This week, I had an occasion to talk about a favorite book of mine: Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno, when I was asked, “What is the most provocative book you’ve ever taught?” This book wins hands-down. Set in…
Category: Out of the Mainstream: Gender, Ethnicity, and Disability
Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students
With anti-bullying curricula in the news very recently, Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students is a timely effort by Dr. Peter DeWitt, an elementary school principal and former teacher. This soft-cover reference is an informative and efficient resource for teachers,…
Prison Novels and the New Jim Crow
Last month I attended a local march to call for an investigation of the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a self-appointed neighborhood watch member in suburban Florida. At the Albany march, several of the speakers mentioned the bestselling…
A Classic for a New Generation: A Review of Nicholasa Mohr’s Nilda
For several decades, Arte Público Press and its children’s imprint Piñata Books has published new work by Latino and Latin American authors in English and Spanish and brought classic titles back into print. When Nicholasa Mohr’s young adult novel Nilda…
Belonging to the Land–a review of Far From Home by Na’ima B Robert
I grew up in the Southwestern Desert of the United States, the Chihuahua Desert, the driest desert of North America. I once wrote an essay about how the land shapes the people there—only survivors are left, I wrote, but we…
Journey of an African Refugee: A Review of Now Is the Time for Running
In the past two years, immigration has become a hot-button issue in the United States, with various states passing harsh immigration laws and vigilante groups patrolling the border. Living in a large country with little coverage of the outside world,…
Happy Book-day! An Interview with Zetta Elliott
Tomorrow, Saturday, March 3 marks the official launch of Ship of Souls. If you’re in the New York City area, the “Book-day” event will take place at the site of the African Burial Ground National Monument, 290 Broadway in Manhattan…
Richard Wright and the Library Card
This is a fairly old book, but I decided to include it because it’s Black History Month (for a couple more days) and because I remain a stalwart Richard Wright reader. Most of his work is probably not suited…
Exploring Ourselves and Our Past: A Review of Ship of Souls
Zetta Elliott is best known among middle grade readers for her poetic picture book text, Bird, which garnered numerous awards when it came out from Lee & Low in 2008. Since then, she has published the YA time-travel fantasy A…
Marching with Aunt Susan
Marching with Aunt Susan, written by Claire Rudolf Murphy and illustrated by Stacey Schuett, makes a parallel between the great civil rights leader Susan B. Anthony and a girl living in the late 19th century named Bessie. Her brothers and…