A Night for the Rice Carriers
Penguin Young Readers Group · Hardcover · August 4, 2026
A young girl celebrates the courage and cleverness of her ancestors and the generations of resistance they inspired!
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- Who it’s for
- An oral tradition of resistance and survival is shared through a family’s full-moon celebration.
- Themes
- Resistance and survival, Ancestral legacy, Community celebration
- Genres
- US: African American Stories, Multigenerational Families, Prejudice & Racism
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Start with this bookAbout this book
A young girl celebrates the courage and cleverness of her ancestors and the generations of resistance they inspired! Mae and her grandmother, Coco, spend the day preparing Coco’s garden for a full-moon celebration with neighbors and friends. This will be the night that Mae, herself, shares her ancestors’ powerful story of rebellion and survival.
Continue reading
Through music, food, and joyous revelry, Coco and her guests honor the legacy of two courageous women—Yaya and Paanza—who carried grains of rice hidden in their braids to forge a new life when they escaped enslavement. The stories of these West African “rice carriers” have lived on through oral tradition, but are being shared in this picture book for the very first time. Written by a historian and children’s literacy advocate, this celebratory book captures the spirit of good rebellion and great community. It was inspired by real rice carriers, Yaya and Paanza, and includes backmatter text and photographs.
Rice Carriers
An oral tradition of resistance and survival is shared through a family’s full-moon celebration.
Come here for
- Yaya and Paanza’s story of escape and hidden rice grains
- Mae and Coco preparing a garden celebration
Expect
- Music, food, and community honoring two West African rice carriers
- Backmatter text and photographs
Where it sits
| US: African American Stories | 33% |
|---|---|
| Multigenerational Families | 25% |
| Prejudice & Racism | 21% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- US: African American Stories
- Girls & Young Women
- Historical Africa
- Authors
- Carmen Rubin
- Publisher
- Penguin Young Readers Group
- Published
- August 4, 2026
- Format
- Hardcover
- Theme
- Resistance and survival · Ancestral legacy · Community celebration
- Reading lane
- US: African American Stories