September Staff Picks: Back to School
It’s back to school time, so we thought it would be fun to choose books that we wish we read in school, wish we had access to, or books that weren't even written yet that would have helped us in our formative years. To see more of each staff member’s staff picks click their name! Find them all here.
I wish I had read bell hooks sooner. Her understanding and critique of the patriarchal, racist, capitalist culture we inhabit is essential to understanding intersectionality and combating these toxic influences. All About Love is, as the title suggests, focused on all the ways we get love wrong and are raised to perpetuate these harmful practices. Love is not about power, and prioritizing care and communication are the foundations for all healthy and equitable relationships. hooks expertly takes down a culture that stifles emotional connection, that has left us with empty and broken models of love, and offers us a refreshing and important perspective in place that can serve as the foundation of new forms of community. –Colleen
I can't remember where I stumbled upon this book, but I do remember it having a lasting effect on me. Up until that point, I had only read stories filled with fairies, and love, and happy endings, and although this story has somewhat of a happy ending, the journey was absolutely devastating in the best way possible. The House of the Scorpion is extremely philosophical and thought-provoking, ranging in the topics of the soul, identity, and human rights in an accessible way to children. It completely changed the way I saw the world and changed the way I walked through it. The story follows Matt, a clone of a 142-year-old dictator of Opium named El Patron. Throughout the book, Matt deals with enduring the hate and discrimination of being something different. Though he walks a life of privilege, those around him never let him forget that he is worth as much as livestock and would never be human. He escapes death and is thrust into a world of child slavery "Keepers" attempt to mold the boys into "upstanding citizens" who all act and think the same where any spark of individuality is immediately crushed. Matt's story is a bit graphic at times, but I would have loved to discuss with classmates surrounding the idea of who is human, what makes a person human, and how we should treat others. In light of all the protests surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, this story is perfect to teach to younger students now. –Daisy
One of the saddest things about being an adult is learning that there are gaps in what you were taught. One of the happiness things a out being an adult is teaching yourself what no one else did. This book is one of many books that have given me a narrative that I rarely ever come across.
Part true crime and part social criticism of the legacy of colonialism and White supremacy in Canada, this book is about a section of a highway that runs in British Columbia. For decades, murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls were grieved. Jessica McDiarmid tells the story of how the communities that these women and girls belonged to have been fighting for justice and visibility.
If you don't know anything about this topic, please read this book. –Danni
Good Talk is the opposite of every book I’ve ever read about parenting—it’s smart, funny, and full of honesty about being in a family of different races, religions, and political beliefs. Every parent should read it, and then pray to the gods to be half as honest and brave with their kids as Mira is. Plus, pictures! –Emma
Great first day of Kindergarten/1st grade book! I wish it was read to me in the year 2000; I did not have that privilege but your student can! It's an important story to start your student's long thirteen (or more) educational career with:
You walk into a classroom and feel dreadful loneliness because nothing is familiar. All you can see is how you're set apart (maybe it's your hair or lunchbox you thought was cool but now you're having doubts). Slowly but surely you are taught to embrace and love your differences. You now see that different doesn't have to mean you're an outcast or ugly. You belong and you're beautiful! –Jacque
This is a book that I feel everyone should read. It explains how understanding, compassion, and looking at the world from others' perspectives can change the world around us. THis book opened up my heart and tear ducts. Required reading for all people. –Nick
I wish I’d read this book sooner–not necessarily for its subject matter, but for the way Sebald frames the responsibility of the writer and the reader in relation to art and politics, as well as the perils of erasure and willful blindness. It gave voice to things that had been knocking around in my head for years, and remains a touchstone for thinking about history, memory, language, and trauma. Especially during a period of state-sanctioned learning (i.e. high school history class), a book like this–that asks you to be wary of official historical narratives, critical of where they come from, and alert to the various ways those narratives appear in literature–would have been invaluable. –Nika
Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
A piercing, complex, and unforgettable collection. I chose it for this theme because I think it would’ve meant so much to me, as both a reader and a writer, to see working-class women at the center of a book, for once. The women in my family, like the women in this book, are indigenous and Latinx, so reading these stories and hearing these voices felt so familiar, so intimate, which is still a relatively new feeling for me, even as an adult reader. While I don’t think you have to relate deeply to a story, necessarily, to connect to or learn from it, it is definitely a rewarding experience to, at long last, be told that stories like yours matter enough to be told (BY US), shared, and even nominated for a National Book Award! ;) –Serena
We choose new staff picks every month, so stay tuned for regular updates.
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