Happy Birthday, America!

Chall (Up North at the Cab­in) and Por­firio (The Rag­gly Scrag­gly No-Soap No-Scrub Girl) offer an affec­tion­ate paean to the Fourth of July in this sto­ry of one extend­ed fam­i­ly’s hol­i­day cel­e­bra­tion. The nar­ra­tor, an ami­able girl who is “almost nine,” relays snatch­es of con­ver­sa­tion and her own impres­sions as car­loads of rel­a­tives pull up to her fam­i­ly’s wel­com­ing clap­board house. (“They squeeze me and pat me and lip­stick smack me” she says of some old­er folks’ warm greet­ings.) The clan’s high spir­its res­onate in the inten­tion­al­ly grainy, sun-dap­pled water­col­or and col­ored-pen­cil art, which presents engag­ing depic­tions of town-wide fes­tiv­i­ties (a time­less parade in which the nar­ra­tor rides in a “wheel­bar­row float”), as well as of the fam­i­ly’s own tra­di­tions (a pic­nic, a swim in the lake and a sun­set boat trip to view fire­works). Chal­l’s breezy and spon­ta­neous sto­ry­telling sets a tone of famil­iar­i­ty and com­fort. “An army of aunts swarms out of the kitchen, car­ry­ing sweet-pick­le jars and casseroles,” observes the nar­ra­tor, who then cuts into a mold­ed dessert shaped like the Unit­ed States and announces, “I plop Flori­da down right next to my lasagna.” Ample good cheer, mixed with splash­es of patri­o­tism and nos­tal­gia, make this a fam­i­ly out­ing to which near­ly every­one will feel invit­ed.  (Pub­lish­ers Week­ly)