Illustrated by Olivia Duchess 5 stars A sweet new story, perfect for revisiting Tiana, Naveen, and all their friends in New Orleans. Tiana’s in-laws are joining them for the Mardi Gras celebration. Wanting everything to be just right, Tiana sets out to obtain a special ingredient to make the perfect dessert, a king-and-queen cake. Things…
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Illustrated by Ko Hyung-Ju 3 stars A semi-autobiographical tale set in 1983 during South Korea’s Fifth Republic. When book-loving Kim Hyun Sook starts college, she has big dreams of classes, learning, and campus life. But when she’s invited to join an unconventional book club, her whole world changes. She soon finds herself within a world…
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Illustrated by Violeta Encarnación 5 stars A beautiful picture book that celebrates a young girl’s connections to her grandmother, her ancestors, nature, and hoodoo. It’s the end of the school year and Juniper can’t wait to get away from the bullies at her school and visit her grandmother for the summer. There she will connect…
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5 stars It took me way too long to start reading this but I am so glad I finally did. A hard-hitting and heartfelt book of family, human connection, grief, activism, and empowerment. Wonderfully written. This book evokes so many emotions: joy, sorrow, guilt, anger. There are so many difficult topics including death, police shootings,…
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by Shauntay Grant Illustrated by Letícia Moreno 5 stars A delightfully cozy story of a young girl’s visit to Nana’s house filled with good food, good music, and good conversation. Nicely written with straight-forward text. I love how the proverbs are worked into the story as the girl shares what she has learned at Nana’s…
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Illustrated by Luisa Uribe 5 stars A touching story of one girl’s journey from Mexico where she lived with her grandmother to New York to reunite with her parents and brother. There she learns a new language and gets used to her new home, making friends, attending school, and dreaming of the future. Nicely written….
Read More![Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers' Rights [Audiobook]](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_308,h_410/https://www.craft-cycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Banned-Together-308x410.jpg)
Edited by Ashley Hope Pérez Illustrated by Debbie Fong Contributors: Ashley Hope Pérez, Maia Kobabe, Robin Stevenson, Nikki Grimes, Elana K. Aronld, Bill Konigsberg, Brendan Kiely, MariNaomi, Traci Sorell, Isabel Quintero, Trung Le Nguyen, Kyle Lukoff, Debbie Fong, Padma Venkatraman, Kelly Jensen, and Ellen Hopkins 3 stars A nice collection of pieces from a variety…
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Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot 4 stars A sweet story that wonderfully balances the heartwarming and the heartbreaking. Café Funiculi Funicula provides customers with a unique opportunity to travel through time. However, there are some rather specific rules involved including that the present cannot be changed. Follow a handful of customers as they visit loved ones…
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4 stars A fast-paced adventure of magic, mystery, and friendship. Yumi was born into a family of Crickets. Unfortunately, she hasn’t quite figured out her magic. But when a surprise invitation leads her to the capital, she sees it as an opportunity to hone her metal working skills. That is, until the Firefly Crown goes…
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3 stars A nice collection of poetry. Includes topics of COVID-19, connection, history, racism, war, loneliness, politics, and grief. I enjoyed the different styles used and the various forms the poems take, from erasure poems to a screenplay, found poetry to concrete poems. The formatting is visually interesting, utilizing different page colors, shapes, and orientations…
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