by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell
Charlesbridge Publishing
9/5/2023, hardcover
SKU: 9781623543808
What if a school's mascot is seen as racist, but not by everyone? In this compelling middle-grade novel in verse, two best-selling BIPOC authors tackle this hot-button issue.
A perfect book for future changemakers and activists seeking contemporary stories about systematic racism and empowering kids ages 10+ to fight for justice in their communities.
In Rye, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, people work hard, kids go to school, and football is big on Friday nights. An 8th grade English teacher creates an assignment for her class to debate whether Rye's mascot should stay or change.
Now six middle schoolers--all with different backgrounds and beliefs--get involved in the contentious issue that already has the suburb turned upside down with everyone choosing sides and arguments getting ugly.
Told from several perspectives, readers see how each student comes to new understandings about identity, tradition, and what it means to stand up for real change.
An empowering middle-grade novel, Mascot is sure to inspire readers and start conversations in classrooms and communities across the country.
Target age: 10 and up
Reviews:
"Told via seven alternating narratives, this ripped-from-the-headlines collaboration in verse by Waters and Cherokee Nation member Sorrel follows a fictional town's division over a racist sports mascot....Waters and Sorrel paint a complex portrait of the differing reactions toward the controversy by layering the racially diverse tweens' perspectives and showcasing the effects the event has on their individual relationships and the community beyond their school." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Mascot by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell is a novel in verse set in a contemporary urban middle school that is grappling with the question of whether their Native American school mascot is racist or not. Presented through multiple points of view, many arguments are presented both for and against, sometimes from surprising sources. Questions are raised about representation, class issues, income disparity, and privilege by engaging and believable characters who are white, Black, Native, Latino, and Indian. In the end, not everyone comes to see the need to change the school mascot--a realistic conclusion--but the poets show young people standing up for change while also weaving in practical steps and resources for doing so throughout the narrative." -- Cybils Award, finalist review
About the Authors:
Charles Waters is a children's poet, actor, educator, and coauthor of African Town; Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z; and the award-winning Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes and Friendship. He lives near Atlanta.
Traci Sorell, best-selling author and Cherokee Nation citizen, writes inclusive, award-winning fiction and nonfiction in a variety of formats for young people. She is a two-time Sibert Medal and Orbis Pictus honoree for her nonfiction work. Her first five books have received awards from the American Indian Library Association.