Books for these times

As I watch the news, the words running through my head continue to be: what can I do? I'm not sure I have an answer to that yet, but I have read some books recently that have helped me understand a little bit of why. As many of you know, I mostly read Young Adult books. In the last few years, there have been some amazing new books in that genre dealing with racism and people of color. Dear Martin by Nic Stone is a book I feel like everyone should read, young adult or old adult! In some ways, I feel like these offer a different view than books like The New Jim Crow.  These are the stories of how people feel, right now, living ordinary lives.  These are what is being written by African American authors for their children today.  This is how our young adults are learning about what it is like to be an African American.  They are not abstract, they are not difficult to get through.  Although they are not non-fiction, in many ways I think it is just as important to listen to the stories as to read the history.  I'm Not Dying With You Tonight is actually about an African American and a white girl who only barely know each other that get trapped together and have to live through a night of rioting together.  It goes back and forth showing how dramatically different they see everything as they are literally going through it side by side.  Really hits home today.

  So, here is my offering.  It's not perfect and it's not complete by a long shot, but it is a start.  Love to all.  Karin

  

* Dear Martin by Nic Stone
* I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal
* The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
* Boy in the Black Suit, When I was the Greatest, and the Ghost series by Jason Reynolds
* Scrawl by Marcus Shulman
* The Hate U Give and On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
* This Side of Home and Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson 
* The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Alexie Sherman
* Bluford High series (mixed authors) and Urban Underground series by Anne Schraff

(books in verse)
* Brown Girl Dreaming, Locomotion and Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
* Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo 
* Crossover and Rebound by Kwame Alexander 
* Between the Lines, Bronx Masquerade, Ordinary Hazards, and Planet Middleschool by Nikki Grimes

(poetry)
* Mixed Feelings by Avan Jogia