Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Each month LibraryReads posts a list of 10 recommended titles; this post and some subsequent ones will be an opportunity to comment on several of the those recommendations. The favorite overall was RED AT THE BONE by Jacqueline Woodson, a new coming of age novel set mostly in Brooklyn about several generations in one family. Melody is the youngest, now sixteen which is basically the same age as her mother Iris when she found out she was unexpectedly pregnant. Those two share narration duties with Melody’s father, Aubrey, and her grandmother, Sabe, married to Po’Boy. Woodson is adept at exploring the idea of fate: “Knowing that there’s so much in this great big world that you don’t have a single ounce of control over. Guess the sooner you learn that, the sooner you’ll have one less heartbreak in your life.” Personally, I found the story to be well-written, but mostly descriptive. I think students would look for more action. RED AT THE BONE received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.

SLJTeen Live!

I hope that you had a chance to attend today’s School Library Journal’s Teen Live. The all-day virtual summit is one of my favorite annual events and this year’s workshop – with the theme of knocking down doors - was no exception. The opening keynote from Samira Ahmed, author of INTERNMENT, was fabulous. She spoke about librarians as curators of culture and lifters of democracy – encouraging her audience by saying, “don’t be a by-stander, be an upstander.” The closing keynote from author and poet Nikki Grimes was very moving – look for her memoir in verse, ORDINARY HAZARDS, coming in October. In between there were sessions on the family, the power of love, writing non-fiction, choosing graphic novels for teens, and on partnering and collaboration. 

I found myself bouncing back and forth between concurrent sessions on Mental Health and Woke Collections – both echoed the importance of knowing your community. I loved the idea of librarians using our voices for kindness and the practical examples of programs and sources for data were very helpful. I know that with our emphasis on diversity and empathy this year that we will definitely be exploring resources like Diversity Talks and Racial Equity Institute which were recommended by Cassy Lee, Chinese American International School and Angel Tucker, Johnson County Library in Kansas in their presentation on activating empathy.  There were plenty of other opportunities to visit vendor booths and chat with authors, too. More information on SLJTeen Live!, including a list of presenters and book titles, is available at the link above or click on the logo image.