Once a librarian, always a librarian, right? When I find good books, I want to share them with my fellow readers. That was always my favorite part of my job, and I loved it when folks would come back and tell me how much they enjoyed some title I had recommended.

Full disclosure: the best thing about retirement is the luxury of reading for pleasure: newspapers, magazines, and books of all descriptions, fiction and nonfiction, juvenile and adult, bring ’em on! Aspiring to write them myself, I especially love kids’ books for all ages. Three new books, one by a local writer, I can heartily recommend to anyone who appreciates a good story well told, regardless of their chronological age.

Each is written for a different age group: the picture book set, middle graders, and young adults. All are written in verse. I didn’t want to turn the last pages; I didn’t want the books to end.

Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge by Ray Anthony Shepard, illustrated by Keith Mallett

So many generations after the Civil War and Emancipation, we might think we know all about slavery. Lincoln writer Ray Anthony Shepard proves that wrong, and his new picture book taught me things I never suspected (for example, some slaves had servants to wait on them) This beautiful and thought-provoking, poetic picture book tells the true story of Ona Judge, enslaved by George Washington’s family, and her flight to freedom. The illustrations by Keith Mallett are luminous, the language is lyrical and cries out to be read aloud. I found myself reading the book to the birds and flowers around my front porch, and I was then able to share it with the young readers in my neighborhood. Just stunning. My favorite line, imagining the response of George Washington to his family slave’s escape: “You were his money walking out the door.”

On the Horizon by Lois Lowry, illustrated by Kenard Pak

Two-time Newbury Medal winner Lois Lowry has been writing groundbreaking books for decades, and her newest title continues in that vein. Stunningly, Lois, daughter of a Navy doctor, was at Pearl Harbor during the attack and provides a new perspective: that of a child playing on the beach as the ships sailed into the harbor to their doom. Even more stunningly, Lois’ father was stationed in Japan during the occupation and the family joined him there, seeing first-hand the devastation of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. There are several “aha” moments; be sure to read the author’s notes, which are not necessary to understand the book but enrich the reader’s experience. The black and white pencil drawings by Pak are somber, poignant, and perfectly attuned to the text. I also listened to an audio version of On the Horizon narrated by the author, and her spare delivery is affecting, but the illustrations in the printed text are well worth seeking out.

The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party by Allan Wolf

As soon as I heard about this book, I snapped it up for two reasons: I have been fascinated by the fate of the Donner party since high school, and I enjoyed Allan Wolf’s earlier verse novels about the Titanic (The Watch that Ends the Night) and the Lewis and Clark expedition (New Found Land: Lewis and Clark’s Voyage of Discovery). His earlier books and his poetry in general are highly readable, and his latest is just awesome. He ties the various voices together with his narrator, called Hunger. Wolf calls his style “narrative pointillism” and seeks to strip history from current perceptions back to its origins, “creating a picture or a story one point at a time. Each point has its own unique perspective. And only by stepping back to consider all the points together will the picture or story become complete.”

The Donner party was famous for its failure: despite trekking over a thousand miles across uncharted (literally, to their dismay) territory, they were stopped a mere 90 miles from the sunny California countryside, buried in The Snow that Fell Three Graves Deep. Despite my having read several versions of the tale, I was moved to tears by the poignant verses written from the point of view of multiple characters.

I note that all three of these books are based on human tragedy. I am not sure what that says about me, but I blame the pandemic.

© 2021 by Jeanne Munn Bracken