Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson

Artwork by Ekua Holmes 4 stars A fantastic collection of poetry. Absolutely stunning. Powerful words and a wonderful variety of poems. Watson pulls from her own life experiences to highlight issues of race, gender, and class in America. The collection covers topics such as growing up, hair, violence against Black people, family, community, love, influential…

Read More

Some Bodies by Sophie Kennen

Illustrated by Airin O’Callaghan 5 stars Perfection! I love this book so much. Beautiful illustrations. Catchy rhymes. All around positivity and great messages about body acceptance, differences, and celebrating all the ways bodies exist. The text flows nicely with a great rhythm and a catchy rhyme scheme. A joy to read and it really sings…

Read More

Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice

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…

Read More

You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P! by Alex Gino

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…

Read More

Harbor Me (Audiobook)

by Jacqueline Woodson 5 stars A beautiful novel that tackles many difficult topics in an approachable way. When a group of students are told by their teacher that every Friday they will meet without an adult in the old art room to talk about whatever they want, they are hesitant. But as the year goes…

Read More

This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake UP, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell, Illustrated by Aurélia Durand

4 stars A great resource for those starting on their anti-racist journey. Though it’s targeted toward teens, it can be beneficial for adults as well. Jewell goes through the basic progression of 1) recognizing racism, one’s own identity (both socially constructed and the traits beyond that get to the heart of the individual), and one’s…

Read More