Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman

 Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman-228 pages

Gorman's first published collection of poems doesn't disappoint. "The Hill We Climb," which was the inaugural poem she recited, was really good and was published alone previously. It is also included in the collection. The major themes of this collection are African-American experience, the Covid-19 Pandemic, and war. These poems are thought-provoking and inspiring. Gorman is a talented poet. Many of the poems on Covid-19 and war really resonated. I would recommend this to anyone who liked her inaugural poem. If you haven't read that poem or if you haven't even heard of Amanda Gorman, then I would recommend you read this collection, also. 

The Last Children of Mill Creek by Vivian Gibson

 The Last Children of Mill Creek by Vivian Gibson - 144 pages

Vivian Gibson grew up in Mill Creek Valley, a segregated working-class neighborhood of St. Louis that was razed in 1959 to build a highway, an act of racism disguised under urban renewal as “progress.” A moving memoir of family life at a time very different from the present, The Last Children of Mill Creek chronicles the everyday lived experiences of Gibson’s large family―her seven siblings, her crafty, college-educated mother, and her hard-working father―and the friends, shop owners, church ladies, teachers, and others who made Mill Creek into a warm, tight-knit African-American community. In Gibson’s words, “This memoir is about survival, as told from the viewpoint of a watchful young girl―a collection of decidedly universal stories that chronicle the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.”

Winner of a Missouri Humanities award for literary achievement, The Last Children of Mill Creek/I> is an important book for anyone interested in urban development, race, and community history―or for anyone who was once a child.