Diverse Reading Recommendations for our Youngest Readers

Posted on June 24, 2020June 25, 2020 by Ashley Barnes

Are you looking for diverse books to read with your pre-schoolers?
Take a look at these selections. They’re perfect for story time or bedtime!

Hair Love
By Matthew Cherry

When Daddy steps in to style Zuri’s hair for an extra-special occasion, he has a lot to learn. But he loves Zuri, and he’ll do anything to make her and her hair happy. Tender and empowering, Hair Love is an ode to loving your natural hair — and a celebration of daddies and daughters everywhere.

Book | eBook

Hey Black Child
By Useni Eugene Perkins

Six-time Coretta Scott King Award-winner and four-time Caldecott Honor-recipient Bryan Collier brings Useni Eugene Perkins’s classic, inspirational poem to life. This book celebrates black children and seeks to inspire all young people to dream big and achieve their goals.

Book | eBook

Parker Looks Up
By Parker Curry and Jessica Curry

Don’t miss this moving picture book that tells the story of a young girl and her family whose visit to see Amy Sherald’s transcendent portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama at the National Portrait Gallery becomes an extraordinary moment.

Book | eBook

The King of Kindergarten
By Derrick Barnes

Starting kindergarten is a big milestone — and the hero of this story is ready to make his mark! The day will be jam-packed, but he’s up to the challenge, taking new experiences in stride with his infectious enthusiasm.

Book | eBook | eAudio

I Believe I Can
By Grace Byers

I Believe I Can is an affirmation for boys and girls of every background to love and believe in themselves, from actress and activist Grace Byers. The book teaches, “My presence matters in this world. I know I can do anything, if only I believe I can.”

Book | eAudio

*Bedtime Bonnet*
By Nancy Redd
Book | eBook

*Don’t Touch My Hair*
By Sharee Miller
Book | eBook

*Going Down Home with Daddy*
By Kelly Starling Lyons
Book | eAudio

*I Am Enough*
By Grace Byers
Book | eAudio

*I Walk with Vanessa*
By Kerascoët
Book | eBook

*In Plain Sight*
By Richard Jackson
Book | eBook

*Last Stop on Market Street*
By Matt De La Peña
Book | eBook

*Thank You, Omu*
By Oge Mora
Book | eBook

Looking for more diverse books? Check out the Pratt’s collection of Diverse Reading Recommendations for our Youngest Readers.

Kanopy Spotlight, Night Tide

Posted on June 22, 2020June 18, 2020 by Jamillah Abdul-Saboor

by Tom Warner, Librarian, Best & Next Department

One of the perks of browsing through Kanopy, the Pratt’s free video streaming resource, is discovering how many “hidden gems” are in its collection. While other streaming services concentrate purely on popular, mainstream movies, Kanopy has something for everyone — even Cult and low-budget B-movie fans. Case in point, Curtis Harrington’s 1961 sleeper Night Tide.

Night Tide was Harrington’s first feature-length film, shot in and around Venice Beach and the Santa Monica Pier, and was described by critic Andrew Male as “existing in a strange, fugal netherworld of its own — somewhere between queer independent American cinema, Val Lewton horror and the poetic dream cinema of Jean Cocteau.” The influence of the thoughtful and moody Val Lewton-produced film chillers of the 1940s (Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie, Isle of the Dead) as well as Herk Harvey’s surreal Carnival of Souls (1962, also set at a carnival and available from Kanopy) — in which you’re never sure whether what’s happening is real or imagined — is unmistakable.

Harrington’s film tells the story of a young sailor, Johnny Drake (played by a baby-faced Dennis Hopper in his first proper starring role), who falls in love with a carnival sideshow mermaid named Mora (played by Linda Lawson), who may or may not be the real thing. Mora certainly thinks she is and Johnny soon comes to believe that Mora might be a siren who draws men to a watery death during the full moon —- after all, her two previous boyfriends drowned, making her a literal femme fatale.

Night Tide was ignored at the time of its release in 1961, paired on a double-bill with Roger Corman’s The Raven, and died a quick death, only becoming an acclaimed cult film with the rise of home video and DVD. By the way, the soundtrack music is by David Raskin, who scored the music for the classic film noir Laura (1944).

Of special interest to cult film fans is the appearance of Marjorie Cameron (pictured right) as an ominous sea-witch whose siren-call lures Mora back to the water. Cameron was an American artist, poet, actress, and occultist; she was a follower of “Thelema,” the religious movement established by English occultist Aleister Crowley, and was married to rocket pioneer and fellow Thelemite Jack Parsons. (Parsons was convinced she was his “Scarlet Woman,” the incarnation of what he had been searching for in his “sex magick” experiments.) Cameron also appeared in Harrington’s The Wormwood Star (1955) and Kenneth Anger’s The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1956).

Though it has all the trappings of a low-budget horror film, Night Tide can also be seen as a doomed love story, its moody atmosphere reflecting the fear and anxiety of romantic obsession.

Kanopy also offers The Curtis Harrington Short Film Collection, which includes his early experimental films Fear of Seeking (1946), The Four Elements (1948), and The Fall of the House of Usher (1949).

Father’s Day Books for Dad

Posted on June 21, 2020June 18, 2020 by Jamillah Abdul-Saboor

Happy Father’s Day to each and every dad, uncle, grandfather, and father figure! We hope you enjoy your special day! Here’s a small gift: a collection of books highlighting the different aspects and perspectives on fatherhood.

Books to add to your Anti-Racism Reading List

Posted on June 19, 2020June 19, 2020 by Jamillah Abdul-Saboor

Happy Juneteenth! In celebration of the holiday, we’re highlighting the richness of the Black Culture as well as spotlighting books that speak to the current racial climate.

Not sure what Juneteenth is? On June 19, 1865, the abolition of slavery was announced in Texas, marking the end of slavery in the United States. First known as Freedom Day, Juneteenth commemorates that critical date in history.

How to be an Antiracist
By Ibram X. Kendi

Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism. This is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.

Book | eBook | eAudio

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
By Michelle Alexander

Alexander provocatively argues that by targeting Black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness.

Book | eBook | eAudio

Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice
By Paul Kivel

Learn about interpersonal, institutional, and cultural racism along with stories of resistance and white solidarity. It provides practical tools and advice on how white people can work as allies for racial justice, engaging the reader through questions, exercises, and suggestions for action.

Book | eBook

Have Black Lives Ever Mattered?
By Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia gives voice to the many people of color who have fallen to police bullets or racist abuse, and offers the post-Ferguson generation advice on how to address police abuse in the United States.

Book | eBook

They Can’t Kill Us All
By Wesley Lowery

Washington Post writer Wesley Lowery details his quest for justice in the deaths of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Freddie Gray, offering both unparalleled insight into the reality of police violence in America and an intimate, moving portrait of those working to end it.

Book

*Just Mercy*
By Bryan Stevenson
Book | eBook

*Making All Black Lives Matter*
By Barbara Ransby
Book | eBook

*Me and White Supremacy*
By Layla F. Saad
Book | eBook

*The Condemnation of Blackness*
By Khalil Gibran Muhammad
Book

*The Racial Healing Handbook*
By Anneliese Singh
eBook

*White Fragility*
By Robin Diangelo
Book | eBook

Looking for even more books on this subject? Check out the Pratt’s collection of Anti-Racist Reading for Adults.

Diverse Books for Young Adults

Posted on June 17, 2020June 17, 2020 by Ashley Barnes

Take a look at these books from some of our favorite YA authors. They truly highlight just how diverse and complex our society is. Don’t forget you can reserve your copy through Sidewalk Service or download the eBook or eAudiobook.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
By Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds

Bestselling author Jason Reynolds remixes Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s award-winning Stamped from the Beginning which tackles the history of racist ideas in America and inspires hope for the future.

Book | eBook

Black Enough: Stories of Young & Black in America
By Ibi Zoboi

Featuring some of the most acclaimed bestselling Black authors writing for teens today, Black Enough, is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it’s like to be young and Black in America.

Book | eBook | eAudio

A Phoenix First Must Burn
By Patrice Caldwell

Sixteen tales by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and magic. A Phoenix First Must Burn will take you on a journey from folktales retold to futuristic societies and everything in between

Book | eBook

Tyler Johnson Was Here
By Jay Coles

What starts as a night of harmless fun for twin brothers Tyler and Marvin turns into a tragic event when Tyler is shot and killed by a police officer. Don’t miss this powerful and moving portrait of youth and family that speaks to the serious issues of today—from gun control to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Read the Book

Genesis Begins Again
By Alicia D. Williams

This deeply sensitive and powerful debut novel tells the story of a thirteen-year-old who must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family to finally learn to love herself.

Book | eBook