This week, Little Free Library and HarperCollins pay respect to the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre; Lana Wood Johnson has a virtual launch with plenty of guests; and the D.C. Public Library marks the 125th anniversary of Plessy v. Ferguson.

Reading Rainbow

In partnership with HarperCollins’s Read in Full Color initiative, and in commemoration of the centenary of the Tulsa Race Massacre this past weekend, nonprofit Little Free Library launched Read in Color Tulsa, installing 26 Little Free Libraries at schools in Tulsa, Okla., offering 4,500 books on racism and social justice. The Tulsa project is part of LFL’s newly launched national Read in Color initiative, which aims to amplify marginalized voices by providing diverse books to communities across the nation; forthcoming 2021 Read in Color cities include Washington, D.C., Detroit, Atlanta, and Phoenix, with Scholastic’s The Power of Story pledging support for additional cities. Pictured here, two Eugene Field Elementary students stand in front of their new Little Free Library in Tulsa.

Speak Now

Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, Minn., recently hosted the launch of Lana Wood Johnson’s sophomore YA novel Speak for Yourself (Scholastic Press) on June 1. The book, a contemporary romance centering ambitious tech-savvy Skylar Collins, celebrates nerdiness and friendship. Johnson virtually appeared in conversation with Adib Khorram, and participated in an audience q&a; the event also included a trivia contest and DIY tutorials from fellow authors and friends Natalie C. Parker, who presented “Holiday Cookie Optimization”; Julian Winters, who offered “How to Eat Pixie Stix”; Nafiza Azad, speaking on “What Is Ochre”; and Amanda Sellet, who proposed “How to Be Dapper.”

Plessy v. Ferguson, 125 Years Later

On June 1, D.C. Public Library’s Teen Council hosted a commemorative event called “Together: In Conversation with Amy Nathan, Keith Plessy, Phoebe Ferguson and D.C. Teens” for the 125th anniversary of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Author Amy Nathan (bottom l.) (Together: An Inspiring Response to the “Separate-But-Equal” Supreme Court Decision That Divided America, Paul Dry Books) was joined by Keith Plessy (bottom r.) and Phoebe Ferguson (top r.), the two descendants of the 1896 court case featured in Nathan’s YA nonfiction account, who formed the Plessy & Ferguson Foundation 12 years ago to help people engage with history to “show how we can learn from the past to create a more just and equitable future.” Writer, journalist, and DC Public Library Teen Council member Toni Jackson (top l.), a junior at D.C.’s School Without Walls, served as moderator.