Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 18th Read Harder task.

This was so fun to research. There are some great choices. I am between Hair Love, Islandborn and Thunder Boy Jr.

My choice may not completely fit, depending on your interpretation, but I'm going for The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman. It's his father's story, about a Jew living through the holocaust. The only reason it may not count is that Art draws all the characters as animals, rather than humans. Also it's more of a graphic memoir than a picture book, but I'm sticking with it!

I’m on mobile so I can’t do a link but I think Nasreen’s Secret School would fit this prompt and it’s a beautiful book

I'm going with The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve or Sewing Stories: Harriet Powers' Journey from Slave to Artist by Barbara Herkert or Feed Your Mind: A Story of August Wilson by Jen Bryant (especially if I do an August Wilson play for the Drama task)

But, I read Picture Books all year round , so it is possible that something else may strike me.

If I hadn't already read them: Islandborn by Junot Díaz or New Shoes by Susan Lynn Meyer would be great!

All the Way to Havana

The Proudest Blue by the Olympic fencing medalist and social justice activist Ibtihaj Muhammad

Rachael wrote: "My choice may not completely fit, depending on your interpretation, but I'm going for The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman. It's his father's story, about a Jew living thr..."

I like the graphic novel interpretation. I've been wanting to read the second volume of My Brother's Husband, Volume 2 and this would work.

Julian is a Mermaid

Ann wrote: "The Proudest Blue by the Olympic fencing medalist and social justice activist Ibtihaj Muhammad"

I ADORE this one, it's beautiful

I am thinking Sea Prayer would work!

I think I want to fudge this prompt a little and a read a graphic novel with a human main character from a marginalized community instead of a picture book... Any rec's? I would prefer the author/artist to be a WoC but I'll take any recs that fit!

Amy J. wrote: "I'm going with The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson"


Going with this one, too!

Amy J. wrote: "I'm going with The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson"

This is such a lovely book.

em wrote: "I am thinking Sea Prayer would work!"

A beautiful book in every way. You can't go wrong with this one.

Shi-shi-etko by Nicola Campbell
Shin-chi's Canoe by Nicola Campbell

Kayla wrote: "I think I want to fudge this prompt a little and a read a graphic novel with a human main character from a marginalized community instead of a picture book... Any rec's? I would prefer the author/a..."

There's On a Sunbeam and Spinning by Tillie Walden, both with lesbian characters. She's white, but they are own voices.

There's also the Lumberjanes series starting with Beware the Kitten Holy. There are multiple characters who are LGBTQIA+, as well as a latina character. There are multiple authors/artists/illustrators, and I'm not sure whether any of them are woc. These graphic novels are aimed at kids, so that might be 'closer' to the picture book prompt if that's important to you.

A personal favorite of mine is Aya which is a graphic novel about a teenager living in 1970s Cote d'Ivoire and is by a woc; in fact, I believe it's heavily inspired by the author's own experiences. It's light hearted but it does deal with more adult-issues like elitism, sexism, discrimination against homosexuality, etc. So it would be a further away from the picture books.

I'm a bit confused with the term "marginalized community". Will Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic work for this challenge?

Elvira wrote: "I'm a bit confused with the term "marginalized community". Will Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic work for this challenge?"

Yes, Alison Behcdel is a lesbian.

I'd actually love to do 47,000 Beads by Koja Adeyoha for this, but it is hard to find and pretty expensive from the online sources that I have seen.

I am going to read Sulwe

Michelle (RavenLily) wrote: "I am going to read Sulwe"

Me too.

I picked up Freedom Soup by Tami Charles at my local library today, which looks to be a great fit for this task.

I picked Last Stop On Market Street by Matt De La Peña. Also, any book that I think would fit ANY task for this year, that I borrow on Libby, I'm creating a Book Riot tag for. Feel free to search!

Ann wrote: "The Proudest Blue by the Olympic fencing medalist and social justice activist Ibtihaj Muhammad"

Good one! I'm going with it.

I'm going to read . I'm not terribly excited about reading a picture book, but this looks lovely and they have it at my library.

Came back to say that Dreamers was charming.

I read a lot of picture books because I find them delightful, and I wish more adults realised how much joy there can be in reading them just for yourself. I do imagine it's harder for parents of young children to appreciate sometimes since reading with the kids can eat up a lot of personal reading time.

This is definitely an area that deserves more attention. iirc picture books starring animals still outnumber picture books starring all marginalised racial groups combined.

I highly recommend books like Sulwe and Dreamers, which have been mentioned in this thread. Both are beautifully illustrated and beautifully written. Vashti Harrison (illustrator of Sulwe) has illustrated a number of picture books that are all breathtaking, and she often does the art for books starring POC children. Julie Flett is another incredible illustrator, and I highly recommend anything she has written or illustrated, most of which is starring Indigenous characters. Hena Khan has written some picture books that are largely about Muslim characters and are all lovely. An absolute ton of the picture books from Inhabit Media are starring Inuit characters, many of them by Inuit authors, largely focusing on life in the Arctic region or on Inuit storytelling (they are an Arctic-based and Inuit-owned publisher). Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is better known for her adult novels, but she has some picture books that are absolutely charming. I highly recommend checking out your local library for dual language books since it can lead to some culturally specific picture books (my local library has been the most helpful in this for finding Mexican and Mexican-American picture books and finding Indigenous picture books). I also read a couple of really fantastic ARCs in 2019, like When Spring Comes to the DMZ by Uk-Bae Lee and Mario and the Hole in the Sky: How a Chemist Saved Our Planet by Elizabeth Rusch. I also recommend checking out lists of recommended picture books for Black History Month.

I'm going to read one of the ones I have on hold at the library, whichever one gets to me first probably. The holds I have that would count are:

Under My Hijab by Hena Khan, illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel
Like the Moon Loves the Sky by Hena Khan, illustrated by Saffa Khan
It's time for bed by Ceporah Mearns & Jeremy Debicki, illustrated by Tim Mack
The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh by Supriya Kelkar, illustrated by Alea Marley
We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade
The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family by Ibtihaj Muhammad & S. K. Ali, illustrated by Hatem Aly
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frane Lessac

I plan to use The Snowy Day for this prompt.

I ended up reading Freedom Soup as I thought I might, and just wanted to let you all know that I found it wonderful -- story and illustrations both!

Hi everyone! Our rec post for this task is now available: https://bookriot.com/2020/01/06/read-...

My kids went to the library with my Mum and the youngest happened to choose Anna Hibiscus' Song. It's a gorgeous, joyous book about a mixed-race girl loving with her extended family in Africa (probably Nigeria, we've decided, based on how it looks and the fact that the author lived there while she was growing up). It is impossible not to smile while reading it.

I read It's time for bed which I thought was a super cute little bedtime story about a girl who doesn't want to go to bed because she's having fun with her imaginative fantasies.

Elizabeth wrote: "I read a lot of picture books because I find them delightful, and I wish more adults realised how much joy there can be in reading them just for yourself. I do imagine it's harder for parents of yo..."

Thanks for the nice list of picture books. I'm surprised by how many are using "graphic novel" for picture book.

Even though my personal challenge is to complete the task with 50% graphic novels, I wasn't planning on doing one for this. Here's my pick, I think... Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women since it features several women and girls from marginalized communities... and it meets my other goal of reading at least 50% in French!

I'm another one who likes reading picture books, and I read a lovely one for this. My Name Is Yoon by Helen Recorvits is about a little girl from Korea who immigrates to America and has trouble integrating at school due to language issues. It's warm and encouraging and the illustrations are beautiful.

I recently finished The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad, illustrated by Hatem Aly, and contributed by S.K. Ali for this prompt.

My daughter picked out “meet Viola Desmond” at her school book fair. We’ve read it several times now

Megan wrote: "I recently finished The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad, illustrated by Hatem Aly, and contributed by S.K. Ali for this prompt."

I read this one also. I love where the mom says "Don't carry around the hurtful words that others say. Drop them. They are not yours to keep." Seriously the best!

I'm very disappointed that my local library doesn't have any of the books mentioned :(
I'm looking to read either Sulwe, or Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment which is about a little girl who sees Michelle Obama's portrait and is in awe.

For this I read Lucy Loud and Clear, a Spanish/English book (Lucía: alto y claro in Spanish). The author is Laila Lavan.

I liked that the brother/sister relation is normal, and the book is about the girl figuring out how to get what she needs from her brother who is being obnoxious. The main character is deaf.

It isn't about her deafness, it is how she uses her brain.

I read Malala's Magic Pencil. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

I read Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist, a picture book biography. Eugenie Clark was half Japanese, born in the early 1900's, got a doctorate, pioneered scuba diving as a research tool and studied sharks and fish.

I desperately wanted to read Fearless Mary: The True Adventures of Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver but it doesn't seem to be out in the UK yet. So I've read Bilal Cooks Daal, about a little boy introducing his American friends to his favourite dish. It has a recipe at the back, which I'm planning to try tomorrow!

Bonnie G. wrote: "This was so fun to research. There are some great choices. I am between Hair Love, Islandborn and Thunder Boy Jr."

I just read Hair Love. good reading and beautiful pictures.

Judy wrote: "Bonnie G. wrote: "This was so fun to research. There are some great choices. I am between Hair Love, Islandborn and Thunder Boy Jr."

I just read Hai..."

I went with Thunder Boy, really just because it was available on Overdrive, and it was lovely too.

I asked my son & granddaughter for a recommendation. Very Last Time by Jan Andrews,Illustrator Ian Wallace. Beautiful book. I liked it.

Brooke wrote: "I read this one also. I love where the mom says "Don't carry around the hurtful words that others say. Drop them. They are not yours to keep." Seriously the best!..."

I read it also ( The Proudest Blue), and I saved this quote!!!! LOVE IT!

I also read Sulwe, which was absolutely stunning and I need to own an actual copy. And I also read Islandborn. One of my favorite prompts this year

I read the comic book anthology Love Is Love: A Comic Book Anthology to Benefit the Survivors of the Orlando Pulse Shooting. It was so sad but beautiful.

I read Fearless Mary by Tami Charles. Good story, good pictures, great history.

I read Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship which was about a girl who was a recent amputee pairing up with a service dog to learn to re-do things. I thought it was a cute story, art was nice.