Juvenile Fiction Lists

"This graphic memoir by a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning offers a deeply personal meditation on the "the talk" parents must have with Black children about racism and the brutality that often accompanies it, a ritual attempt to keepkids safe and prepare them for a world that--to paraphrase Toni Morrison--does not love them. Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother told him he couldn't play with a white friend's realistic water gun. "She told me I'm a lot more likely to be shotby police than my friend was if they saw me with it, because police tend to think little Black boys--even light-skinned ones--are older than they really are, and less innocent than they really are." Bell examines how "the talk" has shaped nearly every moment of his life into adulthood and fatherhood. Through evocative original illustrations, The Talk is a meditation on this coming-of-age--as Bell becomes painfully aware of being regarded as dangerous by white teachers, neighbors, and strangers, and thus of his mortality. Drawing attention to the brutal murders of African Americans like Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner, and showcasing his award-winning cartoons along the way, Bell takes us up to the very moment of reckoning when people took to the streets protesting the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and when he must have "the talk" with a six-year-old son of his own"-- Provided by publisher.

"Narrated by Abigail Adams, We the People! explores how Athenian and Greek assemblies inspired our legislative and judiciary branches; how Enlightenment ideals of reason, toleration, and human progress shaped our founding fathers' thinking; how Mali's Manden Charter and England's Magna Carta influenced our Bill of Rights; and how the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy directly shaped the US Constitution. Explaining the fundamentals of democracy--liberty, equality, and justice for all--in a kid-friendlyway, We the People! is a powerful reminder that power rests in the people's hands" (description from publisher.)

"Pedro Martin's grown up in the U.S. hearing stories about his legendary abuelito, but during a family road trip to Mexico, he connects with his grandfather and learns more about his own Mexican identity in this moving and hilarious graphic memoir"-- Provided by publisher

"A heartfelt and funny graphic novel memoir by one of the first Black female cartoonists to be published in the New Yorker, at the age of 22"-- Provided by publisher.

"As one of the only Asian Americans in her school, Christina confronts both well-meaning ignorance and cruel racism, but in middle school fitting in is important, which is why she and her best friend Megan are both excited and nervous to try out for the popular cheerleading squad." (description from catalog)