Today, we are celebrating two exciting book releases: Flap Your Hands by Steve Asbell and Safe Passage by G. Neri & David Brame!
Flap Your Hands by Steve Asbell
This fascinating, groundbreaking picture book by an autistic creator celebrates stims — the repetitive movements that provide focused stimulation to people on the autistic spectrum.
Praise for Flap Your Hands:
“This is truly a celebration of neurodiversity that goes against decades—perhaps centuries—of stigma and tells kids that stimming isn’t just OK; it’s liberating.” —Kirkus Reviews
“This aptly experiential representation of stimming foregrounds the idea that ‘no feeling is too huge to handle—// No noise too jarring to bear—// When everyone’s allowed to stim// And celebrate who they are!” —Publishers Weekly
“Children on the spectrum may well recognize some of the comforting and expressive actions described here . . . Vibrant, impressionistic illustrations created in Photoshop introduce four preliminary scenes of children experiencing sensory overload or overwhelming emotions before launching into gorgeous double-page spreads . . . The short second-person sentences give the text an inviting tone that furthers the book’s uplifting and inclusive messaging.” — Booklist
Order a copy:
Lee & Low
Indiebound/Bookshop
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Steve Asbell was diagnosed with autism and draws a comic strip called Stimmy Kitty that shares childhood experiences through an autistic lens. As a member of SCBWI, he was won the Rising Kite Award for illustrations. He lives near Jacksonville, Florida, where he can be found drawing and gardening with his family. You can also find him online at steveasbell.com.
Safe Passage by G. Neri & David Brame
In this stand-alone companion to bestselling and highly acclaimed Yummy, Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author G. Neri returns with an epic journey across the South Side of Chicago for Darius, his little sister Cissy, and his best friend Booger as they set out to find an armored truck that has lost a payload of cash.
Praise for Safe Passage:
⭐ “Somber with a sprinkling of optimism and a firm grounding in unconditional familial love.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Brutal, beautiful, and mercilessly necessary.” —John Jennings, award-winning comics creator and scholar
“Honest and essential . . . In a country so willing to look away from the real struggles of its young people, Neri and Brame ask us, with beauty and compassion, to pay attention.” —A.S. King, Printz-winning author of Dig
“This book is incredible, from one page to the next, I couldn’t put it down.” —Raúl the Third, creator of the World of ¡Vamos!
Order a copy:
Lee & Low
Indiebound/Bookshop
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
G. Neri is the Eisner-nominated, Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author of Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty, which CNN and Flavorwire hailed as one of the top 25 essential graphic novels of all-time. He has written thirteen books for young people, including Ghetto Cowboy, which was made into the movie, Concrete Cowboy, starring Idris Elba, debuting at #1 on Netflix. His books have been translated into multiple languages in more than 25 countries. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from SUNY for his literary output. Mr. Neri lives on the Gulf coast of Florida. For more information, visit his website at gneri.com.
David Brame is the Eisner-nominated comic artist of After the Rain, whose art for the graphic novel was hailed as “bold and arresting” by Publishers Weekly. He was also a contributor to the graphic novel anthology Young Men In Love: A Queer Romance Anthology, which earned the GLAAD Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel or Anthology and the American Library Association’s award for Great Graphic Novel for Teens. David lives in Alaska with his three dogs. For more information, visit his Instagram @amazingdavidbrame.