The Red Pencil | 2015 CABA Winner

Are ethnic cleansing and large-scale violence against civilians a topic that can be raised with readers between eight and twelve years of age? Pinkney and Evans’ The Red Pencil shows that this is indeed possible. Their brilliant rendering of the large-scale violence that took place in Sudan’s westernmost province of Darfur in the years following 2003 respects both the sensibilities of young readers and the dignity of the victims.