The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This nonfiction work was written by a poet, and it works beautifully. The reader is given all the details of an amazing 17th century artist and scientist alongside the stages of a butterflies metamorphosis, obviously showing a connection between the two. The art is beautiful, and made more interesting by being original illustrations by the subject and her contemporaries. In addition, I was impressed by the amount of background information of the era, including the the existence of slavery in Suriname and ongoing threat of witch trials in Europe, things that could have easily been glossed over, but impacted Maria Merian and her life, and so were given context in the story.

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Watch Us Rise

Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a dynamic mix of a novel, filled with poetry, blog posts, and comments which keep the reader moving through the story. I feel like this mixture is geared perfectly to teens, and will draw them in. The characters are mostly well drawn, with flaws as well as strengths. While I have no experience with a school so focused on social justice and free expression, I do recognize the dynamic of a place so focused on it's outward appearance that it is blind to it's internal flaws. The addition of so many names in poetry, feminism and social justice, along with the extensive bibliography at the end are a giant plus. I have only two critiques. A few of the time jumps seems too disjointed. So much seems to be happening at the school, and then suddenly it's a month later. And the character of Nadine frustrated me as well. Every other character, including the teachers and parents seemed well drawn and to contribute a perspective to the story, but Nadine seemed to have no point of view. The book feels very important and will find a place on most library shelves and hopefully into the hands of many who need a push to make their own stand.

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