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City Summer, Country Summer

City Summer, Country Summer

About the Book

A lyrical picture book from the award-winning author of Heavy, about three Black boys who form a deep connection during a transformative summer trip down South to visit family.

On the ground of that garden, covered in vegetables and dirt, coated in laughter, I want to say that the Mississippi and New York in our Black boy bodies were indistinguishable.

Three Black boys spend one special summer exploring the Mississippi woods and woulds and coulds of sharing the kind of freeing friendship that is love.

Watched over and given space to discover by Grandmama and Mama Lara, New York, Country, and little C find camaraderie in their contrasts and all the unspoken things between them while playing games of marco polo in the thick garden and sledding on cardboard by the underpass.

With text brimming with love by award-winning author Kiese Laymon and deeply evocative illustrations by Alexis Franklin, City Summer, Country Summer illuminates the tenuous and tender bonds of friendship Black boys forge with one another.
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Praise for City Summer, Country Summer

Praise for City Summer, Country Summer by Kiese Laymon; illustrated by Alexis Franklin:

★ “A heartfelt, elegantly wrought, and triumphant tribute to Black boy kinship. On the sunny porches of their grandmothers’ neighboring houses and in the cool shadows of the surrounding woods, hesitation becomes tenderness, anxiety becomes laughter, and difference becomes safeness. Franklin’s digital paintings set realistic depictions of Black boys within the hazy fantasy of summer, emphasizing evocative facial expressions and using spreads filled with natural, liminal spaces to insulate their growing bond.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review


Laymon’s text is lyrical and specific…Franklin’s digital illustrations…clearly centers each emotion the boys experience…deeply moving…reveling as it does in the tender bonds of Black boy friendship. — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
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About the Author

Kiese Laymon
Kiese Laymon is a Black Southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. He is the author of the novel Long Division, the essay collection How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, and the award winning Heavy: An American Memoir. Laymon, named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 2022, is the Moody Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. Visit him online at KieseLaymon.com. More by Kiese Laymon
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About the Author

Alexis Franklin
Alexis Franklin is a self-taught digital artist based in Dallas, Texas, whose clients include TIME magazine, Apple, Sports Illustrated, O magazine, and acclaimed New York Times bestselling authors. Drawing inspiration from classical oil paintings, she infuses her artistry with their essence, which results in the distinctive style she is known for today. Visit her online at AlexisFranklinArt.com and on Instagram @alexis_art. More by Alexis Franklin
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