February 2024 - Page 2 of 10

The Light She Feels Inside
by Gwendolyn Wallace (Author) and Olivia Duchess (Illustrator)
@ Amazon* | Bookshop*

Booktalk: Maya feels a warm glow when she picks strawberries in the community garden, hears music in her neighborhood, or spends time with the people she loves.

She feels a different kind of glow when she gets pushed down on the playground, overhears her family worrying about bills, and sees her favorite cousin stopped by police. Sometimes that glowing seems like too much to carry.

But Maya is learning that others feel the same glowing light. Black women throughout history, like Ida B. Wells, Nina Simone, June Jordan, and Maya’s own ancestors, found ways to honor these glowing feelings. They were guided by their light to make a difference. The light Maya feels inside is an important part of her that she’ll share as she works toward a brighter world.

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See more pages in this book announcement article.

Small Shoes, Great Strides: How Three Brave Girls Opened Doors to School Equality
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (Author) and Alex Bostic (Illustrator)
@ Amazon* | Bookshop*

Booktalk: Leona Tate, Gail Etienne, and Tessie Prevost didn’t set out to make history. But when these three Black first graders stepped into the all-white McDonogh No. 19 Public School in New Orleans on November 14, 1960, that’s exactly what they did. They integrated their school just ten minutes before Ruby Bridges walked into her school, also in New Orleans. Like Ruby, the trio faced crowds of protestors fighting against public school desegregation efforts and relied on US Marshals (seen in the excerpt below) to keep them safe. Their teacher protected them every step of the way, and the girls formed a close bond, becoming friends for life.

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Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!