Stamped

YA nonfiction 

     True confession.  As much as I love reading now and then I'm lazy.  I'd read and done a rave review on Ibram X. Kendi's How To Be an Antiracist and learned so much from it.  But when I got my hands on his Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America my reaction was ohhh myyy gawd!  I felt like I'd gone to Governors and been given the eighteen wheeler (eighteen scoops of ice cream with toppings) with instructions to polish it off solo.  It felt like too much to tackle.

     I told Pastor Malcolm that I was going to wait for the YA version.  I knew that it was only a matter of time.  I was right.  In his Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, And You Jason Reynolds took on the task of breaking down a formidable amount of scholarship into a YA friendly format.

     "This book, this not history, history book, this present book, is meant to take you on a race journey from then to now, to show why we feel how we feel, why we live how we live, and why this poison [racism], whether recognizable or unrecognizable, whether it's a scream or a whisper, won't go away."

     Reynolds describes his not history from a distinctive viewpoint.  Although they can switch, sometimes more than once, over a lifetime, the chief characters in his narrative are segregationists, assimilationists, and antiracists.  

     "And, actually, these aren't just the words we'll be using to describe the people in this book.  They're the words we'll be using to describe you.  And me.  All of us."

     Reynolds' narrative is lively, witty, and conversational.  It invites reflection and response.  It takes time pictures we've been given (Recall the Pilgrims and Indigenous Peoples sitting down to nosh at the first Thanksgiving?), breaks them down into puzzle pieces, shakes the box, and reassembles very different vistas.  Heroes tumble off pedestals.  Events fall into alternate sequences that make all the sense in the world.

     A library needs two copies of this book: one for the YA section and one for the adult adults.  It will captivate and engage a lot of people who might feel intimidated by Kendi's original work.

On a purrrsonal note, I had a lovely afternoon with my kids and their significant others yesterday.  It was warm enough for us to sit around and talk in Amber and Brian's backyard but nippy enough to keep jackets on.  We were joined by Lucky, the squirrel they feed who seems intent on stocking up food for the winter.  It was so wonderful to be with my favorite people in the world.  Eugene was off hunting.  It was the first day of deer season.  He'd miss that like Pastors Mariah and Malcolm would play hooky from church on Christmas. (Jules)

I miss the kids.  I hope Adam stops by on Christmas Eve. (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to Amber, Brian, Katie, Jacob, and Adam.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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