My #BookaDay Challenge (December 2019): Part II

This winter, I’ve been talking about writing more, thinking that if I said it aloud, I might follow through with my ambitions. The vast empty page felt pretty daunting but I could always find something to say about an amazing book I’d recommend. So this December, I tried to take part in Donalyn Miller’s #Book-a-Day Challenge and make it my own by posting a review a day of my favorite books and media from 2019, celebrating powerful stories and art that I’ve shared with young people and their caregivers, colleagues and friends, and things that have helped me grow & learn. I wrote these reviews for Instagram so I had to contend with character limits (Oh, why must I be so verbose?) and the minimalist style of social media. This also means I wrote these reviews before December 31, 2019, so some things (like the Youth Media Awards) happened after I wrote them. I’ve added comments from future me after the reviews with commentary in brackets. I also didn’t always post a review every day - so I ended up having to post a bunch of reviews on the same day. Taking on a daily writing practice was really hard, but made me feel really accomplished at the end, having followed through with my goal. I’m going to divide up my reviews into three posts, so it’s less overwhelming, so check out Part I and Part III.

I am the Night Sky & Other Reflections by Muslim American Youth by the teen artists and writers of the Next Wave Muslim Initiative


I am the Night Sky & Other Reflections by Muslim American Youth by the writers and artists of the Next Wave Muslim Initiative, is an extraordinary #OwnVoices anthology of poems, essays, artwork and stories written by young people telling their own stories, reflecting the diversity and beauty within the community. It shows the power of self-expression, supporting young people’s creative & collaborative process & providing a medium for them to be heard. As author Hena Khan writes in the introduction, “Like the stunning collage art throughout the book, their lives are a composite of elements that blend into something layered, nuanced, and beautiful.” I had the incredible opportunity to attend Shout Mouse Press’s book launch in Washington, D.C. right before ALA Annual this summer - & I am truly grateful for the chance to hear these young people share their stories. The refrain from the teens throughout the night was about claiming their stories, creating representation that they didn’t find before, and bringing their full selves to this project to be seen. I am in awe of these young people & we need to do more to make sure this book, and ones like it (like the other Shout Mouse Press books) are found in all of our classrooms and libraries. Again, can distributors like Baker & Taylor please make this book available for purchase? I can imagine so many young people finding this anthology & gaining inspiration to share their truths - and for many, finding a mirror, as Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop coined, of their own experiences. I am the Night Sky truly is one of the best books of 2019. (A note from Shout Mouse Press: "The book is available through Ingram and Follett distributors, and if you can buy directly through our website then the most proceeds go back to supporting our author communities.")

[I'm overjoyed that I am the Night Sky is on the 2020 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List. I'm also happy to see I am the Night Sky on the CCBC Choices 2020 list, the annual best-of-the-year list of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Check out these fantastic teaching ideas for sharing I am the Night Sky developed by Kathy Crutcher, Shout Mouse Story Coach.

In addition to selecting core texts for Coming Together, we were also tasked with creating a Supplemental Text list and I'm really proud to include I am the Night Sky on our list. We also included another extraordinary Shout Mouse title, Voces Sin Fronteras: Our Stories, Our Truth by Latino Youth Leadership Council of LAYC, to our Supplemental Texts.]

Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey

Sometimes our book favorites are not just about the content of the stories, but the community that is created when sharing them. Dog Man by Dav Pilkey is a core text in many of our libraries - and impossible to keep on the shelf. When the kids asked for a Dog Man party to celebrate the release of Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls, we wholeheartedly agreed and created a magical fandom celebration. If you want to make a Dog Man party, you can do it too! We even took on the #DoGood challenge by sharing materials to make dog toys for shelter dogs. I keep a copy of the latest book at my desk to share with kids when our copies are inevitably checked out. You may not know this but Dog Man is an epic story of redemption, change, love, family, and bravery... okay and also explosions, hijinks, and puns. The layers run deep - and I highly recommend reading the series. I have been able to connect with caregivers about its value and appeal because I read them.





Most importantly, kids LOVE Dog Man, often selecting them as one of the first books they read on their own. They are getting something invaluable from this reading experience & choice and self-selection are what leads to becoming a lifelong reader. If you need a gift for a young reader in your life, they will most likely adore you forever if you give them the latest Dog Man: Fetch-22 - or any of the books in the series.





Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

I will never be finished reading Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, who uses non-binary e/em/eir pronouns. I'll never be done, not just because I’m pouring over every page, with its watercolor-style, autumnal, atmospheric color palette by Phoebe Kobabe, although I do that, but because I have continually returned to this book & gained something new with each re-read. Maia Kobabe uses comics brilliantly, from the panel layout, typography, character design, all the things, to make eir story to come to life in this profoundly personal, vulnerable memoir. Visual metaphors especially express meaning in concise, beautiful ways. Maia has described it in a Smash Pages interview as “a story of coming of age focused on gender identity, sexuality, and coming out to family and friends. But it’s also a book about being a nerd who reads a lot.” I am here for all the fandom references from Harry Potter, One Direction, Adventure Zone, Alanna the Lioness, Lord of the Rings, manga & more. I appreciated how fandom and fanfiction provided spaces for community and self-expression. (For more, make sure to check out eir Harry Potter and the Problematic Author fanzine.) As a graphic memoir, you can read it quickly, but the seeds planted stay with you. Cisgender educators, caregivers & medical professionals should especially seek out this book as a guide for self-education. Books can be rehearsals for conversations irl - and there are many scenes that are super helpful for this learning (see: p. 206). For those whose experiences mirror Maia’s, this book can be transformative, affirming & essential, recognizing they are not alone and there are communities of support and love. I’m so glad it’s been nominated for YALSA’s 2020 Great Graphic Novels for Teens; it needs to be on this list and also, ALL the lists. We need more queer books like this in our collections. It truly is one of the best books of 2019. Also, how ready are you for Maia’s future picture books, middle grade and YA graphic novels? Publishers, make this happen!

[Gender Queer has received a Stonewall Book Award - named an Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award Honor Book! It's also a 2020 Alex Award winner! And it's officially been included in YALSA's 2020 Great Graphic Novels for Teens! Congratulations, Maia and Phoebe!]

Hands that Flow Like Water by Amina Dzananović

I first heard Amina Dzananović perform during during the 2018 Coming Together program, “What’s Your Story? Voices of Muslim Women” at Skokie Public Library, together with my former coworker, Ainee Fatima, where they shared stories and poetry in powerful ways. Their extraordinary, open, vulnerable performances were unforgettable. I was so grateful that some of my storytelling students also attended this event & had the chance to hear them live. This year, Amina published her first chapbook, Hands that Flow Like Water, and I had the chance to attend her book release party, marvel at her mother’s beautiful paintings, & get my own copy of this book. (You can get your copy on Amazon.) This book of original poetry is personal, transformative, lyrical, eye-opening, insightful, and evocative. I could never do it justice to summarize this book, so here’s the official blurb: "Hands that flow like water" is a collection of poetry formed from stories of war, survival, love, heartbreak, and more. Like a river, these poems do not flow in an obvious pattern. They are to be taken as they come. You may find yourself in some of these poems, and hopefully you tell them they are with friends. Readers of this book should be prepared to reflect, heal, and crash in every direction.” I eagerly flipped through my copy to see if the poem Amina shared at the library event would be in this collection - & was grateful she included “Mama’s Blues,” one of the most extraordinary performance poetry pieces I have ever seen. Each poem is a gift, as she writes, “This book is about those/who flow in and out of our lives/and change the direction of our waves,/only to meet us somewhere in the lines of poetry” (58). I hope this book finds its way into library collections and homes - and I eagerly await Amina’s future performances and publications.

[I am so grateful for the opportunity to include Hands that Flow Like Water by Amina Dzananović as a Supplemental Text for Coming Together 2020!]

The Dark Fantastic: Race & the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas 

If you’re at all interested in representation in children’s lit, fandom, pop culture, fantasy, literacy, & media, The Dark Fantastic: Race & the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas is essential reading. Engaging, personal, scholarly, & brilliant, you can’t just read it once; it changes you with each reading.

Here’s some of the publisher’s description:
“The Dark Fantastic is an engaging & provocative exploration of race in popular youth & young adult speculative fiction. Grounded in her experiences as YA novelist, fanfiction writer, and scholar of education, Thomas considers four black girl protagonists from some of the most popular stories of the early 21st century: Bonnie Bennett from the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, Rue from Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, Gwen from the BBC’s Merlin, & Angelina Johnson from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. Analyzing their narratives & audience reactions to them reveals how these characters mirror the violence against black & brown people in our own world. In response, Thomas uncovers & builds upon a tradition of fantasy and radical imagination in Black feminism & Afrofuturism to reveal new possibilities. Through fanfiction and other modes of counter-storytelling, young people of color have reinvisioned fantastic worlds that reflect their own experiences, their own lives. As Thomas powerfully asserts, “we dark girls deserve more, because we are more.”

I requested the eaudiobook from Skokie Public Library and thankfully, they purchased it. Janina Edwards’ clear and engaging narration made it feel like I was listening to a literary podcast, helping me understand the complex, nuanced ideas. I really appreciate being able to access this powerful text in this format. While listening, I kept reacting aloud to Dr. Thomas’s thought-provoking critiques about race and gender, helping readers understand media & our world in new ways. I am so grateful for Dr. Thomas’s extraordinary efforts to create this groundbreaking work. It’s the perfect gift for a fantasy fan/reader/creator/showrunner.

A Map of Myself by Sara Abou Rashed & directed by Larry Smith [Show in Chicago on 11/16/19]

I first saw Sara Abou Rashed perform her spoken-word poetry at #NCTE18, where she shared her memorable poem, “I am America.” I appreciated how a conference focused on serving young people began with centering their experiences and voices. If you haven’t watched her TEDxColumbus talk, “Hidden Treasures of a Refugee’s Journey,” go to YouTube now and watch it. I was overjoyed when I learned that Sara’s show, A Map of Myself, was coming to Chicago this fall to Studio 773. It is written & performed by Sara Abou Rashed & directed by Larry Smith, creator of the Six-Word Memoir project. It is a “70-Minute, One-Woman Revolution on War, Immigration, Language, Home, History, DNA, and Everything in Between. Sara is a 20-year-old Palestinian-Syrian-American who didn't know a word of English on her first day of high school six years ago, and now stars in a one-woman show about her journey from war-torn Syria to an America that welcomed her in a performance that combines acting, storytelling and Sara's dynamic spoken-word poetry. Called “a power voice and an inspiration” by Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman, Sara Abou Rashed wrote her first poem in Arabic at the age of eight and has been writing since.” Nothing compares to the theatrical experience of Sara sharing her truths with a live audience in a beautifully crafted performance with visceral, evocative language, visuals and props that amplify the storytelling, and a story about politics, migration and identity that is deeply moving and affirming. Sara is an extraordinary writer and performer who inspires others to share their stories. I hope more communities bring Sara’s A Map of Myself to their cities, selling out huge theaters so more people can hear her story. I’d love to see the Chicago Humanities Festival and the Family Action Network (FAN) collaborate with local communities to make this experience possible. I dream of the opportunity to put books that she’s written on shelves in my library where young people can meet her within the pages - and then also invite her to visit our library. I am so grateful for the chance to see her show this year, truly one of the best shows I have ever seen.







Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Lucy Knisley

When I first read Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Lucy Knisley as a galley, I stayed up until the wee hours of the night reading it on my phone's ereader, unwilling to listen to the demands of sleep (and future work) and stop reading this compelling memoir. I love how Lucy embedded the history of reproductive healthcare. There's so much that I did not know, which was fascinating and angry-making. It really made me reflect on the huge gaps in my education and ideas that have seeped in my mind from culture and religion... What made me keep reading (and re-read it again & again) is Lucy's own journey to becoming a mother. She's always been vulnerable in her comics, but this book feels even more personal - and fills an incredible need for more stories about people's experiences with miscarriages, pregnancy and traumatic birth experiences. I'd love to see this book in Heath and Parenting collections, in addition to the comics section. Can this book please be required reading for anyone working in the healthcare field? I was absolutely delighted when one of my favorite podcasts, The Longest Shortest Time, which was hosted by Andea Silenzi, hosted an episode with Lucy & John after I suggested it. I think Kid Gloves would also especially appeal to Bodies Podcast fans too. Both of these storytelling mediums have done much to help me think differently about the human body this year.

If you don't follow Lucy on Instagram, you are missing out on delightful comics about John, Pal & her cat of blessed memory, Linney. And you can get your own copies this February when Go to Sleep (I Miss You): Cartoons from the Fog of New Parenthood comes out. [I'm super excited for the upcoming book launch at Women & Children First on Monday, February 24, 2020 at 7:00pm!]

Many of our teens/tweens love her books, so I'm thrilled to be able to give them her upcoming middle grade graphic novel, Stepping Stones, from Random House Graphic, the highly-anticipated new imprint led by Publishing Director Gina Gagliano, out this May. Basically I'm here for all things Lucy Knisley.

Call Me Max by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Luciano Lozano

I’m so excited to share and celebrate Call Me Max, the first book in the new Max and Friends series by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Luciano Lozano, from the inaugural list of titles from Reycraft Books. This is a new press whose “mission is to create books of interest for ALL children, with a special focus on #OwnVoices books.” I really hope libraries and schools notice the amazing books they publish and seek them out - & encourage their distributors to make them available. The Max & Friends Series is a powerful & necessary addition to our shelves of books for young readers. For transgender kids, it can be a mirror of some of their experiences, offering language and opportunity for self-expression and affirmation. For those who care about them, it can provide insights about ways to be supportive, to listen more & show our love. I especially appreciate the conversations about rejecting gender stereotypes & binary thinking through Max’s conversations with his friends Teresa and Steven. It is a book about friendship, finding community, communicating and listening, and a celebration of the wonderful person that Max is. As it says in the final spread, “Being a boy isn’t better than being a girl,” he concludes. “But being myself is the best.”

I had the opportunity to attend Kyle’s author visit at Evanston Public Library where he read Max and the Talent Show, the second book in the series, which caused all sorts of feels, as Max seeks out ways to support his friend, Steven. The illustrations in these books are gorgeous, playful and bright with subtle facial expressions and details that enhance the text. There’s so much to explore and share in these fantastic books! And there’s going to be more of them in this series. Make plans to order the first two books and pre-order Max on the Farm, coming Spring 2020!

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, adapted by Jean Mendoza & Debbie Reese

I wish I could express the feeling of my first time reading An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, adapted by Jean Mendoza & Debbie Reese (Nambé Pueblo), when I read it as a galley. I could feel the stories I had been told throughout my education being disrupted with the truth of settler colonialism revealed. I learned that there is so much that I didn’t know - and so much I still have to learn. My own copy is annotated and highlighted because I wanted to fully engage with this text, taking notes now that I’ll learn from the next time I read it. It is a book that I will read many, many times. The way this book tells the story of Indigenous peoples’ from their own perspective makes this book essential. I hope that curriculum developers, administrators, department chairs, educators, school boards, anyone who cares about education etc., considers it for adoption for their curricula; it’s perfect for humanities, social studies, civics, ELA, libraries, pretty much everything. The sidebars are exceptional, engaging readers in activities, thought provoking asides, & opportunities for reflection, a perfect resource for educators. There’s even a teacher’s guide created by Dr. Natalie Martinez, available at the Beacon Press website. They also have a companion website with resources, feedback, interviews & more! I am so grateful for the countless years of dedication & hard work that Jean Mendoza and Dr. Debbie Reese put into creating this book & sharing it with us, among everything they do to work for authentic representation of Indigenous peoples in literature. I had the incredible opportunity to attend their book launch in Chicago this summer & learned so much from them in person, adding new layers to my understanding of their book.

It was a powerful learning experience when our youth services staff selected it for our professional book club this fall. It made me so happy when a caregiver remarked how happy she was to see this book on our display, leading to a long conversation of resource sharing & idea generation. When I think of groundbreaking, individually distinct, transformative works, this book comes to mind first.




An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People received a 2020 AILA American Indian Youth Literature Award - Young Adult Book Honor!  Congratulations!!

Birthday by Meredith Russo

Spoiler alert here.. And I guess for all my posts… Sorry in advance…I pretty much read Birthday by Meredith Russo within the last 24 hours, taking breaks only for sleeping, eating, cleaning, and errands… I had seen it on the library shelf and kept meaning to read it, and oh my goodness, Past Self, listen to that voice more often! Two best friends, Eric and Morgan, are born on the same day, who share this day every year. The story is told in two voices in six years of their shared birthday. It is an artistic masterpiece, an achievement in style, voice, and story structure, conveying these moments in time, these adolescent voices, the shape of friendship, family, loss, and love. As the tagline says, it’s a “love story eighteen years in the making.” Birthday is a book to read in one sitting, a book that pulls at your heart, a book that is heartbreaking and painful but dealt with sensitively and thoughtfully. It also has a page-turning romance that provides all the feels (literally all emotions possible). You feel deeply for Morgan struggling to express her true self, to tell Eric and her family that she is a girl, and weep with joy when she gets the support and affirmation and resources she needs and deserves. Don’t be like me and wait this long to read it. Read it now. It’s truly one of the best books of 2019.

Thank you so much for checking out my Book a Day reviews! You can see the rest of them in Part I & Part III. Which books have you loved this year? Feel free to let me know in the comments.