Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Super Star Children's Book Reviews: My Life As An Ice Cream Sandwich

Welcome to the monthly children’s book review feature with a focus on diverse books here at Bird Meets Worm! My team of reviewers—Joan Charles, Laurie L. Young, Sarah Orgill—and I are so excited to be championing books celebrating everything from gender diversity, people of color, the LGBTQ community to ethnic, cultural and religious minorities, people with disabilities and developmental challenges to controversial topics, unique family situations and anything and everything I did not include. It is to say we take a rightfully broad view of diversity! We aim to shine a light on books that bring both familiar experiences to those who do not often see themselves represented in books and new experiences to those looking to expand their worldview. Here at Bird Meets Worm we believe in the power of story to build empathy and thus a better world for you and me and everyone. Look for a new review on the second Wednesday of every month.

                           

MY LIFE AS AN ICE CREAM SANDWICH
By Ibi Zoboi • Jacket Art by Frank Morrison • Jacket Design by Kristin Boyle
Middle Grade (ages 10-13) • 336 pages
Published by Puffin Books • 2020
ISBN 978-0-3991-8736-0

In 1984, twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace Norfleet Freeman has an active imagination, an adventurer's spirit and a deep love for everything to do with space—including Star Trek, Star Wars, and her grandfather. Jeremiah Norfleet was one of the first black engineers to integrate NASA in the 1960's at the Marshall Space Flight Center and has helped raise his granddaughter with stories about the missions he's worked on. Together, they create their own science fictions, where she is E-Grace Starfleet, Space Cadet, and he is the wise Captain Fleet, aboard the Mothership Uhura, fighting the Sonic King on Planet Boombox.

But when trouble arises for her grandfather, Ebony-Grace is sent to a place that might as well be on another planet: New York City, which is the exact opposite of the small-town, Huntsville, Alabama home where she has grown up. Ebony-Grace hasn't seen her father or been to Harlem for a visit in five years. But when a week turns into a whole summer, Ebony-Grace has to find her way on this confusing planet, make friends with the neighborhood kids she sees nothing in common with, and try to understand the dark cloud hanging over her grandfather.

This is a perfect book. The writing is rich and full of all the sights and sounds of New York City, and Ebony-Grace is a character whom readers will instantly love and root for. Her wild imagination is brought to life in comic-book style illustrations that make you want to fight the Sonic King alongside her.

Buy this book:




Reviewed by: Laurie L. Young