2020 CBC Book Jam Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Nic Stone

January 10, 2020 by Mia Wenjen

Please welcome Nic Stone today to kick off our #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with the Children’s Book Council. She has created a list of middle grade reads perfect for children of color.

Clean Getaway by Nic Stone

How to Go on an Unplanned Road Trip with Your Grandma:
•  Grab a Suitcase: Prepacked from the big spring break trip that got CANCELLED.
•  Fasten Your Seatbelt: G’ma’s never conventional, so this trip won’t be either.
•  Use the Green Book: G’ma’s most treasured possession. It holds history, memories, and most important, the way home.

What Not to Bring:
• A Cell Phone: Avoid contact with Dad at all costs. Even when G’ma starts acting stranger than usual.

Set against the backdrop of the segregation history of the American South, take a trip with New York Times bestselling Nic Stone and an eleven-year-old boy who is about to discover that the world hasn’t always been a welcoming place for kids like him, and things aren’t always what they seem–his G’ma included. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]

We are giving away one copy of Clean Getaway. Please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter.

Middle Grade Reads Perfect for Children of Color

I loved reading as a middle schooler, but it was hard for me to find a book that had contemporary characters who weren’t white. This was damaging in a number of ways that I won’t get into right now, but here is a list of books I wish I’d had as a kid:

The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson

In this book, Jackson Greene—a downright brilliant black boy—and a colorful cast of secondary characters set out to prevent a school bully from stealing the class election (Jackson’s best friend, Gaby de la Cruz, who is Latinx, is the other candidate). This delightful romp is sure to make kids laugh while simultaneously exposing some of the ways systems can be rigged so that certain people benefit and others lose out. I also love the flipped trope of a “heist” that’s actually designed to keep someone else from taking something unfairly. (BONUS: the follow-up, To Catch a Cheat.) [middle grade, ages 9 and up]

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramee

Twelve was the age I began to wonder who I was, and to realize I could have an impact on the world. If you ask me, it’s never too early to learn how to stand up for what you believe in. In this epic debut, goody-two-shoes (initially) Shayla does just that. Watching her transform from a girl who doesn’t make waves into one who realizes the importance of making the right kind of noise was deeply empowering for me as an adult. I can only imagine how awesome it would be for a kid. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]

Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender

This book is a wonder: a perfect example of specificity begetting universality. Caroline lives on St. Thomas and is contending with a number of unfortunate things (potentially as a result of being born during a hurricane): bullying at school, a spirit who won’t leave her be, and an absentee mother who left and didn’t come back. It gave me a glimpse into a culture—including traditions and superstitions—different from my own, while simultaneously painting a detailed picture of something I did face: developing feelings for a best friend. The emotions Caroline experiences in response to the circumstances she faces throughout the story will be relatable to any kid. It’s a beautiful lesson in the power of books as vehicles for empathy. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]

Each Tiny Spark by Pablo Cartaya

Listen: I would follow Pablo’s books to the end of the earth. This one tackles so many *important* topics (in that “teachable” way we adults can’t seem to get enough of) without ever getting didactic or unrelatable. Seeing Emilia doing her best to be herself and find her place as the world and her family shift and morph right before her eyes gave me hope. A wavy-haired girl who gets into welding? Sign me up. Additionally, the infusion of Spanish into the gorgeous prose in this book was exciting for me as an adult who, as a kid, was always told there’s only one way to speak and write in English. It’s super validating. [middle grade, ages 10 and up]

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi

As a kid, I loved a book about an adventure. Harry Potter? Check. Harriet the Spy? Check. This one features a Bangladeshi Muslim girl who gets sucked into an old game Jumanji-style and has to overcome a set of challenges to get out. At the heart of the adventure, though, is love. Fighting for those you most care for. This is another one that exists as both an amazing mirror and a freshly washed window. It also made me delightfully hungry [middle grade, ages 8 and up]

Giveaway: 1 copy of Clean Giveaway!

We are giving away one copy of Clean Getaway. Please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter.We can only mail to U.S. addresses.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nic Stone was born and raised in a suburb of Atlanta, GA, and the only thing she loves more than an adventure is a good story about one. After graduating from Spelman College, she worked extensively in teen mentoring and lived in Israel for a few years before returning to the US to write full-time. Growing up with a wide range of cultures, religions, and backgrounds, Stone strives to bring these diverse voices and stories to her work.

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Eric Smith

January 8, 2020 by Mia Wenjen

Please welcome Eric Smith today for our #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with the Children’s Book Council. He has created a wonderful list of Finding Books for Kids Like Him, and by this he means Middle Eastern Characters, Biracial characters, Gaming, and Bullying. We are grateful for a resource like this!

We are giving away one copy of Don’t Read the Comments. Please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter.

Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith

Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.

Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.

At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…

And she isn’t going down without a fight. [young adult, ages 12 and up]

Seeing yourself in a book can be one of those wild, life changing moments for a young reader. As someone who works in publishing and also writes, it’s one of those things I’ve seen first-hand, with stories posted on social media and tearfully retold in-person at festivals.

Growing up, this really wasn’t a thing for me. The book about the Middle Eastern / Hispanic teen didn’t quite exist, or at least, no one ever gave me that book. So, I’ve made it a point to write about teens that were a bit like me… mixed, but not mixed up (like Aaron in Don’t Read the Comments), and in some cases, adopted, but not quite sure what to make of their identity (my story in Sangu Mandanna’s Color Outside the Lines is all about that).

Once upon a time, I think a lot of my writing was about making things up to that childhood version of myself, who seldom saw that mixed kid in stories and was tired of always checking the “other” box on questionnaires. But these days, as a father to a beautiful boy who’s mixed like me, I think about him when I write and work on books.

I hope he sees himself in the words I write, the stories I champion, and the books I keep on my shelf. And if no checkbox can define him, that’s okay, sweet boy. You’re Black, Honduran, Palestinian, Sicilian, Ukrainian, and so very perfect. And there are plenty of novels out there that will echo that sentiment.

Let’s talk about a few.

Finding Books for Kids Like Him

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Whenever I think about novels about family and identity, Heidi Heilig’s beautiful debut fantasy springs to mind almost immediately. A teen girl named Nix sails… well, everywhere. Quite literally everywhere. Her father’s ship is a magical one, going through worlds real and imaged. But unfortunately, at the heart of all their magical adventures is a quest that her father is obsessed with, one that can potentially reunite him with Nix’s mother. But the problem here, is if her father saves her mother, it could erase her from existence entirely.

Heilig’s novel digs into identity, as Nix is biracial, and throughout the book she’s quite literally being pulled in two different directions, again and again. The past, the future. Her father, her mother. Her life, and maybe not existing anymore? It’s a layered exploration of identity, and tied into all of it, is time travel, pirates, a magic ship… goodness, there’s just a lot to love here. [young adult, ages 14 and up]

See No Color by Shannon Gibney

This is the book I end up recommending the most, when friends or family or strangers on the Internet ask me for novels about adoption. After-all, I’m the adopted one, I should know, right?

Gibney’s debut novel is about Alex, a biracial teen girl in a white family, who has never really made a big fuss over any of that. Until she finds some letters from her biological father, and a guy who wants to get to know her a little better. Suddenly she’s questioning what it means to be Black, her entire family, what her biological parents were like…

It’s a story about trying to come to terms with who you are, when you’ve never really questioned that before. It’s the kind of eye opening and stunning book I wish someone would have handed me as a teen, and I’ll continue to give it to people as long as I can. [young adult, ages 12 and up]

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Oh Maddy. You are too good for this world, and you and Olly are so perfect. If you’ve somehow missed out on the blockbuster that is Everything, Everything, in Yoon’s beautiful debut readers meet Maddy, a biracial teen girl who is allergic to… well, everything. She can’t go outside.

In fact, Maddy lives inside of an airtight house, where her only interaction is with her mother and nurse. That is, until a boy moves next door, and starts holding up notes for her in the window.

And starts emailing her and opening up the world. He inspires her to take chances, and maybe risk coming out of her home, and risk it all for… well, everything. Hence the title. It’s one of my favorite YA novels, and also, one of my favorite novel-to-movie adaptations.
Treat yourself to both in a single weekend. Yoon’s prose is fast and devourable, and the novel is structured with fun illustrations and emails, making for such a breezy read. [young adult, ages 12 and up]

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

This story about a biracial teen wrestling with identity, anxiety, and her complicated, toxic family was my favorite novel of 2017. There’s a reason this gorgeous book was nominated for the Morris, my friends. It’s stunning and hard hitting, and just left me reeling.

In it, we meet Kiko, who daydreams of attending a prestigious art school that will, she hopes, solve all her problems. Life can really get started there. But all that comes crumbling down when she’s rejected, and she finds herself having to choose the life she wants to lead… one in a new city with a childhood friend, touring art schools… or stuck at home with toxic family.

Somehow, Bowman has kept the emotional hits coming, with Summer Bird Blue and the
upcoming Harley in the Sky. I’ll read every word she writes. [young adult, ages 12 and up]

Color Outside the Lines by Sangu Mandanna

So, I’m in this book. So maybe this is cheating as a recommendation. But it’s an anthology literally about interracial relationships, with so many wonderful, brilliant stars of YA, writing from their hearts. Don’t sleep on it. [young adult, ages 14 and up]

Giveaway: 1 copy of Don’t Read the Comments

We are giving away one copy of Don’t Read the Comments. Please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter. We can only mail to U.S. addresses.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Eric Smith is a Young Adult author and literary agent with P.S. Literary living in Philadelphia.

His next novel, Don’t Read the Comments, will be published by Inkyard Press in January 2020. Pre-order it for very cute pins and bookplates, here!

His new anthology, Battle of the Bands co-edited with Lauren Gibaldi, is due out in 2021 with Candlewick.

He has short stories forthcoming in the anthologies Color Outside the Lines by Sangu Mandanna (Soho Teen) and Body Talk by Kelly Jensen (Algonquin).

His other books include the IndieBound bestseller The Geek’s Guide to Dating (Quirk), Inked (Bloomsbury), the adoption-themed anthology Welcome Home, and the novel The Girl and the Grove (Flux).

You can listen to him on Book Riot’s HEY YA podcast with Kelly Jensen. His writing is represented by Dawn Frederick of Red Sofa Literary.

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker

January 6, 2020 by Mia Wenjen

Please welcome Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker today for our #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with the Children’s Book Council. They have created a book list on LGBTQ+ Representation in YA Fiction.

We are giving away 2 ARCS of Mooncakes. Please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter.

Mooncakes by Wendy Xu, illustrated by Suzanne Walker

A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her
grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery. [young adult, ages 13 and up]

LGBTQ+ Representation in YA Fiction

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

Maia Kobabe’s autobiographical graphic novel is both an intensely personal story, detailing eir journey of self-discovery and identity, and a guidepost for gender identities existing beyond the binary. Filled with touching and deeply relatable stories of adolescent crushes, coming out to family and the wider world, and the joys of queer fanfiction, it is an opportunity for other queer and nonbinary teens to see themselves on the page, in more ways than one. [young adult, ages 14 and up]

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

A story of two best friends: Meil, a girl with roses that grow from her wrists, and Sam, a transgender boy who paints moons and hangs them in trees. Though they are both outsiders, they especially avoid the Bonner sisters, who want the roses that grow from Miel’s skin. Their friendship blossoms into romance as they care for each other and guard each other’s secrets. McLemore’s poetic and luminous prose invites the reader to enter a lush, beautiful world of magical realism. [young adult, ages 12 and up]

As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman

A story for any teen exploring their own identity, but especially those queer POC teens who suffered the indignities of sleepaway camp. Charlie Lamonte is a queer, black 13-year-old who winds up at an all-white Christian youth backpacking camp, even as she begins questioning her belief in God. The hypocrisy and microaggressions of her fellow campers and counselors purported commitment to feminism wear thin, and she finds solace in her bond with Sydney, the other outsider in their group. Together, they grow into themselves and the wider world. [young adult, ages 14 and up]

Huntress by Malinda Lo

Huntress is a high stakes adventure story starring two girls, one with magic and one without, who have to save their world– and just happen to fall in love in the process. On very a personal note, this was one of the first queer books AND one of the first Asian-American YA books I read as a teenager, so it is a double whammy of representation. Queer Asian teens looking for fantasy fare that they can see themselves fully humanized in can find solace and empowerment in the pages of this book. [young adult, ages 14 and up]

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

A beautifully rendered, surreal space fantasy, ON A SUNBEAM stars a young woman who joins the motley crew of a fish-shaped starship, where she finds time to reflect on a lost first love from her school days. The expansive starscapes and cathedral-like architecture mirror the loneliness and longing in the heart of the main protagonist, matched in tone only by the warmth, coziness and kindness found aboard the starship. ON A SUNBEAM is a masterclass in narrative storytelling and anyone of any age looking to read and appreciate comics must lose themselves in this one. [young adult, ages 12 and up]

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Rosemary Valero O’Connell and Mariko
Tamaki

Love is not always sunshine and roses. Freddy struggles to be a good friend while her on-again, off-again girlfriend Laura Dean waltzes in and out of her life as she pleases. When a crisis affects her best friend’s life, Freddy has to make the ultimate choice of whether to show up for her or for Laura Dean. The art is layered and subtle, with emphasis on backgrounds and negative space to depict emotion as much as character expression. While there is no shortage of books that deal with falling in love, there are fewer books that show the complicated and ugly side of teen relationships in as real and raw way as O’Connell and Tamaki have done. [young adult, ages 14 and up]

2 ARC Giveaway of Mooncakes!

We are giving away 2 ARCS of Mooncakes. Please fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter. We can only mail to U.S. addresses.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wendy Xu is a Brooklyn-based illustrator and comics artist. She is co-creator of “Mooncakes”, a graphic novel released in 2019 from Lion Forge Comics. Her work has been featured on Catapult, Barnes & Noble Sci-fi/Fantasy Blog, and Tor.com, among other places. You can find her on twitter @angrygirlcomics or on Instagram as @artofwendyxu.

Suzanne Walker is a Chicago-based writer and editor. She is co-creator of the graphic novel Mooncakes (Lion Forge, October 2019) with artist Wendy Xu. Her short fiction has been published in Clarkesworld, and she has published nonfiction articles with Uncanny Magazine, StarTrek.com, Women Write About Comics, and the anthology Barriers and Belonging: Personal Narratives of Disability. She has spoken at numerous conventions on a variety of topics ranging from disability representation in sci-fi/fantasy to the importance of fair compensation for marginalized SF/F creators. You can find her posting pictures of her cat and occasionally yelling about baseball on Twitter: @suzusaur.

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Nikki Grimes!

January 3, 2020 by Mia Wenjen

We are so excited to present our #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 in conjunction with Children’s Book Council! This year we have 10 amazing authors with unique book lists to share. Each author is also doing a book giveaway!

We are thrilled to have Nikki Grimes today to kick off our #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2019 with the Children’s Book Council. She’s a pioneer in children’s book publishing as a diverse voice across a wide range of genres.

We are giving away 3 copies of Nikki Grime’s newest picture book, Bedtime for Sweet Creatures. Please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter.

Here are five of my favorite picture books featuring characters of color in light, everyday situations, with universal themes. What connects them all, for me, is joy, familial love, and a distinct counter to the often joyless, single-story tropes about the lives of people of color.

1. Saturday by Oge Mora

This picture book, overflowing with dynamic language, tells the story of a mother and daughter’s Saturday afternoon that doesn’t quite go according to plan. Mora captures the universal energy and excitement of a young child looking forward to spending precious time with the parent who is most often too busy for outings or play. I love how space was left in the telling for readers to figure out elements of the story on their own, guided by visual clues, especially at the end. (I won’t give it away, here!). [picture book, ages 4 and up]

2. Grandma’s Purse by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Everyone can attest to the mystery and magic of a grandmother’s purse. Countless grandmas have come for a visit bearing treats for a favorite grandchild, as the grandmother called “Mimi”; does in this story. But what else does the purse hold that speaks to who Mimi is? As the answers are revealed, we see a grandchild intent on mimicking her Mimi’s unique style and beauty. I love the book’s bright colors and patterns that invite a closer look, the special bond between grandmother and granddaughter evident throughout, and the joy apparent on every page.

3. Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

A welcome counter to the single-story that Black people don’t swim, this black protagonist prepares for his first leap off the city pool’s diving board. Most children will relate to Jabari’s trepidation at the prospect, but the story is less about fear than the process of overcoming it. Step by step, Jabari works through his sense of dread, showing the reader that a small child can overcome a big fear, and reap joy in the accomplishment. Jabari’s success comes with ample encouragement from his father, who is fully present and fully engaged. I love how the story gently, yet powerfully, mirrors a close, loving relationship between father and son. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

4. A Big Bed for Little Snow by Grace Lin

In the world of the child, there’s something irresistible about breaking the rules of bedtime. For me, it was the secret joy of reading under the covers, with a flashlight, long after I was supposed to close my eyes and go to sleep. In the world of Little Snow, it was jumping up and down on the bed his mother specifically told him not to! Each night, he would promise to obey, and each night he’d wait until he thought his mom was out of earshot so that he could slip out of bed and jump, jump, jump up and down as hard as he could! Readers won’t be able to resist giggling any more than Little Snow can resist his nightly antics. There’s more to the story than that, but I won’t give away the delicious twist at the end. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

5. The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Vaness Brantley-Newton

What could be more universal, or momentous, than a child’s first day in kindergarten? But is the little one ready for the big day? Any young reader will be after spending time with “the king.” Armed with encouragement from Mom and Dad, and bubbling with enthusiasm about what the day might have in store, our young hero puts the “h” in happy and the “K” in kindness. I love the book’s diverse cast of characters, reflective of the real world, the strong familial bonds, and the black teacher (how often do you see them in picture books?) The sheer joy, woven into both language and art, make this book shine. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

3 Book Giveaway of picture book Bedtime for Sweet Creatures

We are giving away 3 copies of Nikki Grime’s newest picture book, Bedtime for Sweet Creatures, to 3 winners. Please fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter. We can only mail to U.S. addresses.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes is the recipient of the 2017 Children’s Literature Legacy Award, the 2016 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, and the 2006 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her distinguished works include the much-honored books Garvey’s Choice, ALA Notable book What is Goodbye?, Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade, and Coretta Scott King Author Honor books Jazmin’s Notebook, Talkin’ About Bessie, Dark Sons, Words with Wings, and The Road to Paris. Creator of the popular Meet Danitra Brown, Ms. Grimes lives in Corona, California.