Read Woke
Brown is warm, black is bright
Sarah L. Thomson
jE Thomson
Picture Books, Nature, Read Woke
Illustrations and text celebrate the colors brown and black, demonstrating the many positive assocations with these two colors.
Berry song
Michaela Goade
RECEIVED
Picture Books, Read Woke, Nature, Poetry
As a young Tlingit girl collects wild berries over the seasons, she sings with her Grandmother as she learns to speak to the land and listen when the land speaks back.
Lyrical and visually stunning, Berry Song is a picture book for all seasons. -Casey
The katha chest
Radhiah Chowdhury
jE Chowdhury
Picture Books, Read Woke, Crafts
Asiya loves to visit Nanu's house and rummage through her katha chest filled with quilts that tell stories about the bold and brave women in Asiya's family.
I love this new picture book about the intersection of family history and handicrafts, best shared in lap-sit sessions poring over the lush illustrations. -Casey
Concrete Rose
Angie Thomas
OverDrive Audiobook
Young Adult, Fiction, Black Lives Matter, Read Woke
International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood.
Dion Graham breathes life into the characters and setting of Angie Thomas's prequel to The Hate U Give. Don't miss this powerful chapter in Carter family history. -Casey
Playing the cards you're dealt
Varian Johnson
jFICTION Johnson Varian
Fiction, Read Woke
"Ten-year-old Anthony Joplin has made it to double digits! Which means he's finally old enough to play in the spades tournament every Joplin Man before him seems to have won. So while Ant's friends are stressing about fifth grade homework and girls, Ant only has one thing on his mind: how he'll measure up to his father's expectations at the card table. Then Ant's best friend gets grounded, and he's forced to find another spades partner. "
Playing the Cards You're Dealt is great for readers of all ages. Perfect for card players, fans of realistic fiction, and anyone who enjoys fabulously full characters, I can't wait to reread this one. -Casey
Himawari House
Harmony Becker
GRAPHIC NOVEL Becker
Graphic Novels, Read Woke
"When Nao returns to Tokyo to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, she books a yearlong stay at the Himawari sharehouse. There she meets Hyejung and Tina, two other girls who came to Japan to freely forge their own paths."--Provided by publisher.
Incredible design, a wide breadth of illustration styles, strong female friendships, humor, and polyglots adjusting to life abroad. Himawari House is a delectable slice of life through and through! -Casey
The girl and the wolf
Katherena Vermette
jE Vermette
Read Woke, Picture Books
"A young girl becomes lost in the woods after wandering too far away from her mother. Scared because she is lost, she encounters a large wolf who reminds her of her own ability to survive and find her mother again."--
I love the reversal of classic fairytale tropes, this is one of my favorites. -Casey
Our little kitchen
Jillian Tamaki
jE Tamaki
Read Woke, Picture Books
"A crew of resourceful neighbors comes together to prepare a meal for their community. Includes a recipe and an author's note about the volunteering experience that inspired the book"--
Added by Casey
When the light of the world was subdued, our songs came through : a Norton anthology of Native nations poetry
811.6080897 /When
Read Woke, Poetry
"United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo gathers the work of more than 160 poets, representing nearly 100 indigenous nations, into the first historically comprehensive Native poetry anthology. This landmark anthology celebrates the indigenous peoples of North America, the first poets of this country, whose literary traditions stretch back centuries. Opening with a blessing from Pulitzer Prize-winner N. Scott Momaday, the book contains powerful introductions from contributing editors who represent the five geographically organized sections. Each section begins with a poem from traditional oral literatures and closes with emerging poets, ranging from Eleazar, a seventeenth-century Native student at Harvard, to Jake Skeets, a young Diné poet born in 1991, and including renowned writers such as Luci Tapahanso, Natalie Diaz, Layli Long Soldier, and Ray Young Bear. When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through offers the extraordinary sweep of Native literature, without which no study of American poetry is complete"--
For me, poetry anthologies are evergreen. I always find something new to enjoy upon a revisit. I am particularly excited about revisiting this lovely anthology edited by Joy Harjo. -Casey
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
FICTION/Moreno-Garcia, Silvia
Read Woke, Horror, Historical Fiction
"The acclaimed author of Gods of Jade and Shadow returns with a darkly enchanting reimagining of Gothic fantasy, in which a spirited young woman discovers the haunting secrets of a beautiful old mansion in 1950s Mexico"--
I'm anxiously awaiting any news of the forthcoming miniseries based on Mexican Gothic. Until then I will settle or rereading this fabulous slow-burn horror. -Casey
This lovely picture book is everything you want in a fall read-aloud, beautiful, touching, and repeatable. I cannot wait to share it at preschools and in-house storytimes! -Casey