Southwest Sunrise

  A young black child reluc­tant­ly moves from New York City to New Mex­i­co. The young pro­tag­o­nist is not excit­ed about leav­ing New York City and “the feel­ing of wow / cran­ing my neck to study / the tops of sky­scrap­ers” to move to New Mex­i­co, where every­thing will be “browns and tans / …the only col­ors / deserts are good for” (a ques­tion­able choice of words). But on this first morn­ing in New Mex­i­co, the grumpy kid is gift­ed with a series of nature-based sur­pris­es. First, a moun­tain unno­ticed the night before is wait­ing out­side the “bar­less win­dow.” Here and through­out the book, Minor’s love­ly art cap­tures the beau­ty of the South­west­ern Unit­ed States in gouache watercolors—in this case pre­sent­ing a pic­turesque scene per­fect­ly cap­tured in a win­dow frame sur­round­ed by white space that makes the view all the more arrest­ing. With the help of a field guide, the young pro­tag­o­nist sets off on a nature walk that reveals col­or­ful flow­ers, birds, lizards, vis­tas, and more, all described with Grimes’ sig­na­ture poet­ic lyri­cism and vivid­ly depict­ed in Minor’s gor­geous illus­tra­tions. By the end of the walk, the intre­pid bud­ding nat­u­ral­ist is ready to give this beau­ti­ful new home a try. How glo­ri­ous: a sto­ry about a black child expe­ri­enc­ing the out­doors that is beau­ti­ful in every way. (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)