Indigo Dreaming

A gorgeous, imagination-sparking introduction to the beauty and interconnectedness of the Black diaspora.
A young girl living on the coast of South Carolina dreams of her distant relatives on the shores of Africa and beyond. Indigo Dreaming is a poetic meditation between two young girls—on different sides of the sea—who wonder about how they are intricately linked by culture, even though they are separated by location. The girls’ reflections come together, creating an imaginative and illuminating vision of home, as well as a celebration of the Black diaspora.
This gorgeous lyrical tale engages the senses and evokes childlike curiosity and wonder.\nFrom School Library Journal\nPreS-Gr 2—A young girl with brown skin and black hair wonders if somewhere across the ocean is another girl like her. Johnson's near-rhyming verse is as lulling as the sea: "Every morning at day-clean, when the sun is just about to rise, I pretend that Indigo Beach is mine!" Cunha's textured soft pastels create a wistful, dreamy atmosphere. Through the girl's musings readers will learn words and phrases specific to her culture: day-clean, sweetgrass, goobers, Frogmore Stew, Karimba music. The author's note explains that people who live on the South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida sea islands are called Gullah or GeeChee and descend from Sierra Leone. Relative isolation has preserved their culture and language and they still have much in common with their ancestors today. VERDICT A gorgeous book that will touch every child's longing to connect with someone "out there" who is like them. —Hillary Perelyubskiy