Team Building (Reading List Included)

Even though I am an intense introvert, I still recognize that being in community is essential to survival. With the government eliminating funding for childcare, healthcare, food assistance, education, Head Start, food and nutrition assistance, legal aid services, infrastructure, emergency disaster responses and so much more, we have to step up and become a community that provides care for each other.

When I think of community, I think of large groups with fluid borders that share interests and resources. These groups may work with an ethic of care when a disaster creates a growing need, or they may shrink when a specific skill set is needed. There could be members on board who are there for the overarching cause but who may not be invested in the liberation of every member.

This summer, I’ve been in a couple of communal settings, and each time, I realized that what I really needed was my people: a small, reliable group of friends, co-collaborators, chosen family, or better put, my ride or dies. This cohort might not be in complete solidarity, but we do recognize and support each other’s needs. Everyone is seen, validated, and trusted. Everyone enthusiastically joins this dynamic constructive space of repair, growth, and love.

We create these groups for ourselves throughout our lives. We probably begin seeking them outside our families around middle school. They will provide life support for marginalized teens. Writers know this and they’ve created many books that provide blueprints for examining, finding, maintaining, and repairing our core team.

Here are just a few book recommendations.

Boy 2.0 by Tracey Baptiste (Little, Brown) Coal is starting out in a new foster home with newly discovered superpowers. He really hopes to make the McKays his new family but, will all this be too much for them?

Candle Island by Lauren Wolk (Dutton) Over the summer, to get past the trauma of losing her dad, Lucretia and her mother move to a small island in Maine. Lucretia immediately meets two of peers who have the makings of a good friends. The book works through the trials and tribulations of bonding as friends with care and tenderness.

Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott (Yearling) Jax is left with Ma, and Ma seems to want no parts of him. Will the two ever be able to talk to each other, let alone work together!?

The Gate the Girls and the Dragon by Grace Lin (Little, Brown Books) Jin, a stone lion, has accidentally knocked the Sacred Sphere beyond the gate and into the world of the humans. It seems the only way he can restore his world and get back to his parents is by working with the girl and the dragon.

El Nino by Pam Munoz Ryan (Scholastic) This newly formed teen swim team is  supposed to work to save the underwater Library of Despair and Sorrow. They really don’t know each other; not yet!

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat (Candlewick) This is the true story of members of a boys’ soccer team in Thailand who got stuck in a cave, it was up to cavers, divers, scientists, engineers, members of the military, and politicians to figure out how to put aside their cultural and professional differences to save the boys.

A Constellation of Minor Bears by Jen Ferguson (Heartdrum) Back before the accident, these three friends could not have been any closer. How can you ever trust someone after such a traumatic event that maybe they caused? These friends decide to hike the Pacific Crest Trail as planned, leaving them with little room to avoid each other, and the truth.

Somadina by Akwaeke Emezi (Knopf) Some parts of her family were always there for Somadina, especially her twin brother. When he goes missing, she sets out to find him with an estranged grandfather and sister, and with a close friend she’s just beginning really to know. Oh, and she’s getting these now powers that she needs to learn how to control. Is trust enough to get her through this?

Be well and do good!

Filed under: Book List, self care