We Miss You, George Floyd

Shannon Gibney is a writer, educator, and activist. She is author of several books, including The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption, which received a Michael L. Printz Honor and a Minnesota Book Award; See No Color and Dream Country, both winners of Minnesota Book Awards; and Sam and the Incredible African and American Food Fight, a children’s picture book about a cross-cultural family also published by the University of Minnesota Press. A Bush Artist and McKnight Writing Fellow, Gibney teaches at Minneapolis College, where she was named Educator of the Year in 2023. She lives with her two children in Minneapolis.   Leeya Rose Jackson is an illustrator, fine artist, art director, writer, and designer based in Minneapolis. She runs the illustration shop Leeya Makes Noise and is the creative founder of Noisemakers Design.

"In We Miss You, George Floyd, Shannon Gibney and Leeya Rose Jackson engage the topic of police brutality in a clear, accessible, and ultimately hopeful way. It is a heartening call for young readers to speak up and stay involved in the ongoing fight for justice and a moving cry for society to actively do and be better for the sake of our kids." -Tameka Fryer Brown, award-winning author of That Flag and Not Done Yet: Shirley Chisholm's Fight for Change   "Gibney writes in simple, straightforward, and age-appropriate language[...] The illustrations, dominated by hues of purple, capture the cacophony of emotions that emerged in the aftermath of Floyd’s death. [...] Heavy yet cathartic. We will not forget."-Kirkus Reviews   "This moving picture book uses the point of view of a young girl to show how a generation of young people was stunned by the videotaped murder of a Black man pleading for his life. [...] Strands of color weave through every spread, showing the connections between people, protest, grieving and memory and anchoring the event in the country’s collective memory. [...] A very necessary book for kids who remember this event."-Youth Services Book Review, 4.5/5 stars   "As the illustrations signal the broader national context [...] our narrator channels her grief into art, first to pay homage to those who have been killed by police, and then to imagine a better future. Readers witness the journey of a child learning to navigate her own sadness and be part of a community while just beginning to see and understand a bigger picture. This honest and stunningly accessible perspective on a pivotal moment in recent American history will speak directly to children in a wide range of ages while also resonating with adults."-Booklist, starred review   "This picture-book tribute to George Floyd is eloquent and powerful in its simplicity. The words flow like a song. [...] We Miss You, George Floyd invites us to pause, to question and to participate, however we are able, in the fight for justice."-Bookology   "As an award-winning author, educator, and activist, Gibney gives us a powerful testimony and teaching tool to encourage our children to speak up in the fight for justice and the hope of creating a better world."-Insight News   "A writer, educator, activist and mother, Shannon Gibney presents the heartbreaking story of the death of George Floyd. Children will hear about this, so before they do – and when they have questions – Gibney’s book is a wonderful way to open that discussion."-Greenville News   "Jackson’s illustrations are warm and dreamlike - a repeating set of wavy lines run throughout the pages like a journey of thought."-MinnPost   "The illustrations really bring the time and place to readers in a vibrant way."-Reading Through Life