cover image You Are Here

You Are Here

Nina Crews. Greenwillow Books, $16 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-688-15753-1

A rainy day inspires a mind-bending adventure in Crews's (I'll Catch the Moon) latest photo-collage fantasy. Stuck inside due to inclement weather, Mariah and Joy embark on an imaginative journey. First destination on the map (which they've constructed on top of a checkerboard, with coins, buttons, seashells and checkers) is an imaginary tiny island. Without fanfare, the girls shrink to a size that allows them to fit right into their surroundings. A decorative mask in the room becomes a ""giant,"" a houseplant is a jungle to be explored and the chubby gray cat is now a fierce monster guarding ""treasures"" (cat toys). A look through a kaleidoscope turns everything on end, and soon the girls are back to reality. The smoothly pitched text builds in excitement as the images and action begin to fully take shape in readers' minds. In her most complex project yet, Crews creates photographic compositions with inventive shifts in proportion and perspective and with playful technological tweaks that will have readers pondering, ""how did she do that?"" Her young African American subjects are wide-eyed and expressive and are clearly enjoying their outing. Ages 5-up. (Oct.)