Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2020

Wow, wow, wow. This book. I rarely become emotional whilst reading a book, but that happened to me several times while reading the story of Isaiah Dunn. In Isaiah, we have a young protagonist whose trying to work through his own grief while helping his little sister maintain some normalcy and can't really rely on his mother, as she is grief as well. I appreciated how Isaiah's mother was not made a villain, even though Isaiah was certainly and validly upset with her at certain moments, because it is quite clear she is grieving and depressed. The book handles the topics of grief, depression and alcoholism in a parent, and the emotions of children in an expert way that children Isaiah's age can understand and recognize. I highly recommend this book to EVERYONE.

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Afoma

Moving story of finding community after loss

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2021

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Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero is a moving, realistic portrayal of the poverty and housing insecurity that can impact a family after the death of a parent. Featuring a likable male protagonist with a love for poetry and a desire to support his mother, this story will tug at your heartstrings. With a younger protagonist (10-11 years old) and short length under 250 pages, this book is perfect for kids in the fourth grade and up!

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Ldico

Cant put it down!

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2021

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This book was purchased for my 6th graders book club choices. The group that chose this, is begging to keep reading, so I let them. They are hooked!

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Vladimir Minchin

My hero too

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2020

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This read was hard to put down. The poetry that was interwoven into the story keep that middle school voice and vocabulary, but still spoke to the depth of feeling I remember at the age.
Loved it!

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Gamama

Granddaughter Loved It

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2020

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An interesting book for a 10 year old. Held her interest so well that it was read the same day.

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Karmen San Diego

AMAZING BOOK!!

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2020

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Love this book! Will have all my nephews and nieces read it. Support our Black Authors!!

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Emily Grundy

Good read!

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2020

Good read!

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2020

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My 12 year old boy loved this book.

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Andrea Coventry

One of my new favorite middle grade characters

Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2022

Isaiah Dunn is 10, almost 11. He has a magical way with words, inherited from his father. But he has lost his words since his father unexpectedly passed away at Thanksgiving. (This is something I strongly relate to, even as an adult.)

As he is struggling with all of this, his mother is struggling to cope, losing her job, drinking a lot, and rendering them essentially homeless. (And this is a wake-up call to how easily it could happen to anyone.)

Then he's trying to deal with kids at school, in the neighborhoods, while also wanting to take care of his family. It's a lot for anyone to deal with, let alone someone his young age.

Through trial and error, unexpected support, and his father's short stories about Isaiah Dunn, Superhero, Isaiah manages to find strength and ingenuity that he didn't know he had and rises above to forge a new and better path. He's so inspirational, even to this fully grown adult. How many of us have been facing difficult trials in our own lives? And think about how many other children are going through one or more of these situations, or something similar, in their own lives? It really gives you something to think about in addition to pulling at your emotions.

Isaiah is a great kid and this is a great book. I look forward to his continued adventures.

I received a requested review copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Tzipora

A beautiful and complex story that kids need

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2020

I love, love, love that Isaiah Dunn is My Hero is an Own Voices middle grade novel that really honestly depicts the difficult things that many young people face. But it doesn’t only depict the bad- there’s so much beautiful depiction of the kind of care communities that exist in the Black community- the way people step up and look out for one another and their kids and families. There’s also the awesomeness that is a little boy who loves poetry even though at first he feels embarrassed about it. This is the kind of book we need more of.

Isaiah Dunn is a 10 year old boy who loves writing and poetry. His father, Gary, passed away last year and his mom is having a really rough time coping. They’ve lost their apartment and are living in a hotel. And Isaiah knows his mom has good day and bad, but is never quite sure just what kind of day each will be. He clings to a notebook his father wrote stories in about a superhero named Isaiah Dunn who gets his powers from beans & rice. It’s in these stories that Isaiah is able to escape and hold onto his father. He just wishes he had real superpowers and could get his mom and younger sister Charlie into a new and even better home. Isaiah sets out to help his mom out by earning money and along the way he learns what real strength is.

This story was everything an good story should be- there was a lot of emotion. At times my heart broke for Isaiah and his family. We get to watch Isaiah learn and grow too, all the good and bad that entails. There’s his friendship with a boy named Sneaky and a school bully named Angel. But in so many ways this is a story that teaches that we all contain multitudes- no one is all good or all bad. There’s a redemption narrative throughout that doesn’t condescend or seek to tokenize or sensationalize the difficulties lower income families and those who have lost a loved one or faced homelessness deal with.

Isaiah also ends up finding a couple of fantastic male role models who help him honor his father and continue to grow. There’s Mr. Shepard, the librarian and Rock, the barber. There’s also Miz Rita, an older woman and friend of the family from their old apartment building who really looks out for the whole family. I think in many ways Isaiah ultimately learns none of us have superhuman strength or special powers but that by working together a lot of good can happen.

This is a beautiful, complex story that deals with real issues. And the kinds of issues that rarely or are never written about in kidlit. I could see this book being a lifeline for the right kid, in much the same way writing and stories are a lifeline for Isaiah.

Thank you so much to Random House Children’s and Crown Books for Young Readers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to review!

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5 star		74%
4 star		15%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		3%

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