A review by bickie
As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds

4.0

Authentic 11-year-old voice, though told in 3rd person primarily through his perspective. Addresses many issues children experience - unfamiliarity with certain terms and guesses about what they mean, reluctance to try new things, adults with mysterious behavior and difficult backgrounds, guilt and shame, uncertainty about how to handle situations. While this book covers many tough topics (Jim Crow past, war trauma, guilt and shame passed generation to generation), it does so in a way accessible to the target middle-grade audience, mixing a poop-slinging game with the fact that a blind grandfather is too "concerned" (aka scared) to go outside of his own house. Best for ages 9-12 [2-3 mild curse words such as pissed, damn, hell; mild romance (crush, hand-holding) of older (age 14) brother); complex issues but not really delving into older-kid identity too much].