I'm a Wild Seed

I'm a Wild Seed
Author: Sharon Lee De La Cruz
Publisher:
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2021-01-12
Genre: Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN: 9781951491055

Lively autobiographical comics take us through an exploration of queerness and what it means to a woman of color.

Wild Seed

Wild Seed
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2023-03-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1538765446

In an "epic, game-changing, moving and brilliant" story of love and hate, two immortals chase each other across continents and centuries, binding their fates together -- and changing the destiny of the human race (Viola Davis). Doro knows no higher authority than himself. An ancient spirit with boundless powers, he possesses humans, killing without remorse as he jumps from body to body to sustain his own life. With a lonely eternity ahead of him, Doro breeds supernaturally gifted humans into empires that obey his every desire. He fears no one -- until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu is an entity like Doro and yet different. She can heal with a bite and transform her own body, mending injuries and reversing aging. She uses her powers to cure her neighbors and birth entire tribes, surrounding herself with kindred who both fear and respect her. No one poses a true threat to Anyanwu -- until she meets Doro. The moment Doro meets Anyanwu, he covets her; and from the villages of 17th-century Nigeria to 19th-century United States, their courtship becomes a power struggle that echoes through generations, irrevocably changing what it means to be human.

The Seed Keeper

The Seed Keeper
Author: Diane Wilson
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2021-03-09
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1571317325

A haunting novel spanning several generations, The Seed Keeper follows a Dakhóta family’s struggle to preserve their way of life, and their sacrifices to protect what matters most. Rosalie Iron Wing has grown up in the woods with her father, Ray, a former science teacher who tells her stories of plants, of the stars, of the origins of the Dakhóta people. Until, one morning, Ray doesn’t return from checking his traps. Told she has no family, Rosalie is sent to live with a foster family in nearby Mankato—where the reserved, bookish teenager meets rebellious Gaby Makespeace, in a friendship that transcends the damaged legacies they’ve inherited. On a winter’s day many years later, Rosalie returns to her childhood home. A widow and mother, she has spent the previous two decades on her white husband’s farm, finding solace in her garden even as the farm is threatened first by drought and then by a predatory chemical company. Now, grieving, Rosalie begins to confront the past, on a search for family, identity, and a community where she can finally belong. In the process, she learns what it means to be descended from women with souls of iron—women who have protected their families, their traditions, and a precious cache of seeds through generations of hardship and loss, through war and the insidious trauma of boarding schools. Weaving together the voices of four indelible women, The Seed Keeper is a beautifully told story of reawakening, of remembering our original relationship to the seeds and, through them, to our ancestors.

Fledgling

Fledgling
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2011-01-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1583228047

Fledgling, Octavia Butler’s last novel, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly un-human needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: she is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted—and still wants—to destroy her and those she cares for, and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.

Wildseed Witch (Book 1)

Wildseed Witch (Book 1)
Author: Marti Dumas
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2022-05-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1647003695

A fun middle-grade contemporary fantasy with an all-BIPOC cast, about a social-media-loving tween who gets sent to an ultra-private witch camp Hasani’s post-seventh-grade summer to-do list is pretty simple: get a bigger following for her makeup YouTube channel and figure out how to get her parents back together. What she does NOT expect is that an emotional outburst will spark a latent magical ability in her. Or that the magic will be strong enough to attract the attention of witches. Or that before she can say #BlackGirlMagic, she’ll be shipped off on a scholarship to a fancy finishing school for talented young ladies. Les Belles Demoiselles is a literal charm school. Here, generations of young ladies from old-money witch families have learned to harness their magic, and alumnae grow to become some of the most powerful women across industries, including politicians, philanthropists, CEOs, entrepreneurs—and yes, even social media influencers. Needless to say, admission to the school is highly coveted, very exclusive . . . and Hasani sticks out like a weed in a rose bouquet. While the other girls have always known they were destined to be witches, Hasani is a Wildseed––a stray witch from a family of non-witches, with no background knowledge, no way to control her magic, and a lot to catch up on. "Wildseed" may be an insult that the other girls throw at her, but Wildseeds are more powerful than they know. And Hasani will learn that there are ways to use magic and thrive that can never be taught in a classroom.

If You Hold a Seed

If You Hold a Seed
Author:
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2013-02-05
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0762447214

A young boy plants a seed that, with water, sunlight, care, and patience, grows into a strong, tall tree.

Wild Magic

Wild Magic
Author: Cat Weatherill
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2010-09-05
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0802722555

When the Pied Piper enchanted the children of Hamelin and led them away, Mari and her brother, Jakob, followed his song. Now they are trapped in a beautiful but cruel world inhabited by a horrid Beast. Finding a way to escape will require some wild magic, in this powerful story of a family torn apart by tragedy, and the magical adventure that heals them.

Clay's Ark

Clay's Ark
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2023-03-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1538765454

A powerful story of survival in unprecedented times, from the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower. In an alternate America marked by volatile class warfare, Blake Maslin is traveling with his teenage twin daughters when their car is ambushed. Their attackers appear sickly yet possess inhuman strength, and they transport Blake's family to an isolated compound. There, the three captives discover that the compound's residents have a highly contagious alien disease that has mutated their DNA to make them powerful, dangerous, and compelled to infect others. If Blake and his daughters do not escape, they will be infected with a virus that will either kill them outright or transform them into outcasts whose very existence is a threat to the world around them. In the following hours, Blake and his daughters each must make a vital choice: risk everything to escape and warn the rest of the world, or accept their new reality -- as well as the uncertain fate of the human race.

The Watermelon Seed

The Watermelon Seed
Author: Greg Pizzoli
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2014-09-09
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 148471749X

Greg Pizzoli's beloved Geisel Award-winning gem playfully taps kids' classic question about what could happen if they swallow a seed. Crocodile loves watermelon, but what will happen when his greatest fear of swallowing a watermelon seed comes to pass? Will vines sprout out his ears? Will his skin turn pink? Only one thing is certain: his wild imagination will have kids laughing out loud and begging for another read. With perfect comic pacing, bold color and dynamic sense of design, three-time Theodor Seuss Geisel Award recipient Greg Pizzoli's picture book debut transforms this familiar childhood anxiety into a contemporary classic read-aloud perfect for fans of I Want My Hat Back. "[A]n expert debut." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Children will love this hilarious book. The story has broad appeal, making it a great first purchase." -- School Library Journal (starred review) Don't miss these other favorite books by Greg Pizzol: The Book HogGood Night OwlNumber One SamTempleton Gets His WishThis Story is For YouThe Twelve Days of Christmas

Criss Cross

Criss Cross
Author: Lynne Rae Perkins
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2010-11-16
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0062062905

Winner of the Newbery Medal • New York Times Bestseller • An ALA Notable Book • An ALA Best Book for Young Adults • School Library Journal Best Book • Booklist Editors’ Choice • Kirkus Reviews Editors’ Choice • Horn Book Fanfare Book • New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age In this acclaimed, award-winning, and timeless national bestseller, Newbery Medalist Lynne Rae Perkins explores the crisscrossing lives of four teenagers on the verge of adulthood. The unique format incorporates short vignettes, haiku, Q&As, and illustrations by the author. Written with love and humor, Criss Cross is an unforgettable story of friendship, family, and growing up. “It’s hard to write a book this good. Lynne Rae Perkins makes it seem easy.”—Kevin Henkes, New York Times–bestselling author of the Newbery Honor Books Olive’s Ocean and The Year of Billy Miller “Brilliantly captures the adolescent-level Zen that thoughtful kids bring to their assessment of the world.”—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review) “Best of all are the understated moments, often private and piercing in their authenticity, that capture intelligent, likable teens searching for signs of who they are, and who they’ll become.”—ALA Booklist (starred review) “Written with humor and modest bits of philosophy, the writing sparkles with inventive, often dazzling metaphors.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Like a lazy summer day, the novel induces that exhilarating feeling that one has all the time in the world.”—The Horn Book (starred review) “A gentle story about a group of childhood friends facing the crossroads of life and how they wish to live it. Young teens will certainly relate.”—School Library Journal (starred review)