#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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[rockislandadultreads]

National Book Award Finalists: Young People’s Literature 

Have you read any of these National Book Award Finalists? These young people’s selections were chosen out of 296 submissions! There are also finalists for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translated literature - be sure to check out the full list here.

The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

Stone-in-the-Glen, once a lovely town, has fallen on hard times. Fires, floods, and other calamities have caused the people to lose their library, their school, their park, and even their neighborliness. The people put their faith in the Mayor, a dazzling fellow who promises he alone can help. After all, he is a famous dragon slayer. (At least, no one has seen a dragon in his presence.) Only the clever children of the Orphan House and the kindly Ogress at the edge of town can see how dire the town’s problems are. Then one day a child goes missing from the Orphan House. At the Mayor’s suggestion, all eyes turn to the Ogress. The Orphans know this can’t be: the Ogress, along with a flock of excellent crows, secretly delivers gifts to the people of Stone-in-the-Glen. But how can the Orphans tell the story of the Ogress’s goodness to people who refuse to listen? And how can they make their deluded neighbors see the real villain in their midst?

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

Sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, very rich Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she's gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way. After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: keep her brother out of trouble, make her mom proud, and, most importantly, don't fall in love. Granted, she's never been great at any of those things, but that's a problem for Future Yami. The thing is, it's hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And talented. And cute. So cute. Either way, Yami isn't going to make the same mistake again. If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. So she'll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do?

Victory. Stand! by Tommie Smith, Dawud Anyabwile, & Derrick Barnes

On October 16, 1968, during the medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith, the gold medal winner in the 200-meter sprint, and John Carlos, the bronze medal winner, stood on the podium in black socks and raised their black-gloved fists to protest racial injustice inflicted upon African Americans. Both men were forced to leave the Olympics, received death threats, and faced ostracism and continuing economic hardships. In his first-ever memoir for young readers, Tommie Smith looks back on his childhood growing up in rural Texas through to his stellar athletic career, culminating in his historic victory and Olympic podium protest. Cowritten with Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Honor recipient Derrick Barnes and illustrated with bold and muscular artwork from Emmy Award-winning illustrator Dawud Anyabwile, Victory. Stand! paints a stirring portrait of an iconic moment in Olympic history that still resonates today.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

Lahore, Pakistan. Then. Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start. Juniper, California. Now. Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding. Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him - and Juniper - forever. When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth - and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.

Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee

Welcome to The Golden Palace!

Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota... until now. Her Mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance (where she and her family are the only Asian-Americans) and at The Golden Palace - the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations - she makes some discoveries. For instance:

• You can tell a LOT about someone by the way they order food. • And people can surprise you. Sometimes in good ways, sometimes in disappointing ways. • And the Golden Palace has Secrets. But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has. Like, why are her mom and her grandmother always fighting? Who are the people in the photographs on the office wall? And when she discovers that a beloved family treasure has gone missing - and someone has left a racist note - Maizy decides it’s time find the answers.

[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!

[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.

[giftideasfromaycaramba]

Layla, the Last Black Unicorn is a hilariously heartwarming picture book about self-acceptance, self-esteem, and standing up for standing out by New York Times bestselling author, Grammy Award-winning comedian, and actress Tiffany Haddish and Jerdine Nolen, author of the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Thunder Rose.

[youngreaderreviews]

Book Review: Radiant Child by Javaka Steptoe

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat Written by Javaka Steptoe.

Genre or Category Coretta Scott King winner Winner of the 2017 Coretta Scott King award

Target Age Group PreK-6th grade Recommended for ages 5-9 years, grades PreK-3rd

Format Physical, print

Summary Jean-Michel Basquiat was an artist that rocked the art world throughout the 1980s with his magnificent collage-style paintings. Since childhood, Basquiat saw art in everything he experienced, no matter how mundane it seemed. His story is illustrated through this biographical picture book, which features bold artwork and text.

Justification This book was chosen because it fulfills the category “Coretta Scott King winner.” Radiant Child was the 2017 winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator award, which is a literary award that seeks to recognize African American illustrators that create books for young readers that reflect the African American experience. In addition to this award, it was also the recipient of the Caldecott Medal in 2017. Kirkus Reviews, the School Library Journal, and Booklist have all given this book glowing reviews.

Evaluation For this review, I will be evaluating the pacing, accuracy, and the style and language.

Pacing This narrative about Jean-Michel Basquiat has a relatively consistent pace, which is neither slow nor fast. However, it does seem quick for a biographical work, which is appropriate for young readers. The story seems to linger on Basquiat’s childhood, which helps to establish how Basquiat became interested in art. Towards the end of the book, specifically in the section titled “More about Jean-Michel Basquiat” the pace seems to slow, which is emphasized by the large paragraphs of text that provide more information, including notes on symbolism and a personal note from the author.

Accuracy Radiant child accurately portrays the life of Jean-Michel Basquiat, which is supported by the extensive bibliography in the beginning of the book. Though the main narrative does not use the proper terminology to describe specific parts of Basquiat’s personal life (“His mother’s mind is not well” in place of “mental health issues”), though this seems appropriate for the age group this book is recommended for. This book also illustrates some of Basquiat’s works, which are fairly accurate to their source material.

Style and Language The author uses brief sentences throughout the narrative portion of the book, which creates quick pacing and a story that is easy to follow. In addition to the short sentences, a rhyming scheme is also used to create a sort of rhythm, though the rhyming isn’t constant. In terms of text, the narrative is primarily in Century Gothic but there’s also a display type in Basquiat. The type Basquiat is used to emphasize specific parts of the text, such as descriptive words, locations, and quotes.

References Steptoe, Javaka. (2016). Radiant child: the story of young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (J. Steptoe, Illus.). Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Steptoe, Javaka. (2016). Radiant child: the story of young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat [Cover illustration] (J. Steptoe, Illus.). Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. https://www.littlebrownlibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/9780316213882.jpg

[evreadseverything]

Book Review for The Talk

Genre: Social Issues, African-American/Black Experience

Audience: PreK-3rd Grade

Medium: eBook via Libby

Summary: Jay is a young Black boy who is enjoys hanging out with his friends and being a carefree kid. As he grows older, his family begins to prepare him for the unjust reality he may face in the world.

Justification: Growing up my grandma would often buy me Coretta Scott King award winners as she felt it was important for me read books that were about the Black experience. She wanted to do this as I was a young Black and Puerto Rican girl who lived in a predominately White area. Therefore, picking this book was a way for me to pay homage to that time. Also, it brings me great pleasure to see more children's book that present difficult conversations about race to young readers in a more understandable way.

Evaluation of Illustrations: Briana Mukodiri Uchendu's illustration style is reminiscent of Black art in the 90's and 2000's. This style choice brings about a sense of familiarity and nostalgia to those who grew up surrounded with art like that. Uchendu takes care in ensuring that each Black character is an individual through the various skin shades, hair texture, and hairstyles shown. The choice to illustrate the pages where Jay's parents have The Talk with him in darker colors instead of the warmer colors shown throughout the book convey to the reader the importance of the message.

Evaluation of Format: I've never read a picture book as an eBook before, so this was a new experience for me. It was a simple process to checkout the eBook via Libby and download it to my Kindle cloud. I typically read eBooks on my iPhone or tablet, but when I opened The Talk on those devices I found that the illustrations and text were too small. If I tried to zoom in on the text, I couldn't see the illustrations and vice versa. I instead had to pull up the eBook on my desktop so that I may read it as if it were a physical book. Overall, I appreciated how the eBook format allowed me to zoom in on the illustrations so that I may notice all the details.

Evaluation on Story Goal: Upon reading the book blurb, it can be assumed that the book's goal is to help adults explain the racism and discrimination Black youth may face as they grow older. The books author, Alicia D Williams, tastefully executes this goal by remaining subtle throughout the book. Instead of outright telling the reader that as jay and his friends get older, they are looked at and treated differently, it is shown via illustrations of people in society staring at them. Also, the choice to not tell the reader what Jay's parents said to him during The Talk was great because it allows for the readers parents to do so.

APA Citation: Williams, A. D. (2022). The talk (B. N. Uchendu, Illus.). Simon and Schuster.

[marshmyers]

Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner New York Times bestseller "Timely and timeless." --Jacqueline Woodson "Important and deeply moving." --John Green

Acclaimed author Renee Watson offers a powerful story about a girl striving for success in a world that too often seems like it's trying to break her. Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed.

Her mother tells her to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. And Jade has: every day she rides the bus away from her friends and to the private school where she feels like an outsider, but where she has plenty of opportunities. But some opportunities she doesn't really welcome, like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for "at-risk" girls. Just because her mentor is black and graduated from the same high school doesn't mean she understands where Jade is coming from. She's tired of being singled out as someone who needs help, someone people want to fix. Jade wants to speak, to create, to express her joys and sorrows, her pain and her hope. Maybe there are some things she could show other women about understanding the world and finding ways to be real, to make a difference.

PURCHASE