Stronger Than
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jan 27, 2026
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
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Features author and illustrator notes, historical references, a glossary, and a note from Heartdrum author-curator Cynthia Leitich Smith.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An Afro-Indigenous boy experiencing nightmares learns about the events experienced by his ancestors in a nested telling from African American poet Grimes (A Cup of Quiet), Choctaw author Wells (the Tana Cooks series), and Lenni Lenape artist Lewis (Sparrow). Living with his family in a place "now named Oklahoma," Black and Choctaw eight-year-old Dante Dawes isn't afraid of much—just the bad dreams that visit him regularly. After yet another nightmare wakes him, his mother tells him about ancestors who were "stronger than" the history they endured: the Trail of Tears and the Tulsa Race Massacre. The authorial collaborators weave sensate anchors into an extended telling, adding to the text's depth, as when Dante, researching his lineage, realizes, "This was a hard story,/ sharp as a thorn." Realistic watercolor illustrations intersperse full-color present-day spreads with dark-blue nightmare sequences and sepia-toned historical scenes as Dante finds his way toward sound sleep, and the understanding that "we come from people stronger than fear" in this thoughtful picture book. Closes with creator notes, more about the historical events discussed, and a Choctaw-English glossary. Ages 4–8. Authors' agents: (for Grimes) Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown; (for Wells) Savannah Brooks, Jennifer De Chiara Literary. Illustrator's agent: Jeff Dwyer, Dwyer & O'Grady.
