Citizen: An American Lyric (2014) was a finalist for the National Book Award for poetry, the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry, and winner of many other literary prizes. It is a series of reflections written as poetry on racism in its many forms, from childhood through adulthood, from everyday personal experiences to those that make national news. Rankine, with precise and evocative language, provides a series of images with words that demonstrate the relentlessness and predictability of racism in America […]
The Children of Nothing and Night
Combining the sorcery of The Night Circus with the malefic suspense of A Secret History, Thorn Jack is a spectacular, modern retelling of the ancient Scottish ballad, Tam Lin—a beguiling fusion of love, fantasy, and myth that echoes the imaginative artistry of the works of Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Clare, and Melissa Marr. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but I was intrigued enough when I saw the cover and read the blurb to pick it up at the library along with the […]
Are you a good monster or a bad monster?
This incredible graphic novel is Emil Ferris’ first but not, thank goodness, her last. Volume 2 is due out next March and I’ve already pre-ordered my copy. My Favorite Thing is Monsters is a graphic novel that deals with intense issues and features stunning artwork. Set in 1960s Chicago, the novel involves contemporary events, an illness, child abandonment and abuse, a murder with possible connections to Nazi Germany, and an abiding love of fine art and monsters. The fact that it is narrated by a […]
Truly, The Hate U Give Little Infants F’s Everybody (THUG LIFE)
Nearly twenty years ago, Jacqueline Woodson first tackled the same subject matter as depicted in The Hate U Give (2017) in her typically poetic and poignant style in the novel If You Come Softly (1998). It is a story of first love, an interracial one between fifteen-year-old Jeremiah and Ellie who meet at their private school. They have to deal with how society treats them because of their relationship. In the end, this modern day Romeo and Juliet comes to an abrupt end when Jeremiah is fatally shot by […]