All the Things We Never Knew

The House of Little Sisters

Dusk

Facts Speak for Themselves, The

Every Body Looking

Dream to Me

Salaam, With Love

Mixed Just Right

In this extraordinary collection, the award-winning poet Crystal Simone Smith gives voice to the mournful dead, their lives unjustly lost to violence, and to the grieving chorus of protestors in today’s Black Lives Matter movement, in search of resilience and hope.

With poems found within the text of George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo, Crystal Simone Smith embarks on an uncompromising exploration of collective mourning and crafts a masterwork that resonates far beyond the page. These poems are visually stark, a gathering of gripping verses that unmasks a dialogue of tragic truths—the stories of lives taken unjustly and too soon.

Bold and deeply affecting, Dark Testament is a remarkable reckoning with our present moment, a call to action, and a plea for a more just future.

Along with the poems, Dark Testament includes a stirring introduction by the author that speaks to the content of the poetry, a Q&A with George Saunders, and a full-color photo-insert that commemorates victims of unlawful killings with photographs of memorials that have been created in their honor.



Discover Your Child's Next Read

All the Things We Never Knew

Liara Tamani, 2020

The House of Little Sisters

Eva Wong Nava, 2020

Dusk

Eve Edwards, 2013

Facts Speak for Themselves, The

Brock Cole, 1997

Every Body Looking

Candice Iloh, 2020

Dream to Me

Megan Paasch, 2023

Salaam, With Love

Sara Sharaf Beg, 2022

Mixed Just Right

Kayln Charest, Lilyluise R Ward, 2016