So, here's a shotgun blast of Shorties to riddle your shorts for you. Name a topic, and it's probably alluded to (in passing) somewhere in this collection of short verse. There's a thing in a pit, an old Indian, women, social commentary, cats, Shorties themselves and, of course, a glorious enlightenment, all for the price of pulling a string with no strings attached. Give it a tug.

A collaborative project by Little Giants | Giant Shorties, MiniLicious & David Park. Coloring book fun for the little dunns.

The Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award-winning picture book biography from Grammy-nominated musician Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and celebrated illustrator Bryan Collier “Who’s that playing out there?” Bo Diddley asked the New Orleans crowd. It was a small child who’d been nicknamed “Trombone Shorty” because his trombone was twice as large as he was. Trombone Shorty was lifted in the air and carried through the audience until he reached the stage with Bo Diddley. He has been onstage ever since. Hailing from the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, where music always floated in the air, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews didn’t always have the money to buy an instrument, but he did have the dream to play music. This is the story of how he made his dream take flight. Today, Troy Andrews is a Grammy-nominated musician who tours the world with his band, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. He continues to inspire hope for the next generation in New Orleans and for music lovers everywhere.

“A Hollywood hit….Taut, inimitable prose and characters who could have only sprung from the mind of Elmore Leonard.” —Detroit News The Chicago Tribune has dubbed Elmore Leonard, “the coolest, hottest writer in America.” In the same league as the legendary great ones—John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain—the “King Daddy of crime writers” (Seattle Times) demonstrates his remarkable mastery with Get Shorty, one of the most adored of his forty-plus novels. The basis of the hit movie starring John Travolta and Danny DeVito, Get Shorty chronicles the over-the-top, sometimes violent Hollywood misadventures of a Florida mob loan shark who chases a deadbeat client all the way to Tinseltown and decides to stick around and make movies. Get Shorty’s shylock protagonist, Chili Palmer, is a truly inspired creation—as memorable as another unforgettable Leonard hero, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of the hit TV series Justified—and readers will relish his moves and countermoves in this electrifying, funny, bullet train-paced winner from “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” (New York Times Book Review)

A graphic novel based on the true story of Robert Yummy Sandifer, an 11-year old African American gang member from Chicago who shot a young girl and was then shot by his own gang members.

No one expects a girl like Seven to snag a baller like Josiah—but love has a way of taking unexpected turns in this YA urban romance. Seven McKnight can rock Apple Bottoms jeans and stilettos like nobody's business, but she's got her share of issues. It's not easy being the thickest girl in her school’s popular clique, or hiding the fact that her twin sister is playing wifey to the neighborhood thug. To make things worse, she’s feelin' the school's hottest baller, Josiah—the guy who happens to be dating her high maintenance girlfriend, Deeyah. But when Deeyah decides to play Josiah and his worst enemy against each other, she'll have everyone facing off in the worst way. Once again, it’s up to Seven to try and set things right. But she might just set herself up for a major heartbreak in the process. A YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

At every stage of education, sexual harassment is common, and often considered a rite of passage for young people. It’s not unusual for a girl to hear “Hey, Shorty!” on a daily basis, as she walks down the hall or comes into the school yard, followed by a sexual innuendo, insult, come-on, or assault. But when teenagers are asked whether they experience this in their own lives, most of them say it’s not happening. Girls for Gender Equity, a nonprofit organization based in New York City, has developed a model for teens to teach one another about sexual harassment. How do you define it? How does it affect your self-esteem? What do you do in response? Why is it so normalized in schools, and how can we as a society begin to address these causes? Geared toward students, parents, teachers, policy makers, and activists, this book is an excellent model for building awareness and creating change in any community.