PUBLISH WEEKLY March 2024
Your Crown Shines: For Ketanji Brown Jackson and You
jessica Care moore, illus. by Dare Coulter. Amistad, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-331139-8
Moore makes her picture book debut with an affirming poem inspired by the 2022 appointment of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (b. 1970). Interleaving biographical beats from Brown Jackson’s life with broader experiential descriptions, rousing free verse explores the way an unnamed Black girl “speaks her dreams into existence” when told she’s “not fit.” Subsequent lines invoke other Black women figures who might have been similarly dismissed (“Someone probably told Harriet Tubman/ that she was not fit enough to make it/ to freedom”). Like them, the text suggests, Brown Jackson has proved her detractors wrong: “here she stands, necessary justice.” Collage-style mixed-media illustrations from Coulter (Zora, the Story Keeper) layer text and portraiture with images of crowns and stars—one image wreathes a Black Lady Justice in golden splendor, and another sees a young Brown Jackson raised up by others, “smiling as beautifully as Ida B. Wells in the face of obstacles.” Acknowledging those that have paved the way for others, it’s an extended, blessing-like tribute that emphasizes, “Your crown shines.” Ages 6–10. Author’s agent: Regina Brooks, Serendipity Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Aevitas Creative Management. (June)
