Tag Archive | African American

Get THE JUMP on invading oil company! by Brittney Morris (YA book review)

Aug16
book cover of The Jump, by Brittney Morris. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers | recommended on BooksYALove.com

They know Seattle, street by street, edge to edge, even belowground. No one is better at digital scavenger-hunting than Team JERICHO.

Jax, cryptologist, Black vegan – why should the community garden his parents founded be replaced by an Roundworld oil refinery?

Yas, parkourist, gay hijabi – her father’s Pakistani-American convenience store is losing business to Roundworld’s HQ cafeteria.

Spider, tech-whiz, social justice warrior – thankful that Mom and her Korean restaurant staff support his transitioning.

Han, cartographer, autistic – brother working for Roundworld, Dad’s livelihood threatened by its pipeline.

When “The Order” posts a puzzle whose prize is “power” during protests against Roundworld, JERICHO decides to accept the challenge!

Can they solve The Order’s puzzle before Team Royal?
Will it allow the teens to stop Roundworld from placing an oil refinery in their neighborhood?
What does “the game is anarchy” in The Order’s first clue really mean?

The four long-time friends take turns telling this complex tale of clues, loyalties, greed, and consequences.

By the author of The Cost of Knowing, recommended here.

How are you reacting against injustice near you?
**kmm

Book info: The Jump / Brittney Morris. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

You know you can LEAN ON ME! by Bill Withers & Rachel Moss (Picturebook review)

Aug1
book cover of Lean On Me / Bill Withers; illustrated by Rachel Moss. Published by LyricPop/ Akashic Books | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Four young friends in a seaside town help each other through good times and bad in this brand-new picturebook version of Bill Withers‘ classic song.

“Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there’s
Always tomorrow”

From bike mishaps and fort-building fails in elementary school to growing up through family problems to their graduation day, each verse of the song underscores how these friends care for one another.

“Lean on me
When you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on…”

Whether grownups and kiddos sing along through this upbeat book or read it using Withers’ inimitable rhythms, Lean On Me will become a family read-aloud favorite!

Happy book birthday to the newest LyricPop picturebook in the series introducing classic pop songs to a new generation, like Dream Weaver (recommended here) and Good Times Roll (more here).

Who can you lean on?
**kmm

Book info: Lean On Me / Bill Withers; illustrated by Rachel Moss. LyricPop/ Akashic Books, 2023. [illustrator site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Experience our Black History when you read with your ears! (audiobook recommendations)

Jul28

Our AudioSYNC 2023 summer season ends with two outstanding audiobooks celebrating Black history of recent and earlier times.

You must download either or both audiobooks into your Sora shelf by Wednesday August 2nd! Get all the details here.

Huge thanks to Audiofile magazine and the many audiobook publishers who provided these great selections to us free!

CD cover of Freedom: The Story of the Black Panther Party,by Jetta Grace Martin, Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin Jr. | Read by Dion Graham. Published by Recorded Books

Freedom: The Story of the Black Panther Party (free Sora download 7/27 -8/2/23)
by Jetta Grace Martin, Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin Jr. | Read by Dion Graham
Published by Recorded Books

The history of the Black Panther Party comes to life, from its founders and their stories to its work supporting African American families in crisis to its collapse and next steps of key members.

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/208263/freedom!-by-jetta-grace-martin-joshua-bloom-waldo-e-martin-jr-read-by-dion-graham/

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CD cover of Not Without Laughter, by Langston Hughes | Read by Jaime Lincoln Smith. Published by Tantor Media

Not Without Laughter (free Sora download 7/27 -8/2/23)
by Langston Hughes | Read by Jaime Lincoln Smith
Published by Tantor Media

A Black family’s struggles and challenges include racially charged encounters as son Sandy grows up in 1930s Kansas.

A classic Harlem Renaissance novel, narrated to perfection.

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/225993/not-without-laughter-by-langston-hughes-read-by-jaime-lincoln-smith/

What was your favorite AudioSYNC summer audiobook this year?
**kmm

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Lady Liberty is A LIGHT FOR ALL! by Margarita Engle & Raul Colon (Picturebook recommendation)

Jul4
book cover of Light For All, by Margarita Engle; illustrated by Raul Colon. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Light, hope, freedom!

The Statue of Liberty‘s welcoming presence weaves throughout this uplifting and reflective picturebook.

Children’s hopes, dreams, and memories of their birth-lands fill these pages showing the many reasons that people come to the United States.

The text also acknowledges the Native Americans who lived here first and the Africans forcibly brought here in slavery, as well as recent immigrants’ struggles to be accepted by those whose families also arrived as immigrants in past generations.

By the author of many novels in verse that carry forward the voices of non-dominant cultures, several recommended on BooksYALove here.

The illustrator uses varied color palettes to portray disaster and turmoil, community and reunion, friendship and hope.

Also available in Spanish : Luz Para Todos.

Have you visited the Statue of Liberty?
**kmm

Book info: Light For All / Margarita Engle; illustrated by Raul Colon. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021. [author site] [illustrator interview] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

PIGSKINS TO PAINTBRUSHES: football-playing artist Ernie Barnes, by Don Tate (Picturebook review)

Jun27
book cover of Pigskins to Paintbrushes: the Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes, by Don Tate. Published by Abrams Books for Young Readers | recommended on BooksYALove.com

His pencil never stopped drawing,
his heart was filled with music and images,
some day he would show the world!

On the sidelines as he played professional football, Ernie kept drawing. After all, art had long been his escape from bullies as he grew up in segregated North Carolina.

In high school, Ernie was a big guy, so his mother convinced the football coach to let him play – and Ernie hated it! Only when the weight-lifting coach encouraged him to get stronger did the young Black man find his rhythm on the field and on the track team, leading to college scholarship offers

Oh, how Ernie loved the art studio at his all-Black college, learning oil painting and perspective and art history. His professor encouraged him to use his own experiences as inspiration for his work, and Ernie began painting about football as he kept playing.

His NFL career cut short by injury, Ernie proposed that the American Football League hire him as their official artist. He painted for the New York Jets, exhibiting 30 vibrant and exciting works to great acclaim in the mid-1960s.

Ernie’s paintings of Black Americans reflected joy and community, and his art career came full circle when they were exhibited in 1979 at the North Carolina Museum of Art, where he wasn’t allowed to enter as a child during segregation.

Movement, muscle, memory, and heart made Ernie Banks an art superstar. Watch the book trailer here!

What sport-related artwork is your favorite?
**kmm

Book info: Pigskins to Paintbrushes: the Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes / Don Tate. Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2021. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

SIDE EFFECTS of meds worse than her anxiety? by Ted Anderson, Tara O’Connor, Dave Sharpe (Graphic Novel review)

Jun21
book cover of Side Effects, by Ted Anderson; art & color - Tara O'Connor; lettering - Dave Sharpe. Published by Seismic Press | recommended on BooksYALove.com

First time living away from home,
her anxiety skyrockets…
she can’t get through college like this.

Hannah has always been worried and anxious, but everything new at college is just so overwhelming. After a deep depressive episode, her roommate helps her connect with a therapist on campus.

Dr. Jacobs is calm and reassuring, offering medication if Hannah wants to try it and cautioning her to watch for unusual side effects before her next appointment. Her brother Levi is supportive and wishes their mom would work on her own anxiety.

Oh, wow, what side effects! Such headaches, and she zaps anything she touches with electric shocks – even co-worker Jay at the library notices, yet still invites her to a very quiet, low-key party at his dorm.

Wow, Hannah is brave enough to go to the party and meet new people, including lovely Iz!

A new medication that won’t cause the terrible headaches makes Hannah disassociate from her body – is she really seeing through walls and reading people’s minds?

Her movie and dinner date with Iz is perfect! Then… crickets, no answer when Hannah texts her – what went wrong?

As freshman year rolls on, Hannah keeps trying to help herself and allows others to help her, too.

This graphic novel begins with a content warning about the mental and emotional distresses depicted and concludes with notes from the author and a mental health professional.

For help, call or text the free and confidential Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8 any time, any hour.

In a new place or situation, what do you think about first?
**kmm

Book info: Side Effects / written by Ted Anderson; art & color by Tara O’Connor; lettering by Dave Sharpe. Seismic Press, 2022. [publisher site & interviews] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Who survives the dangerous waters? Adventurous tales to read with your ears! (audiobook recommendations)

Jun8

Deep dives, perilous seas, and wild water in this week’s free AudioSYNC audiobooks

Download either or both audiobooks into your Sora shelf by Wednesday 14 June 2023, then listen to them whenever you like, as long as you keep them on your Sora shelf.

You can sign up for a free Sora account and see the entire AudioSYNC season here.

Time to set sail, weigh anchor, brave the briny deeps!

CD cover of Fractured Tide, by Leslie Lutz | Read by Chloe Dolandis. Published by Blink

Fractured Tide (free Sora download 6/8-6/14/23)
by Leslie Lutz | Read by Chloe Dolandis
Published by Blink

Expert diver Sia is one of the few survivors when their charter boat exploring a local shipwreck is destroyed by a monstrous creature!

The teen’s dictated letters to her incarcerated father note their efforts to get off the island… if she can.

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/184815/fractured-tide-by-leslie-lutz-read-by-chloe-dolandis/

clipart swirling lines http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/mondays-throughout-the-day-17164159
CD cover of Hurricane Song: a Novel of New Orleans, by Paul Volponi | Read by Jacob Norman. Published by Brilliance Audio

Hurricane Song: a Novel of New Orleans (free Sora download 6/8-6/14/23)
by Paul Volponi | Read by Jacob Norman
Published by Brilliance Audio

Katrina forces high schooler Miles, his dad, and his uncle to take shelter in the Superdome.

As food and medical supplies dwindle, violence and danger grow – will they make it through this hurricane?

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/44047/hurricane-song-by-paul-volponi-read-by-jacob-norman/

What’s your relationship to weather and the sea?
**kmm

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Starting over, needing to change, reinventing oneself – stories shared by AudioSYNC (audiobook recommendations)

Jun1

This week’s AudioSYNC free audiobooks take us on journeys of self-discovery.

Remember to download either or both audiobooks into your Sora shelf by Wednesday 7 June 2023. All your AudioSYNC downloads are yours to read for 99 years, as long as you keep them on your Sora shelf.

You can sign up for a free Sora account and see the entire AudioSYNC season here.

How much will our characters change as their stories travel on?

CD cover of Poor Matza: Selected Stories of Avrom Reisen; by Avrom Reisen, Harvey Fink [Trans.] | Read by David Skulski. Published by Post Hypnotic Press

Poor Matza: Selected Stories of Avrom Reisen (free Sora download 6/1-6/7/23)
by Avrom Reisen, Harvey Fink [Trans.] | Read by David Skulski
Published by Post Hypnotic Press

Yiddish tales of shtetl life in Eastern Europe and the immigrant experience in pre-WWII New York City – 38 tales in a new English translation.

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/80962/poor-matza-by-avrom-reisen-harvey-fink-trans-read-by-david-skulski/

clipart of swirly lines http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/mondays-throughout-the-day-17164159
CD cover of The Truth About White Lies, by Olivia A Cole | Read by Mela Lee. Published by Hachette Audio

The Truth About White Lies (free Sora download 6/1-6/7/23)
by Olivia A Cole | Read by Mela Lee
Published by Hachette Audio

Fitting in at a new school is difficult, especially when unconscious biases divide and judge.

Can Shania accept how white privilege got her here without repeating its worst errors?

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/213614/the-truth-about-white-lies-by-olivia-a-cole-read-by-mela-lee/

How has an emotional or travel journey changed your sense of self?
**kmm

divider clipart http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/mondays-throughout-the-day-17164159

O is for on campus, starting college at FIRST-YEAR ORIENTATION! edited by Eric Smith & Lauren Gibaldi (YA book review) @A2Z

Apr18
book cover of First-Year Orientation, edited by Eric Smith & Lauren Gibaldi. Published by Candlewick Press | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Move-in day,
time for goodbyes and hellos –
your new life after high school begins!

Welcome to Rolland College, home of the Owls! Many first-year students (we don’t say freshman anymore) come from other states or countries to this small New Jersey institution, which is a hometown fixture for a few.

This year’s entering class includes marching band buddies and theater stars (on stage and behind the scenes), a football player with brains and brawn, former child actors trying to escape rerun fame, youth with helicopter parents or a missing family member or a big secret…

Through these 16 short stories by YA authors and an actress, we meet students who are first in their family to attend college and those following relatives’ footsteps at Rolland, young people who want to reinvent themselves or finally get to show their true selves.

Get ready for dorm drama, an emotional support rabbit, a crack in the universe, and campus ghosts in these stories by Adi Alsaid * Anna Birch * Bryan Bliss * Gloria Chao * Jennifer Chen * Olivia A. Cole * Dana L. Davis * Kristina Forest * Lauren Gibaldi * Kathleen Glasgow * Sam Maggs * Farah Naz Rishi * Lance Rubin * Aminah Mae Safi * Eric Smith * Phil Stamper.

I love how main characters in one story appear in others as the first-years and returning students at this fictitious college rush to and from orientation, the student organizations fair, welcome parties, and the much-anticipated live concert… a kaleidoscope of encounters and emotions.

Just published this month in hardcover and paperback! From the editors of short story anthology Battle of the Bands, another look at a single day from multiple perspectives by several YA authors – recommended here.

What “how I got here” story do you tell on your first day in a new place?
**kmm

Book info: First-Year Orientation / edited by Eric Smith & Lauren Gibaldi. Candlewick Press, 2023. [Eric’s site] [Lauren’s site] [publisher site] Review copy via Edelweiss and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

L is LOVE RADIO: advice, music, more? by Ebony LaDelle (YA book review) @A2Z

Apr14
book cover of Love Radio, by Ebony LaDelle. Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Someday, he’ll be a hip-hop DJ and radio host.
Someday, she’ll be a noted writer on New York’s literary scene.
These days, maybe they can find time to find each other…

Sharing relationship advice on the radio is a highlight of Prince’s senior year, so very full of helping his mom who has multiple sclerosis and caring for his 6-year-old brother Mook.

Dani has an iron-clad plan for getting out of Detroit: be accepted to a great college in NYC, earn her Master of Fine Arts in writing, and become an author who changes the world.

As their paths cross for the first time since middle school, Prince thinks he might have a chance with his long-time crush, but Dani is intent on her exit plan. She does give him three dates to change her mind about starting a relationship – just three.

Sweet, thoughtful dates – interspersed with her flashbacks to an awful incident some months ago and his mom’s medical needs and…

Can you schedule falling in love?
When is a relationship past recovering?
What about a friend who lets you down one time too many?

Told in alternating chapters by the two teens, including transcripts of Prince’s radio shows and Dani’s unsent letters to noted Black women authors as she struggles with writer’s block on her all-important admissions essay.

What love song would you play to ease someone’s heartache?
**kmm

Book info: Love Radio / Ebony LaDelle. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022. [author site] [author video] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.