Breakout

Gr 4-6--Nora and Lizzie have grown up in Wolf Creek, a small town where Nora's father is superintendent of the maximum security prison. Elidee, one of only two African American students at Wolf Creek Middle School, recently moved there to be closer to her brother who is incarcerated in Wolf Creek Correctional Facility. When two inmates escape, tensions begin to rise. The story is told through letters and other documents by the three girls. Nora reports on the breakout, Lizzie parodies these reports, and Elidee writes poetry inspired by Jacqueline Woodson and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Readers also see text messages, school announcements, comics, and transcribed conversations. The book is a rich source of writing examples which can become didactic: at one point, students duly follow their teacher's instructions on persuasive writing to write petitions. The broad range of writing formats is engaging, however, and allows readers to understand the varying viewpoints of Nora, Elidee, and Lizzie. Messner places issues of race and criminal justice at the center of the story: Elidee frequently encounters racism in Wolf Creek, Lizzie learns about racial imbalances in the prison population, and Nora's older brother tells her about Black Lives Matter. The few middle grade titles that include characters in prison in a contemporary setting (Leslie Connor's All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, Deborah Ellis's Jakeman) don't discuss these issues so explicitly. VERDICT An accessible format and a unique focus on contemporary issues of criminal justice and racial bias make this an essential purchase.--Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

In Wolf Creek, a small town in upstate New York, middle school students learn that they'll develop a time capsule project as a summer letter-writing assignment. Best friends Nora and Lizzie, as well as new girl Elidee, imagine sharing tales of ice cream and swimming. But after two inmates escape from the local maximum-security prison, where Nora's father is the superintendent and Elidee's brother is an inmate, a new side of the friendly community is slowly revealed. Elidee's experience of racism as one of the only black people in town makes Nora and Lizzie rethink just how welcoming Wolf Creek is. Narrated by all three girls through letters, recorded conversations, and texts, this is an effective, authentically wrought look at how fear and ignorance can lead people to treat those of different races or from different places with suspicion. Messner (The Exact Location of Home) shines a light on the ways that people are blind to their own privilege while quick to judge others. Though the look at societal racism, as in the prison system, is well explained, it's the racism Nora and Lizzie discover in themselves, and their desire to change it, that will linger with readers. Ages 10-14. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (June)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

An effective, authentically wrought look at how fear and ignorance can lead people to treat those of different races or from different places with suspicion. Messner shines a light on the ways that people are blind to their own privilege while quick to judge others. - starred review, Publishers Weekly

An accessible format and a unique focus on contemporary issues of criminal justice and racial bias make this an essential purchase. - starred review, School Library Journal

A sensitive coming-of-age tale about waking up to injustice and where that knowledge can lead. - Kirkus Reviews

Timely and relevant. - The Horn Book Magazine

Successfully balances excitement with larger issues, ripe for classroom discussion. - Booklist

Authentic . . . . Middle school worries and social issues skillfully woven into a moving, hopeful, STEM-related tale. - starred review, Kirkus Reviews on THE EXACT LOCATION OF HOME

Vivid characters and situations, along with clear, simple writing and plotting, make this an accessible and enlightening read. A gentle but truthful look at poverty and homelessness. - starred review, School Library Journal on THE EXACT LOCATION OF HOME

An empathetic, beautiful, magical, fiercely necessary book that stares unflinchingly at the very real challenges contemporary kids face and gently assures them they are not alone. Kate Messner gives her readers a story to cherish. - Anne Ursu, author of BREADCRUMBS and THE REAL BOY on THE SEVENTH WISH

Hopeful, empathetic, and unusually enlightening. - starred review, Kirkus Reviews on THE SEVENTH WISH

Rich and daring . . . As she did in All the Answers, Messner lightens a heavy theme with a bit of magic. - Publishers Weekly on THE SEVENTH WISH

It's no surprise that Kate Messner's magic pen could write a charming, moving, funny, and ultimately very surprising story about a magic pencil! - Wendy Mass, New York Times best selling author of 11 BIRTHDAYS on ALL THE ANSWERS

Will appeal to Wendy Mass fans as well as those who love Messner's previous novels. - School Library Journal on ALL THE ANSWERS