December 2018 - Page 13 of 13

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices
by Wade Hudson (Editor) and Cheryl Willis Hudson (Editor)

Booktalk: What do we tell our children when the world seems bleak, and prejudice and racism run rampant? Fifty diverse creators lend a voice to young activists with original art, poetry, and prose.

Snippet:
It Helps to Look at
Old Front Page Headlines
by Marilyn Nelson

The earthquakes, the militias. History
hairpins and switchbacks like a mountain road.
Things fall apart, no doubt. But good people wake
every day to thank, and to ask what they can do
today to make things better. People call
things back together when they choose to act
on behalf of our planet and all life
spinning with us on her around the sun.

Hear the entire poem in this Poetry Month video from First Book.

A 2018 Cybils Poetry nominee

Missing Mike
by Shari Green (Author)

Booktalk: He’s a rescue, a mutt. Maybe there’s a little golden retriever in him, although he’s not exactly pretty. He’s had a run-in with coyotes and he’s missing an eye. But Mike is eleven-year-old Cara Donovan’s dog, and they love each other absolutely. Usually her pet follows Cara everywhere, but on the day the family first smells smoke in the air, Mike becomes anxious. Pine Grove is in the path of a wildfire, and the family is ordered to evacuate. In the ensuing chaos, Mike runs off. And then the unthinkable happens; there is no time to search for Mike. They are forced to leave him behind. Shocked and devastated, Cara watches helplessly as the family drives through a nightmare, with burning debris falling from the sky and wild animals fleeing for their lives.

Snippet:
NOT HOME

The police officer back home in Pine Grove
gave us directions
for the evacuation route
but we don’t need them.
The long snake of traffic leads us through the city
and finally
slithers right into the crowded parking lot
of a community center.

Hear the author tell the story behind the book.

A 2018 Cybils Poetry nominee

BONUS! Download the Activity Sheets