Children’s books roundup

“Ghost Boys” by Jewell Parker Rhodes, Little, Brown, 224 pages, $16.99, ages 8-12

When we first meet 12-year-old Jerome, he’s dead. Shot by a Chicago police officer who mistook his toy gun for a real one, our hero is narrating the scene from above: “How small I look. Laid out flat, my stomach touching ground. My right knee bent and my brand-new Nikes stained with blood.” As this gripping opening suggests, Rhodes has found a way to tell a grabbed-from-the headlines story of police violence against black boys that will haunt readers young and old. An unlikely threat, Jerome is pudgy, well-behaved and badly bullied at his South Side school. He’s carrying the toy gun, a loan from a well-meaning friend, when a white police officer opens fire. And then he’s watching his family mourn, attending his killer’s court hearings. He’s a ghost and he’s one of many: each an African-American boy or teen struck down by racism. But why are the ghost boys stuck in the land of the living? And how can they break free? In writing that’s spare and powerful, Rhodes takes us into the hearts and minds of those left behind, and then out into a vast world where ghost boys wander among the living, pursuing their mysterious mission. Rhodes has achieved something remarkable here: a kid’s-eye-view of violence and racism that balances innocence and outrage, wrenching loss and hard-won hope.

“Someone Farted” by Bruce Eric Kaplan, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 48 pages, $15.99, ages 4-8.

Didn’t know you were looking for the dry humor of a New Yorker cartoon in a children’s book? Me neither. But this surprisingly intelligent take on what happens when a member of the Krupke family farts in the car is a winner. The story begins quietly, with a bright blue car crammed full of Krupkes — mom, dad, Sally and Vinnie — making its way to the grocery store for the “dreaded weekly food shopping.” Sally, rendered in blocky black lines brightened by a wash of color, is the first to raise her voice in protest: “Someone farted.” First come the confirmations and then the accusations. The debate gets so heated, the smell so vile, that the car almost hits a pedestrian. A policeman is called and soon — in a deliciously dark twist — everyone is carted downtown and booked into a jail full of scary-looking kidnappers and thieves. The interactions between the Krupkes and the felons are smart enough for The New Yorker, but sweet enough for kids — and very funny. Kaplan, a New Yorker cartoonist and a writer for “Seinfeld,” gets the little indignities of everyday life right as well as the drama. But the best thing about this book is how fresh and unpredictable it is, page after page, laugh after laugh.

“How to Trick the Tooth Fairy” by Erin Danielle Russell, illustrated by Jennifer Hansen Rolli, Aladdin, 40 pages, $17.99, ages 4-8

Kaylee has huge brown eyes and a penchant for the color pink, but don’t be fooled by appearances: Our “cute as a button, sharp as a tack” heroine is a prankster in full flower. She dowses passersby with water balloons and surprises her younger sister by waking her up in the middle of the night — dressed as a witch. Santa Claus gets the Kaylee treatment, as does the Tooth Fairy, who reaches for a shiny white tooth and finds a slimy green frog in its place. But the Tooth Fairy, as every child knows, has tricks of her own up her sleeve, and an epic battle of diminutive troublemakers ensues. Russell’s spirited story takes us to a place we haven’t been before, an all-out girl battle (heavyweight troublemaker division) wrapped up in a sparkly pink bow. No one is calling it in here — not the Fairy, who turns Kaylee into a human ice cream sundae, and not Kaylee, who pretends to apologize, only to best her rival with everything from a bottle of hot sauce to a bubble-gum-shooting slingshot. The actionpacked oil paint illustrations capture the delicious delirium, add drama, and hit just the right note of sweetness and spice.