Long Way Dowby Jason Reynolds

Jason Reynolds is an award winning author for young adults and middle grades. Long Way Down is a novel written in free verse. Will´s big brother, Shawn, is killed and he immediately knows what he needs to do. He wants to get revenge on the person who killed his brother. Will takes his brother´s gun and sets off to kill the person he is certain murdered his brother. It is a long way down in the elevator. Most of the novel takes place on this 60 second elevator ride. He must think about the rules he has learned about being tough along with the conversations he has had with friends and family that has been the victims of gun violence. Will has to make a tough decision whether he will go through with it or not. While Long Way Down does deal with real teen issues, it does have occurences of violence and bad language.

Reynolds, J. (2021). Long Way Down. Faber & Faber Children's.

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Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold

Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold is a Coretta Scott King winner, a Caldecott Honor Book, and on the New York Best Sellers List for illustrations. The main character, Cassie Louise Lightfoot has a dream to go wherever she wants for the rest of her life. One night up on the rooftop, ¨Tar Beach¨, of her family´s Harlem apartment building her dream comes true. The stars lift her up and she flies throughout the city of 1939 Harlem claiming it as her own. The illustrations are stunning and beautiful! Ringgold, F. (1996). Tar Beach . Dragonfly Books.

Family Pictures by Carmen Lomas Garza

Family Pictures is written by Carmen Lomas Garza who is a renowned artist. In Family Pictures , she shares about her life growing up in Kingsville, Texas. She shares how they celebrate birthdays, make tamales, pick cactus, and how she confided in her sister about growing up to become an artist. Each illustrations shares Carmen´s different Mexican American cultures growing up. They also a reflect a strong sense of family, community, and how hard Carmen´s mom worked to support her in achieving her dream of becoming an artist. Garza, C. L. (2005). Family pictures . Children's Books Press.

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Knuffle Bunny is a Caldecott Honor book written by Mo Willems. Trixie is a toddler who loses her favorite stuffed bunny while walking to the laundromat with her father. Because she is a toddler, Trixie has a difficut time communicating what is wrong to her bewildered father. She becomes frutrated and cries, so by the time they get home they are both unhappy. Luckily mom is able to immediatly figure out the problem when she notices Trixie does not have her bunny. Together they journey back to the laundromat in search of Knuffle Bunny. When they find her, Trixie is so thrilled she says her first words, ¨Knuffle Bunny¨. Willems, M. (2011). Knuffle Bunny: a cautionary tale . Hyperion.

Required Books 21-40

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