Mama Says I'm Fine

From New York Times bestselling author, Brittney Cooper, comes a heartwarming story of love and resilence that explores the powerful force of a mother-daughter bond. All my life, my mama has said two words to me. "You're fine." It's just two little words. But those two words can mean a lot. When a young girl faces tough obstacles or hard days, her mama always soothes her with two loving words: "you're fine." Incredibly simple, yet powerfully affirming, she discovers that being fine can mean so many things -- sometimes it means having courage and speaking out, sometimes it means being proud of who you are. And when learning that even strong mamas can have tough days too -- she realizes that "I'm fine" can simply mean things are not okay, but they will be. But most importantly, it's a reminder from her mother that she will always be enough. With Brittney Cooper's beautiful and empowering text and Tamisha Anthony's warm and dazzling illustrations, this book perfectly captures the unconditional love between mother and child and serves as a heartfelt affirmation to all readers that they're enough and will always be perfectly fine. Praise for Stand Up!: * "Vibrantly illustrated and featuring a variety of justice-seekers, this book belongs in every library and classroom." -- School Library Journal, starred review "The engaging text is enhanced by Johnson's bright, fluid illustrations... A work of advocacy and encouragement for the youngest readers." -- Kirkus Reviews Praise for Brittney Cooper: "Brittney Cooper is a national treasure. Eloquent Rage is as exhilarating as it is vulnerable, a crucial book that tackles friendship and feminism, Hillary Clinton and Sandra Bland, violence and family, sex and faith and race and gender, all with vibrant grace and honesty. Cooper is a generous writer, affording even those she rages against good humored compassion, but never letting any of us fully off the hook. This book is just so good." -- Rebecca Traister, New York Times bestselling author "[Eloquent Rage] is distinct both for its telling as the author's own journey and for its -- yes -- eloquent personal voice, which, between her erudition and her command of vernacular, is funny, wrenching, pithy, and pointed." -- Rebecca Solnit, The New Republic "A dissertation on black women's pain and possibility; an autobiography of a black woman's complicated dance with feminism, overcoming otherness as a big black girl in a skinny-white-girl world, her mother's triumph over violence, and her own journey from disappointment to black joy." -- Joy Reid, Cosmopolitan Brittney Cooper is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including her debut picture book Stand Up! 10 Mighty Women Who Made a Change, and the novels Feminist AF: A Guide to Crushing Girlhood and Eloquent Rage: A Black Woman Discovers her Superpowers. A professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University, she cofounded the Crunk Feminist Collective, and her cultural commentary has been featured on MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes, Melissa Harris-Perry, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Marie Claire, The Cut, The Washington Post, NPR, PBS, Al Jazeera's Third Rail, Ebony.com, Essence.com, TheRoot.com, and TED.com, and has been named four times to The Root 100. Tamisha Anthony has illustrated several children's books, including Sparrow Loves Birds by Murry Burgess, Seoul Food by Erin Danielle Russell, There's No Place Like Hope by Janet Lawler, and Most Perfect You by Jazmyn Simon. Her love of educating has led her to teach for organizations such as the New York Historical Society and Make Art That Sells, and to write and illustrate a recurring column for Uppercase magazine. Learn more at tamishaanthony.com.