We Miss You, George Floyd

2024
•
Author:

Shannon Gibney
Illustrations by Leeya Rose Jackson

A young Black girl in Minneapolis grapples with the death of George Floyd

For children working through George Floyd’s murder and the police violence plaguing our country, and for the grown-ups trying to help them, this book is an invitation to open difficult conversations. With striking illustrations reflecting Floyd’s world and a child’s perspective, Shannon Gibney’s clear-eyed account offers healing and inspiration for the strength and solidarity we need to build a more peaceful and just future.

In We Miss You, George Floyd, Shannon Gibney and Leeya Rose Jackson engage the topic of police brutality in a clear, accessible, and ultimately hopeful way. It is a heartening call for young readers to speak up and stay involved in the ongoing fight for justice and a moving cry for society to actively do and be better for the sake of our kids.

—

Tameka Fryer Brown, award-winning author of That Flag and Not Done Yet: Shirley Chisholm's Fight for Change

In this candid and powerful book, a young girl hears about an unfolding tragedy in her neighborhood. It’s on the news, on the radio, and talked about in her community, and she learns of the murder of George Floyd—and about who he was. As she tries to reckon with the senseless violence of his killing, she finds solace at George Floyd Square. The space is filled with the art of protest and resistance, and she is moved to create her own signs and drawings, lifting her voice to harmonize with the outpouring: “We miss you, George Floyd.”

For children working through George Floyd’s murder and the police violence plaguing our country, and for the grown-ups trying to help them, this book is an invitation to open up difficult conversations. With striking illustrations reflecting Floyd’s world and a child’s perspective, Shannon Gibney’s clear-eyed account offers healing and inspiration for the strength and solidarity we need to build a more peaceful and just future.

Shannon Gibney is a writer, educator, and activist. She is author of several books, including The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption, which received a Michael L. Printz Honor; See No Color and Dream Country, both winners of the Minnesota Book Award for Young Adult Literature; and Sam and the Incredible African and American Food Fight, a children’s picture book about a cross-cultural family also published by the University of Minnesota Press. A Bush Artist and McKnight Writing Fellow, Gibney teaches at Minneapolis College, where she was named Educator of the Year in 2023. She lives with her two children in Minneapolis.

Leeya Rose Jackson is an illustrator, fine artist, art director, writer, and designer based in Minneapolis. She runs the illustration shop Leeya Makes Noise and is the creative founder of Noisemakers Design.

In We Miss You, George Floyd, Shannon Gibney and Leeya Rose Jackson engage the topic of police brutality in a clear, accessible, and ultimately hopeful way. It is a heartening call for young readers to speak up and stay involved in the ongoing fight for justice and a moving cry for society to actively do and be better for the sake of our kids.

—

Tameka Fryer Brown, award-winning author of That Flag and Not Done Yet: Shirley Chisholm's Fight for Change