The Whispers /

these days, parents like to think of themselves as responsible for every aspect of their children's happiness and well-being. But often overlooked in this 21st-century conception of parent/child dynamics is the powerful sense of responsibility children feel for adults. A desire to protect their elders is particularly strong during the tween years, when the darkness and complexity of the world come into focus, but the magical thinking of childhood still offers the comfort of solutions. These four middlegrade novels capture something moving and seemingly eternal: When trouble strikes the grown-ups around them, children instinctively put themselves on the emotional front lines. A prime example is Riley James, the 11year-old narrator of Greg Howard's the WHISPERS (Putnam, 226 pp., $16.99; ages 10 and up). After his mother goes missing, Riley sets out to find the magical voices from a local legend that he believes can help him bring her back. A self-proclaimed "mama's boy... without his mama," Riley struggles with bed-wetting plus another "condition" - being attracted to boys - that some in his small, Christian town consider cause for shame. Riley heads into the woods to find the Whispers, accompanied by a "Stand by Me"-like band of misfits including the overweight Gary, his only friend; Gary's tag-along little brother, Carl; and the "Redneck Superhero" Dylan Mathews, an older boy whose sympathy (or perhaps empathy) for Riley's situation makes him a winsome champion. "The Whispers" does not turn out to be the fable it at first seems, but Howard pulls off the trick of making Riley's real quest even more heart-wrenching than the fantasy that drives it. This taut, moving tale delves beyond loss into issues of sexuality, conformity and self-acceptance. Riley's relationship with his missing mother, whom we see in flashbacks teaching him new vocabulary words, is particularly well drawn. "Use it in a sentence, Button," she tells him, encouraging Riley to redefine his world through language - a lesson he takes to heart after she goes missing. "The Whispers" is a masterful exploration into the power of storytelling but also its dangers, including self-denial and escapism. escapism is the guiding philosophy of Rodeo and his 12-year-old daughter, Coyote, the titular heroine of Dan Gemeinhart's THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF COYOTE SUNRISE (Holt, 352 pp" $16.99; ages 9 to 12). Since the death of Coyote's mother and sisters five years earlier, the pair have traveled around the country in an old school bus, calling each other by hippie road names and following their hankerings for taco trucks or sandwiches. But for all his whimsy and free-spiritedness, Rodeo has a few "no-go's," as he calls them, including ever returning to their hometown, Poplin Springs, Wash. Coyote is protective of her father and accepts their life of wandering, hiding her loneliness and grief behind bravado. But when she learns that developers are tearing up the local park where her mother and sisters buried a memory box, she enlists an eclectic group of fellow travelers to trick Rodeo into driving her there. Coyote's bold, engaging voice pops off the page and propels this road-trip novel through a series of charming, if unlikely, adventures. Some of the secondary characters serve the plot a little too neatly, but there are exceptions, like the boy escaping domestic violence who becomes Coyote's protector and friend. Gemeinhart infuses the story with moments of lyrical writing and folksy wisdom served up with a dollop of girl power. Coyote's determination to face reality rather than run from it ultimately allows her to heal not just herself but her father. the protagonist of Brenda Woods's the UNSUNG HERO OF BIRDSONG, U.S.A. (Nancy Paulsen, 194 pp., $16.99; ages 10 and up) also protects a cherished adult by confronting reality, in this case the reality of racism in his segregated postwar Southern town. After Meriwether Hunter, an unemployed African-American mechanic and World War II veteran, saves Gabriel Haberlin's life, the 12-year-old tries to return the favor by getting him a job at his father's garage. But as his friendship with Meriwether deepens, Gabriel starts to see the casual racism of friends and family in a new light, and after Meriwether confronts a bigoted fellow employee at the garage, Gabriel must save his savior from a potentially violent end. Woods casts a much needed spotlight on the history of African-American troops in World War II, including the all-black 761st Tank Battalion, which took part in the Battle of the Bulge. Meriwether embodies the dignity and frustration of these men who fought for their country overseas only to return home to prejudice and oppression, especially in the Jim Crow-era South. An underdeveloped villain and a hard-toswallow turn of events in the crucial scene threaten to weaken this important story. But Woods regains control with a realistic ending that incorporates the Great Migration and shows the limits of Gabriel's power to protect his friend. genesis Anderson, the heroine of Alicia D. Williams's stunning debut novel, geneSIS BEGINS AGAIN (Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum, 382 pp., $17.99; ages 9 to 13), is another character who grapples with the legacy of race in America and the challenge of righting adult wrongs. Thirteen-year-old Genesis is tired of her family being constantly evicted, so when her alcoholic father moves them out of Detroit to a middleclass home in the suburbs and promises to start attending Alcoholics Anonymous, she's cautiously hopeful life will change. But Genesis and her family are still haunted by the past - including her darkskinned father's self-loathing and grief over a childhood tragedy and the prejudice of her light-skinned mother's family, who use "the paper bag test" to judge acceptable skin color (a test Genesis herself doesn't pass). When her father starts drinking again, eviction notices appear, and her parents' marriage falters, Genesis tries to fix her family by changing herself; by lightening her skin and straightening her hair, she hopes to make her family, and especially her father, proud of her - and by extension, themselves. In "Genesis Begins Again," Williams explores racism within the black community, creating a fully realized family with a history of complex relationships to one another, and to their own skin colors. The suburban school where Genesis finds herself navigating a diverse cast of friends and foes is no less vivid; a music teacher who introduces Genesis to blues greats like Billie Holiday and inspires her to sing in the school talent show is particularly memorable. But the standout voice in this tender and empowering novel - reminiscent of Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," but appropriate for a much younger audience - belongs to Genesis herself, as she discovers a truth that we adults would do well to remember: Growing up isn't just about taking responsibility for the happiness and well-being of others. It's also about learning what you can and should fix, and what you cannot. As Genesis discovers, there is no true reinvention without self-acceptance. Katherine marsh's most recent middle-grade novel is "Nowhere Boy," a 2018 Times Children's Notable Book.

A boy attempts to find his lost mother in this moving tale. Riley's mother used to tell him stories about the Whispers all-knowing beings from the woods that can make one's desires come true. So when Riley's mom disappears, Riley seeks out the Whispers, with the help of his best friend, Gary, and Dylan, the enigmatic but kind older boy he has a crush on (even though his church says that's a sin). But the woods might not be safe, and maybe it's true what everyone suspects: that Riley knows more about what happened to his mom than he's admitting. As Riley learns the truth about his mother, the Whispers, and his own feelings, he begins to heal. Readers will root for Riley, who retains his hope and humor even in the face of grief, bullying, and the intolerance of his small South Carolina community. Secondary characters are well drawn, and although the story is heartbreaking in places, the ending is full of optimism and love. A touching story of grief and healing.--Mariko Turk Copyright 2019 Booklist

Eleven-year-old Riley resorts to extreme measures to find his mother after she disappears, believing he is "suspect number one" in a case that hasn't moved forward in months, the details of which he can't fully recall. He always thought his mother's favorite story, "The Whispers," about magical woodland creatures that can grant wishes, was straight fiction until one night he hears them call "She's here." To find his mother, Riley seeks to recreate the tale, embarking on a camping trip with an endearingly motley cast of friends to enlist the fantasy forces. A running use of vocabulary words that grew out of a game Riley and his mom played both advances the plot and offers nuance to Riley's emotions. Howard effectively layers Riley's character and "conditions" (he has been wetting the bed since his mother disappeared, and his attraction to boys is at odds with his evangelical Christian upbringing), offering clues about his mother's fate that readers will piece together before he does. This touching, often wry novel offers a memorable psychological puzzle and explores grief and acceptance. Ages 10-up. Agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Eleven-year-old Rileys beloved mother told him the story of the Whispers, invisible beings who know all the secrets of the universe and who, in exchange for tributes, will grant people their hearts desires. Now Mama has disappeared, and visits from the Worlds. Worst. Police. Detective. Ever make Riley feel hes under suspicion. It gradually becomes clear that Riley, whos been wetting the bed (my condition), has reason to be anxious. Things hes hiding include his possession of Mamas wedding ring and his fear that his other condition, the one that led him to enjoy a shared kiss with Kenny from Kentucky, somehow caused her departure. When Riley himself hears the Whispers, his intense desperation and self-blame make it believable that hes willing to sacrifice himself to get Mama back. Riley is an unreliable narrator, to the point that some readers may not understand right away what kind of book theyre reading (see Sharelle Byars Moranvilles 27 Magic Words, rev. 1/17, for a similar portrait of grief in disguise). But hes a thoroughly sympathetic one, and its easy to root for his eventual understanding of the truthand of his own blamelessness. shoshana flax January/February 2019 p 93(c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The Whispers know all the secrets of the universe. If they're real, can they help Riley find Mama?Eleven-year-old Riley's mother has been missing for four months. The Fat Bald Detective that Riley sees weekly for questioning has made no progress in the case. Riley's father, older brother, and grandparents don't talk about Mama's absence, which doesn't help matters. Riley has begun wetting the bed, which he calls his "condition," but there's this "other condition" that he fears may be the reason his mother left or was taken: Riley wants to kiss boys rather than talk with his best friend, Gary, about a female classmate's "miraculously inflated boobs." Riley is convinced the Whispers, unseen creatures from his mother's favorite story, will accept an offering in return for his heart's desirehis mother's returnwhich drives the plot, along with Riley's exploration of his identity as a gay preteen in the rural South. Howard places unreliable-narrator Riley at the center of his middle-grade debut. The slow reveal of what actually happened to Mama leads to a satisfying and touching conclusion, one that careful young readers may see before it arrives. Riley and his family are white; Gary is biracial (black/white); their classmates in their small South Carolina town are diverse.A realistic tale of coming to terms and coming-of-age, of friendship and loss, with a touch of magic and humor. (Fiction. 9-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.