Pet

Black, trans girl lead who is selectively verbal and uses sign language frequently. Jam's best friend has three parents (they are in a polyamorous relationship and one of the parents uses they/them pronouns). And the  Entirely black cast. I enjoyed the writing so much and the magical realism aspects. 

really enjoyed this! the commentary was obviously spectacular as well as the representation. i enjoyed the writing so much and the magical realism aspects. at some points, i felt slightly confused because of lack of explanation which normally doesn't bother me but since this is a middle grade, i feel like if i'm confused then kids definitely will be.

Whew. No surprise but this is a stunner staight out of the gate for Christopher Myers' new imprint, Make Me a World. His introduction alone will give teens & teachers ideas to chew on and discuss. Though a short book, I read this so slowly because it was beautifully written (the kennings they created, the impact and heft of their word choices) and emotional and powerful and I wanted to savor it. They created a world after social justice movements like BLM have been successful, but the adults have become complacent in their safety, so it takes teens to see through the lens of magical realism and confront the monster in their midst to force their community to remember their shared promises to one another. I can't wait to share this with teachers and students, as this would be an ideal book to discuss and analyze together.