English 12+ Tropes Breaking the Fourth Wall Gothic Romance Stories Sci-Fi Heroines Shaenon K. Garrity & Christopher Baldwin summary I love a good self-aware book, and Willoweep (a graphic novel) has this in spades. It begins with our main character dramatically reading her book report, much to her stern teacher’s dismay. She’s ordered to explore…
Antiracist Family Book Club: The Kidnapping Club & Call and Response
English MG & Up Racism BLM History Historical Figures Activism Protest summary I’m back with another pairing for the #AntiracistFamilyBookClub that y’all seemed to enjoy the first installment of! The first book I want to share with you was recommended to me by a colleague of Lee’s named Daryl! The Kidnapping Club: Wall Street, Slavery,…
Season of the Witch & Tarot for Kids
English 6+ summary If you’re like me, not only is there an entire Spooky Season, but it’s a full-on lifestyle. Season of the Witch is the perfect history book to settle in with when I want to learn more about our witchy global past. When the weather gets hotter here in western MA, I long…
Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma
English 4-8 Music Historical Figures Immigration Collective Action Joanna Ho & Teresa Martinez summary I’m confident that you’ve seen this gorgeous book floating around on the internet, and I’m here to try and add my two cents to campaign for why you need this book. Playing at the Border weaves together a specific event when…
Little Bird’s Day
English 3+ years Australian Aboriginal Creators Indigenous Folklore Natural World Australian Outback Sally Morgan & Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr summary I am SO excited that this story, brought to life by Aboriginal creators, is now available in North America! Little Bird’s Day follows, you guessed it, Little Bird. They fly across the land and wake up…
Mr. Watson’s Chickens
English 4-8 years Chickens LGBTQ+ Characters Humor Jarrett Dapier & Andrea Tsurumi summary Mr. Watson’s Chickens is hilarious! Mr. Watson and Mr. Nelson love each other and their chickens…until the chickens take over that is. When an ultimatum is given and moving into a chicken coop is posed, Mr. Watson corrals his feathery friends and…
Together
English All (board book) Activism Global Community Collective Action Mona Damluji & Innosanto Nagara summary Y’all, remember when I did the cover reveal for this book?? Well, it’s finally out in the world tomorrow! You know I’m an Innosanto Nagara stan, and his art brings Mona Damluji’s words to life in the most beautiful and…
Mi Casa is My Home
English & Spanish 4+ Latinx Family Bilingual Books Big Families Confidence Self-Esteem Laurenne Sala & Zara González Hoang summary Mi Casa is My Home is a beautiful celebration of family and spending time with them! Readers are treated to a house tour from Lucía, our narrator who lives with her big family in their casa….
Peace, Love, and Pasta: A Celebration of Family
English All Family Cooking Chosen Family Bilingual Books Turkish summary Pasta, food of the masses. Delightful, buttery, easy to share (sometimes). Diving into Scott Conant’s most recent book Peace, Love, and Pasta (from Abrams Books) made one thing clear: he values family above all else. This got me thinking about all types of family, chosen…
Antiracist Family Book Club: the OTHER talk & Deep Diversity
English MG & Up Antiracism White Privilege Action Accountability Unlearning Implicit Bias Social Change Community Organizing summary In an ongoing effort to help facilitate discussions, consider this the first installment of the Antiracist Family Book Club. My goal is to try and pair a book for MG/YA readers with a book for grownup readers (educators,…