Kate Mester
Colbert did a great job with her research and making Black Birds a really readable narrative, bookended by her own thoughts in the Preface and Afterwards. The first few chapters set up historical context for this massacre, going through other riots/massacres that happened right before Tulsa and the consistent violence enacted by white supremacy anytime Black people made advances towards equality. However, this means that the actual details and story of that night and morning are much more surface than more in-depth books like Hilary Beard's The Burning. This would be a great book to start with as an introduction to the Tulsa Race Massacre for 8th to adult, but would be well-paired with more primary sources or even more detailed nonfiction accounts.
Another good listen from Pheebs. I really liked that she wrote so seriously for “We Don't Need Another White Savior.” People coming just for the comedy are going to be hit with a well done Atlantic-style thinkpiece. The comedy is also there, particularly in her ignorent asides, which are why I listen instead of read her books. As her books have grown with her career, I appreciate that she added essays about being a boss and traveling, with advice specific to Black women in these contexts. This is where I'm ignorant, but I'm hoping her next book will be a compilation of previous and new Thirsty Thursdays, because those posts are hy-ster-ical.
Well, that took an even darker turn! The first book in the series, while it had dark content, still felt light, and lived up to the “good girl” title. But Jackson clearly had a vision for how Pip was going to change and grow, and I'm surprised but not shocked by the direction, though I think it'll be controversial. I did appreciate Jackson's tight plotting throughout the series, the repeated callbacks that she had clearly set out from the beginning, and Pip's (mostly) realistic emotional journey as all of the violence she investigated affected and changed her and made her more morally grey.
Suspense that...didn't make sense and went nowhere. A messy bummer of a book. So much made absolutely no sense (like the man in the yellow hat) and the payoff wasn't one, it loosely connected some of the dots, left the rest, and then just ended. It's a promising idea that needed better writing, editing, and character development.
A good graphic bio on RGB's life for kids, elementary and middle specifically. I liked that the graphics where various shades of blue with pops of red. Includes a timeline and the quotes are extensively researched. This bio goes up to Feb 2019, a year before her death. 1 mention of the influentit Pauli Murray, who I would also love to see get the same attention and the graphics treatment!
Wowza, this was excellent! Wimberly writes Tybalt's story, set in the 80s NY hip-hop scene with katana fighting, told through iambic pentameter, some from Shakespeare and some updated but no less impressive in it's references (It's gotta be the shoes, etc). The art and colors are stunning. What an impressive remixed work. This would be a great comparative addition to an AP or honors class after students read R&J.
Great graphic that can be for 8th grade and up. Gharib takes us from her life growing up in Cerritas, CA as the 1st gen American child of an Egyptian father & Filipino mother, straddling the two cultures while also trying to navigate being an American and proximity to whiteness, through college and navigating the working world, up until her present adult life. The art is really fun and the color palette is limited to red, white, and blue, which makes sense to the theme but makes a lot of people redheads! Lots of teens will make connections here. Would be a great lit circle option.
The illustrations and coloring are lush and compelling. The story is interesting and gives insight into Métis history. Each volume is very short and ties into the next. The back gives a timeline of the history, source notes, and some biographical information of main figures. I'd like more of an explanation of how some of the symbols that Echo wears and show up in the classroom are tied to the story/culture, but overall really well done. These volumes should definitely be in every middle and high school collection.
3.5 Started slow but really careened towards the end to then just....fizzle out. I liked that this was a departure from her other books but she took on so many big themes (gentrification, Get Out specific racist town plot, anxiety & mental health, mass incarceration, decriminalizing weed, televangelism scams) that it ended up a little messy with a lot of hanging and/or underdeveloped plot threads.
An emotionally satisfying conclusion for each of the characters, even if there's not much in the way of plot here. I absolutely adore the audio for this series, read by Euan Morton, so I was happy to listen even though most of what's happening is navigating emotionally complicated romantic relationships through trauma (which is not a bad lesson for teens!). Only the most die-hard fans will make it this far, but the series does have a lot of die hard fans.
Really interesting first person account (the author was a teen at the time) of the uprisings in Cincinnati in 2001. The art was just ok but a repeating panel showing more squares of the story filled in each day was a standout. This would be a quick read to kick off discussions around protests against systemic police violence for 8th to HS.
Great collection of romantic short stories by 6 true superstars of YA - all Black women. There's a connecting thread woven through each story but they're all distinct and you can clearly tell who wrote each one. The audio was excellent, Dion Graham especially (of course). My favorite was Tiffany D. Jackson's because it was broken up in multiple parts between the other stories and that space really gave it room to breathe and build. Also exciting to see a lighter side from her! This will be an easy sell to teens 8th and up.
I learned so much from this book and annoyed everyone around me because I couldn't stop talking about it. Radden Keefe continues to impress with his exhaustively researched and compellingly readable style. I barely knew anything about the Sackler family themselves (by their own design, I now know) but by the end, you will conclude, as Representative Jim Cooper, Democrat of Tennessee, said to David & Kathe Sackler in Congressional testimony: “Watching you testify makes my blood boil. I'm not aware of any family in America that is more evil than yours.”
3 for 3: Ben Philippe writing + James Fouhey reading = magic. This is Phillipe's first nonfiction and not specifically YA. I went back to the book to read the end matter, because unfortunately the audiobook didn't include his list of terms, which were definitely additive. I especially liked his chapter about a male friend break-up, because that's a perspective I don't see often enough. This book is honest and snarky and really funny and a little meta, recommended for HS to adult. 3 books in and I say with confidence that if he's writing it, I'm reading it, especially if Fouhey reads the audio!
An important book necessary for high school, college, and public collections. I appreciate Burgess's honesty and vulnerability in sharing their story and also using it as a platform to give information and visibility about asexuality, anxiety, and OCD. The memoir is warm and inviting, well laid out, and includes resources at the end.