#Coretta Scott King Author Awards

[the-dust-jacket]

Congratulations to the 2023 winner and honorees of the Coretta Scott King (Author) Awards! 

[jstor]

Effie Lee Morris stands as a towering figure in the realm of children's literature and library services, leaving an indelible mark through her visionary leadership and tireless advocacy. Born into an era marked by racial segregation and systemic barriers, Morris defied the odds, rising to become a beacon of change and progress. Her journey began as a public librarian in Cleveland and later in the Bronx, where she cultivated a deep appreciation for the transformative power of literature and education.

In 1971, Effie Lee Morris shattered barriers as the first African-American president of the Public Library Association, a milestone that underscored her commitment to equity and inclusion in library spaces. Her groundbreaking work extended beyond administrative roles; Morris played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of children's literature by spearheading the establishment of the Coretta Scott King Award. By crafting the original selection criteria in 1970, she laid the foundation for recognizing and celebrating African-American authors and illustrators, ensuring their voices resonated prominently in the literary world.

Morris's impact reverberated within the walls of the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), where she assumed the role of the first coordinator of children's services. During her tenure, she revolutionized children's literature by establishing a research collection of out-of-print books, meticulously documenting the evolving portrayals of ethnic and culturally diverse groups. This collection, later renamed the Effie Lee Morris Historical and Research Collection in her honor, served as a testament to her unwavering dedication to preserving diverse narratives and fostering cultural understanding.

Beyond her professional achievements, Morris's advocacy extended into the realm of social justice and community engagement. She founded the San Francisco chapter of the Women's National Book Association and actively participated in the American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table, championing causes aimed at combating racism, inequality, and poverty. Her contributions were met with widespread recognition, as evidenced by numerous accolades, including the Silver Spur Award and the Grolier Foundation Award, affirming her status as a trailblazer in the literary landscape.

Effie Lee Morris's legacy transcends generations, inspiring future leaders and storytellers to uphold the values of diversity, inclusion, and equity in children's literature and library services. Her visionary spirit lives on in the countless lives touched by her work, serving as a timeless reminder of the transformative power of literature in bridging cultures, fostering empathy, and igniting change.

Read more about Effie Lee Morris here.

[richincolor]

New Releases for January 30, 2024

The four new releases we found this week are filled with poetry, murder, romance, and a little more murder of the fantastical variety.  

Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology edited by Amber McBride Taylor Byas, & Erica Martin HarperCollins

Starring thirty-seven poets, with contributions from acclaimed authors, including Kwame Alexander, Ibi Zoboi, and Nikki Giovanni, this breathtaking Black YA poetry anthology edited by National Book Award finalist Amber McBride, Taylor Byas, and Erica Martin celebrates Black poetry, folklore, and culture.

Come, claim your wings.

Lift your life above the earth,

return to the land of your father’s birth.

What exactly is it to be Black in America?

Well, for some, it’s learning how to morph the hatred placed by others into love for oneself; for others, it’s unearthing the strength it takes to continue to hold one’s swagger when multitudinous factors work to make Black lives crumble. For some, it’s gathering around the kitchen table as Grandma tells the story of Anansi the spider, while for others it’s grinning from ear to ear while eating auntie’s spectacular 7Up cake.

Black experiences and traditions are complex, striking, and vast—they stretch longer than the Nile and are four times as deep—and carry more than just unimaginable pain—there is also joy.

Featuring an all-star group of thirty-seven powerful poetic voices, including such luminaries as Kwame Alexander, James Baldwin, Ibi Zoboi, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks, this riveting anthology depicts the diversity of the Black experience by fostering a conversation about race, faith, heritage, and resilience between fresh poets and the literary ancestors that came before them.

Edited by Taylor Byas, Erica Martin, and Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner Amber McBride, Poemhood will simultaneously highlight the duality and nuance at the crux of so many Black experiences with poetry being the psalm constantly playing.

Wander in the Dark by Jumata Emill

Delacorte Press

Amir Trudeau only goes to his half brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. Chloe is rich, and hot, and fits right into the perfect life Marcel inherited when their father left Amir’s mother to start a new family with Marcel’s mom. But Chloe is hot enough for Amir to forget that for one night.

Does she want to hook up? Or is she trying to meddle in the estranged brothers’ messy family drama? Amir can’t tell. He doesn’t know what Chloe wants from him when, in the final hours of Mardi Gras, she asks him to take her home and stay—her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone.

Amir never gets an answer to his question, because when he wakes up, Chloe is dead—stabbed while he was passed out on the couch downstairs—and Amir becomes the only suspect. A Black teenager caught fleeing the scene of the murder of a rich white girl? All of New Orleans agrees, the case is open and shut.

Amir is innocent. He has a lawyer, but unless someone can figure out who really killed Chloe, it doesn’t look good for him. His number one ally? Marcel. Their relationship is messy, but his half brother knows that Amir isn’t a murderer—and maybe proving Amir’s innocence will repair the rift that’s always existed between them.

To find Chloe’s killer, Amir and Marcel need to dig into her secrets. And what they find is darker than either could have guessed. Parents will go to any lengths to protect their children, and in a city as old as New Orleans, the right family connections can bury even the ugliest truths.

Just Say Yes by Goldy Moldavsky Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Jimena Ramos had no idea she was undocumented.

Now she’s seventeen, and she needs to figure out a way to stay in New York City, the only home she can remember. There’s only one possibility that will get her a green card quickly enough: Jimena is going to find an American to marry her.

She’s got one excellent candidate: Vitaly, her next-door neighbor and friend, the only person she trusts with her secret. But Vitaly’s got his own plans for the future. He’s a definite no.

So Jimena tries online dating. She decides to approach this marriage like a business transaction. She figures out a plan that just might save her and make her a citizen at last.

But of course, she can’t stop thinking about Vitaly.

These Deadly Prophecies by Andrea Tang G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

A teenage sorcerer’s apprentice must solve her boss’s murder in order to prove her innocence in this twisty, magic-infused murder mystery perfect for fans of Knives Out and The Inheritance Games .

Being an apprentice for one of the world’s most famous sorcerers has its challenges; Tabatha Zeng just didn’t think they would include solving crime. But when her boss, the infamous fortuneteller Sorcerer Solomon, predicts his own brutal death—and worse, it comes true—Tabatha finds herself caught in the crosshairs.

The police have their sights set on her and Callum Solomon, her murdered boss’s youngest son. With suspicion swirling around them, the two decide to team up to find the real killer and clear their own names once and for all.

But solving a murder isn’t as easy as it seems, especially when the suspect list is mostly the rich, connected, and magical members of Sorcerer Solomon’s family. And Tabatha can’t quite escape the nagging voice in her head just how much can she really trust Callum Solomon?

Nothing is as it seems in this quick-witted and fantastical murder mystery.

[uwmspeccoll]

A Jerry Pickney Saturday

Jerry Pinkney (1939-2021) was a multi-award-winning American illustrator and children’s book author. His numerous awards include a Caldecott Medal (2010); five Caldecott Honor Book awards; five Coretta Scott King Book Awards (the most for any illustrator); five Coretta Scott King Honor Awards; the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award (2016); the 2016 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award; four Gold medals, four Silver medals, and the 2016 Original Art Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators; and he was nominated twice for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, considered the Nobel Prize for children's literature, among many other awards and recognitions.

The images shown here are Pickney’s pencil, color pencil, and watercolor illustrations for children’s book author Alan Schroeder’s 1996 fictional biography, Minty, A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, published in New York by Dial Books for Young Readers. This book won Pickney the 1997 Coretta Scott King Book Award for Illustrator, and the book was a Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice for 1996.

Schroeder writes that “While Minty is a fictional account of Harriet Tubman’s childhood, and some scenes have been invented for narrative purposes, the basic facts are true.” Of illustrating this book, Pinkney writes:

The challenge that Minty initially posed for me came from not having a clear picture of Harriet Tubman’s early childhood. However, I was able to imagine the spirited eight-year-old Minty, using Alan Schroeder’s strong text and Harriet Tubman’s biography, The Moses of Her People, as springboards. The National Park Service was also helpful . . . as was the Banneker-Douglas Museum in Maryland, where extensive research uncovered the style of plantations around Maryland during Minty’s childhood and authentic details regarding backgrounds, dress, food, and living conditions of the enslaved as well as the slave owners. My interest was to give some sense of Minty’s noble spirit and open a window to understanding the day-to-day, sunup to sundown life of the slave, by individualizing the hardships in overwhelming circumstances.

In 1978 I was privileged to create the first Harriet Tubman commemorative stamp for the U.S. Postal Service. This book, then, brings me full circle with Harriet’s life and courage.

View another post with illustrations by Jerry Pinkney.

View more posts from our Historical Curriculum Collection.

View more Black History Month posts.

[reasoningdaily]

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler

From the New York Times best-selling author and National Book Award finalist, a biography in verse and prose of science fiction visionary Octavia Butler.

A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book A Walter Dean Myers Honor Book

Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose.

Born into the Space Race, the Red Scare, and the dawning Civil Rights Movement, Butler experienced an American childhood that shaped her into the groundbreaking science-fiction storyteller whose novels continue to challenge and delight audiences 15 years after her death.

Cover art 2022 by Zharia Shinn

click the title link to Download for FREE from The BLACK TRUEBRARY

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Rosa Guy

Novelist and playwright Rosa Guy was born in 1922 in Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago. Guy was the author of more than 20 books, including My Love, My Love: or The Peaseant Girl, which was adapted into the musical Once on This Island. She wrote her first play, Venetian Blinds, in 1954, and her first novel, Bird at My Window, was published in 1966. Guy's books focused on themes such as poverty, violence, and race, and she believed in writing truthfully for young audiences. Another major theme in her work was the dependability of family and friends caring for one another. Guy won several awards for her writing, including the Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association and the Coretta Scott King Award.

Rosa Guy died in 2012 at the age of 89.

[lboogie1906]

Ilyasah Shabazz (July 22, 1962) is an author, community organizer, social activist, and motivational speaker, and the third daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz.

She was born in Brooklyn.

She was a student at Hackley School. She attended the State University of New York at New Paltz. She was elected an officer of the Black Student Union.

She earned an MA in Education and Human Resource Development from Fordham University.

She wrote Growing Up X, the memoir of her childhood and her personal views on her father, in 2002. It was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Nonfiction. A devout Muslim, she made the pilgrimage to Mecca, the hajj, in 2006 as her father had in 1964 and her mother did in 1965.

She wrote Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X, a children’s book about her father’s childhood. It was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Children’s. She wrote a young-adult novel, X, about the same subject. The book was among the ten finalists considered for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and it won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Youth/Teens. It won honors from the Coretta Scott King Awards and the Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children’s Literature and was named as a 2016 Bank Street Children’s Book Committee’s Best Book of the Year. Her middle-grade novel about her mother’s childhood, Betty Before X, was published in January 2018. It was one of the 2019 Bank Street Children’s Book Committee Best Books of the Year and received an “Outstanding Merit” recognition.

She is a trustee for the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, the Malcolm X Foundation, and the Harlem Symphony Orchestra. She is an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #deltasigmatheta

[freddiekugel]

remember the Royal Diaries series, fellow millennials?

i always assumed they were written by random kid lit authors I'd never heard of (it seems like that kinda series, right? the branding is about the royals not the writers). and most of them are, one or two have won awards for some of their work.

one was written by Patricia McKissack, who won a bunch of Coretta Scott King awards and whose name I recognized immediately. she was a local author where I grew up though so maybe she's less of a big deal elsewhere (idk). [her book: Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595]

and today I learned: one of these fun, learn about a royal from their fictional diary books was written by Edwidge Danticat. well-known lit fic author Edwidge Danticat. I read some of her short stories in my high school lit class! her first three novels, and the short story collection I read in HS all came out before she wrote this royal diaries book! [which is Anacaona: Golden Flower, Haiti, 1490 and starts with a note about how the diary format is fictionalized bc Taínos didn't have a writing system]

she's a MacArthur Genius.

i - i am shocked and delighted by this information.

[jessreadingblogk-12]

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Weatherford & Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Genre / Category: Graphic Novel, Children’s Non-fiction / Coretta Scott King Award

Age group: 8 and up

Summary: This book is a historical retelling of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.

Justification: Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre has won the Coretta Scott King award as well as several other awards such as being longlisted for the National Book Award.

Formant and Evaluation: I read this book in e-book format. Most picture e-books have issues with pagination such as listing a book with over 100 pages when there are only 20 such as in my review of 100 Dragons All Named Broccoli. Others lack zoom functionality which makes books with small text difficult to read. Unspeakable was digitized perfectly. The two-page spreads were all kept together on one page and, due to the digital form, were not split by the spine of the book. I will be evaluating illustrations, tone, and accuracy.

Illustrations: The illustrations of Unspeakable are unique in the way that they portray the historical nature of the narrative. The art has a type of graininess to it that give the depictions of old-timey automobiles, streets, and the fashion of the characters an added sense of realism.

Tone: The tone of Unspeakable is one of my favorite parts of this book. The story begins with “once upon a time…” which lulls the reader into a sense of childish fantasy. In fact, this book starts every other page with “once upon a time” which becomes unsettling as it describes the very real lives of people within this community. Once upon a time, the Black community of Tulsa were happy and prosperous. Halfway through the book, however, tragedy strikes and the book —given that it is written for children— does not shy away from the horrors of this historical event. It is important that children of all races can see the very real consciences of racism and this book does so in a powerful and accessible way.

Accuracy: This book has a section after the story dedicated to the history of this event. Here, the author recounts the stories of their ancestors that were killed in this tragedy. It also has pictures of the townspeople and the city in ruins after the massacre.

Citation: Weatherford, C. (2021). Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre. (F. Cooper, illus.). Carolrhoda Books.

[the-dust-jacket]

The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Awards recognized Jade Adia in the author category and Briana Mukodiri Uchendu in the illustrator category this year. Congratulations!

[giftideasfromaycaramba]

One fateful night, the unthinkable happens and in a flash, Kofi’s world turns upside down. Kofi soon ends up in a fight for his life and what happens next will send him on a harrowing journey across land and sea, and away from everything he loves.

This spellbinding novel by the author of The Crossover and Booked will take you on an unforgettable adventure that will open your eyes and break your heart.

The Door of No Return is an excellent choice for independent reading, sharing in the classroom, book groups, and homeschooling.

Available here: The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander | Ay Caramba Books

[msareviews]

Review - Standing in the Need of Prayer by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison

Spirituals are a form of religious music created by enslaved Black people in America. This book honors that heritage by creating new lyrics for a classic spiritual to introduce children to various events and people in Black American history and inspire them to continue the fight for racial equity and justice. I was drawn to this book as my Coretta Scott King Award winner because of my background in music, including worship music. The poetry in this book is simple but moving, reminding the reader of the violent oppression Black people in America have had to combat, and it is accompanied by gorgeous paintings that link past and present struggles seamlessly. Its overall theme, that much has been done but there is still much left to do, is inspiring and important for today’s children. This book is recommended for children in the first through fourth grade, and I think it is a wonderful tool for introducing African American history and Black American culture to young people.

The poetry in this book is based on the classic spiritual “Standing in the Need of Prayer,” and the author explains in a note at the back of the book that she followed the spiritual tradition of improvising new lyrics to the song. Her lyrics reference many events in American history, including slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and Colin Kaepernick, in mythic language. This elevates these events into inspiring milestones of progress, feeding into the inspirational tone of the book.

The illustrations are also beautifully done and create a beautiful visual timeline throughout the book. These illustrations are expressive, conveying Black people as strong in the face of racial oppression and violence. Several times in the book, a scene from the past is painted over the head of a more recent historical figure, conveying a sense of connection between current fights against oppression, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, and their roots in a long past of overcoming oppression. Particularly lovely to me, are the illustrations in the front and back covers. These are big, powerful paintings depicting children, standing strong in the face of racial injustice. The first shows an enslaved child chained but standing tall in front of a man with a snake-like whip; the violent and intimidating stances of the two men are in stark contrast to the strength and composure of the child, setting up this story of resilience and courage. The final illustration is a Black girl walking into a sunset with a protest sign. We saw this little girl in a previous illustration, so we know this is a BLM sign. Her walk away from the viewer is relaxed with one hand in her pocket and her head tilted casually. These bookending images encapsulate the book’s overall theme that there is still much to be done, but looking at the triumphs of past African American figures can provide hope and inspiration to keep fighting for equity.

The overall theme of the book is perhaps its strongest point. This book came out in 2022 during a heightened conversation about racial justice that had become widely popular after the BLM protests of 2020. In the face of a highly polarized political moment, it’s easy to fear that you’ll never reach a moment of justice, peace, and equity. I think this book gives people, especially children, a much-needed lesson from history that equity can and will prevail, we just have to keep fighting for it. It uses examples from the relatively distant to the very recent pasts to give examples of African Americans who didn’t give up their fight and made bold progress that brought us to the current moment and encourages children to then take up this mission and keep the movement going forward.

I love this book. It’s both a beautiful work of art and an inspiring experience to read. It has many uses for children – as an introduction to African American history, as an introduction to spirituals as Black culture, and as an inspirational piece for young activists. I personally found it very inspiring and will be recommending it for the staff picks display at my library.

References

NoveList. (n.d.). Standing in the need of prayer: A modern retelling of the classic spiritual. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/novp/detail?vid=2&sid=8e136d72-9e1b-4138-9fbc-ca6664275f22%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9bm92cC1saXZl#AN=11077253&db=neh.

Weatherford, C. B. (2022). Standing in the need of prayer (F. Morrison, Illus.). Crown Books for Young Readers.

[bookishandproud]

Big

by Vashti Harrison

Book Cover Picture

Genre or category

Coretta Scott King Award Winner

Target Age Group

Pre-K to 6th

Summary

As a young girl grows up, she struggles with the space that she takes up and overtime comes to embrace her uniqueness and build self-confidence.

Justification

I chose this book as it is the recipient of many different awards like Coretta Scott King, Caldecott, and Texas 2x2. It highlights the struggle that young girls can face as they grow up and their appearance begins to be judged. It offers a great representation and simple look into how to grow through that and embrace yourself and your body.

Evaluation

For this review, I will be evaluating illustrations, theme, and mood.

The illustrations for this book were beautifully soft, while not losing any detail that is needed to convey the meaning of the story. As the young girl grows up and is increasingly judged for her appearance and more and more words are used to describe her, the words are increasingly used within the illustrations to demonstrate how they have impacted her and stayed with her over time. The illustrations also really show how the girl feels as it portrays her as increasingly bigger than all of the things she is around in an exaggerated, but not too unrealistic to the feeling that the words would cause. In a pinnacle of the moment, the illustrations and the girl get bigger and bigger until they take up the whole page, and the book becomes a box that the child is in. The use of color was also great for portraying the feelings of the girl, as her dress becomes darker as her feelings get darker, and then get lighter as she lets them out.

The theme of this book is twofold. The first theme is about how to deal with growing up and the increasing judgement of a society around you and their perceived notions of what you should and shouldn't be doing, and what you should and shouldn't look like. As children get older, they begin to learn the boundaries of the world around them and become aware of just how much space they take up, especially in comparison to those around them. The author is also the illustrator so they're able to capture this in the words that are repeated throughout the book and in the illustrations of the girl as she grows larger and larger in the pictures. The other theme that can be taken away from the book is that words have power and impact. In reading the book, children can learn how their words affect others, having a lasting impact and continuing to stick around well past the moments they are used. Depending on the experiences of the child and/or parents reading the book, they could take a different lesson away from it.

The mood of the story goes from hopeful and happy, to sad and dark, then back to hopeful and a more calm feeling. When the child is very young, she experiences the world around her in new experiences and she's taken care of and happy and everything is bright. As she gets older and the world begins to leave a lasting impression on her, the mood gets darker and darker, represented with the colors of the illustrations. The words she hears become a big part of the story and affect the mood as they're repeated for emphasis and the girl gets more and more sad. At the end, when she releases a lot of the pent up emotions and comes to be self-confident and ignore the words of those around her the mood of the story changes as it becomes calm and hopeful again as the girl is more comfortable in her body. Throughout the book, the reader easily feels what the little girl is feeling and quickly empathizes with her.

Rating:  ★★★★

References

Harrison, V. (2023). Big. Little, Brown and Company.

[tbg041397]

The New Kid

written and illustrated by Jerry Craft

Genre or Category

Coretta Scott King Award (2020 Author Category)

Target Age Group

Middle Grade 

Summary

Jordan is starting his school year at a new private school. The problem is, he doesn’t feel like he fits in; the teachers call him the wrong name and his classmates stare every time someone mentions race or financial aid. Lucky for Jordan he has a great group of friends to navigate this new environment with. New Kid is the story of Jordan learning to be authentically himself in what feels like two very different worlds. 

Justification

I chose this book for its relatability to middle grade readers. Many students can identify with being in the minority in a new place, or being shoehorned into a category because of the way that they look. While race is a huge theme of the book, children of any race can find themselves in Jordan’s shoes as he tries to find his niche in a new environment. I specifically wanted to pick a graphic novel to evaluate because they have become so popular with younger students. Frequently I meet parents that worry that their children are only reading “comic book,” so I wanted to personally evaluate the merits of a graphic novel to help better inform parents, students, and teachers about their value as literature.   

Evaluation

For this review, I will be evaluating the effectiveness of the illustrations, the characterization of Jordan, and Jerry Craft’s use of language in the book. 

Illustrations

New Kid is a graphic novel, meaning that the illustrations will greatly affect the way the reader interprets the story, either positively or negatively. Jerry Craft does an excellent job of using his illustrations to add depth and emotion to the story. Because of the graphic novel format, craft is not able to describe character’s feelings, emotions, or inner thoughts. Instead he uses illustrations of faces with clear expressions that would be recognizable to readers. While the facial expressions sometimes seem over exaggerated, it signals to the reader how a specific line should be interpreted. For example, in the opening pages, Jordan’s parents are telling him about his new school and how wonderful it is. Jordan isn’t saying much except for a few affirmatives. Readers could interpret Jordan’s words (and lack of words) as interest or even boredom. However, Craft includes a frame where Jordan is illustrated with his head thrown back in an exaggerated way and grimace on his face. Craft uses this illustration to signal to the reader that Jordan is feeling exasperated and misunderstood in this scene. Craft uses facial expressions that middle schoolers recognized and have probably made themselves to connect them to the true meaning of a scene while including nuanced interactions. 

Characters

Jordan is the main character of New Kid and is the person that readers are meant to most associate with. Craft created a well rounded and dynamic character in Jordan, and as a result he is easy to relate to. The book revolves around the idea of embracing yourself and being comfortable with who you are, which means to be effective readers need to see themselves in Jordan. Craft gives Jordan a variety of character traits, hobbies, quirks, motives that make him related to most middle school readers who pick up this book. Some readers may not identify with being the minority race in an environment, but they might relate to being on the B Team in sports, feeling overwhelmed, or using sarcasm as a way to express yourself. Craft made sure that Jordan had depth of character that would appeal to readers from many journeys. Jordan also changes throughout the book, bringing readers along for the ride and connecting them to him as a character. As Jordan gains confidence in himself, readers who see themselves in Jordan follow him on that emotional journey and feel satisfied at the end when Jordan seems to become comfortable in his own skin. 

Language

Middle grade books are difficult to get right. Readers at the age where they feel like they have outgrown “kid’s books” and will be immediately resistant to anything that sounds too childlike or comes across as trying too hard. Craft does an excellent job of making his characters speak in a natural and age appropriate style. The author does not shy away from using modernized language that readers will have used themselves such as “Are we still cool?” (pg 153), “for real!” (pg 88), and “salty” (pg 73) to make his dialogue seem authentic and age appropriate. A downfall of using more modern slang is that it could come across as an author trying too hard to sound young. Craft avoids this by not overusing slang or making references just to appear relatable. Middle grade readers will not feel talked down to or caricatured by New Kid.

References

Craft, J. (2019). New kid (J. Craft, Illus.). Harper.

[lboogie1906]

Cecil J. Williams (November 26, 1937) is a photographer, publisher, author, and inventor whose photographs document the civil rights movement in South Carolina beginning in the 1950s.

He began his career photographing weddings and family parties. He graduated from Claflin with a BA in Art., while being a photographer for the university.

The Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum in his hometown of Orangeburg, South Carolina features hundreds of his civil rights photographs for national publications.

He was born and raised in Orangeburg. He was the third child of Ethel, an educator, and Cecil L. Willams, a tailor. His older brother had been given a camera by his mother, and he handed the camera down to him.

His work appeared on the cover of JET was his picture of Coretta Scott King. He contributed to the Baltimore Afro-American, Associated Press, and Pittsburgh Courier.

He became a close acquaintance of Kennedy and one of his favorite photographers. He was one of the few in the press community to be allowed on Kennedy’s private jet.

His work has been exhibited at many institutions and museums, such as Claflin University, University of South Carolina, Columbia Museum of Art, Clemson University, Columbia College, Furman University, Rice Museum in Georgetown, South Carolina State University, and Museum of the New South in Charlotte.

He ran as a candidate in the South Carolina Democratic Party in the 1984 & 1996 US Senate elections. He was the second Black person to do so in the state. He lost in a close race.

He invented the FilmToaster. He owns a portrait studio, event, and wedding photography business. He serves as the director of Historic Preservation at Claflin University. He holds membership with Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He is married to Barbara Johnson Williams, a retired educator.

He received the Presidential Citation from the president of Claflin University. He was the recipient of the Bythewood Award. The South Carolina African-American Heritage Commission gave him the “Preserving Our Place in History” Award. The Commission presented him with the DeCosta Jr. Trailblazer Award. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #sigmapiphi