Windows & Mirrors: The Astonishing Color of After

Welcome to Windows & Mirrors, where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences.   Today we’re featuring The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan. When fifteen-year-old Leigh’s Taiwanese mother commits suicide, she is visited by a great red bird who delivers a package to her from her mother with a … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: The Astonishing Color of After

Windows & Mirrors: Betty Before X

Welcome to Windows & Mirrors where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences.     Today we’re celebrating Betty Before X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson! Ilyasah Shabazz is the daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz. She’s the author of several books about her revolutionary family, including the critically-acclaimed adult memoir … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: Betty Before X

Introducing Windows & Mirrors

The phrase “windows and mirrors” has become a catch-phrase of the movement for more inclusivity in children’s literature. Borrowed from a scholarly paper written more than twenty-five years ago by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, the words remind us why children need to see themselves, and others who are not like them, in books: Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real … Continue reading Introducing Windows & Mirrors