From the creator of the beloved @PoetryIsNotaLuxury Instagram account,a gorgeously wrought poetry anthology that is a gift and a guide for readers through every season of life.

Inspired by writer and philosopher Audre Lorde’s famous claim: “Poetry is not a luxury,” this anthology proves the vitality of poetry as a crucial source of inspiration, comfort, and delight.

In a first section, “Summer,” you’ll find lush landscapes and love poems for weddings and anniversaries, alongside poems on travel, protest, and expressions of sheer joy and exhilaration. “Autumn” ushers in nostalgic poems about home and family and friendship, fall leaves, nesting and gratitude. You may turn to “Winter” should you require a poem for mourning, some lyrics for loneliness, or an ode to comfort. Rounding out a year’s worth of verse is “Spring,” in which you’ll discover celebratory poems, in the form of praise for rain and flowers, new beginnings, and all that the future might hold.

Each poem within has been chosen from centuries of verse from around the world, with an emphasis on living poets. Friends old and new await, with selections from Rita Dove, Victoria Chang, Ross Gay, Naomi Shihab Nye, C.D. Wright, Eileen Myles, Ada Limón,Ross Gay, Ilya Kaminsky, Jos Charles, and more.

From love poems to elegies, from the heights of new love to the furrows of anxiety, from special occasions to a morning pick-me-up, there is something here for longtime poetry lovers and novices, in any season of need.

An anxious aspiring filmmaker bands together with an unlikely friend group to protect their beloved state animal in this “stirring” (Booklist) contemporary middle grade novel perfect for fans of Jamie Sumner and Erin Entrada Kelly.

Twelve-year-old Olive Blackwood’s dream is to direct blockbuster fantasy movies, just like her dad wanted to before he died. She decides to apply to the highly competitive Rose City Summer Film Camp with the help of her best friend, Kayla. But Olive isn’t sure how she can cast the movie when the mere thought of talking to a stranger makes her nervous.

Then a surprise project in Olive’s film class presents her best chance at going to Rose City: the group who makes the best documentary trailer will receive a recommendation to the elite program! But Olive’s hopes are quickly dashed when she’s paired with the two worst students in class: loud Jo Willems has a flashy style of dressing just as intimidating as their outspoken opinions and David Moore is even quieter than Olive, fading into the background. It seems impossible for the three of them to find enough common ground to produce something noteworthy.

When Olive stumbles across an old lady chasing a beaver with a frying pan, she’s disturbed to discover it’s legal to kill beavers in Oregon—which has the animal on the state flag! Olive posts the video she took of the incident, and it goes viral. She wants to raise more awareness, and if she uses her documentary to do it, she could even get the coveted Rose City recommendation at the same time.

With the help of unexpected friendship, counseling, and a little everyday magic, can Olive make her voice be heard?

Lily invites her human friend, Willow, to join the fairy fashion show in this second Level 1 Ready-to-Read in the Fairies Welcome series from New York Times bestselling illustrator Bea Jackson.

Fairies love dressing up and creating clothes out of the lovely things they find in nature. Lily would like her human friend, Willow, to share in the fairy fashion fun. Can Lily and the other fairies create the perfect outfit for Willow to wear?

Through all moments of the day, both large and small, a boy prepares for a Day of the Dead celebration, in this picture book from Pura Belpré Honor–winning author-illustrator John Parra.

A single day in a boy’s life is filled with family, love, and inspiration as he prepares for the Día de Muertos celebration and remembers that all moments are special. Each moment reminds us of our family and those who have gone before us. Today holds a special promise, una promesa especial.

She Gets the Girl meets Bottoms in this fun and flirty young adult sapphic rom-com about two teens who want revenge on the flaky popular girl they’re both crushing on.

Cynical but sensitive Beau Carl is on a mission. She needs to know if ultra-popular Maia Moon—the girl she’s been secretly hooking up with for months—really has feelings for her. But when she shows up at the last big party of the year before prom, she sees Maia about to kiss someone else.

Sweet, inexperienced Charm Montgomery is the “someone else.” And she’s ecstatic that she’s been reading Maia’s flirty behavior in their tutoring sessions correctly. But when the kiss is interrupted and Maia accepts an elaborate promposal from her douchey, popular boyfriend just a few days later, both Charm and Beau end up heartbroken.

There’s only one thing for them to do—get her back. And the only way to do that is for Beau to tutor Charm on how she can get their former crush to fall for her so hard that Maia will dump her ex…and then get dumped for once.

As their plan starts working, Beau and Charm grow closer too, in a way neither expected. But are either of them ready to let go of their scheme to take a chance on something a little sweeter—and scarier—than revenge?

From the New York Times bestselling team behind Parker Looks Up comes a paperback boxed set of six exciting Level 1 Ready-to-Reads about Parker’s adventures.

Come along for six amazing adventures with Parker Curry as she takes trips, has a sleepover party, plants a garden with her grandmothers, and much more in this boxed set with a carry-along handle. Young readers can take these books along on their adventures!

This paperback boxed set contains:
Parker Dresses Up
Your Friend, Parker
Parker Grows a Garden
Parker’s Big Feelings
Parker’s Slumber Party
Parker’s Big Trip

Save the day with the first four original chapter books in the Marvel After-School Heroes series with black-and-white illustrations throughout—now available together in one paperback boxed set!

New York City has no shortage of villains putting young heroes to the test in these exciting stories. First, Miles Morales teams up with King T’Challa and his sister Shuri to save the Stark Center. Then, Gwen Stacy has to balance her responsibilities as a super hero and a student, and Princess Shuri uses her technological know-how to save her friends. Finally, Ghost-Spider teams up with an unlikely ally.

These chapter books are perfect for Marvel fans beginning to read on their own or for reading aloud!

This action-packed paperback boxed set includes:
Miles Morales Untangles a Web
Ghost-Spider’s Unbreakable Mission
Shuri Takes Control
Reptil & Ghost-Spider Join Forces!

© 2025 MARVEL.™

It’s Halloween in this companion to the beloved and bestselling classic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and there’s a spooky surprise in store for everyone’s favorite letters!

A told B,
and B told C,
“Let’s sneak to the top
of the creaky old tree.”

The classic alphabet chant gets a Halloween twist as the letters sneak their way up the tree, all donning their spiffiest costumes. But when a witch swoops in, and the letters come tumbling down, will that be the end of their Halloween fun…or just the beginning?

Ninth House meets Legendborn in this thrilling first book in a dark academia fantasy series about a teen who’s willing to do anything to find her brother—even infiltrate a secret society full of monsters.

When August’s brother disappears before his sophomore semester, everyone thinks the stress of college got to him. But August knows her brother would never have left her voluntarily, especially not after their mother so recently went missing.

The only clue he left behind was a note telling her to stay safe and protect their remaining family. And after August is attacked by a ten-foot-tall creature with fur and claws, she realizes that her brother might be in more danger than she could have imagined.

Unfortunately for her, the only person with a connection to the mysterious creature is the bookish Virgil Hawthorne…and he knows about them because he is one. If he doesn’t find a partner to help control his true nature, he’ll lose his humanity and become a mindless beast—exactly what the secret society he’s grown up in would love to put down.

Virgil makes a proposition: August will join his society and partner with him, and in return, he’ll help her find her brother. And so August is plunged into a deadly competition to win one of the few coveted candidate spots, all while trying to accept a frightening reality: that monsters are real, and she has to learn to master them if she’s to have any hope of saving her brother.

A lawyer and her elderly great-aunt use their supernatural gifts to find a lost child in this “wild, wondrous novel about the magic that is singing all around us” (Julia Phillips, author of Disappearing Earth)—in the vein of The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina and La Hacienda.

If you call to the witches, they will come.

1943, El Paso, Texas: teenager Nena spends her days caring for the small children of her older sisters and longing for a life of adventure. The premonitions and fainting spells she has endured since childhood are getting worse, and Nena worries she’ll end up like the scary old curandera down the street. Nena prays for help, and when the mysterious Sister Benedicta arrives late one night, Nena follows her across the borders of space and time. In colonial Mexico, Nena grows into her power, finding love and learning that magic always comes with a price.

In the present day, Nena’s grandniece, Marta, balances a struggling legal aid practice with motherhood and the care of the now ninety-three-year-old Nena. When Marta agrees to help search for a daughter Nena left in the past, the two forge a fierce connection. Marta’s own supernatural powers emerge, awakening her to new possibilities that threaten the life she has constructed.

“Sexy, smart, and soulful, Luis Jaramillo’s The Witches of El Paso pulls us across borders and time to get to the essence of what it means for families to survive this beautiful, fractured world” (Mira Jacob, author of Good Talk).

The riveting story of the McKissack family—the founders of the leading Black design and construction firm in the United States, from its beginnings in the mid-1800s to its thriving status today—in a moving celebration of resilience and innovation.

Captured in his native West Africa and enslaved on American shores by a North Carolina plantation owner, Moses McKissack I began to build his way to emancipation right from the start. Becoming an enslaved craftsman, he picked up the trade his family would become famous for in the earliest years of the 19th century, passing his learnings down to his children and seeing them off to freedom after the Civil War.

The family would settle in Tennessee, getting its bearings in the building trades despite rampant discrimination, establishing a foothold that now sees its latest generations working at the absolute peak of its industry.

The family’s fingerprints have been left all across the United States, spanning from Reconstruction to contemporary times, through projects like the Morris Memorial Building, Capers C.M.E. Church, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.

Here, Cheryl McKissack Daniel, CEO and president of McKissack & McKissack, reveals the full fascinating story of her family. So much more than an exploration of architectural achievements, The Black Family Who Built America is also a compelling illustration of how history rhymes and reverberates, and a celebration of the human spirit’s ability to overcome adversity and drive change. From Moses’s humble beginnings to Cheryl’s current role as a trailblazer and champion of diversity, the family’s journey underscores the importance of perseverance, innovation, and strategic vision in shaping a legacy that continues to inspire and impact the construction industry.

Four gay teens in Texas have the summer of their lives while discovering important truths about realness, belonging, and friendship in this “explosive prose debut for the gays and theys growing up outside of the box” (Booklist, starred review).

Mac has never really felt like he belonged. Definitely not at home—his dad’s politics and toxic masculinity make a real connection impossible. He thought he fit in on the baseball team, but that’s only because he was pretending to be someone he wasn’t. Finding his first gay friend, Cammy, was momentous; finally, he could be his authentic self around someone else. But as it turned out, not really. Cammy could be cruel, and his “advice” often came off way harsh.

And then, Mac meets Flor, who shows him that you can be both fierce and kind, and Mikey, who is superhot and might maybe think the same about him. Over the course of one hot, life-changing summer, Mac will stand face-to-face with desire, betrayal, and letting go of shame, which will lead to some huge discoveries about the realness of truly belonging.

Told in Mac’s infectious, joyful, gay AF voice, Hot Boy Summer serves a tale as important as hope itself: four gay teens doing what they can to connect and have the fiercest summer of their lives. New friendships will be forged, hot boys will be kissed…and girl, the toxic will be detoxed.

A captivating and sizzling new queer romance by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory.

Avery Jensen is almost thirty, fresh off a breakup, and she’s tired of always being so uptight and well-behaved. She wants to get a hobby, date around (especially women), flirt with everyone she sees, wear something not from the business casual section of her closet—all the fun stuff normal people do in their twenties. One problem: Avery doesn't know where to start. She doesn't have a lot of dating experience, with men or women, and despite being self-assured at work, she doesn't have a lot of confidence when it comes to romance.

Enter Taylor Cameron, Napa Valley's biggest flirt and champion heartbreaker. Taylor just broke up with her most recent girlfriend, and her best friend bet her that she can't make it until Labor Day without sleeping with someone. (Two whole months? Without sex? Taylor?!?!) So, she offers to give Avery flirting lessons. It should keep her busy and stop her from texting people she shouldn't. And it might take her mind off how inadequate she feels compared to her friends, who all seem much more settled and adult than Taylor.

At first, Avery is stiff and nervous, but Taylor is patient and encouraging, and soon, Avery looks forward to their weekly lessons. With Taylor’s help, Avery finally has the life she always wanted. The only issue is: now she wants Taylor. Their attraction becomes impossible to ignore, despite them both insisting to themselves and everyone else that it isn't serious. When Taylor is forced to confront her feelings for Avery, she doesn't know what to do—and most importantly, if she's already ruined the best thing she's ever had.

"Do You Take This Man has one of the steamiest, most addictive, most satisfyingly hard-earned happily-ever-after I’ve read in ages!"—Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of Love on the Brain

A wedding officiant who doesn't believe in love and an event planner who's been burned agree to say "I do" to being enemies with benefits.

Divorce attorney RJ would never describe herself as romantic. But when she ends up officiating an unplanned wedding for a newly engaged couple in a park, her life is turned upside down. The video of the ceremony goes viral, and she finds herself in the unlikely position of being a sought-after local wedding officiant. Spending her free time overseeing “I dos” isn’t her most strategic career move, but she enjoys it, except for the type A dude-bro wedding planner she’s forced to work with.
 
Former pro-football event manager Lear is a people person, but after his longtime girlfriend betrayed him, he isn’t looking for love. He knows how to execute events and likes being in control, so working with an opinionated and inflexible officiant who can’t stand him is not high on his list. He’s never had trouble winning people over, but RJ seems immune to his charms.
 
Surrounded by love at every turn, their physical attraction pulls them together despite their best efforts to stay an arm’s length apart. Lear refuses to get hurt again. RJ refuses to let herself be vulnerable to anyone. But when it comes to happily ever after, their clients might not be the only ones saying “I do.”

A lottery ticket + donuts = love in this steamy new fake dating romance from beloved author Denise Williams.

Sybil Sweet has always been lucky, but lately she can’t catch a break. After years of bouncing from job to job in search of something that feels right and from man to man in search of something special, Sybil is worried that she’s the directionless, floundering daughter her family thinks she is. All she really wants now is a little financial stability and carb comfort. Lucky for her, she’s got just enough in the bank to buy a lottery ticket, and the late-night donut store is open.

Kieran Anderson put his dreams of becoming a doctor on hold to take over running his family’s bakery, and after fighting a losing battle to save the place, he’s exhausted, broke, and no closer to getting back to school. But when a whirlwind of a woman sweeps in late one night, flirty energy gives way to more…until she runs out the next morning, leaving behind her winning lottery ticket.

Lucky for Kieran, his attempt to return the ticket looks like a grand romantic gesture and goes viral, sending sales through the roof. In an effort to keep the store afloat and to convince Sybil’s family she can make good relationship choices, they agree to fake a relationship for three months. Even with hundreds of millions of dollars, finding each other might end up being the sweetest bit of luck for both of them.

“The Joy Luck Club is one of my favorite books. From the moment I first started reading it, I knew it was going to be incredible. For me, it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime reading experiences that you cherish forever. It inspired me as a writer and still remains hugely inspirational.” —Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians

Part of the Penguin Orange Collection, a limited-run series of twelve influential and beloved American classics in a bold series design offering a modern take on the iconic Penguin paperback

Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books | 50 Covers competition
 
For the seventieth anniversary of Penguin Classics, the Penguin Orange Collection celebrates the heritage of Penguin’s iconic book design with twelve influential American literary classics representing the breadth and diversity of the Penguin Classics library. These collectible editions are dressed in the iconic orange and white tri-band cover design, first created in 1935, while french flaps, high-quality paper, and striking cover illustrations provide the cutting-edge design treatment that is the signature of Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions today.

The Joy Luck Club
 
In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan’s debut novel—now widely regarded as a modern classic—examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between these four women and their American-born daughters.

Solutions for tackling the deeply-rooted causes of burnout.

Radical Self-Care for Helpers, Healers, and Changemakers addresses the constant exposure to heartbreak and injustice that can take a toll on the mental and physical health of those in the helping professions. After more than twenty years as a social worker, author Nicole Steward shares her own challenges with burnout and offers practical solutions to tackle the deeply-rooted causes of overwhelm that helpers face, which include compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and moral injury. Steward’s solutions go beyond mere stress-reduction techniques; rather, she offers a framework for engaging in radical self-care.

Here readers will discover a way of being that prioritizes helpers and healers, so they can better serve others without sacrificing their own health and wellness. This book offers foundational strategies that challenge the current systems that contribute to the high rates of burnout and turnover in the human and social service professions. By taking radical care of themselves, helpers can take a more effective and resilient approach to their work, ultimately leading to liberation for both themselves and those they serve.

For the first time, Dawn Staley shares powerful and inspiring stories that have shaped her journey on and off the court.

A three-time Olympic gold medalist, six-time WNBA All-Star, and the first person to win the Naismith College Player of the Year award as both a player and coach, Staley has shattered expectations at every level of the game. While her name resonates with both longtime WNBA fans and newcomers, she has kept her personal life private.

Uncommon Favor reveals the journey that led to Staley’s success, including the challenges she faced. From dealing with sexism on the court to feeling isolated in new environments, Staley honed her skills and learned valuable life lessons about mental fortitude and maturity that have grounded her throughout her career. Beginning with her humble origins on the North Philadelphia basketball court and her rise to national fame at the University of Virginia—where she led her team to three Final Fours—Staley recounts the key moments that shaped her winning mindset.

Staley’s iconic career in the WNBA and her groundbreaking coaching journey at the University of South Carolina highlight the milestones and turning points that have defined her success, both on and off the court. Fearless and authentic, Uncommon Favor shares the rewards of leading with conviction and the courage to redefine the limits of what is possible.

In a failing city, a government program incentivizes couples to “conjoin”—surgically attach themselves to one another—promising a flourishing economy, ecological revitalization, and personal fulfillment. A student writing her dissertation on the program’s history begins to suffer from insomnia. As her world unravels and under the weight of expectations by both society and her close friends, she worries that maybe they are all right when they tell her it would be better—for the good of another person and for the good of the country—to sacrifice everything that she is and get conjoined. Mending Bodies blends body horror and political allegory to explore a world where even the motives of those you love most are shaped by larger forces.

She knows the taste of death. He’ll stoke her hunger for it.
Eighteen-year-old Sarai doesn’t know why someone tried to kill her four years ago, but she does know that her case was closed without justice. Hellbent on vengeance, she returns to the scene of the crime as a Petitor, a prosecutor who can magically detect lies, and is assigned to work with Tetrarch Kadra. Ice-cold and perennially sadistic, Kadra is the most vicious of the four judges who rule the land—and the prime suspect in a string of deaths identical to Sarai’s attempted murder.
 
Certain of his guilt, Sarai begins a double life: solving cases with Kadra by day and plotting his ruin by night. But Kadra is charming and there’s something alluring about the wrath he wields against the city’s corruption. So when the evidence she finds embroils her in a deadly political battle, Sarai must also fight against her attraction to Kadra—because despite his growing hold on her heart, his voice matches the only memory she has of her assailant…
 
A dazzling Ancient Rome-inspired romantasy debut, This Monster of Mine is a bloodbath of manipulation, deception, and forbidden love.

An ordinary boy must find his inner hero in this hilarious, action-packed debut middle-grade graphic novel filled with jokes, friendship, incompetent villains, and lots of heart. 

Orin’s life is uprooted when he discovers that he is the reincarnation of a great hero, destined to defeat the evil Fiendlord. And he just may have a shot because, in the years since he conquered the world, the Fiendlord has become lazy and complacent. He sees Orin’s appearance as motivation to finally get back in shape and relive his glory years, and hopefully regain the respect of his unimpressed teenage daughter. In need of a mystical sword if he’s to stand a chance against the Fiendlord, Orin teams up with a precocious, entrepreneurial sorceress who's ready to launch Orin’s career as the Champion of Draeland—which would be much easier if he didn’t keep befriending the Fiends they’re supposed to destroy.

Perfect for fans of comic books for kids ages 9-12 and other middle grade books who love their fantasy with a side of humor, Sword of the Champion offers a fresh take on the chosen one narrative that will keep young readers giggling and guessing until the very end. Readers who enjoy kids graphic novels or fantasy books for kids that blend laughter and adventure will crack up as Orin navigates his unexpected destiny as a legendary hero in a world where the greatest challenge isn't finding the magical sword—it's dealing with a villain having a mid-life crisis.

A groundbreaking, yet controversial novel of the Harlem Renaissance about a young, dark-skinned Black woman reckoning with colourism as she navigates 1920s Harlem, reissued and repackaged for the Herald Classics line.

Emma Lou Morgan's dark complexion is a source of sorrow and humiliation not only to herself, but also to her lighter-skinned family members and the white community of her hometown, Boise, Idaho. Hoping to find a safe haven, Emma travels to New York's Harlem, the Black Mecca of the 1920s. Wallace Thurman brings to life this legendary time and place in rich detail, describing Emma's visits to nightclubs, dance halls, and house-rent parties, her sex life and catastrophic love affairs, her dreams and her disillusions and the momentous decision she makes to survive.

A lost classic of Black American literature, The Blacker the Berry is a compelling portrait of the destructive depth of intra-racial bias in the Black community.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The award-winning author of We Should All Be Feminists and Americanah gives us this powerful statement about feminism today—written as a letter to a friend.

A few years ago, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received a letter from a childhood friend, a new mother who wanted to know how to raise her baby girl to be a feminist. Dear Ijeawele is Adichie’s letter of response: fifteen invaluable suggestions—direct, wryly funny, and perceptive—for how to empower a daughter to become a strong, independent woman. Filled with compassionate guidance and advice, it gets right to the heart of sexual politics in the twenty-first century, and starts a new and urgently needed conversation about what it really means to be a woman today.

A Skimm Reads Pick ● An NPR Best Book of the Year

Make music with this hands-on introduction to the four instrument families: drums, horns, strings, and voice in this new board book series by a world-renown music educator.

What do a trumpet, a tuba, and a conch shell have in common? They are all horns! This first introduction to instruments in the horn family begins with a simple explanation of what defines a horn. Young readers are then invited on a global exploration of a variety of brass and wind instruments and are encouraged to find horns of their own in the world around them.
 
Each title in the THIS IS MUSIC series features an interactive novelty musical element that invites the reader to "play" the book!

Make music with this hands-on introduction to the four instrument families – drums, horns, strings, and voice – in this board book series by a world-renowned music educator.

What do a choir, a rapper, and a yodeler all have in common? They all use voice to make music! This first introduction begins with a simple explanation of what defines a musical voice. Young readers are then invited on a global exploration of a variety of different vocal musicians, and then encouraged to use their voice in the world around them. Complete with a mirror for observing their own mouths!

Make music with this hands-on introduction to the four instrument families: drums, horns, strings, and voice in this new board book series by a world-renown music educator.

What do a set of bongos, a tambourine, and a cooking pot have in common? They are all drums! This first introduction to instruments in the drum family begins with a simple explanation of what defines a drum. Young readers are then invited on a global exploration of a variety of percussive instruments and are encouraged to find drums of their own in the world around them.
 
Each title in the THIS IS MUSIC series features an interactive novelty musical element that invites the reader to "play" the book!

This exploration of Black dandy fashion and its representation in art and literature highlights the vibrant, complicated legacy of a recognizable yet constantly shifting style, from its origins in Enlightenment Europe to the contemporary art and fashion worlds
 
Superfine: Tailoring Black Style traces the complex and vibrant legacy of menswear across three centuries of Black culture—from today’s hip-hop aesthetic and popular street trends, through its use during the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights movement as a symbol of creative and political agency, to its surprising origins as an imposed uniform for servants and enslaved people. Organized by key characteristics of dandyism that resonate across time, including presence, distinction, disguise, and respectability, this fresh interpretation of a centuries-old aesthetic draws on prominent Black voices in fashion, literature, and art—among them, Dandy Wellington, Amy Sherald, Iké Udé, and André 3000. Self-described dandies and high-fashion models feature in a stunning photo essay by artist Tyler Mitchell, who also contributes evocative new photography of garments by contemporary designers such as Virgil Abloh, Pharrell Williams, and Grace Wales Bonner. These works are shown alongside historical attire worn by Black luminaries including Frederick Douglass, Alexandre Dumas père, Muhammad Ali, and André Leon Talley. Scholar Monica L. Miller contextualizes these objects in her text and shows how the evolution of dandy style inspired new visions of Black masculinity that use the power of clothing and dress as a means of self-expression.
 
Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press
 
Exhibition Schedule:
 
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
(May 10–October 26, 2025)

Catalogue design by Pacific (Elizabeth Karp-Evans and Adam Turnbull)

The bestselling and award-winning author of The Skin I'm In and The Life I'm In returns with a novel that explores the complex relationships between Black boys and their fathers, and what it truly means to be a man.

Sharon G. Flake’s groundbreaking novel The Skin I’m In ushered in a new voice that lit up the literary landscape and became a modern classic, passed down through generations. The Life I’m In, its sequel, furthered the power of unmistakable voices, opening the hearts and minds of teens everywhere. Now The Family I’m In presents John-John and Caleb, friends since childhood who have come face-to-face with the struggles and triumphs of growing into young men. They’re living in a world where many Black boys are up against generational expectations, fears of the future, and how to navigate being “nice” kids who just want to be seen for who they are. Together, Caleb and John-John work through family illness, divorced parents, teachers who ask hard questions, and girls who think they have all the answers.

The powerful and long-anticipated companion to The Skin I'm In, Sharon Flake's bestselling modern classic, presents the unflinching story of Char, a young woman trapped in the underworld of human trafficking.

My feet are heavy as stones when I walk up the block wondering why I can't find my old self.

In The Skin I'm In, readers saw into the life of Maleeka Madison, a teen who suffered from the ridicule she received because of her dark skin color. For decades fans have wanted to know the fate of the bully who made Maleeka's life miserable, Char.Now in Sharon Flake's latest and unflinching novel, The Life I'm In, we follow Charlese Jones, who, with her raw, blistering voice speaks the truths many girls face, offering insight to some of the causes and conditions that make a bully. Turned out of the only home she has known, Char boards a bus to nowhere where she is lured into the dangerous web of human trafficking. Much is revealed behind the complex system of men who take advantage of vulnerable teens in the underbelly of society. While Char might be frightened, she remains strong and determined to bring herself and her fellow victims out of the dark and back into the light, reminding us why compassion is a powerful cure to the ills of the world.Sharon Flake's bestselling, Coretta Scott King Award-winning novel The Skin I'm In was a game changer when it was first published more than twenty years ago. It redefined young adult literature by presenting characters, voices, and real-world experiences that had not been fully seen. Now Flake offers readers another timely and radical story of a girl on the brink and how her choices will lead her to either fall, or fly.

The Okay Witch meets Hooky in this utterly charming and timeless middle grade graphic novel about a young witch who struggles to fit in!

In her town full of witches, Jazzy’s always been a little bit different. She’s not excited about magic. She forgets the steps to spells. And even though her parents run the town’s broom shop, she doesn’t want to fly.

Then, one day, she discovers what she was born to do: cycling! Now she just has to find a way to get a bicycle…and learn how to ride it. But will her new passion come between her and her best friend—and possibly get her in big trouble?

A young girl contemplates the passing of time and changing of seasons as she looks out on the world from her favorite chair in this heartwarming picture book by award-winning poet and New York Times bestselling author Rio Cortez.

In the morning, a young child opens her eyes, and, after one biiiiig streeeeetch, heads straight for her favorite place in the house: the blue velvet chair. Perched from the chair set by the living room window, the child daydreams about each season of the year and the changes that come with them. A now-snowy roof was once pelted by the slick rain of spring showers. Icy windows will once again transform into conveyors of sunshine and warmth against her skin.

And just as the seasons change, the child will continue to change too. But one thing will always remain the same: the coziness of the blue velvet chair.

From the forest to the pharmacy, the bush to the medicine bottle, explore how plants and traditional practices from the Caribbean have traveled around the world to help heal people of all cultures.

For millennia, people have utilized plants as foods, medicines, hallucinogens, clothing, shelter, perfumes, dyes, and even poisons. In the Caribbean, medicinal and practical use of plants began with its first inhabitants, the Amerindians. New plants and knowledge were introduced through both triangular trade with Asia, Africa, and Europe and the enslavement of Africans and Indians from Southeast Asia, culminating in the modern-day system of Caribbean herbalism.

Caribbean Herbalism tells the rich and complex stories of Caribbean people and the plants that have sustained them. Inside you’ll find:

* A practical guide to a meaningful selection of herbs and their traditional uses
* Botanical field notes and drawings that tell the stories of the Indigenous, African, East Indian, and European plants that inhabit the region
* Culturally important traditions, remedies, and recipes
* Interviews with Caribbean people
* And so much more

This book offers practical tools you need to build a relationship with plants and make common Caribbean herbal remedies like bush teas, bush baths, herbal wines, infused alcohols and oils, and more!