In celebration of Black History Month, we’ll be highlighting a diverse range of books, all written by Black American authors, all of which celebrate and prioritize Black Joy. We’ll be featuring a title every day through the month of February.
Kleaver Cruz, creator of the Black Joy project, says that “Black joy is resistance. Amplifying Black joy is not about dismissing or creating an ‘alternative’ Black narrative that ignores the realities of our collective pain; rather, it is about holding the pain and injustices we experience as Black folks around the world in tension with the joy we experience in pain’s midst. It’s about using that joy as an entry into understanding the oppressive forces we navigate through as a means to imagine and create a world free of them.”
Today’s work is Jason Reynolds’ Look Both Ways, a collection of stories for middle grades readers that follows different groups of kids as they make their way home from school. From boogers to bullies, there are a lot of things that can happen on a walk home, but Reynolds weaves together many different narratives to show how we intersect and impact each other in this innovative and engaging “tale told in ten blocks.”
Stay tuned for a new book tomorrow!
