Flashback to the . . . Awesome '80s!

May 1, 2023

Gr 1-3-Those who lived through the 1980s know it was a totally tubular time, and now kids can ride the nostalgia train with this lighthearted look at the decade. Filled with quick facts and pop culture tidbits, this book lets upper elementary readers imagine what life was like in the days of mixtapes and Saturday morning cartoons. References are age appropriate, highlighting toys, technology, food, and entertainment that American kids of this age would have interacted with had they lived back then. A blend of illustrations and photographs in true-to-period, vivid colors lends clues to the textual information. A brief list of novel words, like "gnarly," appear in a glossary, though phonetic spellings are not provided. The proliferation of exclamation points could seem patronizing to some readers, and this book does not give enough depth to serve as a historical resource. But as a fun topic for reading skill practice, it should spark wide interest. VERDICT This celebration of kid culture in the 1980s will appeal to children and to the adults who remember how awesome it was.-Shannon Titas

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