![]() ![]() While Trev’s stepfather has always told him it’s his duty to stand up for himself-with his fists if needed-various men in the neighborhood attempt to set him on a different path. Twelve-year-old Trevor’s stepfather went to jail for beating Trev’s mother, and now that he’s due to be released, the young Black boy feels he alone must protect the family from further abuse. “It takes a village to raise a child.” These words don’t impress the narrator of Torrey Maldonado’s Hands (Nancy Paulsen Books, Jan. For some readers, the books below will be eye-opening, while others will see their own experiences reflected in these pages. But more and more middle-grade novels are centering children who are forced to grow up fast. Shouldering burdens is tough, but so is loneliness it’s easy for kids to assume they’re the only ones going through this, that everyone else has a so-called “normal” life. Many kids, for various reasons, are forced to assume adult responsibilities, from looking after younger siblings to putting food on the table. Parachute Kids is a powerful reminder that there is no universal experience of childhood. As Tang writes in her author’s note, the phenomenon of sending kids to the United States alone isn’t uncommon for Chinese immigrants, but it’s one that is rarely talked about she hopes her book will change that. The siblings’ lives are anything but untroubled as they adjust to a new country, manage the household, and study hard, and though family friends are on hand to help, nothing can replace the support of their own parents. Set in 1981, this graphic novel follows three Taiwanese children as they arrive in Los Angeles for a vacation that they soon realize is a permanent stay: Their parents will be returning home to Taiwan due to visa issues. Tang’s Parachute Kids (Graphix/Scholastic, April 4). ![]() What words come to mind when you think of childhood? For me, carefree and idyllic have been the operative words, but I had a rude awakening when I read Betty C.
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