{"id":27060,"date":"2018-09-11T07:41:42","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T11:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=27060"},"modified":"2018-09-11T07:41:42","modified_gmt":"2018-09-11T11:41:42","slug":"a-different-kind-of-comfort-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=27060","title":{"rendered":"A Different Kind of Comfort Read"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seventeen years ago, when the horrific events of September 11 unfolded\u00a0in front of us, we were at first speechless. We gathered loved ones close and tried to make sense of what had just happened. In the weeks following that tremendous\u00a0tragedy and loss, people came to the bookstore looking for comfort. They weren’t even necessarily seeking a book; they\u00a0simply wanted to be surrounded by books, by calm, quiet, familiar and beloved books depicting a world they thought they understood. Parents asked us for recommendations\u00a0for books to help them talk with their children, and children\u00a0found comfort in returning to\u00a0happy, safe, gentle books like Ramona the Pest<\/em> and Ginger Pye\u00a0<\/em>and Understood Betsy<\/em>.
\nToday, our nation is in a very different place than it was nearly two decades ago, and yet our national stress levels are\u00a0at another high.\u00a0People are once again seeking refuge in bookstores. This time, their comfort reading\u2014though it really can’t be called that\u2014is entirely different.
\nThese days, our bookstore visitors are finding solace in information, in hard truths and hope, in ideas and strategies, and in\u00a0books featuring\u00a0the voices of fellow Americans who have up to this point been largely un- or under-represented in literature.\u00a0These readers don’t want comfort; they want action, change, progress, and to challenge themselves to be better humans. It’s a fascinating time to be a bookseller.
\nWhile adults across the country today will be\u00a0flying through Bob Woodward’s Fear: Trump in the White House<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>young readers in the Flying Pig Bookstore will be engaged\u00a0by our front counter copies of We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices<\/em><\/a>, edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson of Just Us Press, with a foreword by Ashley Bryan (published by Crown in partnership with Just Us). If you haven’t yet seen this amazing treasure trove of a book, it features 50 of our finest authors and\u00a0artists (see list below) addressing young readers, helping\u00a0them navigate our divided world, encouraging\u00a0them to dream, to hope, and to act on behalf of themselves and others. Filled with art, essays, poems, letters, and stories, this slim volume packs a powerful punch.
\n<\/a>
\nLook at this line-up of stars:\u00a0Arnold Adoff, Kwame Alexander, Jabari Asim, Stephanie Berger, Tonya Bolden, Roy Boney, Jr., Vanessa Brantley-Newton, Tameka Fryer Brown, Joseph Bruchac, Ashley Bryan, Lesa Cline-Ransome, Evelyn Coleman, Floyd Cooper, Nina Crews, Pat Cummings, Nancy Devard, Sharon M. Draper, Zetta Elliott, Margarita Engle, Zamani Feelings, Sharon G. Flake, Bernette G. Ford, George Ford, Laura Freeman, Chester Higgins, Jr., Ekua Holmes, Cheryl Willis Hudson, Curtis Hudson, Stephan J. Hudson, Wade Hudson, Hena Khan, Rafael Lopez, Kelly Starling Lyons, Tony Medina, Mansa K. Mussa, Innosanto Nagara, Marilyn Nelson, Ellen Oh, Denise Lewis Patrick, Andrea Pippins, James E. Ransome, Jason Reynolds, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Edel Rodriguez, Charles R. Smith, Jr., Javaka Steptoe, Eleanora E. Tate, Eric Velasquez, Carole Boston Weatherford, Jeffery B. Weatherford, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Jacqueline Woodson.
\nI can’t resist quoting the reviews:
\n“When it seems like all around us there is bad news, tension, injustice, and racism, children now have an additional source of inspiration in their search for peace, strength, equality, and hope in this vibrant and heartfelt anthology.” \u2014Booklist<\/em>
\n“Wade and Cheryl Willis Hudson, founders of Just Us Books, offer this empowering anthology to counter today\u2019s often-unsettling political climate for children of varying ethnicities, faiths, identities, and abilities”\u2014Publishers Weekly,\u00a0<\/i>starred review
\n“A love song from children’s literature’s brightest stars to America’s Indigenous children and children of color, encouraging them to be brave and kind.”\u2014Kirkus Reviews,\u00a0<\/i>starred review
\n“Addressing complex topics with sensitivity and candor, this is a necessary purchase for all libraries serving children.”\u2014School Library Journal,\u00a0<\/i>starred review
\n***
\nIn 2018, it seems that the\u00a0caring, loving words we need most right now are the ones that acknowledge honestly where we are, who we are, and who\u00a0we want to be. It’s a different kind of comfort, one that invites active participation and deep thoughtfulness.
\nReaders, what books are you and your children finding inspiring and comforting these days?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The books we’re drawn to in times of duress say a lot about where we are, both personally and as a nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27060\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}