City Summer, Country Summer [Hardcover]

CORETTA SCOTT KING ILLUSTRATOR HONOR BOOK • A lyrical picture book from the award-winning author of Heavy, about three Black boys who form a deep connection during a transformative summer trip down South to visit family.

ONE OF BOOK RIOT’S BEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS OF THE CENTURY (SO FAR)

On the ground of that garden, covered in vegetables and dirt, coated in laughter, I want to say that the Mississippi and New York in our Black boy bodies were indistinguishable.

Three Black boys spend one special summer exploring the Mississippi woods and woulds and coulds of sharing the kind of freeing friendship that is love.

Watched over and given space to discover by Grandmama and Mama Lara, New York, Country, and little C find camaraderie in their contrasts and all the unspoken things between them while playing games of marco polo in the thick garden and sledding on cardboard by the underpass.

With text brimming with love by award-winning author Kiese Laymon and deeply evocative illustrations by Alexis Franklin, City Summer, Country Summer illuminates the tenuous and tender bonds of friendship Black boys forge with one another.Praise for City Summer, Country Summer by Kiese Laymon; illustrated by Alexis Franklin:

A 2026 Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor Book
A 2026 Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) Children & Youth Literary Award (Debut Honor Category)
Book Riot Best Children's Books of the Century (So Far)!
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Book Riot, The Bitter Southerner, Evanston Public Library, BookPage, Kirkus, Children’s Book Review


★ “A heartfelt, elegantly wrolÃS