws!

Azar on Fire, by Olivia Abtahi

     Happy Valentine's Day, Readers! I hope that you count reading as something you love, like me, on this day celebrating things we love! I just finished Azar on Fire and really enjoyed it! I don't know if I could say I loved it, but it was a good story with likeable and believable characters. It wasn't predictable and had some good story lines throughout, including romance and music. Azar, the protagonist, is an Iranian American teen with roots in South America as well. As a baby she developed nodes on her vocal chords which makes it hard for her to speak loudly, or for long, or even at all. So she is the quiet girl who doesn't talk to anyone at school, doesn't have any real friends...sort of a ghost of a girl. 

    But she loves music! She is a writer, but doesn't foresee ever being able to sing her own songs out loud. And she drums, which actually gets her into trouble at school - trouble she agrees to get out of by entering the school's upcoming Battle of the Bands competition. How can all of this possibly come together and work? I won't tell you if it does or doesn't, but finding out was fun! Azar was very likeable as a character, and very "teenager" in her thoughts and actions. This is the second book by author Olivia Abtahi, and although I have not read her first, it seems to have been good, as all of the press on the front and back cover of Azar on Fire is actually about Abtahi's first book, Perfectly Parvin (I admit this made me a little nervous at the start, wondering if I should just read that one instead?).

    I probably will at some point, and recommend this book to you if any of the storylines or themes I mention above speak to you (no pun intended). I enjoyed the book, and found myself wondering what was coming next when I had to set it aside and do dog stuff (like sleep, or eat, or bark at a bunny outside). 4 paws and a nod toward reading Abtahi's first book in the future!

Holler of the Fireflies, by David Barclay Moore

     The second book by this very good author, and now I've read both of them - not on purpose, necessarily, but I'm glad I did! Holler of the Fireflies is the story of Javari, who lives in Brooklyn, New York but is embarking on a two week summer STEM camp in West Virginia. In these two weeks, he encounters a few different cultures he has never encountered before (Brooklyn and West Virginia aren't too far apart geographically, but culturally there is quite a divide between them...or is there?). He also comes up against racism, but not always from the places you might expect. He also faces questions of sexuality, but all of these big topics are deftly handled in Moore's writing.

    In Moore's first book, The Stars Beneath Our Feet, I wrote that his writing was a little jumpy at times as he wrote in the way his characters thought and spoke, which made the book a little bit disjointed feeling (August 2020). Now I see he writes Holler in the same way, and it was still a little hard to follow in a few places. But now I am learning that this may be Moore's style, and that if I read his books in longer chunks, versus a chapter or two at a time (his chapters are short), things flow better and make more sense. I still think he's not quite there with what he's trying to do yet, but I appreciate the issues he brings up in this story, and once again how memorable his characters are, even after I finished the book. To me, that is the sign of a strong writer and a good story!

    I rated Stars Beneath Our Feet 4 paws, and I'm on the fence about this one as well. Because I loved the characters and their realness and complexity, and I love that he introduced not just one but a few topics sure to land this book on someone's banned or challenged list, I'll give him all 5 paws (my four and the one I don't have but need for books that are this good)! I recommend either of Moore's books, and know I will read whatever he write next! I hope you do, too!