Memoirs, a picture book, a graphic novel and more– preorder these books from The Bronx is Reading and be ready for when they drop in September. And when you do, your purchase helps support our mission of empowering Bronxites through the written word, just in time for the school year gearing up.

Unbound: My Story of Revolution and the Me Too Movement by Tarana Burke

In her first memoir, Bronxite and legendary activist Tarana Burke tells the story of how she found her inner strength, worked against trauma, and fought to empower women everywhere.

Unearthed: A Jessica Cruz Story by Lilliam Rivera, illustrations by Steph C.

Award-winning Bronx Native YA author Lilliam Rivera takes on D.C.’s Green Lantern with a socially conscious storyline. Jessica Cruz debates whether or not she should renew her immigration status, as xenophobia and an anti-immigration mayoral bid picks up steam in Coast City Jessica fears for her family. When her father is detained by I.C.E. she finds her way out of fear and ultimately becomes a voice for her community.

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead’s latest is a historical crime novel that takes you back to 1960s Harlem. Ray Carney’s a furniture salesman, an upstanding citizen– but his family history is full of secrets, AKA, infamous con artists. When his cousin falls in with a crowd planning one of the biggest heists the neighborhood’s ever seen, will Ray fall in too?

Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by Amanda Gorman, illustrated by Loren Long

Youth Poet Laureate and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman teams up with #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator Loren Long in this new picture book, telling the story of a young girl bringing people together on a musical journey to teach them the power of coming together to make a change in the world.

Lotería by Karla Arenas Valenti

Travel through mythical lands seeped in Mexican folklore in Karla Arenas Valenti’s debut middle grade novel. Everything changes for eleven-year-old Clara when her younger cousin vanishes– but not for the reasons she thinks. Clara doesn’t know it, but once a year, Life and Death play the card game of lotería, and Clara is caught in the middle of it. Can she beat the game and save her cousin– or is her fate sealed?

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

The Chinese word for America translate directly to “beautiful country,” and this debut book tells the story of growing up undocumented and in poverty in the richest country in the world. Qian immigrates to the US at the age of 7, and her parents go from being professors in China to living in fear, undocumented in Brooklyn. Wang’s memoir captures her experiences and identity in America, through the eyes of a girl coming of age.