by G. Francis Johnson; illustrated by Dimitrea Tokunbo
A boy named Jabari finds a woolen glove on a subway stairs and goes on a quixotic quest to find the owner. His mother warns him it’ll be tough, since thousands pass that way each day. But Jabari’s heart of gold wins over his common sense.
By the time he finds the rightful owner, a tearful girl his age, he’s seen work gloves, rubber gloves, fancy white gloves and expensive leather ones, even ones without fingers and, of course, mittens. Readers get a sprightly colored cross-section of a vibrant, inner-city neighborhood, where everyone watches out for everyone else, and where maybe it’s not such a crazy idea to track down a neighbor with one cold hand.
Sure, there’s a lesson here, but it never gets in the way of a sweet story.
Rating: *\*\*\
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