WE MISS YOU, GEORGE FLOYD event at Wild Rumpus Books with Shannon Gibney
February 8 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am CST
Shannon Gibney will join Wild Rumpus Books on Saturday, February 8, for a reading and discussion of her new book We Miss You, George Floyd, at 10:30 a.m. CST.
This event is free and open to the public.
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.
“As the illustrations signal the broader national context […] our narrator channels her grief into art, first to pay homage to those who have been killed by police, and then to imagine a better future. Readers witness the journey of a child learning to navigate her own sadness and be part of a community while just beginning to see and understand a bigger picture. This honest and stunningly accessible perspective on a pivotal moment in recent American history will speak directly to children in a wide range of ages while also resonating with adults.” —Booklist
“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
“Gibney writes in simple, straightforward, and age-appropriate language[…] The illustrations, dominated by hues of purple, capture the cacophony of emotions that emerged in the aftermath of Floyd’s death. […] Heavy yet cathartic. We will not forget.” —Kirkus Reviews
