by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard Illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin 4 stars A nice resource to guide discussions of race, discrimination, and police brutality. The fictional story follows conversations between two families, one White and one Black. These conversations bring up various issues such as racism, discrimination, fairness, and slavery, demonstrating the different…
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4 stars A powerful read about friendship and family with an emphasis on the continuous learning and action against prejudice, specifically racism and ableism. Nicely written. This book tackles quite a bit. From police shootings and microaggressions, to dissuading Deaf individuals from using ASL, to family making (intentional and unintentional) racist remarks. While it is…
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Cowritten by Andrew Weiner Illustrated by Brittney Williams 3 stars This action-packed graphic novel introduces a new superhero, Lolo, who develops psychokinetic powers, sparked when her brother is attacked by police. A wonderful look at family dynamics. After her mother left, Lolo and her brother have been raised by their father. I loved the representation…
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5 stars A powerful novel in verse that proves you are more than the hardships you have faced. I’d recommend looking at the trigger warnings before going in to this as there are quite a few traumatic events that occur. These include rape, food insecurity, homelessness, drug overdose, and police brutality. This book may not…
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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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