Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut (Denene Millner Books)

Winner of the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Younger Readers
A Newbery Honor Book
A Caldecott Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Writer Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
An Ezra Jack Keats New Author Award Book
An Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor Book
A Society of Illustrators Gold Medal Book

Named one of the most perfect books of 2017 by means of NPR, the Huffington Post, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Horn Guide Magazine, the News & Observer, BookPage, Chicago Public Library, and more

The barbershop is the place the magic occurs. Boys cross in as lumps of clay and, with princely gowns draped round their shoulders, a dab of cool shaving cream on their foreheads, and a gradual, stable minimize, they develop into royalty. That crisp but delicate line makes boys sharper, extra visual, extra acutely aware of each good thing that would occur to them once they glance just right: lesser grades develop into As; women take realize; even a mom’s hug will get a little bit tighter. Everybody notices.

A Contemporary minimize makes boys fly.

This rhythmic, learn-aloud identify is an unbridled birthday celebration of the conceit, trust, and swagger boys really feel once they depart the barber’s chair—a convention that puts on their heads a figurative crown, beaming with jewels, that confirms their brilliance and price and is helping them no longer best love and settle for themselves but additionally take a massive step towards worrying how they provide themselves to the arena. The Contemporary cuts. That’s the place all of it starts.

Crown: An Ode to the Contemporary Cut is a prime-lively, enticing salute to the gorgeous, uncooked, confident humanity of black boys and the way they see themselves once they approve in their reflections within the reflect.