A Kirkus and Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2022!
From beloved African American folklorist Zora Neale Hurston comes a
moving adaptation by National Book Award winner and #1 New York Times
bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist and Antiracist Baby,
Ibram X. Kendi. Magnolia Flower follows a young Afro Indigenous girl
who longs for freedom and is gorgeously illustrated by Loveis Wise (The
People Remember, Ablaze with Color).
Born to parents who fled slavery and the Trail of Tears, Magnolia Flower
is a girl with a vibrant spirit. Not to be deterred by rigid ways of the
world, she longs to connect with others, who too long for freedom. She
finds this in a young man of letters who her father disapproves of. In
her quest to be free, Magnolia must make a choice and set off on a
journey that will prove just how brave one can be when leading with
one's heart.
The acclaimed writer of several American classics, Zora Neale Hurston
wrote this stirring folktale brimming with poetic prose, culture, and
history. It was first published as a short story in The Spokesman in
1925 and later in her collection Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked
Stick (2020).
Tenderly retold by #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book
Award-winning author Ibram X. Kendi, Magnolia Flower is a story of a
transformative and radical devotion between generations of Indigenous
and Black people in America. With breathtaking illustrations by Loveis
Wise, this picture book reminds us that there is no force strong enough
to stop love.
