Stories and the myriad ways they’re told fascinate me. Growing up in Atlanta with Mexican and American heritage, I first learned about Mexican códices—centuries-old books that tell stories through images—on a trip to visit family in Mexico. Later, I studied the history and literature of Latin America at Harvard and got a Ph.D. in Latin American and Iberian Cultures and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. I’ve studied storytelling in many forms, from Mesoamerican maps to early Spanish chronicles of exploration and invasion, to modern Latin American novels. The books listed here celebrate oral storytelling, written traditions, and artistic expression, and they take seriously the perspectives of young people.
In this novel in verse, Elizabeth Acevedo beautifully evokes the landscape and feel of Harlem through the observant character of Xiomara Batista.
Having lived in upper Manhattan for years, I recognized the neighborhood in the vibrant descriptions. I identified with Xiomara’s need to express herself, how she fills the pages of her notebook with what she feels she can’t speak aloud. Her emotions as she confronts the challenges of friendship, romance, and family feel very real.
When a high school teacher opens up for her the world of spoken word poetry and a whole new set of possibilities for self-expression, I find myself rooting for Xiomara to be brave and take the steps she must take on her personal and artistic journey towards sharing her voice.
WINNER OF THE THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2019
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE 2019
THE WINNER OF THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
THE WINNER OF THE MICHAEL L.PRINTZ AWARD
THE WINNER OF THE PURA BELPRE AWARD
THE WINNER OF THE BOSTON GLOBE-HORNBOOK AWARD
'I fell in love at slam poetry. This one will stay with you a long time.' - Angie Thomas, bestselling author of The Hate U Give
'This was the type of book where "I'll just do 50 pages" turned into finishing it in 2 reads. I felt very emotional, not just because the story and…
Perhaps what I most admire about this novelized memoir is the way Daniel Nayeri, through the voice of Khosrou, expertly weaves together family stories, Persian history and mythology, and the trials and tribulations of being a kid from Iran in an Oklahoma middle school.
The author does all this while staying true to the perspective of a twelve-year-old boy. Khosrou tells stories he knows from his home country through a series of class assignments, prompting reactions from classmates that let Khosrou know just how wide the gulf can be between his understanding of the world and theirs.
The sometimes fantastical, often heartbreaking tales he tells his teacher, his classmates, and the reader—whom he repeatedly addresses—challenge us to value what refugees have to tell.
At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much.
But Khosrou's stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his family fled Iran in the middle of the night with the secret police moments behind them, back to the sad, cement refugee…
Twelve-year-old Petra Peña tenderly recounts family stories about Earth in a dystopian, sci-fi context far from our home planet.
Her memories and stories evoke a beauty that clashes spectacularly with the aseptic spaceship and the repressive government that takes control of it. What kept me turning pages were Petra’s strong relationships with her family—including her grandmother, Lita, who tells her old Mexican legends, and her little brother, Javier—and the way Petra’s stories reflect these strong, human relationships.
When she tells stories to younger kids on the spaceship, it is a subversive act that brings the characters closer. I resonated with the novel’s message that stories are a way to bring people together despite the odds, and they are vital to the survival of humanity as we know it.
An unforgettable journey through the stars, to the very heart of what makes us human. The incredible Newbery Medal-winning novel from Donna Barba Higuera.
"Gripping in its twists and turns, and moving in its themes - truly a beautiful cuento." - NEW YORK TIMES
Habia una vez . . .
There lived a girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita.
But Petra's world is ending. Earth will soon be destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have…
In this book Laurie Halse Anderson lets us inside the mind of Melinda, a high schooler who finds herself increasingly isolated from friends and family.
As a reader, it was easy to share her frustration with how others treat her, because it was clear that her inner world didn’t match up with what others perceived outside of her. She has experienced a traumatic event, a violation that she doesn’t know how to process or talk about.
This novel masterfully captures the way Melinda compartmentalizes what has happened to her and grasps for coping mechanisms. Some of my favorite scenes occur in art class, where art-making becomes a key part of Melinda’s journey of gaining the courage to speak up about her trauma, and of reconnecting with others.
Each of the interconnected stories told in this novel is fascinating in and of itself, but they’re even more enthralling as an interwoven whole.
An ancient Greek manuscript that tells of a fantastical journey provides a connective thread across space and time, from fifteenth-century Constantinople to the near future on a spaceship. I kept turning pages to know more about what happened in each of the stories, but also to find out all the myriad, deliciously satisfying ways they were connected.
The storylines swelled together into one epic tale, which was capacious enough that I felt I, too, could inhabit it, pondering questions about life and the universe alongside the characters. This book affirms the life-saving power of stories, and their capacity to forge invaluable human connections.
On the New York Times bestseller list for over 20 weeks * A New York Times Notable Book * A National Book Award Finalist * Named a Best Book of the Year by Fresh Air, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, and many more
“If you’re looking for a superb novel, look no further.” —The Washington Post
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of All the Light We Cannot See, comes the instant New York Times bestseller that is a “wildly inventive, a humane and uplifting book for adults that’s infused with the magic of childhood reading experiences” (The New York Times…
Jade is starting eighth grade in a new city—Atlanta. She just wants to go back to Chicago. But Jade does like walking to her new school on the trail through the woods behind her house. There, she meets Itztli, an elderly storyteller who exists between dreams and reality. Itztli steps out of the forest as a lithe, agile jaguar. But when he speaks to Jade, he is a wise old man who tells her ancestral stories of Mexico.
As Jade’s Abuela falls ill, two towers come crashing down in New York, and Jade becomes someone or something she doesn’t yet understand, Itztli’s stories take on new meaning. Jade must learn to have patience and strength to become who she was always meant to be.
My book is fantastical historical fiction about two characters who're wrestling with the monstrosity of their grief.
It takes you into London high society, where Ambrose tries to forget about how much he misses Bennett and how much he dreads becoming as cold as their Grandfather. It takes you to the family's country manor house, where Mattie isolates and old ghosts start to come out of the woodwork.
It's a story about loss and depression; it's a story about friends who don't let you walk through the valley of death alone.
Ambrose Bancroft returns to London society with his younger sister, hoping they'll leave ghosts of memory behind. They have only each other left. While Ambrose attempts to draw Mattie out, dragging her to balls and threatening to seek suitors for her, his sister recoils from his meddling. Finally, when Ambrose compels her to attend art class before she's ready, Mattie paints something horrific enough to banish them from society in public disgrace.
At Linwood Manor, Mattie and Ambrose aren't as alone as they think. Taking advantage of Mattie's desperate need to find freedom, a vanishing room lures Ambrose's sister into…
