Episode 26: America 250, Picture Books, and Popular Reads

This episode highlights CADL’s America 250 Reading Challenge, a round up of great picture books, and a mix of extremely popular and under the radar picks.

Cheryl’s Books:    
Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life by Nia Sioux
Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt
If We Were Dogs by Sophie Blackall

Mentioned:
Books written and/or illustrated by Julie Morstad
Lessons from Plants by Beronda L. Montgomery covered in Reader's Roundtable Episode 40: Summer Wrap-Up
Dead and Alive: Essays by Zadie Smith
Books written and/or illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Jessica’s Books:   
Game Changer and Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid (book one and two of the Game Changer series)
When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery
Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer. Vol. 1 by David Crownson

Mentioned: 
The Correspondent by Virgina Evans
Theo of Golden by Levi Allen
Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael Twitty
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry
All that She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles

Mari’s Books:   
Zero! The Number That Almost Wasn’t by Sarah Albee, illustrated by Chris Hsu
This is Orange: A Field Trip Through Color by Rachel Poliquin, illustrated by Julie Morstad
The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser
Our Gorgeous Baby by Smriti Prasadam-Halls, illustrated by Eve Coy
Floor It! by Bex Tobin Fine, illustrated by Federico Fabiani

Mentioned:
2026 Newbery Awards

CADL’s America 250 landing page including the Reading Challenge and decade reading lists: https://www.cadl.org/america250