Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 12/15/2021 Tukunbo “Bo” and her mother (who she calls Mum) are very close and share many interests, including a love of baking. When Mum finally marries her boyfriend, Bill, Bo gets a new family, including Bill’s daughter Sunday, Mama Hope, Papa Charles and their twin daughters, Lil and Lee, who all live in a brownstone in Harlem. This blended family’s unorthodox way of life is not understood by their neighbors, but that doesn't impede the family's happiness. Bo and her sisters share a love of music, and to celebrate Mum and Bill’s marriage, the girls plan a party with their new band as entertainment. The party quickly becomes a neighborhood event, but can the girls pull it off? They don’t even have a band name yet! Operation Sisterhood is a warmhearted story about what makes a family. The cast of characters is funny, vibrant, and relatable, particularly the girls and their irascible neighbor, Mrs. Tyler. Readers looking for books with positive depictions of blended families and Black girlhood will enjoy this title. - Copyright 2021 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 04/22/2022 Gr 3–7—Eleven-year-old Bo and her mother have always been a team: inventing recipes, planning trips to Lagos, and building community in their tight-knit apartment building in the Bronx. However, everything changes when Mum falls in love with Bill, a kind bookstore owner who seems to make her happier than Bo has ever seen. In a whirlwind, Bo and her mum move into a historic brownstone in Queens filled with a menagerie of animals and new family members, including a talkative stepsister, Sunday, and the twins, Lee and Lil. Instead of public school, the kids spend their days in rigorous self-guided inquiry, project-based learning, and independent trips to local museums and monuments. Bo has to learn to share her formerly very organized space for the first time—and toughest of all—she has to share her mom. Bo's growth throughout the plot is gentle, heartfelt, and sure to resonate with young readers who also have blended families, and who prefer subtle conflicts more than high stakes drama. Rhuday-Perkovich authentically explores the anxiety and grief that comes with major life changes while also celebrating the positives: that change often brings growth and that learning to share can ultimately make a life even bigger than before. All of the main characters are Black. VERDICT This eclectic celebration of Black joy, community, learning, and sisterhood is perfect for fans of Kelly Yang or Aisha Saeed.—Catherine Cote - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.