I think this might be the strangest thing I've ever read. Beautifully written -- the author's writing i evoked such visceral reactions in me as I read it -- but very weird. There's poetry interspersed throughout the book, and some of the storytelling is surreal, leaving you unsure what's happening, which made it a cool reading experience, like being immersed in a world where you don't understand how any of it works.

Sometimes a book finds you at exactly the right time. This is one of those, a reminder that God is kind, even when life is rough, and our hearts are hurting. Annie uses her conversational tone and lots of stories from her own life to remind us of this broader truth about who God is in the midst of this messy life.

Maya Papaya y sus amigos are such fun! They dress up and do seasonal activities while using rhyming text to teach kids Spanish words.

This was so adorably amazing! What a great way to teach kids that it's okay to feel their feelings, even when they aren't happy ones. I loved Ira and Malcolm's friendship and the ways that they are there for each other. Get this one for why kiddos in your life!

& what is love but an excuse for sad, wet math?

This was a fabulous poetry collection with amazing imagery. Joshua Bennett's poetry highlights the black experience in visceral and in get literary ways bringing the richness of history, the drama of the present, and a palette of emotions to the page with his words.

So lovely, both the words and the illustrations!

If it weren't so hilariously written it would be so sad. Black Moses tells of the exploits and escapades of Moses, a young orphan in Congo who spends his early childhood in an orphanage and then later lives on the streets of the city. We hear of the ridiculously power hungry manager of the orphanage, the struggles and triumphs of street life, and the challenges of an unstable existence. Moses is simultaneously entirely believable and completely inconceivable as a character, and his life often has a laugh to keep from crying feel to it.