All That It Ever Meant by Blessing MusaririHigh School Norton 192 pp.1/23 9781324030959 $18.95In the aftermath of her mother’s death, fourteen-year-old Mati and her family struggle to cope with their grief. Baba, Mati’s father, has trouble connecting with his three children. Seventeen-year-old Chichi rebels and engages in risky behavior. Ten-year-old...
The Melancholy of Summer by Louisa OnoméHigh School Feiwel 320 pp.5/23 9781250823564 $19.99e-book ed. 9781250823571 $11.99In this absorbing novel, a Nigerian Canadian girl navigating tumultuous circumstances learns to trust friends and family. Suspected of fraud, her parents have become fugitives; Summer first lives on her own and then at the...
We Are Here by Tami Charles; illus. by Bryan CollierPreschool, Primary Orchard/Scholastic 40 pp.1/23 9781338752045 $18.99Charles says in her appended note that this book, its companion All Because You Matter (rev. 11/20), and a planned forthcoming title are intended to “affirm, celebrate, and confirm the power and greatness that lie...
A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the 1963 March on Washington by Carole Boston Weatherford and Rob Sanders; illus. by Byron McCrayPrimary, Intermediate Holt 40 pp.11/22 9781250779502 $19.99e-book ed. 9781250906106 $10.99This necessary backstory of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom illuminates the significant...
Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life by Jerry Pinkney; illus. by the author Intermediate Little, Brown 160 pp. 1/23 9780316383851 $17.99 Reflecting on some memorable moments of his life, celebrated author-illustrator Pinkney offers an intimate look back to his childhood in this poignant, posthumously published memoir. The book opens...
On Her Wings: The Story of Toni Morrison by Jerdine Nolen; illus. by James E. Ransome Primary, Intermediate Wiseman/Simon 48 pp. g 9/22 978-1-5344-7852-7 $18.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5344-7853-4 $10.99 This picture-book biography of writer Toni Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford), by the team behind Freedom Bird (rev. 1/20), pays homage...
Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy; illus. by Janelle Washington Primary, Intermediate Roaring Brook 64 pp. g 8/22 978-1-250-22095-0 $19.99 This powerful picture-book biography reverently portrays the life of Mamie Till-Mobley (1921–2003), whose defiant act of bravery following the 1955...
Twice as Perfect by Louisa OnoméHigh School Feiwel 416 pp. g7/22 978-1-250-82350-2 $18.99e-book ed. 978-1-250-82351-9 $10.99While busy, high-achieving seventeen-year-old Nigerian Canadian high-school senior Adanna Nkwachi helps to plan her cousin’s traditional wedding to a Nigerian superstar, she is also dealing with her own feelings for two totally different boys....
The Deep Blue Between by Ayesha Harruna AttahMiddle School, High School Carolrhoda Lab 256 pp. g3/22 978-1-7284-4288-4 $18.99This novel (first published in the U.K. in 2020) offers a compelling view of West African history as a backdrop for a story of sibling bonding and coming of age. In 1892, ten-year-old...