June 4, 2020 – Waking Brain Cells

The American Booksellers Association has announced the Independent Booksellers’ Debut Picks of the Season, also called Indies Introduce. These picks cover both summer and fall for this year and are selected as the best of the season. The lists include adult fiction and nonfiction, middle grade and young adult. Below are the middle grade and young adult picks:

MIDDLE GRADE

Cattywampus by Ash Van Otterloo

Dan Unmasked by Chris Negron

The Places We Sleep by Caroline Brooks DuBois

Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse

A Wolf for a Spell by Karah Sutton

YOUNG ADULT

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

The Truth Project by Dante Medema

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Here are some great books that speak to the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, the righteous anger we are seeing on the streets, America’s long history of racism, and voices that have always been worth investing in and listening to:

PICTURE BOOKS

Big Papa and the Time Machine by Daniel Bernstrom, illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Black Is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy, illustrated by Ekua Holmes

Box Henry Brown Makes Himself to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford

Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood

Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera

Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry, illustrated by Vashti Harrison

I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins

I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes, illustrated by Bryan Collier

Lillian’s Right to Vote by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville, Alabama by Hester Bass, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o, illustrated by Vashti Harrison

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson

We March by Shane W. Evans

MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS

brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Clean Getaway by Nic Stone

For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks

The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine

Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds

Some Places More Than Others by Renee Watson

this promise of change by jo ann allen boyce and debbie levy

This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy

When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, Tonya Engel, John Parra, and Meilo So

TEEN BOOKS