Read more
Six-year-old Sam, with his Liberian dad and African American mom, finds a way to bring everyone in his cross-cultural family together at the dinner tableRice and okra soup: Sam’s auntie from Liberia made it, and it’s Dad’s favorite. Mom, homegrown in Minnesota, made spaghetti and meatballs. And Sam? He’s just hungry, but no matter what he chooses to eat, someone will be disappointed. Caught in the middle of his family’s African and American food fight, Sam gets a little help from his grumbling stomach—and readers of this seriously funny book by Shannon Gibney get a peek at cultures colliding in a family kitchen that work out in a very delicious way. Charly Palmer’s vibrant and captivating illustrations make this gentle lesson in getting along a bright and colorful visual feast as well.
Cassava leaf torbogee or homemade sausage pizza? Sam’s family recipes bring
Sam and the Incredible African and American Food Fight to an apt and happy ending—and readers can decide which dinner is best. But, really, why not both?
About the author
Shannon Gibney is a writer, educator, activist, and author of
See No Color and
Dream Country, young adult novels that won Minnesota Book Awards. A Bush Artist and McKnight Writing fellow, her memoir exploring transracial adoption and her YA anthology of stories about adoptees by adoptees will also be published in 2023. She teaches writing in the English department at Minneapolis College.
Charly Palmer is a fine artist, illustrator, teacher, and mentor whose book illustrations include
There’s a Dragon in My Closet,
Rainy Day Rocketship,
I Can Write the World,
All Boys Aren’t Blue, and
Mama Africa, for which he received the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award.
