Stamped (For Kids) — Our Story

Dear Young Readers,

Today’s the day! I feel so humbled to have helped shepherd Stamped (For Kids) into the world. I keep imagining you- reading, studying, and talking, about the history of race and racism in the United States. And as you grapple with the unsettling truths, I hope you feel all of the love Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Jason Reynolds, and I are sending you.

I can’t help but think about the young people in my own family. Imani, Ella, Nina, Petra — the children, of the children, of the children of Bully and Big Ma, my grandparents, who I’ve dedicated this book to. I adapted Stamped (For Kids), not only with the painful roar of the viral and racial pandemic, the uprisings led by the Black Lives Matter Movement, and the tumultuous presidential election as the backdrop. But I also wrote with the love and faith of my grandparents in my heart, the great-grandparents of the young people in my family. Their sacrifices and struggles, their joys and successes, their resistance and resilience, their pride, their audacity to endure was my most powerful guide.

This is their story, their lived-experiences. But it is also my story. And it’s the story of the young people in my family. And it’s your story; the story of all of us. Because it’s this nation’s story. One that we absolutely must face and reckon with in order to heal.

So my greatest hope is that you read this book, will see the nation’s deep wounds, and recognize that learning about them is the necessary first step toward healing. And that this is the only way for the children, of the children, of the children, of the children of my grandparents, as well as for you, me, all of us, to emerge fully healed, fully whole, and fully free.

Love Sonja