Alphareader - Danielle Binks

I howl. I howl at the roof like a hotted-up bomb doing donuts, full of screeches. I howl like an air-raid siren, my arms stretched out wide. Howls are like songs. They can’t be summoned; they just happen. They come from a place that I barely understand. And then something else climbs to the surface, something black and jagged, something from the deep. Imagine all your worst feelings surfacing. Imagine coughing up razor blades. Imagine not being able to stop the pain from coming out, and not knowing when it’s going to end.

'This is Shyness' by Leanne Hall 

Books are family. Books are community.

Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology

I wish we could go back in time and climb trees together again. I love you, Vera. I always will.

'Please Ignore Vera Dietz' by A.S. King

Rev Dr Jill Richardson: I got to tell a kid in church that no, intrusive thoughts are brain chemistry, not sin, and I almost cried. Y’all, there is so much pain out there. Let’s not make it worse.

Daphne ColemanPerine; I once heard a preacher say, you can’t control what bird flies over your head but you don’t let it have to build a nest in your hair. That was honestly a breakthrough for me.

I’m glad it was Dylan who laughed first. Once he did I felt myself unravel. I giggled and he giggled. We were the experiment. And then there came a time when we weren’t laughing. When we locked eyes and breathed each other’s breath. Ohmystars! The firmament shakes and then everything settles. In the end everything settles.

'Everything Beautiful' by Simmone Howell