The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

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The Heartbeat Library by Laura Imai Messina

“Preserving our memory….because people come back to life only in the memory of others.” The Heartbeat Library is about those we have lost but remember with grief and healing and good memories. It is a book that will never be forgotten but remembered as all readers live their lives with hopes and dreams and pain and grief and loves and sorrows. This book will touch the soul of all who turn its pages. Shuichi, a 40-year-old illustrator, returns to his hometown to ready the house of his recently deceased mother for sale. He meets Kenta, an 8-year-old boy who wanders his mother’s house like a shadow. The two help each other through difficult days of their lives. Hearing the heartbeat of his mother and deceased son, Shingo will forever impress these beats on all readers and have all thinking about happiness and memories and loss and hopes.

The Heartbeat Library by Laura Imai Messina, (List Price: $27, The Overlook Press, 9781419772498, October 2024)

Reviewed by Nancy Pierce, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia

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When Black Girls Dream Big by Tanisia Moore

We are standing on the shoulders of giants. In the same vein as her glorious I Am My Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams, Tanisia Moore has mixed powerful affirmations with the strength of examples of those who have gone before. Robert Paul has put these children right alongside, holding the hands of, carrying on the work of our mentors and role models. This is a book that makes you feel stronger just by reading it.

When Black Girls Dream Big by Tanisia Moore, (List Price: $19.99, Scholastic Press, 9781338776201, October 2024)

Reviewed by Lisa Yee Swope, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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