Prisons Must Fall

(Hardback)

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Description

From Mariame Kaba, New York Times-bestselling author of We Do This 'Til We Free Us,and social worker Jane Ball comes a powerful book showing the harm that prisons cause and exploring alternatives, gorgeously illustrated by Olly Costello.

Prisons, they do no good.
They do not help.
They do not teach.

On a moonlit road, tucked away from prying eyes, a child sees a prison complex-cinder blocks, watch towers, barbed wire. Page by page, we come to see the prison as a child sees it.

Prisons hurt people and leave them lonely, without loved ones to comfort them or lend a listening ear.

As dandelion stars float up in the air, this dreamscape becomes a hope-scape, where love transcends the prison walls. All the families and friends of the people in the prison march and protest in beautiful song, march together to a new way and a new dawn-in this case a cooperative housing and community center, next to a neighborhood greenhouse for restoration and healing. A new world, where connection and repair are fundamental, and even tangible, as people around a table quilt messages, "I hear you. I'm sorry for what I did. How can I make it better"

Mariame Kaba, a longtime activist, together with co-author Jane Ball, present solutions that do not involve incarceration, such as meeting people's basic needs, restorative justice, and community support-seeds for a safe world. Illustrator Olly Costello provides textured images of a global majority community and a grey, monotone backdrop that is overtaken by joyful colors. A gentle but effective addition to all social justice bookshelves and libraries. Discussion questions included.

Perfect for:

• Parents, teachers, and librarians looking for books on the prison industrial complex and prison reform
• Kids who are interested in fairness and social justice
• Readers who love exceptional and sophisticated illustration

Reviews

As an organizer and author, Mariame Kaba gets that kids both can handle and deserve straight talk about the moral scandal that is our system of mass incarceration, and that indeed they may be clearer about the necessity of abolition than most of us adults. This beautiful book, grounded in hope and collective action, is going to be a wonderful tool for parents and educators who want to help children understand how to change the worldand why it needs changing so urgently.
John Duda, Red Emma's worker-owner and co-founder

Praise for See You Soon:

Mariame Kaba is always front and center in the fight for abolition. This beautiful story is a song of redemption and a study of the forever tremor that is mass incarceration. See You Soon is a shining example of how hope can tend to our deepest wounds.
Mahogany L. Browne, author of I Remember Death By Its Proximity to What I Love

Beautifully framed illustrations in bright colors illustrate six-year-old Queenies (Reyna) life with her mother and grandmother This slight title is much needed for children who are separated from a parent who is in jail.
Youth Services Book Review

This sensitive, affecting examination serves as a worthy conversation starter.
Publishers Weekly

Praise for Missing Daddy:

In this sensitive and candid story, a child narrator explores the emotions she feels surrounding her fathers incarceration. Royals art has a spare, warm quality, with loose ink outlines and splashes of light pastel and citrus tones in the characters clothing and surroundings. Educator Kaba addresses the experiences related to parental incarceration head-on while emphasizing that there are a lot of different ways to be a family.
Publishers Weekly

"Charming and heart-wrenching details in the flights of fireflies, bordered pictures in a photo album, and even the expression of the little girl when a classmate whispers, 'You know your daddys a criminal so that makes you one,' highlight the angst and resilience of the little girl. This straightforward consideration of children affected by the imprisonment of family members is necessary."
KIRKUS REVIEWS

Missing Daddy is a crucial book for our times. Using storytelling and gorgeous artwork, this book brings heart, soul, and deep compassion to the challenges facing kids with incarcerated parents. A much needed piece of childrens literature.
Daniel Jos Older, author of Shadowshaper Cypher and Dactyl Hill Squad

This book is a crucial tool for parents, educators, and anyone who cares about the well-being of children who, through no fault of their own, are forced to bear the consequences of our countrys obsession with incarceration. For children who desperately miss their parents, feel confused, or are teased at school, this book can go a long way in letting them know that they are not alone and in normalizing their experiences.
Eve L. Ewing

Author Bio

Olly Costello is a white queer illustrator, PIC abolitionist, food growing enthusiast and community seed saver, who is committed to participating in the creative, collective work of building a liberated and flourishing future for all of us.Through their artistic and community based practices they explore themes of interconnectedness, spiritual ecology, emergence, accountability, community building, Prison Industrial Complex Abolition, Transformative Justice and belonging.