Many of you know (or should know) Amandla Stenberg, the beautiful and talented youg woman who's taking Hollywood by storm. Known for her breakout role as Rue from The Hunger Games, she's very vocal about her feminism and was part of the chosen clique to be featured in Queen Bey's "Lemonade" film. Now Amandla is on to a new project. She'll be starring in the new movie Everything, Everything based on the young adult novel by Nicola Yoon (who was also a National Book Award finalist for her latest novel, The Sun is Also a Star).
Everything, Everything, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller, is about a girl named Maddy who was born with a severe immunodeficiency known as "bubble baby disease," which causes her to be allergic to practically everything and keeps her confined to her home. She's accepted her fate until an IM exchange begins with the new boy that's moved in next door. Loved The Fault in Our Stars? This might be the book and film for you.
|
|
"First we mourn, then we fight." Still coming off the high of this year's book awards, I didn't want to put too much energy into writing a newsletter dedicated to President Obama's predecessor. What has given me joy during this difficult time are the lists that I've run across on books to read to help us, to remind us, to teach us. Some of my favorites have included Book Riot's Social Justice Picture Books, Lit Hub's 50 Necessary Books for Your Anger and Your Action, and Indian Country Today's 30 Must Reads for Children and Teens for Native American Heritage Month.
|
|
|
|
|
radiant child
by javaka steptoe
picture book, ages 6-9
Jean-Michael Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocked to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art work had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw art in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City. Award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe's channels his artwork to introduce young readers to this powerful message artist.
|
|
|
born a crime
by trevor noah
satire, south africa
Trevor Noah’s path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. He was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was literally a crime. Because of this, Trevor stayed indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could take him away. Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting.
|
|
|
|
swing time
by zadie smith
fiction, london & west africa
Two brown girls dream of being dancers—but only one, Tracey, has talent. The other has ideas: about rhythm and time, about black bodies and black music, what constitutes a tribe, or makes a person truly free. It’s a close but complicated childhood friendship that ends in their early twenties, as both girls navigate what it's like and the price they pay by staying true to self.
|
|
|
don't feed the geckos!
by karen english
family & friendship, ages 6-9
In book 3 of The Carver Chronicle series, Carlos isn’t sure how he feels about the news that his cousin Bernardo will be joining his class at Carver Elementary. But when Bernardo comes to live with him temporarily, taking over Carlos’s top bunk, his spot on the school soccer team, and even his Papi’s attention, Carlos knows he isn’t happy. Worse, Bernardo starts messing with Carlos’s pet geckos! Carlos tries to see past his cousin’s annoying ways, but Bernardo sure doesn’t make it easy. Will Carlos—and his geckos—survive Bernardo's visit? Can he keep the peace for his family’s sake?
|
|
|
|
|
See something you think your friends would enjoy? Don't be selfish . . . share it!
|
|
|
|
|