 | This article needs a plot summary.(September 2024) |
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| Author | Carole Boston Weatherford |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Frank Morrison |
| Publisher | Candlewick Press |
Publication date | April 11, 2023 |
| Pages | 40 |
| ISBN | 978-1-536-21554-0 |
How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee is a 2023 nonfiction children's book written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Frank Morrison. It was well received by critics and was named one of the best children's books of the year by multiple sources.
How Do You Spell Unfair was well received by critics, including starred reviews from Booklist , [1] Kirkus Reviews , [2] Publishers Weekly , [3] and School Library Journal . [4] Reviewers have Weatherford's lyrical prose and meticulous research in bringing to life the story of MacNolia Cox, the first African American finalist in the National Spelling Bee.
Booklist's Carolyn Phelan noted that Weatherford's "free-verse poetry is a perfect fit for this story, capturing the emotions and drama of the competition." [1] Kirkus Reviews called the book "inspiring" and praised Weatherford's ability to "convey the excitement and tension of the competition." [2] Publishers Weekly described the book as "a stirring tribute to a trailblazing young woman." [3] John Scott, writing for School Library Journal, praised the book's "vivid language" and "compelling narrative," noting that it would be "an excellent addition to any elementary school library or classroom." [4]
How Do You Spell Unfair is a Junior Library Guild book. [5] In 2013, Kirkus Reviews named it among the year's best picture books, [6] Booklist included it on their "Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth" list, [7] and School Library Journal named it one of the year's best nonfiction books. [8] The following year, Bank Street College of Education named it a book of "outstanding merit" for children ages five to nine. [9] The same year, the Association for Library Service to Children and International Literacy Association (CL/R SIG) named it a notable children's book, [10] [11] and Booklist included it on their list of the "Top 10 History Books for Youth". [12]
| Year | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Coretta Scott King Award | Honor | [13] |
| Jane Addams Children's Book Award | Finalist | [14] | |
| NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Children | Finalist | [15] |
Carole Boston Weatherford is an American author and critic. She has published over 50 children's books, primarily non-fiction and poetry. The music of poetry has fascinated Weatherford and motivated her literary career. She has won multiple awards for her books, including the 2022 Coretta Scott King Award for Author for her book Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre. As a critic, she is best known for her controversial criticism of Pokémon character Jynx and Dragon Ball character Mr. Popo.
Howard Jeffrey Gottesfeld is an American novelist, playwright, and screen and television writer.
Elizabeth Partridge is an American writer, the author of more than a dozen books from young-adult nonfiction to picture books to photography books. Her books include Marching for Freedom, as well the biographies John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, This Land Was Made for You and Me: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, and Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange.
Darcy S. Pattison is an American writer of fiction and nonfiction children’s literature, a blogger, writing teacher, and indie publisher. Her books have been translated into nine languages. Although she is best known for her work in children’s literature, she is also a writing teacher traveling across the nation presenting her Novel Revision Retreat. She has been featured as a writer and writing teacher in prestigious publications such as Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies, and 2012 Writer's Market. Pattison is also an independent publisher of ebooks for adults in the educational market.
The 12th National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C., on May 26, 1936, at the National Museum. Scripps-Howard did not sponsor the Bee until 1941.
Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane is a children’s picture book written by American author and critic Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Sean Qualls. It tells the story of a young John Coltrane growing up in the South in the 1930s. It was published by Henry Holt in 2008.
Kwame Alexander is an American writer of poetry and children's fiction.
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America is a non-fiction book about race in the United States by the American historian Ibram X. Kendi, published April 12, 2016 by Bold Type Books, an imprint of PublicAffairs. The book won the National Book Award for Nonfiction.
Brandy Colbert is an American author of young adult fiction and nonfiction.
Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets is a 2017 collection of poems for children's by Kwame Alexander with co-authors Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth and illustrated by Ekua Holmes. The book won the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. Each of the 20 poems is written in tribute to and in the style of a well known poet.
Freedom in Congo Square is a 2016 poetic nonfiction picture book by Carole Boston Weatherford, and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. It was published in hardcover by Little Bee Books. The book provides an account of 19th-century slaves in New Orleans who were able to gather in one place on Sundays: Congo Square. In addition to the book's main text, "an introduction and afterword provide further historic detail."
Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre is a picture book written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Published on February 2, 2021, by Carolrhoda, it tells the history behind the Tulsa race massacre in verse.
Robin Stevenson is a Canadian author of thirty books for kids and teens. Her writing has been translated into several languages, and published in more than a dozen countries. Robin's books regularly receive starred reviews, have won the Silver Birch Award, the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize and a Stonewall Book Award, and have been finalists for the Governor General's Awards, the Lambda Literary Award, and others. She writes both fiction and non-fiction, for toddlers through teens.
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement is a 2015 non-fiction and poetic children's book by written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Ekua Holmes.
In Your Hands is a 2017 children's picture book written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Brian Pinkney.
Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library is a 2017 non-fiction children's book written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Eric Velasquez. It provides a biography of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, a Puerto Rican-American bibliophile and curator.
The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop is a 2019 nonfiction children's book written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Frank Morrison.
Frank Morrison is an American illustrator of children's literature and graffiti artist.
Eric A. Velásquez is an American author and illustrator of over 30 children's books. Among other honors, he has won a John Steptoe New Talent Award (2001), Pura Belpré Award (2011), and NAACP Image Award (2021).
The Impossible Rescue: The True Story of an Amazing Arctic Adventure is a 2012 nonfiction children's book by American author Martin W. Sandler. The book explores the rescue of eight whaling ships trapped in the ice of the Arctic Ocean in the winter of 1897.