Poignant words from award-winning Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith about all the hopes adults have for the young people in their lives.
The hopes we have for the children in our lives are endless. We want our young people to thrive and experience all that life has to offer, but we also feel protective of them. Using simple but powerful statements, Monique Gray Smith delivers a touching message about loving, nurturing and wishing the best for our children. Paired with Gabrielle Grimard's warm and enchanting illustrations, the message in I Hope will resonate with all parents, grandparents and caregivers.
Praise for Monique Gray Smith:
★“Joyful and tender...celebrates the activities that bring gladness through family and cultural connections.”—School Library Journal, starred review for My Heart Fills With Happiness
“Smith's text is heartwarming!”—Debbie Reese, American Indians in Children's Literature for You Hold Me Up
“Gentle…Notably centering Indigenous families and characters of color in personal and communal activities—and encouraging readers to evaluate their actions toward others.”—Publisher's Weekly for When We Are Kind
★“Smith tackles difficult and complex conversations with straightforwardness and compassion.”—School Library Journal, starred review for Speaking Our Truth
Five Feet Apart meets Kate in Waiting in this timely story of two best friends navigating the complexities of friendship while their world is turned upside down by a global pandemic, from the author of Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card.
The lives of high school seniors Parisa Naficy and Gabriela Gonzales couldn't be more different. Parisa, an earnest and privileged Iranian American, struggles to live up to her own impossible standards. Gabriela, a cynical Mexican American, has all the confidence Parisa lacks but none of the financial stability. She can't help but envy Parisa's posh lifestyle whenever she hears her two moms argue about money. Despite their differences, as soon as they met on the first day of freshman year, they had an "us versus the world" mentality. Whatever the future had in store for them—the pressure to get good grades, the litany of family dramas, and the heartbreak of unrequited love—they faced it together. Until a global pandemic forces everyone into lockdown. Suddenly senior year doesn't look anything like they hoped it would. And as the whole world is tested during this time of crisis, their friendship will be, too.
With equal parts humor and heart, Parisa's and Gabriela's stories unfold in a mix of prose, text messages, and emails as they discover new dreams, face insecurities, and confront their greatest fears.
Ayesha is a world away from home when she meets the boy of her dreams. Like her, Suresh is from India but going to high school in Illinois. Once they get together, they are inseparable... until a twist of fate takes Suresh back to India right when Ayesha discovers she's pregnant. Suddenly she feels she's on her own, navigating the biggest decision she'll ever make.
Seventeen years later, Ayesha's daughter Mira finds an old box with letters addressed to her from her birth mother. Although Mira loves the moms who adopted her, she's intrigued to discover something more about her history. In one letter, Ayesha writes that if Mira can forgive her for what she had to do, she should find a way to travel to India for her eighteenth birthday and meet her.
Mira knows she'll always regret it if she doesn't go. But is she actually ready for what she will learn?
From the author of the "heart-wrenching yet hopeful" (Samira Ahmed) novel, The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali, comes a timely story about two teenage girls forced to understand the power and consequences of their choices.
This heartwarming ghost story will make readers laugh out loud and sympathize with a ghost who is too cute to be scary.
Wee Boo is a ghost who wants nothing more than to earn her haunting license like all the other accredited ghosts. The problem? She’s far too cute to scare anyone! She’s given one last chance, with extraordinarily low standards: Boo doesn’t need to make anyone scream or gasp or shudder, she just needs one “whoa” to earn her place as a certified ghost. But she's running out of chances and her final haunting is not going well—that is until she meets a baby. When Boo makes the baby laugh, she realizes something: although she’s terrible as a scary ghost, she might just make an outstanding imaginary friend. And a baby laughing in a crib at an invisible friend might just be enough to spook someone after all—the baby's parents.
A child who looks different from her mother finds beauty and belonging in this new book from the creator of the New York Times bestseller I Sang You Down from the Stars
Izzy’s favorite place to be is in Mama’s arms—skin to skin, safe and warm. One night, cuddled up on Mama’s lap, Izzy notices something she’s never noticed before: her skin is the color of chocolate, but Mama’s skin is the color of sand.
When Izzy realizes she’s different from Mama in other ways, too, she feels sad and confused. She wants to be beautiful like Mama! But Mama addresses Izzy’s disappointment with a gentle, loving refrain: You’re part of me, and I’m part of you. I’m beautiful like me, and you’re beautiful like you. Finding lessons from nature and repeating her affirming message, Mama encourages Izzy to see her own unique beauty.
This story about a multiracial child navigating identity and belonging draws from author Tasha Spillett’s own experience growing up as an Afro-Indigenous girl. Lyrical text and warm, lively illustrations show Izzy’s journey as she learns to celebrate the differences that make her uniquely beautiful, and the connection to her mother that transcends physical traits.
A New York Times / New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2022!
NAMED A BEST PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR: Kirkus Reviews, Globe and Mail, and Chicago Public Library
"A love letter to family, home, and Indigenous traditions. . . This story reminds readers of the joy we experience upon returning to those whom we love and who love us."—Kirkus STARRED Review
From Cree-Métis artist Julie Flett and Academy Award-winning icon Buffy Sainte-Marie comes a celebration of Indigenous community, and the enduring love we hold for the people and places we are far away from.
Based on Sainte-Marie’s song of the same name, Still This Love Goes On combines Flett's breathtaking art with vivid lyrics to craft a stunning portrait of a Cree worldview. At the heart of this picture book is a gentle message about missing our loved ones, and the promise of seeing each other again.
This gem of a picture book features:
Brimming with love for community and the land, Still This Love Goes On is destined to be read and sung for generations.
Moon’s depression is overwhelming. Therapy doesn’t help, and Moon is afraid that their mom hates them because they’re sad. Moon’s only escape is traveling to the spirit realms every night, where they hope they’ll never return to the world of the living again.
The spirit realm is where they have their one and only friend, Wolf, and where they’re excited to experience an infinite number of adventures. But when the realm is threatened, it’s up to Moon to save the spirit world.
With the help of celestial beings and guardians, Moon battles monsters and shadows, and through their journey, they begin to learn that a magical adventure of love and acceptance awaits them in the world of the living, too.
This story of hope shows readers that our souls blossom when we realize that we are as worthy and powerful as the universe itself.
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