Kirkus In 1993, 16 year-old Maggie and her family move from Chicago to small-town Ireland with the latest of her mother's romantic partners. Moving to Bray, Maggie leaves behind warm, practical Nanny Ei and beloved Uncle Kevin, a 26-year-old who plays in a band, sneaks her into grunge rock concerts and makes himself responsible for Maggie's musical education. Arriving in Ireland, Maggie finds that she's no better at fitting in with the girls of St. Brigid's than she had been at her old school. Instead, she forms a loose web of connections with local figures: Dan Sean, a Bray legend at 99, whose home becomes a refuge for Maggie in times of family conflict; Ane, the bookish classmate with whom Maggie reluctantly goes on double dates; and Eoin, the gentle boy with whom Maggie falls in love. The narrative subtly and carefully interweaves peer and family dramamuch of it involving troubled Uncle Kevinwith the highs and lows of the grunge music scene, from the transformative glory of a Nirvana concert to the outpouring of grief around the death of Kurt Cobain. Every character, every place comes alive with crisp, precise detail: Maggie's heartbroken mother "howling along in an off-key soprano" to Joni Mitchell's Blue, Dan Sean welcoming Maggie with a Cossack's hat and a hefty glass of port. Powerfully evocative. (Historical fiction. 14 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list It's the eve of 1994, and the grunge movement has reached its fevered height. On Ireland's east coast, 16-year-old Maggie, disgruntled and displaced from her native Chicago, after her flighty mother's recent marriage, listens to Nirvana and misses the uncle in America who snuck her into rock concerts. Her plan is to keep her head down and wait for her mother's relationship to implode, but she finds herself drawn into her new town of Bray and its generations of inhabitants. When her first real loss comes on the heels of her first love, she undertakes a pilgrimage to the mecca of grunge music: a Nirvana concert in Rome. Rock-savvy readers might recognize the time line as the story hurtles towards that infamous April of 1994, but, with or without that knowledge, they will be drawn into the sometimes seedy, sometimes madcap atmosphere of this first novel. A mostly fleshed-out cast of supporting characters and rich storytelling make this appealing both to teens and to the contingent that still has copies of Nevermind on vinyl.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2015 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

School Library Journal Gr 9 Up-This promising debut, set in the heyday of grunge, tells the story of Maggie Lynch, a displaced Chicagoan and grunge music fan, living in a quiet town (Bray) on the Irish Sea. Maggie was uprooted from her friends, her music scene, and her beloved Uncle Kevin when her romantically fickle mother married her latest boyfriend, resulting in a move to his hometown. During her time of difficult adjustment to Ireland, Maggie falls in love with Eion the very moment a devastating loss hits her family, leading to rebellion and a journey to Rome to see Nirvana and fulfill Uncle Kevin's wish for her. Foley sets the scene vividly, writing that Bray has a "soggy sort of grandeur" and weaving in the tiny cultural differences that Maggie has to navigate as an American. The narrative voice is clear and compelling, but Maggie often makes decisions that feel incongruous to her character. She has an independent spirit, but Eion only joins her on the journey because she needs a rescue. A self-professed Nirvana fan, which is critical to the plot, she never seems to like the band as much as she is trying to impress Uncle Kevin. However, the secondary characters are complex and sympathetic: Foley has also populated Bray with a host of quirky, loving, and memorable background characters, which enriches the story. Recommended for teens who enjoy travelogue romance stories or novels about rock music.- Susannah Goldstein, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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School Library Journal Gr 9 Up-When 16-year-old Maggie's mother decides to marry someone she just met and move the family from Chicago to Ireland, Maggie is unsure what to expect. Leaving behind her beloved Uncle Kevin and grandmother, Maggie is slow to make friends in the rural town of Bray, though her eight-year-old sister quickly assimilates. Maggie finds refuge with a 99-year-old neighbor and falls for a boy who works in the local pub her mother and stepfather frequent. When Uncle Kevin suddenly dies, Maggie runs away in order to fulfill her uncle's dying bequest to attend a Nirvana concert in Rome. Music is a pervasive theme; it's 1993 and Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, and the grunge movement play key roles in the story. Erin Moon perfectly captures the lilting Irish dialects while clearly differentiating among voices. Portions of Irish folksongs are performed beautifully. -VERDICT The themes of dysfunctional families, moving, first (and awful) sexual experiences, and rebellious music will resonate with teens. Give this to fans of This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales (Farrar, 2013). ["Promising debut": SLJ 9/14 review of the Elephant Rock book.]-Julie Paladino, formerly of East Chapel Hill High School, NC © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Publishers Weekly As they did in Baby Goes to Market, Atinuke and Brooksbank include readers in the book's antics while leaving out the characters who surround Baby. Pictures tell the story alongside minimal text that introduces B words (baby, beads, basket). After Baby tumbles into a basket of bananas bound for Baba's bungalow, Brother, plugged into his headphones, replaces the basket's cover and loads it onto his bicycle, oblivious to its additional cargo. Subtle visual foreshadowing gives kids a peek at upcoming words as the boy pedals along: one of the birds seen perched in a baobab tree appears at close range on the following spread ("B is for Beautiful"), which also displays a baboon-filled tree in the background ("B is for Baboon"). A page later, one of the monkeys snags the top off the basket, exposing its stowaway passenger and paving the way for the big reveal to a shocked Brother and thrilled Baba. Featuring loose lines and an earth-toned backdrop, Brooksbank's energetic mixed-media art showcases the brilliant colors of African vegetation and clothing, and infuses Atinuke's sweet phrases with warmth and humor. Ages 3-7. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Book list This clever story puts the focus on the letter B. In fact, it's the key element that moves the text. In an unspecified African village, we meet a baby whose mother is putting beads in her hair. B is also for basket; this woven one is to be brought to Baba by Brother, filled with bananas for this grandfather's breakfast. But what readers see, and Brother does not, thanks to his headphones blocking out any sounds as he rides to Baba's, is that Baby has crawled into the basket secured on the rear of his bike. Along the way, Baby spies birds and butterflies and gets a biscuit when finally discovered by a surprised grandfather. A miniature panorama on the final page shows the trip home. The children's mom doesn't seem pleased by the adventure. Each page displays one terse sentence, such as "B is for beautiful." The colorful mixed-media art, however, is expansive, whether showing a single image of a curious baby playing with her toe, or detailing the lush surroundings. This one's a charmer.--Ilene Cooper Copyright 2019 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Horn Book From Atinuke and Brooksbank (Baby Goes to Market), another tenderly funny story set in an unspecified African village and starring a winsome baby girl. B is not only for baby but also for an intriguing basket with a lid; when the little girl peeks inside, a sequence of pictures shows her overbalancing into the basket and then settling in happily. Brooksbank's mixed-media illustrations use warm colors on spacious off-white pages. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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School Library Journal Toddler-PreS-"B is for Baby" is the first and last line of this entertaining story of a baby girl, her brother, a bicycle, some bananas, and a big surprise. Highlighting words that begin with the letter "B," and with only four words per page-except for one spread-a simple story emerges that will engage small children and be accessible, with a little help, to early readers. In an unspecified African village, a mother gets her very young daughter dressed and ready for the day. She sends her son off with a basket filled with bananas to share with his grandfather. Unbeknownst to the boy, his little sister has fallen into the basket and is along for the ride to Baba's bungalow. The tale takes readers forward and then reverses the steps as the boy returns to his mother with his sister in tow. Illustrations in mixed media are large and bright with a white background. Animals, trees, flowers, and the inhabitants' dress reveal a bit of village life. VERDICT This tale offers eye-catching colors and a clever and fun way to introduce the "B" sound while telling a story.-Maryann H. Owen, Oak Creek Public Library WI © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Kirkus A circular tale of family love with visual rewards for sharp-eyed listeners. In this story that looks like an alphabet book but focuses exclusively on the letter B, a smiling woman, probably mama, stands in a yard, holding Baby cheek-to-cheek, as another woman chats with four children under the awning of a small tin-roofed house in the background. Many visual details hint at this book's African (probably Nigerian) setting. After Mama Beads Baby's hair, Brother loads a Basket of Bananas onto his Bicycle while bopping to the beat of what's playing through his headphones, oblivious to everything elseespecially the fact that Baby climbed into the Basket to have a Banana for Breakfast. On the road, he passes a Baobab tree, Birds, a Butterfly, Baboons, a Bus brimming over with brown-skinned riders crossing a Bridge, and more sightsfew of which Brother notices. Nothing, however, escapes the keen eyes of Baby. Only when Brother lifts the Bananas from the Bicycle rack does anyone discover the stowaway. A surprised Baba happily welcomes both grandchildren, who join him for Biscuits and bottles of something bubbly. Brooksbank effectively avoids stereotypes while adding humor and cultural specificity to the story with her detailed and lively, colorful, mixed-media images. Safety-conscious caregivers may suck their teeth, but there's no denying the joy in this book.Atinuke has bottled the delightful energy of the Anna Hibiscus books and poured it into this treat for younger readers. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Publishers Weekly Connecticut senator Murphy (The Violence Inside Us) diagnoses the causes of America’s growing alienation and economic disparity and proposes solutions in this sharp but uneven analysis. He opens with a surreal scene—his 14-year-old son’s hockey league, now “backed by private equity investment,” banned parents from filming games in favor of subscribing to their “$25 to 50 a month” streaming service. It’s an apt jumping-off point for Murphy’s larger argument that monied interests and “me-first” individualism have left citizens “fragmented and spiritually adrift.” The root of this problem, he asserts, lies in six “false cults,” ranging from the cult of profit, with corporations solely focused on shareholder gains, to the cult of credentials, leading to a “growing education divide.” Murphy’s critiques are most incisive when bolstered by his own experiences, like a chilling meeting with OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who attempted to assuage Murphy’s AI skepticism by hyping how “AI will replace human friendship.” His historical analysis is shakier—pointing to 1970s auto manufacturing as exemplary of worker power strikes an odd note, even with an acknowledgment of the industry’s “racial tension”—and his policy solutions are a rocky mix of progressive standards such as antitrust reforms, ambitious concepts like a constitutional amendment to ban dark money from elections, and strangely specific ideas like ending the use of Clear, a biometric identity verification system, at airports. It’s a promising agenda that needs more refinement. (May)

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School Library Journal : Gr 5–8—Somewhere in contemporary Britain, "the man Jack" uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe. Nobody Owens, so named because he "looks like nobody but himself," grows up among a multigenerational cast of characters from different historical periods that includes matronly Mistress Owens; ancient Roman Caius Pompeius; an opinionated young witch; a melodramatic hack poet; and Bod's beloved mentor and guardian, Silas, who is neither living nor dead and has secrets of his own. As he grows up, Bod has a series of adventures, both in and out of the graveyard, and the threat of the man Jack who continues to hunt for him is ever present. Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provide the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting. The child Bod's behavior is occasionally too precocious to be believed, and a series of puns on the name Jack render the villain a bit less frightening than he should be, though only momentarily. Aside from these small flaws, however, Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family.—Megan Honig, New York Public Library

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Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions Inc. Terms

Publishers Weekly: In this risky but resoundingly successful novel, Kingsolver leaves the Southwest, the setting of most of her work (The Bean Trees; Animal Dreams) and follows an evangelical Baptist minister's family to the Congo in the late 1950s, entwining their fate with that of the country during three turbulent decades. Nathan Price's determination to convert the natives of the Congo to Christianity is, we gradually discover, both foolhardy and dangerous, unsanctioned by the church administration and doomed from the start by Nathan's self-righteousness. Fanatic and sanctimonious, Nathan is a domestic monster, too, a physically and emotionally abusive, misogynistic husband and father. He refuses to understand how his obsession with river baptism affronts the traditions of the villagers of Kalinga, and his stubborn concept of religious rectitude brings misery and destruction to all. Cleverly, Kingsolver never brings us inside Nathan's head but instead unfolds the tragic story of the Price family through the alternating points of view of Orleanna Price and her four daughters. Cast with her young children into primitive conditions but trained to be obedient to her husband, Orleanna is powerless to mitigate their situation. Meanwhile, each of the four Price daughters reveals herself through first-person narration, and their rich and clearly differentiated self-portraits are small triumphs. Rachel, the eldest, is a self-absorbed teenager who will never outgrow her selfish view of the world or her tendency to commit hilarious malapropisms. Twins Leah and Adah are gifted intellectually but are physically and emotionally separated by Adah's birth injury, which has rendered her hemiplagic. Leah adores her father; Adah, who does not speak, is a shrewd observer of his monumental ego. The musings of five- year-old Ruth May reflect a child's humorous misunderstanding of the exotic world to which she has been transported. By revealing the story through the female victims of Reverend Price's hubris, Kingsolver also charts their maturation as they confront or evade moral and existential issues and, at great cost, accrue wisdom in the crucible of an alien land. It is through their eyes that we come to experience the life of the villagers in an isolated community and the particular ways in which American and African cultures collide. As the girls become acquainted with the villagers, especially the young teacher Anatole, they begin to understand the political situation in the Congo: the brutality of Belgian rule, the nascent nationalism briefly fulfilled in the election of the short-lived Patrice Lumumba government, and the secret involvement of the Eisenhower administration in Lumumba's assassination and the installation of the villainous dictator Mobutu. In the end, Kingsolver delivers a compelling family saga, a sobering picture of the horrors of fanatic fundamentalism and an insightful view of an exploited country crushed by the heel of colonialism and then ruthlessly manipulated by a bastion of democracy. The book is also a marvelous mix of trenchant character portrayal, unflagging narrative thrust and authoritative background detail. The disastrous outcome of the forceful imposition of Christian theology on indigenous natural faith gives the novel its pervasive irony; but humor is pervasive, too, artfully integrated into the children's misapprehensions of their world; and suspense rises inexorably as the Price family's peril and that of the newly independent country of Zaire intersect. Kingsolver moves into new moral terrain in this powerful, convincing and emotionally resonant novel. Agent, Frances Goldin; BOMC selection; major ad/promo; author tour.

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