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The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar (2018). Fiction.

Laura Chookiatsirichai Morlock ’04, MLIS’08: Once upon a time there were two Syrian refugee girls who fled the same route, 800 years apart, across the Middle East. One apprentices, as a boy, to a mapmaker; the other loses her Baba. Some might call this novel fantasy or historical fiction, crossing both genres and timelines. Syrian American Joukhadar writes to find himself as a non-binary person, offering us “a story of how the salt breeze pours black water into me. It sinks deep into a place I can’t name, a place I can’t chart.” How is it we can swim through grief to healing? Joukhadar paints a path through The Map of Salt and Stars for readers seeking to immerse themselves in a world that has been turned upside down.

Morlock selected this book for the Readers’ Advisory Services course, which she is teaching this spring.

Every Tool’s a Hammer by Adam Savage 

(2019). Nonfiction.

Megan Schierenbeck MLIS’24: Written by one of the hosts of the Discovery Channel’s “MythBusters,” this memoir examines the art of making things and inspires the reader to explore, get a little messy, and enjoy the ride that is the creative process. Every Tool’s a Hammer is a guidebook for all. As a future library sciences professional, I appreciated the philosophy that creating is for everyone, and hope to bring this attitude of inclusivity to my future work. 

Schierenbeck read this book for the MLIS class Making and Makerspaces.

Remember by Joy Harjo 

(2023). Poetry.

Melissa Gunelson MLIS’25: Harjo writes in her author’s note, “We need poems when we lose something important, when we need to pay attention, or when we need to repair what has been broken.” Harjo’s poem “Remember,” illustrated by Michaela Goade, offers just that. This picture book is a powerful tool for reflection and connection, whether read aloud to audiences young and old or cherished in quiet solitude. Harjo invites us to remember and honor all that intertwines us. 

Gunelson selected Remember for an elementary school library collection she developed, as part of a grant she received from Roseville Area Schools Foundation to expand Native American literature representation in the district.

Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South by Mike Selby (2019). Nonfiction.

Marianne Adamek MLIS’26: Taking the Intro to Library and Information Science course opened my eyes to the fact that I am equally passionate about social justice and equity as I am a bibliophile. This book collects previously scattered information about the libraries at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement in the South, and the brave volunteers who risked their lives to open and run them. If you have ever doubted the absolute power of equal access to information, or the immense impact that libraries can have in a community, read this book!

Adamek's experience in Introduction to Library and Information Science inspired her to look for more readings about racial inequality in literature independently, and she found Freedom Libraries.