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Along with Girlhood, Algonquin’s small list of eight to 10 titles per year includes books on subjects of great importance to teens. Michael Long’s Kids on the March (Mar. 2021) is geared toward younger teenagers; it recounts 15 stories of young people’s involvement in significant protests throughout history. A forthcoming title by Tracey Baptiste, African Icons: Ten People Who Built a Continent, shares the stories of 10 individuals from Africa who have had an outsize impact on history. 

 Why you should read them: The Jumbies series is full of brave kids facing tremendous challenges, mermaids, magic and, of course, jumbies—"creatures who will eat you if given half the chance," as author Tracey Baptiste described them to Colorin Colorado. While your kids will tear through The Jumbies (and then ask for more), this page-turning, adventurous series will capture the hearts of teens and adults, too. But beware—you may start looking over your shoulder to make sure no jumbies are following you home. 

November 12, 20177:52 AM ET

Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday

Writer Tracy Baptiste was born in Trinidad where she grew up on fairy tales and the spoken folk tales of the island, including stories about creatures called jumbies. The mythical monsters inspired her to write her own Caribbean folk tale for middle schoolers. 

By Tracey Baptiste

July 10, 2019

The uproar over Disney casting Halle Bailey as the Little Mermaid overlooks generations of Caribbean and African folklore. 

As a young child growing up in Trinidad and Tobago within sight and walking distance of the Caribbean Sea, I was gripped by the intrigue of mermaids. I was introduced to one version of a mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, whose tale of a magical girl creature, an impossible location and an outrageous desire was thrilling. 

Baptiste, of Englewood, tells of jumbies, the spirits of West Africa and the Caribbean. Her stories of fire, water and air paint a rich depiction of life on an island where a girl lives with her dad, who is a gentle fisherman. She understands and communicates with the spirits. 

By Tracey Baptiste

Nov. 7, 2019

Those who live on islands understand the lore and the lure of shores. The borders between the edge of the land and the beginning of the sea lend themselves to storytelling, as the creatures of the land yearn for what lies beyond the horizon. In true island fashion, Erin Entrada Kelly’s latest, LALANI OF THE DISTANT SEA (Greenwillow, 400 pp., $16.99; ages 8 to 12), is built on the folklore of her island Filipino culture, as traditional oral lore is built on the remembrances of all the tellings that came before it. 

Tracey Baptiste lived in Trinidad until she was fifteen, and she grew up on jumbie stories and fairy tales. Those stories inspired her to write the middle grade fantasy adventures The Jumbies and Rise of the Jumbies. She is also the author of the contemporary YA novel Angel’s Grace as well as nonfiction books for kids in elementary through high school.

Tracey Baptiste lived in Trinidad until she was fifteen, and she grew up on jumbie stories and fairy tales. Those stories inspired her to write the middle grade fantasy adventures The Jumbies and Rise of the Jumbies. She is also the author of the contemporary YA novel Angel’s Grace as well as nonfiction books for kids in elementary through high school.

First Second Books has announced a new line of graphic novels that will tell stories from American history. 

History Comics: Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin by Tracey Baptiste and Shauna J. Grant (Winter 2021)

I have always loved books. My favorite, was an oversized complete Grimm's Fairy Tales with beautiful illustrations, which I lost when my family moved to the United States. I was fascinated by the stories of the tailor who went up against a giant, and clever Hans, who wasn't so clever as well as the more traditional princess stories. When I was about thirteen, after spending a summer in the library reading Paul Zindel and Judy Blume among other authors, I announced to my best friend that I was going to be a writer. I didn't decide what I wanted to write until I read "The Friends" by Rosa Guy. I had recently moved to Brooklyn, NY, and the book spoke to my situation precisely. It remains one of my favorite books. I started writing for children then, and never stopped. I had early interest from publishers from the moment I began submitting stories at the age of 21, but I didn't put in the work necessary to become published until my late twenties. "Angel's Grace" was largely written while I was on maternity leave with my first child. It was inspired by my mother (the redhead) and my husband. Because I have very young children, I work when they sleep, which, sadly, is very little.

Tracey Baptiste and Renée Watson

RW: I grew up in the black community of Portland, which is Northeast Portland. But right outside of that, I mean, you could be the only person of color for miles.

TB: Really?

RW: Yes, especially if you go outside of Portland and other cities in Oregon. People tell me that I was the first black person they had met in real life. So that was my childhood.

TB: What!

RW: Yea, my mind was blown when I saw black people in charge that every place didn’t look like that.

TB: For me, I never felt restricted in any way.

RW: That’s amazing.

TB: Because I grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and moved here when I was 15. The thing that I notice a lot about people who have cultural ties to the Caribbean, who have family from the Caribbean, have ancestry from the Caribbean is that our perspective can be a little bit different. We come from places or come from people who run these countries, the people who look like us are in charge of the countries, they own all of the stuff. It is very different than it is here; you know I just assumed everybody can do everything; it was not even a question for me. People ask me all the time, “How did you become a writer?” Well I just assumed that I could. It never occurred to me that I could not.