Just in time for Christmas, Kellie Magnus introduces a fresh crop of books that bring Caribbean history, mythology, and contemporary culture to life for young readers
From Jamaica’s Blue Banyan Books, a pair of graphic biographies of Marcus Garvey and Mary Seacole present the complex histories of two of Jamaica’s most compelling and transformative figures — in an engaging long-form comic book format.
My Name is Marcus is an empowering biography of Jamaica’s first national hero, a pioneering voice for Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism. The book is written by poet, author, and longtime Garvey scholar Geoffrey Philp, with art by Shaquille Cross and Marcell Hemmings.
My Name is Mary, written by Tanya Batson-Savage and illustrated by Tajha Winkle, chronicles the life of legendary nurse and businesswoman Mary Seacole — from her origins in Jamaica through her entrepreneurial ventures in Panama to her catering and nursing exploits on the battlefields of the Crimean War.
Beware the Heartman (Scholastic Press, 2024), by Barbadian author Shakira Bourne, is a spooky mystery for eight-to-12-year-olds. The book draws heavily on Caribbean mythology, with our young heroine Josephine battling a range of disasters — natural, social, and mythological.
Trinidadian Tracey Baptiste’s Moko Magic: Carnival Chaos (Penguin Random House, 2024) launched to exuberant reviews from industry publications in the United States. Set in the context of a Trinidadian tween’s move to Brooklyn right in time for Carnival season, the book blends home-grown and immigrant experiences, humour, mystery, and healthy helpings of Caribbean culture.
Both Bourne’s and Baptiste’s books are continuations of the series. Beware the Heartman is the second in the Josephine Against the Sea series, while Moko Magic extends Baptiste’s Freedom Fire series and joins her earlier, best-selling Jumbies series. So once you whet young readers’ appetites with these, there’s plenty more there to satisfy them.