Finally Seen is Kelly Yang’s newest work for middle grade readers and will be on-sale starting on February 28. One of my favorite authors, Yang has once again developed a character and story that will resonate with readers young and old. Finally Seen is a timely work, dealing with issues of bilingualism, immigration, book bans,Continue reading “Feeling Seen in the Books We Read”
Tag Archives: Children’s Literature
Family Bonds
Books by Kelly Yang (author of Front Desk) always bring me joy. She tackles important and challenging issues, such as immigration and xenophobia, but reading her work never feels like a heavy lift. The warmth her characters share is simply too strong to ever be overpowered by ignorance. In her newest book for young readers,Continue reading “Family Bonds”
Queer History Lives Everywhere
One of the many important insights that readers can gain from reading Alex Gino’s Alice Austen Lived Here, is that LGBTQIAP+ people (acronym used in the text) are not new, even if they are able to live more openly in the present day. There have always been people with different gender identities and sexual orientationsContinue reading “Queer History Lives Everywhere”
Simply Delightful
To me, reading Black Boy Joy was as delightful as the first bite of Happy Winter Fudge cake with vanilla ice cream (in other words: quite delightful). Edited by Kwame Mbalia and with stories by 17 Black male and nonbinary writers, this collection is one that I simply devoured. Of course, this left me wishingContinue reading “Simply Delightful”
Celebrate Talent
There should be many more books like J.D. and the Great Barber Battle, written by J.Dillard and illustrated by Akeem S. Roberts. Luckily, this is the first title in a series (with two additional books available now), so I can look forward to many adventures with J.D. and his community in Meridian, Mississippi. I haveContinue reading “Celebrate Talent”
Seeing People
Every once in a while my soul aches to read a story where every character, even the most challenging, eventually shows a redeeming quality. In Anybody Here Seen Frenchie?, by Leslie Connor, I found a book with so many loving, quirky, and accepting characters that it makes me want to pack up and move toContinue reading “Seeing People”
Room for Everyone
One of the first books I reviewed for this blog was Front Desk by Kelly Yang. I was thrilled to receive an advance reader’s copy of Room to Dream in the mail from Scholastic Press. This is the third book about Mia Tang and I hope there will be many more. Mia is an activist,Continue reading “Room for Everyone”
Celebration!
Celebration is the word that comes to mind after reading Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids. This is one of the first books published by Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint of HarperCollin’s Children’s Books. Edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, it brings together stories from many Native writers centering around a single powwow in Michigan. Each storyContinue reading “Celebration!”
The Shape of Thunder
The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga is truly a book that speaks to issues we need to face today. I am grateful to NetGalley and Balzer+Bray for the opportunity to write this review. Warga has created two characters, Quinn and Cora, who reflect the type of young women that we see in middle schoolsContinue reading “The Shape of Thunder”
Bias on the Brain
Unconscious bias is something I have been reading about and talking about for at least 15 years. So, while reading This is Your Brain on Stereotypes: How Science is Tackling Unconscious Bias, written by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and illustrated by Drew Shannon, I was a bit disturbed by my response to the direction to drawContinue reading “Bias on the Brain”
Teaching Social Justice with Children's Books 