Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
City Summer, Country Summer by Kiese Laymon
Add City Summer, Country Summer to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Look Inside

City Summer, Country Summer

By Kiese Laymon
Illustrated by Alexis Franklin

By Kiese Laymon
Illustrated by Alexis Franklin

By Kiese Laymon
Illustrated by Alexis Franklin

By Kiese Laymon
Illustrated by Alexis Franklin

By Kiese Laymon
Read by Samuel Eubanks

By Kiese Laymon
Read by Samuel Eubanks

Best Seller
Hardcover $18.99

Apr 01, 2025 | ISBN 9780593405567 | 5-9 years

Ebook $10.99

Apr 01, 2025 | ISBN 9780593405574 | 5-9 years

Audiobook Download $5.00

Apr 01, 2025 | 8 Minutes | 5-9 years

All Formats
+
    City Summer, Country Summer by Kiese Laymon
    Hardcover $18.99
    Apr 01, 2025 | ISBN 9780593405567

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (2) +
    • $18.99

      Apr 01, 2025 | ISBN 9780593405567 | 5-9 years

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Apr 01, 2025 | ISBN 9780593405574 | 5-9 years

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Apr 01, 2025 | ISBN 9780593683668 | 5-9 years

      8 Minutes

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About City Summer, Country Summer

    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.

    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.

    About City Summer, Country Summer

    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.

    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.

    About City Summer, Country Summer

    A lyrical audiobook 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.

    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 prose brimming with love by award-winning author Kiese Laymon, City Summer, Country Summer illuminates the tenuous and tender bonds of friendship Black boys forge with one another.

    Listen to a sample from City Summer, Country Summer

    About Kiese Laymon

    Kiese Laymon is a Black Southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. He is the author of the novel Long Division, the essay collection How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, and the award winning Heavy: An American Memoir. Laymon,… More about Kiese Laymon

    About Alexis Franklin

    Alexis Franklin is a self-taught digital artist based in Dallas, Texas, whose clients include TIME magazine, Apple, Sports Illustrated, O magazine, and acclaimed New York Times bestselling authors. Drawing inspiration from classical oil paintings, she infuses her artistry with their… More about Alexis Franklin

    About Kiese Laymon

    Kiese Laymon is a Black Southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. He is the author of the novel Long Division, the essay collection How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, and the award winning Heavy: An American Memoir. Laymon,… More about Kiese Laymon

    About Alexis Franklin

    Alexis Franklin is a self-taught digital artist based in Dallas, Texas, whose clients include TIME magazine, Apple, Sports Illustrated, O magazine, and acclaimed New York Times bestselling authors. Drawing inspiration from classical oil paintings, she infuses her artistry with their… More about Alexis Franklin

    About Kiese Laymon

    Kiese Laymon is a Black Southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. He is the author of the novel Long Division, the essay collection How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, and the award winning Heavy: An American Memoir. Laymon,… More about Kiese Laymon

    Product Details

    Category: Children’s Picture Books

    Hardcover | $18.99
    Published by Kokila
    Apr 01, 2025 | 32 Pages | 10 x 10 | 5-9 years | ISBN 9780593405567

    Category: Children’s Picture Books

    Ebook | $10.99
    Published by Kokila
    Apr 01, 2025 | 32 Pages | 5-9 years | ISBN 9780593405574

    Category: Children’s Books | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $5.00
    Published by Listening Library
    Apr 01, 2025 | 8 Minutes | 5-9 years | ISBN 9780593683668

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    Praise for City Summer, Country Summer by Kiese Laymon; illustrated by Alexis Franklin:

    ★ “A heartfelt, elegantly wrought, and triumphant tribute to Black boy kinship. On the sunny porches of their grandmothers’ neighboring houses and in the cool shadows of the surrounding woods, hesitation becomes tenderness, anxiety becomes laughter, and difference becomes safeness. Franklin’s digital paintings set realistic depictions of Black boys within the hazy fantasy of summer, emphasizing evocative facial expressions and using spreads filled with natural, liminal spaces to insulate their growing bond.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review


    Laymon’s text is lyrical and specific…Franklin’s digital illustrations…clearly centers each emotion the boys experience…deeply moving…reveling as it does in the tender bonds of Black boy friendship. — The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

         An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook