Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration

Mixed Just Right

A Star is Born in Mecca

Tokyo Night Parade

Have a Go

David

Mia Mayhem Breaks Down Walls

Mama Says

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

Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration

Samara Cole Doyon, Kaylani Juanita, 2020

Mixed Just Right

Kayln Charest, Lilyluise R Ward, 2016

A Star is Born in Mecca

Noura Farooq, 2023

Tokyo Night Parade

J.P. Takahashi, Minako Tomigahara, 2023

Have a Go

Jon Mayhew, 2017

David

Maggie Barfield, 2012

Mia Mayhem Breaks Down Walls

Kara West, Leeza Hernandez, 2019

Mama Says

Diane Dillon, Leo Dillon, Rob D. Walker, 2009