Stronger Than

Renowned author Nik­ki Grimes and debut pic­ture book writer Sta­cy Wells (Choctaw) lend their res­o­nant voic­es to award-win­ning artist E. B. Lewis’s (Lenni Lenape) rich water­col­ors in this sto­ry of a Black Choctaw boy who finds strength in the exam­ple and his­to­ry of his ancestors.

When Dante strug­gles with night­mares, his moth­er believes learn­ing his fam­i­ly’s his­to­ry will help him cope. The roots on both sides of his fam­i­ly tree run deep, with sto­ries of sur­vival through events Dan­te’s moth­er calls “day­mares.”

Tak­ing dis­cov­er­ing his her­itage into his own hands, Dante finds out hard truths — but also a love that shines through gen­er­a­tions and, final­ly, a strength to sleep through the night.

Fea­tures author and illus­tra­tor notes, his­tor­i­cal ref­er­ences, a glos­sary, and a note from Heart­drum author-cura­tor Cyn­thia Leitich Smith.