Jason Reynolds - an amazing author . . .
If you have not read (or your kids have not) Jason Reynolds, pick up some of his books. He is an author who writes with so much heart and his stories and characters are really powerful with some terrific messages. My kids and I just compelted his 4-book Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny & Lu) and and just got 2 more of his books (As Brave As You and Long Way Down). We got to experience some of the rough lives these kids live, the grit they possess and the daily struggles they have to overcome to succeed.
He is African-American, and all his stories are about African-American kids, their lives, struggles, desires and victories. NYT has a great write-up about him and who he writes for which is worth reading.
A few quotes from his books we just read. This first one is about Lu's Dad who was an x-drug dealer and faced a lot of bullying - "He's wrong. All I'm saying is he's human too. And sometimes the jokes cut deep. Deeper than we think. And if we don't deal with them, if we don't figure out how to somehow get over them, move past them, we have no idea what they can do to us." This second one is about a sister teling Lu about a touch conversation she is about to have with her brother: "It's life. And it's never a bad time to witness life."
Pick up his books - you will hear and understand perspectives you might otherwise never have . . . and his stories are really fun!