Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers? (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780593462331)

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2023

Based on the viral poem by Coretta Scott King honoree Junauda Petrus, this picture book debut imagines a radically positive future where police aren't in charge of public safety and community well-being.

Petrus first published and performed this poem after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. With every subsequent police shooting, it has taken on new urgency, culminating in the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, blocks from Junauda's home.

In its picture book incarnation, Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers? is a joyously radical vision of community-based safety and mutual aid. It is optimistic, provocative, and ultimately centered in fierce love. Debut picture book artist Kristen Uroda has turned Junauda's vision for a city without precincts into a vibrant and flourishing urban landscape filled with wise and loving grandmothers of all sorts.

Author: Junauda Petrus
ISBN-10: 0593462335
ISBN-13: 9780593462331
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Language: English
Published: 04/04/2023
Pages: 32
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.89lbs
Size: 9.26h x 10.84w x 0.36d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2023
School Library Journal 04/01/2023 pg. 121
Publishers Weekly 05/01/2023