Category: middle grade

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My Thoughts Are Clouds: Poems for Mindfulness

My Thoughts Are Clouds: Poems for Mindfulness
by Georgia Heard (Author) and Isabel Roxas (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: A poetry collection for middle grade that both illustrates what mindfulness is and encourages young, growing minds to be present.

Snippet:


A 2021 Cybils Poetry nominee

Although the 2021 Cybils Poetry Finalists have been announced, the CYBILS blog editor wanted to see “the ones that got away. In other words, nominations that you really liked that sadly didn’t make it into the finalists” — so I’m posting ONE more book!

Copyright © 2022 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

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Unsettled

Unsettled
by Reem Faruqi (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: When her family moves from Pakistan to Peachtree City, all Nurah wants is to blend in, yet she stands out for all the wrong reasons. Nurah’s accent, floral-print kurtas, and tea-colored skin make her feel excluded, until she meets Stahr at swimming tryouts.

And in the water Nurah doesn’t want to blend in. She wants to win medals like her star athlete brother, Owais–who is going through struggles of his own in the U.S. Yet when sibling rivalry gets in the way, she makes a split-second decision of betrayal that changes their fates.

Ultimately Nurah slowly gains confidence in the form of strong swimming arms, and also gains the courage to stand up to bullies, fight for what she believes in, and find her place.

Snippet:
Science Class

Relief.
Because we have
assigned seats.
Relief.
Because there is
a math problem
on the board.
Relief.
Because math problems
are safe
and have only
one
answer.


A 2021 Cybils Poetry nominee

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.