I loved this beautiful exploration of gender identity and fluidity set in Nigeria among a tightknit community of mixed-race families. The brilliant prose, the multiple perspectives, the complex characters, and the unfolding mystery of how Vivek Oji died kept me turning the pages. I opened my heart to a new generation’s break with tradition to embrace and to nurture Vivek’s true self. And I was moved to tears by Vivek’s parents’ struggle to let go of the tentacles of tradition to see their child with new eyes--to accept, to love, and to honor Vivek through the painful revelation of his death. Thought-provoking, heartbreaking, heartopening, this short novel will stay with me for a long time. 

2021 marks the 100^th anniversary of the “unspeakable” massacre of the residents of a thriving black community in Greenwood, Oklahoma by a violent white mob. The power of this extraordinary picture book is in the unflinching truth of the telling and the exquisitely moving illustrations by Floyd Cooper, whose grandfather witnessed the massacre, that focus our gaze on the humanity of the children, women, and men who lost their lives, their homes, and their beloved community to racial violence a century ago. The ending calls on us to “reject hatred and violence and to instead choose hope.”  Read the book (and the excellent authors notes) with your children to help them understand the deep wounds that racism has inflicted on African Americans, and how this long-suppressed history shapes who we are as a nation today. Painful. Necessary. Unforgettable. 

This incredible collection of poems gives us the voices of Latin American poets who have raised their voices in protest against injustice, oppression and dictatorship. You’ll find here poems by literary icons Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral and César Vallejo, as well as exciting contemporary poets from across Latin American and the Caribbean who write in diverse languages about feminist, queer, and environmental issues. As Julia Alvarez writes in her passionate introduction, their voices are “defiant, alive, presente!”  The poems appear in their original languages side-by-side with exceptional English translations. Inspiring!

This beautiful picture book lovingly portrays two best friends and the emotions they experience when one moves away. Gorgeous digital artwork, full of color, energy and movement, express the vibrant relationship between these mejores amigas—the joy of connection, the sadness of separation, and the comfort of a friendship that endures.  A gem.

The author sets her personal experiences as a Muslim immigrant within a historical, social, cultural, and political context as she eloquently shows the many ways that immigrants, people of color, women, religious minorities and poor people are systematically excluded from the full benefits of citizenship. Conditional Citizens is a timely call for each of us to reimagine what we want our American democracy to be and to become. Lalami reminds us in these troubled times that "despair is never without consequences. It is a gift to the status quo."