It's Monday! What are you reading?

 It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book! 

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to see more of my reading, visit my StoryGraph account here. 

I haven't posted for #IMWAYR since November. I knew it had been a while, but didn't realize it was so many months ago. Eek. As noted above, I have moved from Goodreads to Storygraph, so if you're over there, you can find me at crystalreading. I have also moved from Twitter/X to Bluesky with the same handle I had before @librarygrl2. It's tedious to start over again, but I'm slowly finding people and reconnecting with some people that I had formerly interacted with many, many years ago on Twitter so that's nice.

Read recently:

Yesterday I reviewed We Miss You, George Floyd by Shannon Gibney with illustrations by Leeya Rose Jackson. It's an excellent picture book for sharing with young ones who are having a hard time processing his murder or any similar death. Gibney shares his life and death, but also shows how the community mourns and what people can do in the aftermath. 

I also reviewed Bingsu for Two at Rich in Color. It's a cute YA Rom-com and I had a fun time reading it. 

Recently I was reading a ton of picture books because I did mock award units at school. My four sixth grade classes read Sibert contenders, my four fifth grade classes read Coretta Scott King contenders, and my five fourth grade classes read Pura Belpré contenders. You can see our results at the Mock YMA page here. 

The biggest stand out of my recent picture book reading recently was Chooch Helped by Andrea L. Rogers illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz. It's simply gorgeous and totally deserving of the Caldecott Award, but the story is also beautiful and made my heart happy. 

Currently Reading: 

I'm reading a graphic novel called Fake Chinese Sounds, I'm listening to The Enigma Girls, I'm reading The Book of (More) Delights for a book club, and I'm also doing a slow read of Beloved with a group of people on Bluesky (hosted by @heymrsbond.com and @marcusluther.bluesky.social) which is kind of amazing. What are you reading? Have a great week. 

Book Review: We Miss You, George Floyd

Title: We Miss You, George Floyd

Author: Shannon Gibney

Illustrator: Leeya Rose Jackson

Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

Review Copy: Final copy provided by publisher

Availability: On shelves now

Summary: A young Black girl in Minneapolis grapples with the death of George Floyd. In this candid and powerful book, a young girl hears about an unfolding tragedy in her neighborhood. It’s on the news, on the radio, and talked about in her community, and she learns of the murder of George Floyd—and about who he was. As she tries to reckon with the senseless violence of his killing, she finds solace at George Floyd Square. The space is filled with the art of protest and resistance, and she is moved to create her own signs and drawings, lifting her voice to harmonize with the outpouring: “We miss you, George Floyd.” 

For children working through George Floyd’s murder and the police violence plaguing our country, and for the grown-ups trying to help them, this book is an invitation to open up difficult conversations. With striking illustrations reflecting Floyd’s world and a child’s perspective, Shannon Gibney’s clear-eyed account offers healing and inspiration for the strength and solidarity we need to build a more peaceful and just future.

My Thoughts: Tragedies like the murder of George Floyd are difficult for an adult to grapple with and explaining it to a young person is an extremely challenging task, so a book like this is quite helpful. The book opens showing different folks who are grieving and then shares what happened in simple and honest terms. The text and illustrations paint a picture of who George Floyd was to other people and the many ways he was seen by his neighbors, friends, and family. Then, it moves to a variety of responses to his death including protests, marches, organizing, storytelling and calls for justice and liberation. 

The illustrations really bring the time and place to readers in a vibrant way. The street corner and the memorial is shown in vivid colors and the artwork seems to breathe in contrast to his loss of breath. On each page there is a group of wavy lines like a paintbrush has wandered through. It changes color on each page and seems like a breeze coming through or a line of connection. There is a poster in memory of Breonna Taylor on the narrator's bedroom wall as well as signs that people hold up outside and someone wears a t-shirt with Say Her Name on it. The art does a lot to help convey facts from the text and beyond it. The illustrations also convey an incredible amount of emotion whether it's sadness, anger, or hope for the future.

As the summary says, this book would be an excellent way to start the hard conversations around George Floyd's death or other injustices that are happening around us or around the world. It shows the many ways that one can respond and how we can be in community with each other when we experience tragedies like this. 

Recommendation: This book is an excellent addition to any library for young people, but is also a good starting point with older readers too. I would recommend it for any reader who has a heart filled with loss and too many questions especially related to police violence.