Hello readers.

After spending too many days now absolutely sick with grief watching what is happening in Minneapolis and the horrific rhetoric from the administration surrounding it, I came to the conclusion that the last thing my brain and heart need is to be alone at a computer for longer than it takes me to write these few words.

I need time to bolster myself again.

Retreat, regroup, re-energize. Act.

School is a relief right now ~ a place where I don’t have time to think about the wider world, and am not allowed to talk about it emotionally, but can have an immediate impact on people who need me.

Can you see my joy about already having both the Caldecott and Newbery winners in my library already?! All the Blues in the Sky by Renee Watson is a heartwrenching middle school novel in verse ~ READ IT. And Fireworks by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Catia Chien is a gorgeous nostalgic, summery story ~ a sensory treat. I wasn’t able to be in Chicago for the announcement like I had planned to, but was able to listen while doing inventory on Monday.

There can be light during the dark, but we can’t ignore the dark.

You may feel powerless right now, but you’re not. That’s what they want you to think.

Speak up. Show up. Show care to those around you. Give what you can, how you can. Spread the word.

I’m choosing to spend my free time in community this week, attending some events that bring me closer to humans rather than a screen.

I hope you can find humans to commune with as well, and I hope to be back in your inbox next Tuesday.

Take care, rest up, and be safe.