We Are Not Broken by George M. Johnson

It’s the hat for me. 

Seriously, though. Have you seen that hat? 

Peacemaker by Joseph Bruchac

I haven’t read anything by Bruchac since Code Talker, and that was many years ago. I can’t remember how I acquired this one, but I know it’s a story I need to read. 

The Black Friend by Fredrick Joseph

I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Joseph speak about this text twice, once in 2020 and again in 2021. It’s been on my shelf since 2020 and it needs to stop collecting dust. 

I know that I’m not the intended audience for this book, but I find that listening to texts like this provide me with perspective (as well as ways to talk with the teachers who sometimes ask me questions while in a different place in antiracist work). 

Fat Angie by e. E. Charlton-Trujillo

Okay, so one of my favorite sessions at the 2021 ALAN Workshop was Charlton-Trujillo in conversation with two other authors. I can’t remember what the session was about, but I remember feeling so uplifted. I received this one in my ALAN Workshop book box, but had the third book in the series on my shelf already (I didn’t know it was a series).

The Extraordinaires by TJ Klune

T and I are listening to Klune’s Under the Whispering Door right now (read: when this post was written), and I find it fascinating that a story about such an unlikable character can be so compelling. 

When I was looking through books I had in hard copy that I might want to listen to on my commute, this one jumped out at me just because of how much I’m enjoying the other text. 

Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko

This is the second book in the Raybearer series. I’ve actually listened to it once before; it was one of the audiobooks T and I listened to at bedtime, but because I was reading something else, I didn’t read the bits I missed in audio.

Unlike the other books on this list, we actually already own this one, so access isn’t going to be a problem at all. 

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

I read Warga’s other book, Other Words for Home on my commute back when I had a carpool. I loved it. When this one showed up in my 2021 ALAN Workshop box, I knew it was going to go toward the top of the stack. 

Born Behind Bars by Padma Venkatraman

In 2019, the last time the ALAN Workshop was in person, Venkatraman was our keynote speaker. This is another situation where I don’t remember what she was talking about, but I do remember feeling like, as beautifully as she spoke, I needed to read her writing. Thankfully Born Behind Bars found its way to my shelf. I am really bad about keeping a TBR list, so she’d fallen off my radar. 

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez

There’s a teacher I used to work with who kept in touch after she changed school districts. She does “First Chapter Fridays” with her 7th and 8th graders now, and she texted me to tell me how excited the students were after she read the first chapter of Furia to them. That’s enough of an endorsement for me. 

Me (Moth) by Amber McBride

McBride is another author I had the opportunity to hear speak at the 2021 ALAN Workshop. I enjoy stories that use the physical journey as a metaphor, and from what I understand, that’s what this is. Therefore, I’m here for it,