Thoughts on Last Stop on Market Street

In 2008, librarians surprised everyone by choosing the 533-page, The Invention of Hugo Cabret as the winner of the Caldecott Medal honoring the "most distinguished American picture book for children."  This year, the award committees surprised us again with the choice of a picture book, Last Stop on Market Street, as the winner of the Newbery Medal, given to "to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." 

The short video below featuring author, Matt de la Peña, reading from his book will convince you that this is a wonderful book. 
My concern as a public librarian, however, is how best to share this book with kids.  The book is a little lengthy for my usual storytime crowd, and school-aged kids can seldom be convinced to check out a picture book.  It's in instances like these, that I envy school teachers and media specialists, who have such a wonderful opportunity to share great books with large numbers of kids.  This is perfect book for reading aloud in school.

But, how to share it in a public library setting?

Last week, I had a last-minute inspiration and it was a rewarding experience.  I have a small book club that meets every month. This month, I asked each of the kids to read Last Stop on Market Street - right then. In addition to positive comments about the book, I loved two of the observations that they reported:

1. I never would have chosen this book if you didn't hand it to me.
2. The people at the soup kitchen look like regular people.

We then discussed public transportation (none of the kids had ever been on a bus) and soup kitchens (none had ever been to one).  Working in a suburban library with poor public transportation, I can understand this. However, as a suburban parent, I can tell you that I made sure that my own children volunteered at the local food pantry and experienced public transportation (I made all of them ride the public bus with me to the mall even though it was more expensive than driving my minivan and took twice as long).  As a suburban librarian, I can't take kids on the public bus or to the soup kitchen, but at minimum, I've ensured that a few more children are now aware of the lives that others lead.This is one of the many things that makes my job worthwhile.

One of the missions of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks (TM) campaign is to make sure that "all children can see themselves in the pages of a book."  This is important, but also important is recognizing that all people are just "regular people."  We always have more in common than we think.


Last Stop on Market Street
by Matt de la Peña, Illustrated by Christian Robinson

Read it. Share it.

**Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal

**A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book

**A 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

A New York Times Bestseller

Four Starred Reviews

Finalist for the 2014 E.B. White Read-aloud Book Award

A Junior Library Guild Selection

The Cat with Seven Names - an audiobook review

(My review of The Cat with Seven Names, as it appeared in the April, 2014, edition of School Library Journal.)

Johnson, Tony. The Cat with Seven Names. 1 CD. 15 min. Recorded
Books. 2014. $15.75. ISBN 9781490602479. digital
download.

PreS-Gr 2— A plump, seemingly stray cat wanders occasionally into the home of an older librarian. She names her visitor Stuart Little. At an elderly neighbor's home, he receives the moniker Kitty-boy, while a lonely Mexican man names him Placido for his "singing" voice. A homeless vet calls him Dove, for the peace he brings. Only the cat is lacking his own voice in this heartwarming story of a busy neighborhood, full of unconnected adults. Each character has his or her own first-person narrator, each distinctly different. The Hispanic man peppers his speech with Spanish words, as he first meets "Placido" on a day when it rains gatos y perros. Humorous wordplay abounds throughout, in which the cat is the common fixture in the lives of seven adults and a young girl. When the cat has a near accident, the full cast calls out seven different names, as each rushes to save the feline that has befriended them all; and through the cat, they befriend each other. The Cat with Seven Names will be sold with and without its corresponding picture book. Consider purchasing the set. Absent illustrations, the steady stream of elderly and adult voices may not be enough to hold a child's attention.


Copyright © 2014 Library Journals, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

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Listen to a sample of The Cat with Seven Names here. 

Liar & Spy - a review

Stead, Rebecca. 2012. Liar & Spy. New York: Random House.

Georges, a seventh grader, and his parents, have just been downsized to apartment living due to financial difficulties. In his New York City apartment, just around the corner from his old home, Georges makes a curious friend in the watchful,  home-schooled, Safer.  Safer is obsessed with spying on the activities of the mysterious "Mr. X" who lives in the apartment building.  Georges joins Safer's spy club and eventually becomes quite fond of his quirky little friend -- until he uncovers some uncomfortable truths.

At only 192 pages and suitable for grades five and up, one might think that this small book is a quick read - easy contemporary fiction for middle-schoolers; but one must remember that it was written by Newbery Medal winner, Rebecca Stead.

Rebecca Stead requires you to be patient.  She requires you to be thoughtful.  She requires you to follow her wherever she may lead - even if she may be lying.  After all, what is a lie anyway?

Thought provoking and insightful, Liar & Spy touches many topics pertinent to middle school students - lying, bullying, economic downturn, friendship, illness, and family life.

Ghetto Cowboy - a review

Neri. G. 2011. Ghetto Cowboy. Ill. by Jesse Joshua Watson. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

Advance Review Copy supplied by publisher

Like Byron Watson's Michigan mother in Christopher Paul Curtis',The Watsons go to Birmingham 1963, Cole's mother, too, is at the end of her rope, nerves frayed by his constant juvenile delinquency. In desperation, she takes Cole south - from the Motor City to the City of Brotherly Love, where she leaves him unceremoniously with his father, a black cowboy in a small ghetto neighborhood of North Philadelphia, where he must get to know the father he's never met, come to terms with his own shortcomings, and learn to survive "the Cowboy Way," in this inner city version of the Old West.

Though this first person account features a hardened kid from the city living within earshot of nightly gang violence, Ghetto Cowboy is a novel of hope and possibility. It is about the love of horses and the ability of poor people to care for them, and for one another. It is a story in which people, even "bad" people, sometimes do the right thing, 

They come up to do whatever they can to help. Some people is carpenters, some electricians, some handymen; some is just kids who don't know nothing.  But a body is a body that can help out somehow.

"...a body is a body that can help out somehow." Amen to that.

 Black and white illustrations help bring this unique culture to life.  My particular favorite is a double-spread of the neighborhood cowboys and Cole, relaxing in the evening, in their street clothes with cowboy boots, two in cowboy hats, one in a hood, most bare-headed.  They're sitting in old lawn furniture or leaning against a barren wall, hoisting an odd assortment of beers, laughing, joking, shootin' the breeze - and one can imagine that they're not so different from the cowboys of old.

Ghetto Cowboy is a short and easy read, its small size belying its powerful emotional punch.

The real-life ghetto cowboys of Philadelphia were the subject of controversy when the PSPCA removed some of their horses several years ago.  Ghetto Cowboys, though fictional, offers an insider's view of these very real urban horsemen. Watch them and decide for yourself.

Check out the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club here.


The official book trailer is below, but, meaning no disrespect to its creator, I believe that the book is better than its trailer.

G. Neri's "Ghetto Cowboy" book trailer from Greg Neri on Vimeo.

• Listen to a sample of the audiobook from Candlewick.
• Teacher's Guide here.
• Ghetto Cowboy is a finalist in the 2011 Cybils Middle Grade Fiction category.

I received my copy of Ghetto Cowboy for attending a webinar on upcoming releases (obviously, I’m behind in my reviews as the book was released in August).I wouldn’t usually request a YA title, but I’m willing to give most anything from Candlewick a try.(Good call)