For Sonja Cherry-Paul, Clint Smith’s How the Word Is Passed was the book of 2021.

“It was the book I was most excited to read that year,” she tells Kirkus via email. “Clint has gifted the world with a compelling, poignant memoir about place, truth, memory, and also possibility. I remember the feeling of just not being able to put it down.”

According to Kirkus’ starred review of How the Word Is Passed (Adapted for Young Readers): Remembering Slavery and How It Shaped America (Little, Brown, September 2), young readers are in for a similarly powerful experience. That’s why Cherry-Paul’s “important and phenomenally executed” adaptation is one of our Best Middle-Grade Books of 2025.

In adapting How the Word Is Passed for young readers, what ideas, principles, or rules guided your work?

I brought my experiences as a former classroom teacher, my continued work today with educators and their students, and my understanding of adolescent literacy development to this adaptation. My work is informed by critical pedagogies—ideologies and practices that affirm the full humanity of everyone, particularly those who are marginalized and oppressed. When young people have opportunities to develop their sociopolitical consciousness as readers, this empowers them to identify, question, and challenge oppressive structures and systems. Reading is a powerful form of resistance for young people who are truth-seekers and are ready to put their ideas about freedom and justice into action.

What inspired you during the writing process? What were you reading, listening to, watching?

I reread some of the work of Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Mariame Kaba for continued reminders about the importance of resistance, love, and critical hope in the collective work toward liberation.

Where and when did you write? Describe the scene, the time of day, the necessary accoutrements or talismans.

My sunroom is the place I love to write the most. There are large windows across the room that look out to Japanese maple and evergreen trees. I prefer to write in the morning, when I’m feeling most hopeful. I enjoy hearing the robins and blue jays that frequent these trees. The light and warmth of the sunroom, the sound of bird music, and a hot cup of peppermint tea are my writing tools.

What was most challenging about writing the book? And most rewarding?

It was exciting to think about the nonfiction reading experiences readers would bring to this text—and then lean into them. The structural changes made to the book create a unique, accessible reading experience to a wide range of young people. Most challenging was deciding what to remove, and considering the impact that removing something in one part of the book would have on another part. Really knowing the text well, and maintaining a bird’s-eye view of it, was critical to making sure that the purpose and meaning of Clint’s work wasn’t lost. It was rewarding to develop this adaptation in ways that didn’t water down the content. Clint and I are both former classroom teachers who respect the brilliance of young people and all that they’re capable of as readers and thinkers.

What book or books published in 2025 were among your favorites?

Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry; Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism by Eve L. Ewing; and Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship by Dana A. Williams.

Editor at large Megan Labrise hosts the Fully Booked podcast.