A lyrical picture book from the award-winning author of Heavy, about three Black boys who form a deep connection during a transformative summer trip down South to visit family.
On the ground of that garden, covered in vegetables and dirt, coated in laughter, I want to say that the Mississippi and New York in our Black boy bodies were indistinguishable. Three Black boys spend one special summer exploring the Mississippi woods and woulds and coulds of sharing the kind of freeing friendship that is love.
Watched over and given space to discover by Grandmama and Mama Lara, New York, Country, and little C find camaraderie in their contrasts and all the unspoken things between them while playing games of marco polo in the thick garden and sledding on cardboard by the underpass.
With text brimming with love by award-winning author Kiese Laymon and deeply evocative illustrations by Ashley Franklin, City Summer, Country Summer illuminates the tenuous and tender bonds of friendship Black boys forge with one another.
Praise for City Summer, Country Summer by Kiese Laymon; illustrated by Alexis Franklin:
★ “A heartfelt, elegantly wrought, and triumphant tribute to Black boy kinship. On the sunny porches of their grandmothers’ neighboring houses and in the cool shadows of the surrounding woods, hesitation becomes tenderness, anxiety becomes laughter, and difference becomes safeness. Franklin’s digital paintings set realistic depictions of Black boys within the hazy fantasy of summer, emphasizing evocative facial expressions and using spreads filled with natural, liminal spaces to insulate their growing bond.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
A lyrical picture book from the award-winning author of Heavy, about three Black boys who form a deep connection during a transformative summer trip down South to visit family.
On the ground of that garden, covered in vegetables and dirt, coated in laughter, I want to say that the Mississippi and New York in our Black boy bodies were indistinguishable. Three Black boys spend one special summer exploring the Mississippi woods and woulds and coulds of sharing the kind of freeing friendship that is love.
Watched over and given space to discover by Grandmama and Mama Lara, New York, Country, and little C find camaraderie in their contrasts and all the unspoken things between them while playing games of marco polo in the thick garden and sledding on cardboard by the underpass.
With text brimming with love by award-winning author Kiese Laymon and deeply evocative illustrations by Ashley Franklin, City Summer, Country Summer illuminates the tenuous and tender bonds of friendship Black boys forge with one another.
Photos
Praise
Praise for City Summer, Country Summer by Kiese Laymon; illustrated by Alexis Franklin:
★ “A heartfelt, elegantly wrought, and triumphant tribute to Black boy kinship. On the sunny porches of their grandmothers’ neighboring houses and in the cool shadows of the surrounding woods, hesitation becomes tenderness, anxiety becomes laughter, and difference becomes safeness. Franklin’s digital paintings set realistic depictions of Black boys within the hazy fantasy of summer, emphasizing evocative facial expressions and using spreads filled with natural, liminal spaces to insulate their growing bond.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
