Rhapsody in Books Weblog

This mostly wordless book conveys a lovely fantasy about a special friendship between two very different beings united in their love of art. The ability of art to transcend barriers, aided by kindness and acceptance, can make the world a more beautiful place, and draw people together. But sometimes it takes the innocence of a child to make that happen.

Chloe Maldonado, Afro-Latino like the author, is a fictional ballerina from Spanish Harlem who forms an unexpected friendship with a polar bear. She, along with some others from her dance troupe, had been doing a picture shoot at the New York City’s Central Park Zoo. A polar bear seemed quite taken with Chloe and her dancing, and that night, he climbed out of his enclosure and headed for the Lincoln Center, where the Harlem Children’s Ballet was due to perform.

When the bear arrived however, he encountered a sign on the ticket box, “No Polar Bears Allowed!” He was told to leave. He let out a huge growl, and Chloe heard him. She ran to the foyer and guided the bear to a front row seat before she went on stage. He was entranced by the program, and danced his way back to the zoo.

Happily, the censorious adults in the story could not take away either the joy of the performance by the girl or the bear’s pleasure in watching it. The bear may have been huge and she just a small girl, but they were kindred spirits, and that awareness cemented their unlikely relationship.

The author/illustrator is one of the most successful and distinguished Afro-Latino book illustrators. He said that he got into writing and illustrating books for the benefit of children like him so they could see themselves.

(And in fact, as the data for 2024 from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center shows, children are more likely to see animals as main characters in books than they are to see minorities. White students, on the other hand, spend their K-12 career reading mostly books about people who share their racial identity, with the result that they have fewer opportunities to learn about or empathize with others who are different than themselves.)

Velasquez’s stunning oil paintings on watercolor paper are made from only four colors, and impart a dream-like quality to the story. But the focus is sharp when it comes to showing facial expressions and movement. He depicts a wide range of emotions, especially in the scenes featuring the ballerina and her mother. He also deftly portrays movement, whether it is walking, running, or dancing – you can feel the characters in motion.

The front matter provides a smattering of facts about polar bears, and back matter is presented as if it is part of the dance program that was the subject of the book.

Evaluation: This story, suggested for ages 4 and over, is enchanting, and the few facts about polar bears are tantalizing enough to inspire some readers to follow them up. (I’m one of them! I read in the front of the book, “Polar bear fur isn’t really white. A polar bear’s fur is transparent . . . ” and I had to know more!) From a Library of Congress website I learned:

“The hair of a polar bear looks white because the air spaces in each hair scatter light of all colors. The color white becomes visible to our eyes when an object reflects back all of the visible wavelengths of light, rather than absorbing some of the wavelengths.”

Via asknature.org

Wow, who knew?

Rating: 4/5

Published by Holiday House, 2025

This riveting book about the changing Arctic and its growing importance is part history, part political treatise, part environmental primer, and part a lyrical travelogue. It also is a paean to the Arctic’s wild and as yet untouched areas, and its star-filled (and increasingly, Starlink-filled) skies.

Rosen dismisses Trump’s obvious canard that “climate change is a hoax” and instead focuses on how (other) nations across the globe acknowledge the warming planet.

[Note: On December 16, 2025, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported: “The Arctic last season was the hottest it has been in the past 125 years. The extent of sea ice during its usual maximum in March was the lowest in 47 years of satellite recordkeeping. The North American tundra was more green with plant life than ever recorded.”]

Rosen sets the stage for his tour of the region by defining the parameters of “the Arctic” and pointing out that the Arctic is warming four to five times faster than the rest of the world. He explains thermohaline circulation, the process by which salt and water temperatures are dispersed throughout the world’s oceans, and provides examples of what climate-related changes have already occurred in Arctic countries. He notes that each year, the planet permanently loses a section of sea ice the size of Nebraska, and what that means for global temperatures.

Many nations regard the Arctic, with its increasing accessibility thanks to melting, as presenting an opportunity for expansion and the establishment of military dominance.

[Trump is not totally oblivious to the value of the Arctic, as shown by his stated intention to “to make Greenland a part of the U.S.” Greenland has rare earth minerals, vital to high-tech industries. This asset has attracted the interest of top officials in the Trump administration, who see an opportunity for – frankly – plunder. As Brian Kilmeade recently said on Fox, “Look, we are going to need their natural resources to mine them . . . But in the meantime, we have to expand our bases there and access to the waterways, because the arctic is melting and we need access there. Russia and China is (sic) trying to dominate.” And Trump’s top aide Stephen Miller asserted (after the Venezuela invasion) that Greenland “rightfully” belonged to the United States and that the Trump administration could seize the semiautonomous Danish territory if it wanted, because “We live in a world, in the real world . . . that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.”]

Via Washington Post, Jan 7, 2026

Drawing on interviews with more than 400 individuals and from having embedded himself in a number of Arctic operations, Rosen found serious mismanagement by the US in its half-hearted attempts to pierce the new “ice curtain” in the Arctic. Furthermore, “the Trump Administration’s egregious campaign to ‘get’ and ‘secure’ Greenland” managed to alienate all concerned parties: “America has not gracefully risen to meet the occasion.”

Rather, Rosen reports, US troops sent to train in and patrol the area have to deal with infrastructure dating from the Cold War that is now crumbing as the permafrost melts; a lack of suitable equipment that can withstand the frigid temperatures; chronic underfunding; and low morale combined with a high suicide rate.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star in Antarctica, Jan. 17, 2022. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)
The U.S. Navy does not have any icebreaker ships in its inventory, while the U.S. Coast Guard has two aging icebreakers. The US Arctic Security Affairs advisors recommend acquiring new icebreaker ships for the Arctic, where the ice is melting year by year and forming new waterways. Via Navalnews.com

[In October, 2025, the US contracted with Finland to build new icebreakers to be purchased for the Coast Guard. Simultaneously, it undermined a long-planned change by the International Maritime Organization to force ships to start paying fees for the greenhouse gases their vessels inevitably emit which damage the climate. (US officials were accused of “bullying” and “intimidation”, as the UK Guardian reported. Specifically, “The US threatened countries, and individual officials, with tariffs, penalties and visa revocations if they supported the pricing mechanism.”)]

Other countries have stepped up their commitment. In fact, Rosen points out, some in the Arctic even characterize this as a “pre-war” period.

Rosen ends with a “to-do” list for the U.S. to meet the moment, but it clearly would call for a different Administration to accept the need for, much less endeavor to accomplish, any of his proposed action items.

Evaluation: Fascinating and highly recommended.

Rating: 4.5/5

Published by Simon & Schuster, 2026

Severe and life-threatening weather events can be so traumatic that psychological effects linger for years, especially if those in the path of storms have lost property, pets, or family members. It is particularly frightening for children.

In an After Note to this book, award-winning author/illustrator Jason Chin explains that he wanted to help kids understand hurricanes since, on account of global warming, hurricanes are not only more frequent but more powerful, dangerous and destructive. And a lot more kids will be experiencing hurricanes directly.

He focuses on Hatteras Island, off the coast of North Carolina. While the hurricane he describes in the book is fictional, he notes that over the past century, more than 30 hurricanes have passed close to Cape Hatteras.

He describes how hurricanes are tracked by meteorologists who are hurricane specialists. He then takes readers day by day from the time of the hurricane’s prediction to its impact and aftermath. Scenes switch between the activities of island residents and those of the scientists following events.

He relates that the residents of Hatteras Island shared their experiences of hurricanes with him, and he incorporated many of their stories into the book. He also benefited from the expertise of a number of experts from the National Hurricane Center and other research departments.

Background on forecasts, wind speeds, and water and air temperatures that affect the hurricane’s formation is interpolated into the text. The residents are shown taking steps to prepare for impact, and helping neighbors to do so as well. Chin said in an interview, “The vital idea for this book is the importance of community and cooperation in the face of danger.”

Extensive back matter on the technical details of a hurricane’s structure and formation is written in a way that is engaging and suitable for a younger audience. 

The illustrations, using watercolors, pen and ink, and gouache, show Chin’s usual dedication to research and scientific accuracy. His artwork is beautiful, managing to convey the strength of the storms, and the beauty of the coastlines that are assailed by them.

Discussion: Hopefully having better knowledge about hurricanes will help kids overcome some of the fears they face in weather-related disasters. It might even inspire some readers to think about studying meteorology themselves. In an interview, Chin said:

“For this book, I had the privilege of speaking with Shirley Murillo, the deputy director of NOAA’s hurricane research division and a former hurricane hunter. These heroic scientists and pilots fly into hurricanes to collect weather data, because they know it will save lives by improving forecasts. I loved learning about the innovative technology they’ve pioneered and how the team works together to complete the mission.”

But in that same interview about this book, he also revealed:

“Unfortunately, its release was timely in a way I wasn’t expecting. As Hurricane hit shelves in May 2025, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists and meteorologists who inspired me and are featured prominently in the book as heroes were targeted for elimination by the current administration.”

Evaluation: Jason Chin’s books are unfailingly educational, engrossing, and visually rewarding. This outstanding book will make a great resource for teachers and in libraries. Parents and kids with gift certificates from the holidays might also consider purchasing this book, especially those who live in vulnerable areas.

Rating: 5/5

Published by Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Holiday House, 2025

This is the first of a speculative fiction series set in a post-apocalyptic era in Luxana, the capital city of Roma Sargassa. There are many parallels between the society of fictional Sargassa which is set in the future and that of (actual) Ancient Rome.

The main characters take turns narrating, and come from various social castes, representing the dominant patricians, the servants, the secret police, and revolutionaries from the lower strata.

The story begins with the murder by poisoning of Alexander Kleios, the Imperial Historian – only in his late 40s. His daughter Selah, 22, must now assume her father’s position, but is totally unprepared to do so. Her older half-brother Arran, 26, cannot be the new Historian nor the paterfamilias, or head of household. Arran was born a verna; Alexander was Arran’s father, but his mother had been a Servan, or slave. [As in Ancient Rome, a slave born of a slave mother to a patrician father and raised in his household was known as a verna, and was thus distinguished from those slaves who were purchased or inherited.] When his father died, Arran had the awkward status of not-really-a-patrician but still part of a noble family.

Credit: Riley’s Ancient History Portfolio

Selah’s best friend – and maybe more than that – was Tair, also a verna living in the house, who had come to the Kleios familia as part of settlement for her father’s debt. Both girls were now almost 18. A verna who was 18 could be designated “plebeian citizen,” but could always have that citizenship retracted for any infraction and sent back into servitude.

Just before her 18th birthday, when Tair did not yet have legal citizen status, she fought back during an attempted rape by a group of six plebeian citizen boys. It was against the law for a non-citizen to fight a citizen no matter the cause [just as American slaves could not fight back against their abusers]. Tair was banished. Her narrative point of view then changed to someone who not only had suffered a grave injustice, but had to fight to survive in the city’s underbelly.

Meanwhile, after Alexander’s murder, the Imperium, led by Cato Palmar, Counsul of Roma Sargassa, sought to round up the “usual suspects.” That is, he had the police go after members of the Revenants, an underground group of rebels working for “direct democracy” and “independence from Roma.”

Griff, the mysterious 40-something woman who headed the Revenants, had arranged for a number of her followers to be “canaries,” or spies who infiltrated power structures and collected intel on them. Theo Nix, 27, one of Griff’s staunch lieutenants, managed to get a position working for the Roman Senator Naevia Kleios, who had been Alexander’s wife. Upon Alexander’s death, Theo was able to insinuate herself even further into the family, but with unintended consequences for Theo.

The final narrator is one of those seeking to find the Revenants – Darius Miranda, 31, Deputy Chief of the Cohort Intelligentia. He grew up fully indoctrinated in the Imperium party line, and had trouble processing any information challenging his existing beliefs. But he would be confronted with dissonant information, to his dismay.

Thus we get some radically different perspectives on life in the Imperium.

All of these characters become connected to one another in the search for an artifact, the Iveroa Stone, that had reputedly been held by Alexander. It was thought to have enormous transformative power that would upend the social order. To get their hands on that power, some of the characters were willing to kill for it. Not all of them will survive for the next installment.

Credit: Simeon Netchev, word history.org

At least three important plot strands weave through the work.

One is that of the role of the Imperial Historian, the person who curated the knowledge of the Imperium. Selah found out – only after the job was thrust upon her – that the Historian also decided what knowledge would be passed into the public domain, and how it would be interpreted. The Historian’s actual role was to filter historical records through the lens of current social and political agendas.

To further the end of shaping the information landscape, the Historian also determined what was to be removed from collective memory, especially if there were records that would threaten the status quo.

Selah had naively assumed the Historian just gathered history rather than working to provide an ideologically-mediated and selectively disseminated perspective on the past, present and future. . . .

She knew that before assuming the mantle of her father she had to decide: What was necessary? What was just?

A second plot strand involved the Revenant leader. The Revenants supposedly wanted to ensure society was governed by “the people,” but which people? Moreover, would Griff, or any rebel leader, ever willingly hand over power if and when the organization established supposed “self-rule”? How much does power corrupt and change those who wield it?

Depiction of slave revolt led by Spartacus in 73-71 BCE in Ancient Rome, Wikimedia Commons

Third, there was the matter of the Iveroa Stone and the power it might confer on whoever controlled it. So much was at stake. As one character observed: “That kind of power … you could do so much good with it.  And so much damage.” How could it be overseen or limited? Again the characters had to decide: what was necessary? What was just?

A gob-smacking twist at the end brings these questions into sharp focus, and certainly will have readers champing at the bit for the next installment.

Rating: 4/5

Published by DAW, 2024