Niki Nakayama: A Chef's Tale in 13 Bites by Jamie Michalak and Debbie Michiko Florence, illustrated by Yuko Jones

Niki Nakayama grew up in Los Angeles in a traditional Japanese family. As a child she loved creating her own recipes and trying new foods.  When she expressed a desire to go to culinary school and become a chef, she was told she was too small and delicate to work in a restaurant kitchen. It seemed like people at every turn were telling her that a woman couldn't be a professional chef. 

Not only did Niki prove the doubters wrong about her ability to stand toe-to-toe with the best Japanese sushi chefs, she eventually decided to fulfill her ultimate dream of becoming a kaiseki chef, which is a type of cuisine that focuses on quality ingredients, technique, and story-telling. 

This picture book biography is a feast for the senses. As I read the book I became more and more intrigued by the idea of kaiseki and even sought out the episode of Chef's Table that Nakayama was featured on so I could learn more about her and the type of cuisine in which she specializes. If you have a budding chef in your life or just want to learn more about badass women busting glass ceilings, I highly recommend this wonderful book. 

Niki Nakayama: A Chef's Tale in 13 Bites by Jamie Michalak and Debbie Michiko Florence, illustrated by Yuko Jones

Published: September 14, 2021

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Pages: 40

Genre: Picture book biography

Audience: Primary/middle grade

Disclosure: Library Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Hear My Voice: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States, compiled by Warren Binford for Project Amplify

Written in both English and Spanish, and using the words of migrant children who were detained by the US government for entering the United States, this picture book shines a light on the injustices of our broken immigration system and its impact on children. This is a difficult book to read, even for adults, so it is recommended that a trusted adult read this book alongside a child. There are excellent discussion questions included in the backmatter of the book. Some adults will look at this book, start to read it and say that this book is much too heavy of a subject for a child to read about, but to those adults I say... these injustices in this book are happening to children. We need to talk with our kids about hard things, and this book gives adults the tools to do that with the excellent backmatter included at the end of the book. Hear My Voice: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States, compiled by Warren Binford for Project Amplify Published: April 13, 2021 Publisher: Workman Genre: Nonfiction picture book Audience: Upper Elementary/Middle School Disclosure: Library copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson

When people look down their noses at academics who study children’s literature because it isn’t literary or highbrow enough, books like Milo Imagines the World are the perfect example that children’s literature is literary, layered, complex, and worthy of study — while also being really beautiful and necessary storytelling for children to experience.

What Last Stop on Market Street does for bus rides, Milo Imagines the World does for subway rides. More specifically, in this story, Milo is on a long subway ride with his sister and he is very nervous about the destination in which he is going. To pass the time, he observes the people around him and draws stories that he imagines their lives to be. At the end of the book the reader discovers where he was going that made him so nervous and excited. While the story is certainly a social commentary, it is not didactic or preachy and it will certainly elicit great classroom discussion about assumptions and judgments we make about people.

Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson
Published: February 2, 2021
Publisher: G.P. Putnam Sons
Pages: 40

Genre/Format: Picture Book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade
Disclosure: Review copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Islandborn by Junot Diaz, illustrated by Leo Espinosa

"Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you." 

Lola is given an assignment at school to draw the place where she is from. The problem is, Lola doesn't remember because she came to the United States as a baby. So at her teacher's suggestion, she enlists the help of her family and the people in her neighborhood to help her find that sense of place she is missing.

Junot Diaz is known for his literary fiction, but I hope he writes more picture books because this book was completely enchanting. The writing is beautiful and Leo Espinosa's colorful illustrations are both joyful and sublime. I'm looking forward to sharing this book with kids.



Islandborn by Junot Diaz, illustrated by Leo Espinosa
Expected Publication: March 13, 2018
Publisher: Dial
Pages: 48
Genre/Format: Picture Book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade
Disclosure: Finished copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Chik Chak Shabbat by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker

Every Saturday, Goldie Simcha in apartment 5A makes her famous cholent. The tantalizing smell reaches the noses of all her neighbors and they join her for the Shabbat. One Saturday, however, the building residents notice there are no smells emanating from Goldie's apartment. When they realize that she has fallen ill and can't make her famous cholent, they organize an impromptu Shabbat dinner for their ailing neighbor.

When I picked up Chik Chak Shabbat, I'm ashamed to admit that I was fully expecting it to be one of those didactic picture books that teach kids about another faith. Boy was I wrong. What I love so much about Chik Chak Shabbat is that despite the Shabbat being a Jewish religious observance, this story emphasizes more about the importance of community and breaking bread with your neighbors rather than that of a specific religious observation. Goldie's neighbors are all diverse and clearly of other faiths and backgrounds, but they still join her for dinner every Saturday out of respect for her faith and traditions. If only more of the world operated this way: sharing, learning, and celebrating differences rather than fearing and condemning them. This is a beautiful book to share with kids and adults alike.


Chik Chak Shabbat by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker
Published: September 3, 2014
Publisher: Candlewick
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
Audience: Primary
Disclosure: Paperback copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Magic Trash: A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art by J.H. Shapiro, illustrated by Vanessa Newton

In the heart of a decrepit neighborhood in Detroit, Tyree Guyton started what is now know as the Heidelberg Project out of frustration for the riff raff that had moved into his neighborhood. Painting a crack house with bright-colored polka dots kept the criminals at bay and started an art movement that would divide residents of the city and of Heidelberg Street. Some people saw it as trash, others art. Twenty-five years later, the Heidelberg Project is still going strong, and is its own visitor's destination in a city that rarely gets visitors.

Using collage art and rhythmical prose, J.H. Shapiro and Vanessa Newton have captured the spirit and the soul of the Heidelberg Project in this book's scant pages.

The Heidelberg Project has been riddled with arson as of late so getting the message out about the importance of what this art installation means to the community is of utmost importance 

For more information on the Heidelberg Project, visit heidelberg.org


Magic Trash: A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art by J.H Shapiro, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Published: July 1, 2011
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Pages: 32
Genre: Biography Picture Book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade
Disclosure: Review copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.  

ALA Youth Media Awards 2015: My Heart is So Full

Last night I returned home from the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. The past few years I have watched the live webcast of the Youth Media Awards, but when I found out that this year's Midwinter would be in Chicago, a mere 4 hour drive from my house, I knew that I had to attend. Even watching the webcast the past two years, I could feel the energy and excitement in the room when the awards were announced, and wanted to feel that for myself.

This year I felt it in spades. Screams, shrieks, tears, and standing ovations were the order of the day. The outcry for more diversity in children's publishing earlier this year with #WeNeedDiverseBooks felt like a call to action, and I'm happy to see that the award committees this year responded.

I was elated that I had read so many of this year's award-winners and so I wanted to share a few of my reactions and thoughts, starting with the Coretta Scott King Award.


Jason Reynolds' debut novel, When I Was the Greatest, won the John Steptoe Award for New Talent and it most certainly felt like a coronation. With the passing of Walter Dean Myers last summer, one gets the sense that Reynolds just became Myers' heir apparent. I have talked, written, and fangirled over this book many times in the past few weeks. I am happy to see that publishers are finally recognizing the need to publish books like this one that show positive, counter-narrative portrayals of contemporary African American teens. I would have loved to see When I Was the Greatest also win a Schneider Family Book Award due to the fact that one of the major characters, Needles, has Tourette Syndrome and is not treated any differently (other than by his brother) because of it, but I'm elated that it was recognized by the CSK committee.

Christopher Myers won the CSK illustrator award for Firebird, written my Misty Copeland. I agree whole-heartedly with this selection. Books often make me emotional, but very rarely do I begin to tear up on page one of a picture book. That is, until I read Firebird. It wasn't just the words that moved me, but seeing them paired with Christopher Myers' emotional, sweeping illustrations that made it a perfect storm of "ways to make Beth cry." 

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon won a CSK author honor and it is one of the most timely books to hit store shelves in 2014. When a black teen gets shot by a white man, accounts of "how it went down" are so disparate and divisive that it's no wonder the "real" truth is never revealed by the end of the novel. This is a book that will elicit much-needed dialogue and will challenge our own prejudices. 


Some thoughts on the Printz Award/Honors
 
I didn't actually read the winner of the Printz Award, I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, but with all the buzz I've been hearing about it leading up to it being announced as the winner, I'm definitely looking forward to reading it now. 

I was elated that Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle won a Printz Honor. This is one of the most innovative, groundbreaking, totally WTF book I have ever read. So much so that I didn't even bother to review it because I didn't think I could fully summarize the book's premise and my feelings about it. So I've spent a great deal of time since I read it in March quoting what other people have said about it. So to quote what Paula Willey wrote yesterday from her blog, Unadulterated:  

I am glad that this Printz Committee understood that you can be Serious Enough and also Funny As Balls. On Facebook, Andrew Smith posted the news about receiving a Printz Honor for Grasshopper Jungle by saying, "finally I get a sticker that isn't a warning." 

As far as This One Summer goes, I didn't actually care for it as a story, but I loved the artwork in this graphic novel. Even though I didn't love the book, I can see why the Printz committee gave it an honor. It's a book that leaves readers scratching their heads as to what it's really about and has kind of been on people's radars, but not so much that everyone has been buzzing about it. I think the Printz committee likes picking those kinds of books.

Which leads me to the Caldecott...

 

OK, so the Caldecott committee picked SIX honor books this year, which is almost unheard of -- and I am proud to say I read each and every one of the books that were honored and awarded. But notice the first book listed here is also a PRINTZ honor. Again I say, I did not love this story, but what I DO love is that it won a flipping Printz and Caldecott honor. What does that say about what we are considering distinguished illustration for CHILDREN? I have a feeling we're going to start seeing this book on some school and library banned book lists because parents are going to assume that since it's a Caldecott honor that it's OK for young children to read. This coming-of-age story is definitely intended for more mature readers. 

Viva Frida was on my list of hopes and wishes for the Caldecott. It won a Pura Belpre illustrator award, which I was fairly certain it would, but I was REALLY hoping the Caldecott committee would add some diversity to their roster and let Yuyi Morales walk away with the medal. An honor, however, ain't too shabby. 

When The Adventures of Beekle was announced as the winner of the Caldecott medal, I shrieked joyously and then began to cry. Dan Santat's beautiful story of an imaginary friend waiting to find his person captures the vivid imagination and innocence of childhood. Beekle, along with Viva Frida were two picks from my recent hopes and wishes post for the ALA Youth Media Awards. Oh, and if The Adventures of Beekle winning a Caldecott weren't already emotional enough, I dare you not to cry when you see this video of Dan Santat's son and the first time he heard him say Beekle. 


And finally the Newbery...

It had already been an emotionally stirring, diversity-filled morning of award announcements. The Newbery committee now had a lot of pressure to get it right. Would they heed the call of more diversity in children's literature, or would it be business as usual? 

Then it was announced that there were only TWO Newbery honors this year. A murmur of disappointment pervaded the vast ballroom. And then the first honor book that was announced was El Deafo. A graphic novel just won a Newbery honor.

A graphic novel just won a Newbery honor. 

Let that sink in for a minute. 

A graphic novel just won a Newbery honor. 

I can't stop thinking about what a BIG DEAL this is. All those parents and teachers who have told their children and students that comics are bad and they aren't real reading, they can't say that anymore. This is a historic moment for the Newbery Award and for children's literature. You knew it by the fact that this book got the loudest, most raucous reaction from the crowd. People were shocked and overjoyed.

The next book to be announced as a Newbery honor was Brown Girl Dreaming. This was the book that was expected to win. And it didn't. And now the Newbery committee was probably going to pick some boring historical fiction with zero kid-appeal written by a white person. It was going to be business as usual. 

And then...

those glorious words...

"And now the winner of the John Newbery medal for this year's most distinguished contribution to American literature for children is..."

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

More screams
More tears
More hugs
Diversity wins

Even though there were only two honor books this year, the Newbery committee absolutely go it right. In recent years many had feared that the Newbery had lost its way. But the shirts the committee wore into the ceremony yesterday said "trust the process." It had been difficult for readers to do that for quite a few years. But now readers can begin to gain their confidence back. 

Kudos to you ALA award committees. You absolutely got it right. My heart is so full. 

You might have noticed that the book I had been hoping and praying would win the Newbery in fact did not win so much as an honor (it did, however, win an Odyssey honor). While my heart is a bit sad by this because I think had A Snicker of Magic been published in any other year prior to 2014, it would have likely won, it was time to answer the call for more diversity -- and not just for diversity's sake, but also because these three books as well as the diverse books selected by the other award committees ARE worthy of being called distinguished. They are loved and will be loved by children for decades to come. And now we can start to make sure that children of many different backgrounds begin to see themselves reflected in these awards. So award committees of 2016, you are on notice. Let's make sure that diversity CONTINUES to be represented in these awards every year and not just because #WeNeedDiverseBooks brought it to fever pitch in 2014. Let's make sure the 2015 award season doesn't go down in history of the one and only year of diversity in children's literature awards.

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson

CJ and his nana ride the bus together on Sundays but CJ wishes they had a car instead. That is, until Nana points out why riding the bus is so much better.

Last Stop on Market Street is simply enchanting. It is filled with musical and sensory language, as evidenced by my favorite line: "Sometimes when you're surrounded by dirt, CJ, you're a better witness for what's beautiful." I loved the childlike yet poignant illustrations by Christian Robinson and I especially loved this illustration of a little babushka who is sitting next to an imposing (but also endearing) tattooed dude on the bus.



Fans of Lauren Castillo's Nana in the City will also be delighted by Last Stop on Market Street.  


Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson
Published: January 8, 2015
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Pages: 32
Genre: Picture Books
Audience: Primary
Disclosure: Finished copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye

Goodreads Summary:
Aref Al-Amri says good-bye to everything and everyone he loves in his hometown of Muscat, Oman, as his family prepares to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is Naomi Shihab Nye s first novel set in the Middle East since her acclaimed Habibi.Aref Al-Amri does not want to leave Oman. He does not want to leave his elementary school, his friends, or his beloved grandfather, Siddi. He does not want to live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his parents will go to graduate school. His mother is desperate for him to pack his suitcase but he refuses. Finally, she calls Siddi for help. But rather than pack, Aref and Siddi go on a series of adventures. They visit the camp of a thousand stars deep in the desert, they sleep on Siddi s roof, they fish in the Gulf of Oman and dream about going to India, they travel to the nature reserve to watch the sea turtles. At each stop, Siddi finds a small stone that he later slips into Aref's suitcase mementos of home.

The Turtle of Oman is a lovely, gentle story. The main character Aref's quiet innocence puts me in mind of The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes. I have to say though, I was bummed that none of this story actually takes place in Michigan. When it said that Aref was moving to Ann Arbor, I was excited at the prospect of reading a story in one of my favorite towns, but this book is only about Aref's preparation to move, not about the move itself. Having said that, even though I was bummed that this story doesn't actually take place in Ann Arbor, I'm equally happy that it's a quiet, peaceful story that takes place in a Middle Eastern country. Too often we perceive the Middle East as one big conflict zone, but here you have a young protagonist who loves his home and doesn't want to leave it. So in that regard, this is a great book to give to young people to help change their perceptions and prejudices. I could see this book being a sleeper Newbery honor in February.


The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye
Published: August 26, 2014
Publisher: Greenwillow
Pages: 320
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Audiobook provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

Ali knows his neighborhood in Brooklyn has a bad rap, but he likes to stay above the fray. He's a kid who looks after his mom and his sister, and avoids the guns, drugs, and gangs that sometimes plague Bed Stuy.

One day, two boys Ali's age move in next door, and they immediately strike up a friendship. Noodles and Needles are brothers and Needles has Tourette's. Needles frequently has tics and shouts out inappropriate words, but Ali's mom has discovered a way to help calm his tics: knitting (thus his nickname). Despite the fact that Needles' condition seems to bother no one in their neighborhood, Noodles clearly harbors a great deal of resentment towards his brother that eventually comes to a boiling point when Needles takes a hit for something that was Noodles' fault. 

When I Was the Greatest first came on my radar back in April when Jason Reynolds was part of an event at Literati Bookstore with John Corey Whaley and Brendan Kiely. Reynolds' debut novel is a much-needed counter-narrative in the canon of young adult literature that prominently features black characters. So often books with African Americans are either historical fiction or gritty narratives that feature protagonists who are part of gangs or other criminal activities. Jason Reynolds, however, has written a gentle story about a young man who always wants to do right by his family and friends. Ali's tenderness towards his mom and sister and even his mostly absent father is not only touching, it is a desperately needed narrative for kids and young adults -- as both a mirror and a window. Fans of Jacqueline Woodson's After Tupac and D Foster will enjoy this character-driven story and want to keep sitting on the stoop with Ali, Noodles, and Needles long after the last page is turned. And it is passages like this one, that will leave a lasting impression on the reader. I know it did on me:

"Let's  pretend this punching bag is your father. What do you want to do to him?" He slowly released my fist. My nails were digging so deep into my palm that I thought I had broken the skin.

"Show me," he said again, this time nudging my shoulder. 

I turned toward the punching bag, opened my fist, and wrapped my arms around it.

Malloy sat there in his chair staring at six-year-old me, hugging a punching bag like it was a person.

With writing like that, Jason Reynolds has staked his claim as a force to be reckoned with in the world of young adult literature. The future is bright for this young writer and I can't wait to see what great things are in his future. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he has a Coretta Scott King Award and maybe even a Schneider Family Book Award grace the cover of this book in early February.


When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
Published: January 7, 2014
Publisher: Atheneum
Pages: 232
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Purchased Copy
 
If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

He had a gun in his hand. I'm sure of it. I laid eyes on it. I mean, I must have. The deep-stabbing kind of fear I felt; that doesn't come from nowhere. Certainly not from a Snickers bar. I know I stared into the deep black hole in that glinting barrel.  

The shooting or Tariq Johnson takes place in the fictional urban neighborhood of Underhill. We don't know where Underhill is, and as a result, the reader gets a sense that it could be Everytown, U.S.A. Even so, readers immediately understand that How It Went Down is a book that was inspired by the Trayvon Martin shooting. And yet, despite being written before the most recent deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, it also shares striking similarities to these stories too.

Told in short, page-turning chapters and multiple POVs, this timely novel gets to the heart of people's perceptions and how our own prejudices and experiences impact what we see -- or what we think we see. Did Tariq Johnson have a gun when Jack Franklin shot him? Or was it just a Snickers bar? Was he part of the neighborhood gang? Or did he keep his pact with his best friend Tyrell that they would never be a part of that life? The narrative of "how it went down" and who Tariq was changes depending on who's telling the story, so when readers reach the end of the novel, they are left with more questions than answers. Was Tariq good or bad? And just what do those words mean anyway? 

While some of the voices felt a tad inconsistent in places, which is understandable given the number of characters who are narrating the story, overall, How It Went Down is an important, discussion-prompting story, and one that will appeal to many teens.  


How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon 
Published: October 21, 2014
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Pages: 336
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Purchased Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

What a Party! by Ana Maria Machado, illustrated by Helene Moureau

A child's birthday soon turns into a raucous neighborhood party rife with food, friends, pets, music, and dancing.

Playing on the tossed salad metaphor of diversity rather than a melting pot, What a Party! celebrates multiculturalism by, well, celebrating. I love that this book highlights cultural differences by maintaining that we come together by sharing and celebrating those differences rather than keeping to ourselves and our own cultures. And what this book further maintains is that food is the great equalizer. Just when has food never succeeded in bringing people together? :) 



What a Party! by Ana Maria Machado, illustrated by Helene Moureau
Published: April 23, 2013
Publisher: Groundwood Books
Pages: 32
Genre: Picture Book
Audience: Primary
Disclosure: Library Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon

I am Malcolm.
I am my father’s son. But to be my father’s son means that they will always come for me.
They will always come for me, and I will always succumb.
 

Malcolm Little's young life is fraught with heartache and tragedy. After his father's murder, his family begins to unravel, no thanks to the white officials who have cut his desperate family off of government assistance and deemed his mother an unfit parent. In addition to his family unraveling, so too do his dreams when a teacher whom Malcolm trusts discourages him from aspiring to be a lawyer, despite the fact that Malcolm is a top student and also class president. His teacher only sees his skin color rather than young Malcolm's potential.

It's at this moment in his life that Malcolm wonders why he bothers even trying anymore and decides to escape to Boston where his half-sister Ella lives. It is here that Malcolm is tempted away from his once promising future into a world of nightclubs, hustling, and drugs. Malcolm thinks he has found a freedom in abandoning his past, but it's only a matter of time before the freedom he thinks he's found comes crashing down around him.

X is a fictionalized portrayal of a young Malcolm X's life, co-written by Kekla Magoon and Malcolm's daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz. This is a story that is incredibly timely given the animosity and resentment occurring in our country right now with the killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Malcolm X's fight for civil rights was demonized when he was alive and is still done so to this day. In that regard, there are so many parallels that can be made from not only Malcolm's public life, but also his youth in the 1940s (when this novel takes place), to the struggles of African Americans still going on in 2014.

As I was reading X, there were many occasions when I had to put the book down to process and contemplate what I had just read. The scene with Malcolm's teacher was one such occasion because I knew despite the incendiary language used in that moment, it was something that I needed to share with my students. We are taught the power of the N word from a very young age. It is a word so powerful it can no longer be spoken. But it wasn't until the aftermath of the moment when Malcolm is called that horrific word by his teacher that I could fully internalize its power. I wanted my students to experience that same moment of horror and indignation.

X is a profound novel. It is one that can change hearts and minds. I know it did mine.


I'm not meant to be part of the things that are wrong with the world, but neither am I meant to run from them. 
I'm meant to fight against them. 
I can't hold my own in the ring, but out in the world, I do know how to fight. 
With words. 
With truth. 


Download the teachers' guide

X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon
Publication Date: January 6, 2015
Publisher: Candlewick
Pages: 384
Genre: Historical Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: ARC received for review from publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

The Palm of My Heart: Poems by African American Children, edited by Davida Adedjouma, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Black stride? It's:
the arch of my back
the curve of my spine
the way I stand
and my stance is
pride

 
Oh this book. It will bring a tear to your eye and give you hope. The poems contained inside its scant pages are small but they are mighty. It is a heartprint book in every sense of the word. And just like the short poems contained therein, so too is this review.



The Palm of My Heart: Poems by African American Children, edited by Davida Adedjouma, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie*
Published: September 1, 1996
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Pages: 32
Genre: Poetry Picture Book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade/Young Adult
Disclosure: Library Copy

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Sugar Hill: Harlem's Historic Neighborhood by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Sugar Hill, Sugar Hill where life's so sweet
that pride rings out on every street. 

Sugar Hill is the well-known neighborhood in Harlem that came to prominence in the 1920s and 1930s during the Harlem Renaissance. Written in bouncy rhyming verse, this vibrantly illustrated tribute to the artists, writers, and celebrities that resided there is a beautiful historical and cultural title to include in your library - whether it's a school, classroom, or home library. 

The author's note at the end provides readers with further background information about Sugar Hill as well as well as the famous names peppered throughout the story, such as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Zora Neale Hurston. 


Sugar Hill: Harlem's Historic Neighborhood by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Published: February 1, 2014
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Pages: 32
Genre: Nonfiction Picture Book
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Library Copy 

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

The Walter Dean Myers Award: Challenge your students to read diverse books

Earlier this spring, a movement began on social media. Frustrated with the lack of diversity in children's literature and the fact that the organizers of the inaugural BookCon in New York City deemed “the world’s biggest children’s authors” to be all white males, authors Melinda Lo and Ellen Oh expressed their frustration via social media and shortly thereafter a hashtag was born: #WeNeedDiverseBooks, which was first tweeted by author Aisha Saeed and began trending on April 29th of this year. It created ripples all over the world of social media.



From this single hashtag, a movement began and now #WeNeedDiverseBooks has transformed beyond simple passive social media activism into something more tangible. Not long after the hashtag went viral, We Need Diverse Books was established as a nonprofit organization, and in October it was announced that they have created a new award: The Walter Dean Myers Award, which "will recognize published authors from diverse backgrounds who celebrate diversity in their writing and '[allow] children to see themselves reflected back' in those works," (Publisher's Weekly).

The award is currently limited to young adult literature and winners will announced in 2015, but there are plans for adding middle grade and picture books to the award in the future.

In the wake of all the racial tension happening in our country right now, reading widely from diverse perspectives is more important than ever. As Matt de la Pena said recently in a panel at NCTE called Reshaping the Landscape of Story: Creating Space for Missing and Marginalized Voices, "The quickest way to create monsters in our inner cities is by never showing them mirrors of themselves in literature." We need to be giving kids positive portrayals of all cultural backgrounds, not just the voices of the privileged. As one contributor to the video above stated, "We need diverse books because they are the vehicles for empathy and empathy is the best weapon against hate."

So just like many teachers and librarians hold mock Newbery and Caldecott awards in their schools, I would encourage you to hold your own mock Walter Awards. Not only will this give your students an opportunity to read from a variety of cultural backgrounds, allowing them to not only look through windows but also into mirrors, it will also give teachers and librarians a chance to add more diverse books to their own classrooms and libraries.

Even though the Walter Award is starting in 2015 with only young adult literature, I would still encourage you to hold mock Walter Awards for middle grade and picture books as well. Encourage your students students to read from a variety of books with diverse characters and authors, and then create a ballot to vote for their favorites. Not sure how to dig in? Here is a list of 2014 titles to get you started. This is by no means an exhaustive list, mainly because my canon of diverse books needs to increase, and also because I don't know what the exact award criteria will be other than "published authors from diverse backgrounds who celebrate diversity in their writing,"  but it's a good place to start so you can seek out further titles. And please let me know what 2014 titles I should add to this list.

Young Adult
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
Fake ID by Lamar Giles
Love is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson
The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi
How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Hadley Hooper
Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal by Margarita Engle
When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang
Everything Leads to You by Nina Lacour
Knockout Games by G. Neri
Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela and Elaine DePrince
Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices, edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Leatherdale


Middle Grade
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney
The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle
The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods
Unstoppable Octobia May by Sharon G. Flake
The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang
Kinda Like Brothers by Coe Booth
Wrinkles Wallace: Fighters of Foreclosure by Marquin Parks 


Picture Books
Firebird by Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers
Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales
Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin by Chieri Uegaki, illustrated by Qin Leng
Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan
Green is a Chile Pepper by Roseanne Thong, illustrated by John Parra
The Hula-Hoopin'Queen by Thelma Lynne Godin, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
I Got the Rhythm by Connie Schofield-Morrison, illustrated by Frank Morrison
Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk,illustrated by Alexandria Neonakis
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown, illustrated by Frank Morrison
Ninja! by Aree Chung
Soccer Star by Mina Javaherbin, illustrated Renato Alarcao
Bravo, Chico Canta! Bravo! by Pat Mora and Libby Martinez, illustrated by Amelia Lau Carling
A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina's Dream by Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
Sugar Hill: Harlem's Historic Neighborhood by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie


In the interest of full-disclosure, book links take you to my Amazon Affiliate page. If you buy any of these books through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.  


Cross-posted to my teaching blog, Use Your Outside Voice

Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales

A young woman searches.

She sees.

She explores.

And finally, she creates.


This beautiful picture book about Frida Kahlo is not so much a biography as it is a living, breathing poem that celebrates her artistry and creativity. The colorful photographs of puppets that evolve into dreamlike paintings later in the story, add to the poetry of images and language. The delightful Niño Wrestles the World was my first foray into Yuyi Morales's work, and now that I've witnessed Viva Frida's as well as Niño's artistic genius, I am convinced that someone needs to give Morales a Caldecott already. It's likely not to be for Viva Frida since the question of whether to include the photographer, Tim O'Meara, as a contributing artist complicates the question of whether he would be included as one of the winners, but I've decided that eventually this woman needs to win the most prestigious award for children's book illustration.

Viva Frida gave me chills and a lump in my throat when I read it. I know others have criticized it for not giving enough insight into Frida Kahlo's life in the story itself, but to me, this book is so much bigger than just a biography of a famous artist. As I mentioned above, it felt like I was witnessing a living, breathing poem and I was utterly enchanted. I think the open-endedness of the text also intrigues readers enough to want to go out and learn more about Kahlo's life. I know it did for me.  

I discussed the book with my 8th graders to get their opinions, and many of them felt that, despite the fact that younger kids might not understand everything that is happening in the text and illustrations, it still has facets that are appealing to kids (minimal text, bright illustrations that call them to use their imaginations). And yet, despite the text's spare simplicity, it is still a very complex book, which is an observation one of my astute 8th graders made and it was right on the money. To quote another one of my 8th graders, it is a book "you have to read with your heart, not your eyes."

With the plea for more diversity in children's literature this year, the multicultural and multilingual aspects of Viva Frida - with text in both English and Spanish - also make this an important book to have on our classroom and library shelves. 

Watch this video to witness the beautiful and complicated process behind the making of Viva Frida:


Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales
Published: September 2, 2014
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Pages: 40
Genre: Picture Book
Audience: Primary, Middle Grade, Young Adult...
Disclosure: Library Copy 

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.