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Shady Baby

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Shady Baby by Gabrielle Union & Dwyane Wade
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

Shady Baby always keeps it real! Shady Baby loves fashion, fun and a good side-eye. Shady Baby also loves to stand up for what is right. After a morning of being fancy and fabulous morning, Shady Baby heads to the park to play with her friends. When one of her friends isn’t playing nicely with others, Shady Baby steps in to save the day! This book is based on Gabrielle Union’s & Dwyane Wade’s daughter Kaavia and her fun, but sassy ways. This book is a great way to teach children about getting along together and making sure they do the right thing. This was a fun, quick read with a lot of great illustrations! Be sure to check it out today!

Find Shady Baby in the catalog

Blackout

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Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon
Format: Audiobook
Who it’s for: Teens

*Sighs* New York City in the summer. The birds are chirping, music is playing, kids running around and all is well in the world, then a blackout happens. “Blackout” is a book that proves the city of New York is smaller than we think. Each character in the series of short stories within the book interconnect throughout and it exudes the story of young Black teens in love. I saw this book last year in an article and was SO excited about its release. It gives the book world something it desperately needs – Black teens in love and living life. The inclusiveness of the characters is something that makes this book a great read. All six authors are powerhouses and I hope to see more collaborative stories from them in the future.

Find Blackout in the catalog.

Don’t Touch My Hair!

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Don’t Touch My Hair! Written and illustrated by Sharee Miller
Format: Book
Who It’s For: Kids

Aria is a girl with ah-maaazing hair. Big and thick, soft with dark springy curls, everyone notices Aria’s hair when she walks down the street and they love it almost as much as she does. Unfortunately, everywhere Aria goes, people want to touch her hair, without asking her permission! Aria tries to hide her hair or hide from people so she feels safe, but when hiding doesn’t work, she escapes. Whether she is deep in the blue ocean, in a steamy jungle, or high in a castle tower, there’s always someone or something who tries to touch her hair and finally Aria. Has. Had. ENOUGH!!

Read Don’t Touch My Hair! to see how Aria finds the strength she needs to set her own personal boundaries while still loving her friends and her beautiful hair.

Find Don’t Touch My Hair! in the catalog

Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge

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Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge by Ray Anthony Shepard
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

This book is based on a true story of a young woman who was born into slavery and taken from her mom when she was 16 years old. Ona Judge’s mom was one of Martha Washington’s slaves. When George Washington and his family were leaving Mount Vernon, they took Ona with them. She was initially a playmate for Washington’s grandchildren, then a personal servant to Martha.

When Ona was told that she would be a wedding gift to one of Martha’s granddaughters; a girl whom she had played with when she was ten, and the girl was seven, she decided to flee.

The author of this book uses rhetorical questions as a poetic way to recount the story of Ona’s escape, in order to emancipate herself. He asks the question, “Why you run Ona Judge?”

The vibrant illustrations in this book help bring Ona’s bravery to life.

This book is definitely a page turner!

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All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, A Black Family Keepsake

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All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, A Black Family Keepsake
Format:  Book, Digital Audiobook, Ebook
Who It’s for:  Adults

In the year 1850, a slave named Rose gave her nine-year-old daughter Ashley this sack the evening before they were separated by auction.  The two never saw one another again. The sack was found in 2007 at a flea market by a woman who purchased it to sell on eBay.  The woman noticed the embroidered inscription on the sack that read:

My great grandmother Rose
 mother of Ashley gave her this sack when
she was sold at age 9 in South Carolina
it held a tattered dress 3 handfulls of
pecans a braid of Roses hair. Told her
It be filled with my Love always
She never saw her again
Ashley is my grandmother
Ruth Middleton 1921.

Rather than sell the sack, the woman donated it to Middleton Place Plantation Museum, where it currently resides.   In 2015, author Tiya Miles heard about the sack and began her research for All That She Carried, which describes the journey the sack followed between three generations of enslaved Black women.

By researching their customs, crafts, and culture, Miles reveals not only the journey that the sack took but more importantly the experiences of the Black women who passed this object down through four generations.  Very little can be found about these enslaved women in written archives other than their names on plantation property lists.  But through intense research, Miles has succeeded in piecing their stories together and sharing them with us in her book.

If you love history, you will appreciate all that Tiya Miles shares in her book about the experience of slaves, the talents and skills that they passed on to their children, the importance of the “things” they held onto, and most all, the love for their families that they never let anyone take away from them. All That She Carried is a must-read.

Find All That She Carried in our catalog.

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

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The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed
Format: Audiobook
Who it’s for: Teens, Adults

“The Black Kids” by Christina Hammonds Reed is a beautifully written, heart wrenching coming-of-age story that covers so many heavy topics. Though it occurs in 1992, the topics and life lessons learned are just as relevant almost 30 years later. In “The Black Kids”, Reed explores the trauma of growing up Black and interacting in predominantly white circles. Reed tackles the concept of respectability politics surrounding the African American community.

The Black Kids, in my opinion, perfectly captures many aspects of high school life. Most of us have experienced the awkward transition from childhood to adulthood and how that transition affects our long-standing friendships. Teenagers put up with a lot more from people we’ve known a long time versus those we just met and that wears down on one’s existence. The growing pains that Ashley, her friends and family members experience throughout the book allows you to relate to at least one of the characters in this book. This was great read and kept me intrigued as to what will happen next.

Find it in the catalog.