Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie, Illustrated by Yuyi Morales

3 stars A sweet story about the link between names and identity, and the love between a father and a son. Love the colorful illustrations. They tell a story of their own, strengthening the story and sometimes adding some humorous details. The words and illustrations blend together at times, making for a fun and engaging…

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Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, Illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko

4 stars A wonderful conversation starter for topics of race and understanding other’s perspectives. Latham and Waters use poetry to tell the story of Irene and Charles, fifth-graders based on their own childhood selves, who have to work on a poetry assignment together. Along the way, they learn about each other, how they are the…

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Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

4 stars As far as the fake-dating trope goes, this one was pretty good. I’m not usually a fan of the trope because of the predetermined trajectory of the relationship. Because of that, it took me a bit to get into this book. But there were also enough other things going on to keep me…

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My Magical Unicorn by Yujin Shin

5 stars This has everything I look for and love in a board book. Fun, colorful artwork, a simple but sweet story (bonus points for rhyming), and activities to keep little ones entertained. This push, pull, slide adventure has plenty to keep little hands busy as they journey through a magical land with a unicorn…

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