Bookverdict.com

Gr 5–8—Reynolds's engaging middle grade debut stars 11-year-old African American Genie Harris, an inveterate worrywart who considers Google his best friend, and his older brother Ernie, who is well on his way to being a cool dude (sunglasses and all). The born and bred Brooklynites are to spend a month with their grandparents in rural Virginia while their parents take a long overdue vacation and work out their marital problems. It is only after the boys are left in their grandfather's care that they realize that he is blind. They are also surprised to learn that they are expected to do chores and follow their grandmother's...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Reynolds (The Boy in the Black Suit, rev. 3/15; with Brendan Kiely, All American Boys, rev. 11/15) delivers an emotionally resonant middle-grade story of an African American family working to overcome its tumultuous past in hopes of a better future. Not-quite-teenager Genie Harris has a notebook full of questions, ranging from the superficial ("Why are swallows called swallows? did people used to eat them?") to the introspective ("Why am I so stupid?"). But there is no question as to why he and his older brother Ernie find themselves far from their Broo...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Reynolds delivers an emotionally resonant story of an African American family working to overcome its past. Warmly told in third...Log In or Sign Up to Read More