Book list Camille has just wrapped a successful summer with her theater troupe and is ready for a prestigious theater camp with her crush. Then one missed period becomes two, and Camille faces the truth: her first sexual encounter, a one-time thing, has led to pregnancy. Camille knows she can't have a baby now, but she doesn't want to involve her parents, and her best friend, Bea, can't reconcile her religious views with Camille's decision. Complicating the situation are Texas' prohibitive abortion laws: it's a year after Senator Wendy Davis' filibuster and Governor Rick Perry's restrictive bill. Desperate, Camille turns to Annabelle, a girl she admires but hardly knows, who offers to drive her to Mexico for pills that will induce an abortion. At the last minute, despite her reservations, Bea decides to come as well. Waller (The Forbidden Orchid, 2016) hammers home the immense difficulties that girls in Camille's situation face. The story occasionally has the unnerving feel of a dystopia, despite taking place in the recent past: Camille travels hundreds of miles, crosses into dangerous border towns, and faces the judgment of legal and medical professionals as well as people she knows. The narrative sometimes treads into the expository, but Camille's story is absolutely essential, as is the underlying message that girls take care of each other when no one else will.--Maggie Reagan Copyright 2019 Booklist

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

School Library Journal Gr 9 Up-This compelling novel opens with a stark and timely reminder of a woman's right to choose in June 2014, when there were only 19 abortion clinics left in Texas, a state which included five million women of reproductive age. Camille, ready to spend her summer at an advanced drama camp, is horrified to find herself pregnant from her first and only sexual encounter, and unwilling to give her future up for a baby with a boy she's never spoken to again. Knowing she would be disappointing her parents and unwilling to tell them, Camille tries repeatedly to solve her problem, before setting off with two friends determined to help her: Annabelle because she believes in the right to choose, and Bea because she is Camille's friend. Waller realistically depicts the 17-year-old's struggles to get an abortion, from ending up at a clinic where she's prayed over, with a doctor who won't do anything without parental consent, to facing a judge who won't bypass parental consent as he's sure he's doing what's best for her. This title offers realistic viewpoints on teenage pregnancy, along with what it is like to have the right to choose, wanting that right, and living knowing that you will be judged for having exercised it. An author's note details what inspired this personal story and additional information on Roe v. Wade. VERDICT A first purchase.-Betsy Fraser, -Calgary Public Library, Canada © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus A teenage girl struggles to get an abortion in Texas. White cisgender Texan Camille had her dream summer planned out, complete with a spot in a prestigious theater summer camp. After an underwhelming one-night stand (her first time having sex), however, Camille discovers she is pregnant and decides to get an abortion. Afraid to tell her parents, she secretly gives up her spot at camp and embarks on a road trip to the Mexican border to access an abortion-inducing drug. She's joined by a liberal feminist acquaintance and, reluctantly, her conservative best friend (both white), and together they journey to battle shame and misogyny and to find themselves. Set a year after Sen. Wendy Davis' historic 2013 filibuster, Camille's first-person, present-tense narrative alternates between her road trip and flashbacks to her previous experiences, including visiting a Christian crisis pregnancy center and attempting to obtain a judicial bypass, in hopes of getting an abortion without her parents' knowledge. While readers will come to care about the characters and their relationships to some degree, the important informational content takes precedence overall. Meant to "sound an alarm," Waller's (The Forbidden Orchid, 2016, etc.) book is highly informative, filled with frank, detailed descriptions of our nation's restrictions on reproductive health as well as the emotional and physical experiences of abortion.A Forever-esque story for reproductive justice, this is a timely and vital book. (author's note, resources) (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list Camille has just wrapped a successful summer with her theater troupe and is ready for a prestigious theater camp with her crush. Then one missed period becomes two, and Camille faces the truth: her first sexual encounter, a one-time thing, has led to pregnancy. Camille knows she can't have a baby now, but she doesn't want to involve her parents, and her best friend, Bea, can't reconcile her religious views with Camille's decision. Complicating the situation are Texas' prohibitive abortion laws: it's a year after Senator Wendy Davis' filibuster and Governor Rick Perry's restrictive bill. Desperate, Camille turns to Annabelle, a girl she admires but hardly knows, who offers to drive her to Mexico for pills that will induce an abortion. At the last minute, despite her reservations, Bea decides to come as well. Waller (The Forbidden Orchid, 2016) hammers home the immense difficulties that girls in Camille's situation face. The story occasionally has the unnerving feel of a dystopia, despite taking place in the recent past: Camille travels hundreds of miles, crosses into dangerous border towns, and faces the judgment of legal and medical professionals as well as people she knows. The narrative sometimes treads into the expository, but Camille's story is absolutely essential, as is the underlying message that girls take care of each other when no one else will.--Maggie Reagan Copyright 2019 Booklist

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

School Library Journal Gr 9 Up-This compelling novel opens with a stark and timely reminder of a woman's right to choose in June 2014, when there were only 19 abortion clinics left in Texas, a state which included five million women of reproductive age. Camille, ready to spend her summer at an advanced drama camp, is horrified to find herself pregnant from her first and only sexual encounter, and unwilling to give her future up for a baby with a boy she's never spoken to again. Knowing she would be disappointing her parents and unwilling to tell them, Camille tries repeatedly to solve her problem, before setting off with two friends determined to help her: Annabelle because she believes in the right to choose, and Bea because she is Camille's friend. Waller realistically depicts the 17-year-old's struggles to get an abortion, from ending up at a clinic where she's prayed over, with a doctor who won't do anything without parental consent, to facing a judge who won't bypass parental consent as he's sure he's doing what's best for her. This title offers realistic viewpoints on teenage pregnancy, along with what it is like to have the right to choose, wanting that right, and living knowing that you will be judged for having exercised it. An author's note details what inspired this personal story and additional information on Roe v. Wade. VERDICT A first purchase.-Betsy Fraser, -Calgary Public Library, Canada © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus A teenage girl struggles to get an abortion in Texas. White cisgender Texan Camille had her dream summer planned out, complete with a spot in a prestigious theater summer camp. After an underwhelming one-night stand (her first time having sex), however, Camille discovers she is pregnant and decides to get an abortion. Afraid to tell her parents, she secretly gives up her spot at camp and embarks on a road trip to the Mexican border to access an abortion-inducing drug. She's joined by a liberal feminist acquaintance and, reluctantly, her conservative best friend (both white), and together they journey to battle shame and misogyny and to find themselves. Set a year after Sen. Wendy Davis' historic 2013 filibuster, Camille's first-person, present-tense narrative alternates between her road trip and flashbacks to her previous experiences, including visiting a Christian crisis pregnancy center and attempting to obtain a judicial bypass, in hopes of getting an abortion without her parents' knowledge. While readers will come to care about the characters and their relationships to some degree, the important informational content takes precedence overall. Meant to "sound an alarm," Waller's (The Forbidden Orchid, 2016, etc.) book is highly informative, filled with frank, detailed descriptions of our nation's restrictions on reproductive health as well as the emotional and physical experiences of abortion.A Forever-esque story for reproductive justice, this is a timely and vital book. (author's note, resources) (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list In this charming, beautifully illustrated collection, arranged by season, Salas employs a form she calls riddle-ku, a first-person haiku that hints at the speaker, inviting readers to guess its identity, typically an object or being associated with a season. For example, Spring opens with I am a wind bird, / sky skipper, diamond dipper, / DANCING on your string, and López's accompanying illustration depicts a soaring, large, red, bird-shaped kite guided by a boy holding the string below. Summer showcases fireflies, baseball, and fireworks. Fall features a school building ( my first-day outfit / is fresh paint and polished floors / here come my new friends! ), apple picking, and jack-o'-lanterns, while Winter includes snow, ice skates, and a hibernating animal: In fur coat and cave / I exhale white clouds of breath, / DREAM of sun . . . green . . . spring. The eloquent language ranges from philosophical to whimsical, and that tone is reflected in the colorful acrylic paintings, which nicely combine realism and abstract touches and provide visual clues. An author's note offers the inspiration behind her riddle-ku, with encouragement for readers to create their own; an answer key; and a further-reading list. While the riddles' mystique may wane once little ones solve them, the wonderfully evocative, vivid imagery in text and art also make this a welcome addition for poetry classroom units.--Shelle Rosenfeld Copyright 2019 Booklist

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

Kirkus In this spirited collaboration, Salas and Lpez present 24 suggestive poetic snapshots chronicling the cycle of a year. Highlighting season-appropriate objects for spring, fall, summer, and winter, Salas magnifies the spareness of the haiku form by turning each concentrated first-person portrait into a riddle as she tantalizingly omits naming the subject describing itself. Meanwhile Lpez offers young and pre-readers florid visual hints, depicting in deft brush strokes and lush colors the author's hidden subjects. Combined, these artists render objects gentle as summer's fireflies ("fire in our bellies / we FLICKER-FLASH in twilight / rich meadow of stars") or winter's snowflakes ("I'm cold confetti / falling from a crystal sky, / blanketing the town," here shown as a white-roofed town in a snow globe painted against a wintry verdigris sky spackled with haphazard white blots) or bold as a fall jack-o'-lantern ("I perch on the porch, / spooky face frozen in place, / fire BURNING inside"glowering large with flaming orange eyes as the finger of a ghostly trick-or-treater rings the doorbell in the background). What sets this volume apart from similar haiku explorations of the seasons is the tight synthesis of visual object and oblique verbal depiction, making for both wonderfully contemplative experiences of each illustrated poem and the seamless progression of nature's cycle through the year.Richly rewarding and clever: a visually arresting, inventive treatment of a popular subject. (Picture book/poetry. 5-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly Organized in four sections beginning with spring, Salas's lovely haiku are written in the voices of animals and organic or inanimate objects related to the seasons. "Fire in our bellies,/ we FLICKER-FLASH in twilight-/ rich meadow of stars," speak the summer's fireflies. Each haiku contains a riddle element-readers must guess the narrator (in an author's note, Salas refers to the form as a "riddle-ku"). It's not always clear who, or what, is speaking, but LA3pez's evocative acrylics visually communicate the imagery within the poems. "I'm a WRIGGLING tube,/ soft underground tunneler-/ I fear early birds," one announces. The small bird hovering over a hole clues readers in to the speaker's identity: a worm. The book's meditative tone and resonant images invite readers to embrace new ways of seeing the world around them. Ages 5-9. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Horn Book Divided into four sections by season, these "riddle-ku" poems use innovative language to represent something traditionally associated with each one. (For back-to-school in fall, for example: what is "a yellow train / carrying thoughts from your brain / to the waiting page?" A pencil.) In addition to helping readers solve the puzzles, the supporting acrylic and digital illustrations capture movement and texture through strong lines and seasonal hues. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

School Library Journal Gr 1-4-A sleek bird kite flown by a child in springtime kicks off this poetic collection of seasonal objects, animals, and activities. Six poems per season invite audience observation and enjoyment. First-time readers may not realize that each haiku is also a riddle with a list of answers found at the end of the book. Only in her concluding author's note does Salas describe the structure she calls "riddle-ku." Readers are meant to guess the identity of the non-human narrator in each poem. She also notes that the non-human voices make these "mask poems." Simple instructions then encourage readers to compose their own riddle-ku. The expansive acrylic scenes featuring children, animals and/or objects offer visual cues about the narrators. For instance, the leaves talk as a child happily bounces in a pile of them. Salas often sets a playful tone and is adept with language. Her diction and syntax are simple and fun. Paired with other seasonal materials, this book offers ample discussion and teaching opportunities with individual readers or groups. VERDICT This well-crafted work contains versatile possibilities for classrooms and libraries.-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions Inc. Terms

Book list This book opens with a new perspective on the events of January 6, 2021: that of Mike Stiegler, a White House Situation Room officer, who stepped out of his car at 4:20 a.m. that day and thought, “This doesn’t feel right.” The Situation Room, or Sit Room, is a 5,000-square-foot operations center on the ground floor of the West Wing. Created in 1961 to be a communications hub amid national crises, it epitomizes the expression “if these walls could talk.” And if anyone can coax confessions out of them, it is political commentator and former White House communications director Stephanopoulos. Putting himself, gonzo-style, at the center of the action, he takes the reader on a thrilling tour of this little known but crucial facet of the United States government. Stephanopoulos is known for making Republican interviewees squirm, but this book shows he can go after Democrats too, as when he asks President Biden, regarding his prediction that the Taliban would not take over Afghanistan, “Was [your] intelligence wrong, or did you downplay it?” A must-read for history and political wonks. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Stephanopoulos' recognizable name and the intriguing topic are a heady mix that will make for lots of interest.

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

Library Journal Journalist Stephanopoulos (All Too Human), who was senior advisor to the president for policy and strategy during the Clinton administration, has collaborated with Lisa Dickey (coauthor, Walk Through Fire) to pen a history of the White House Situation Room. The Situation Room was built for the Kennedy administration in 1961, after the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Today, it's a meeting complex (not a singular room) from which national security principals, including the president, manage crises. The book covers the Situation Room's role in crises (like Kennedy's assassination) and military operations (like U.S. forces' 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan). The book is based on interviews (including with President Biden). There are accounts of the stalwart role of women in the room's decision-making and the changing capabilities of communications technology, plus personal stories about emotional Situation Room moments like 9/11 and the January 6 insurrection. The book also reveals new information about events like the Obama administration's painstaking planning surrounding the assassination of Osama bin Laden. Note that the book does not analyze the actual decision-making. VERDICT Personal accounts drive this highly recommended book's powerful accounts of the crises handled over 60 years in the Situation Room.—Zachary Irwin

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus A behind-the-scenes look inside the White House Situation Room. Stephanopoulos, co-host of Good Morning America and author of All Too Human, served as Bill Clinton’s senior adviser for policy and strategy. His position and history as a Washington, D.C., insider allows him to examine a series of crises through the story of the Situation Room, located in the subterranean bowels of the White House complex. The author explains that the room was set up in the wake of the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961, which John F. Kennedy blamed on poor advice. The idea was to centralize information collection and give the president a dedicated space for decision-making, with a permanent staff of geopolitical experts. Stephanopoulos tracks events ranging from the defeat in Vietnam, to the collapse of the Soviet Union, to 9/11, examining the management styles of the presidents and other key figures and punctuating the story with interviews wherever possible. A peculiar element is that, despite its importance, for a long time, the place itself was unimpressive, much like a dull corporate meeting room. New communication equipment and technology were gradually added, and by the time of the operation to eliminate Osama bin Laden, the president could watch events unfold in real time. In fact, the problems of the current era are information overload and the temptation to micromanage. In early 2023, the room was remodeled into “a digitally advanced, ergonomically designed, smartly configured complex,” and it is now known as the WHSR (pronounced “whizzer”). This transformation was inevitable and necessary, although the author clearly feels a twinge of nostalgia. Recounting a history that might have been lost, Stephanopoulos presents an interesting package for political aficionados as well as general readers. An effective blend of political analysis and personal stories, tied together at the epicenter of crisis management. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly ABC News host Stephanopoulos (All Too Human) takes readers behind the scenes of a legendary White House location in this sprightly history. The Situation Room’s origins date back to the spring of 1961, when Godfrey McHugh, JFK’s Air Force aide, recommended the establishment of a “National Daily Situation Room” that would “serve as a management tool by providing intelligence, communications, briefing, display and monitor facilities.” His recommendation was implemented after the April 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco, which exposed the limits of the president’s access to real-time information; within weeks of the disaster, President Kennedy ordered the creation of a space along the lines of McHugh’s suggestion, and it was constructed in a week, at a cost of $35,000. Stephanopoulos walks readers through its evolution and use during multiple consequential moments in American history, including LBJ’s micromanaging of the Vietnam War and Nixon’s staff’s efforts to avert WWIII in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur War while the president was intoxicated and unable to function. Each section emphasizes the admirable commitment to duty of Situation Room staff; even when the White House was considered at risk on 9/11, the personnel assigned there refused orders to leave their posts, and other staff remained to support them, including the White House chef. Presidential history buffs will find much of interest here. (May)

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Publishers Weekly In this exuberant illustrated novel by previous collaborators Eggers and Harris (What Can a Citizen Do?), high-spirited narrator Johannes is an “unkept and free” dog entrusted by the Keepers of the Equilibrium—three penned Bison who oversee the park where they all live—to be the park’s Eyes. Aided by a team of “comrades, allies” known as the Assistant Eyes (seagull Bertrand, squirrel Sonja, pelican Yolanda, and raccoon Angus), Johannes reports each day’s occurrences to the Bison, including anything that might upset the Equilibrium. When construction activity is detected, Johannes encounters “rectangles full of gorgeous commotion”—an art display that transfixes him, leading to his being leashed. After a dramatic cooperative rescue devised by the Assistant Eyes, Johannes realizes the “glory of liberation” and determines to free the Bison from their enclosure. Studded with strong opinions about the park’s residents (“The ducks know nothing”), a quick-moving first-person voice melds the dog’s background, beliefs, and observations. Eggers crafts a marvelous, fully fleshed protagonist in Johannes, who is at once an ebullient braggart, a faithful and intrepid operative, and a drolly humorous reporter whose compassionate narration delivers a rousing tale of community, joyful self-reliance, and the pleasures of running very, very fast. Aligning with themes of art and perspective, Harris contributes illustrations of Johannes as added to full-page reproductions of classical landscapes. Ages 8–12. (May)

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Kirkus A wild dog who serves as the Eyes for Bison living in a park enclosure devises a plan to free them. Exuberant, observant dog Johannes runs daily throughout the park, which is visited by humans, reporting to Freya, Meredith, and Samuel, three old Bison who are the Keepers of the Equilibrium. Johannes and other Assistant Eyes—a sea gull, a squirrel, a pelican, and a raccoon—describe an art museum being built in the park, a “building full of chaos-rectangles.” Johannes finds it captivating, leading to his capture by humans—and subsequent rescue by the other Eyes in a demonstration of interspecies cooperation. This gives him the idea to free the Bison. The appearance of goats, who have been brought in to eat weeds, provides a friend, a revelation, and a new plan and purpose: “to pull off the impossible.” Johannes’ first-person narration is an interesting mix of poetic language, sophisticated vocabulary, philosophy, humor, hyperbole, and both short declarative and run-on sentences; his estimations of time, size, and quantity are particularly exaggerated. Johannes’ loyalty, friendship, and commitment to a noble purpose, even as his sense of self shifts, the stakes are raised, and last-minute changes to the plan occur, make him an admirable character. The artwork consists of double-page spreads reproducing magnificent fine art landscapes into which Harris has seamlessly inserted Johannes, cleverly adapting to each painter’s style and color palette. One remarkable creature vividly shows readers that “there is so, so much to see.” (author’s note, sources) (Fiction. 9-14) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list Johannes has always lived his life as a free dog in a vast park by the sea. Three captive elderly bison are the Keepers of the Equilibrium and overseers of the land, and they’ve dubbed Johannes “the Eyes,” as his agility and observant gaze allow him to notice the park’s happenings and report back to the bison. An assortment of wild animals assists Johannes on his daily intel gatherings, and he’s content in his dear friendships and freedom. But change is afoot: an enormous building containing mesmerizing rectangles is being built, a herd of mysterious creatures has set up shop in a field, and a heroic act brings Johannes intense human scrutiny that impedes his duties as the Eyes. It will require all of Johannes’ ingenuity, kindness, and speed to navigate the new developments while maintaining his precious independence. The utterly delightful book is narrated by a distinctly canine voice similar to the narrator’s in Eggers’ short story “After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned,” and though Johannes is prone to matter-of-fact bragging and hilarious exaggeration, he’s also capable of profound introspection and appreciation of life’s wonders. Eggers touches on deep topics with a light hand, effortlessly building suspense and a wonderful sense of adventure. A merry reminder to face the truth about the world and ourselves with compassion, curiosity, and joy.

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

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