Mascot
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What if a school's mascot is seen as racist, but not by everyone? In this compelling middle-grade novel in verse, two best-selling BIPOC authors tackle this hot-button issue.
A perfect book for future changemakers and activists seeking contemporary stories about systematic racism and empowering kids ages 10+ to fight for justice in their communities.
In Rye, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, people work hard, kids go to school, and football is big on Friday nights. An 8th grade English teacher creates an assignment for her class to debate whether Rye’s mascot should stay or change.
Now six middle schoolers—all with different backgrounds and beliefs—get involved in the contentious issue that already has the suburb turned upside down with everyone choosing sides and arguments getting ugly.
Told from several perspectives, readers see how each student comes to new understandings about identity, tradition, and what it means to stand up for real change.
An empowering middle-grade novel, Mascot is sure to inspire readers and start conversations in classrooms and communities across the country.
"Waters and Sorell's plain spoken verse is always sharp and direct." —The New York Times Book Review
“The kids and I are so grateful for this gift you both have given to teachers, kids, and our world.” –Ms. Corgill, 5th Grade Teacher, Alabama
- A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2023
- A New York Public Library Best Book of 2023
- A National Public Radio "Books We Love" title of 2023
Traci Sorell
Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction books as well as poems for children. Her lyrical story in verse, At the Mountain's Base, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (Kokila, 2019), celebrates the bonds of family and the history of history-making women pilots, including Millie Rexroat (Oglala Lakota). Her middle grade novel, Indian No More, with Charlene Willing McManis (Tu Books, 2019), explores the impact of federal termination and relocation policies on an Umpqua family in the 1950s. Traci's debut nonfiction picture book, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, illustrated by Frané Lessac (Charlesbridge, 2018), won a Sibert Honor, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Picture Book Honor and an Orbis Pictus Honor. It also received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, The Horn Book and Shelf Awareness. A former federal Indian law attorney and policy advocate, she is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in northeastern Oklahoma where her tribe is located. For more about Traci and her other works, visit www.tracisorell.com.
More by Traci Sorell
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