One of the New York Public Library’s 10 Best Children’s Books of 2022

2023 Winner, Paterson Prize for Books for Young People

2023 Finalist, Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Children's Picture Book #OwnVoices

2023 Winner, Best Original Concept, Independent Publisher Book Awards

Wayne State University Press, September 2022

Six-year-old Jax can’t wait to leave Detroit and spend a week with his grandparents in coastal Virginia. But as he dreams of the adventures he’ll have, his PopPop has other ideas. For the first time, Jax goes crabbing, shucks corn, and counts fireflies, continuing the beloved traditions that his PopPop enjoyed as a boy.

On the surface, Nothing Special is a buddy story that spans generations. But it's also a love letter to the black family connections that survived the Great Migration. Between 1910 and 1970, more than six million African Americans left the Jim Crow South, but they never forgot the culture, the land, and the family they left behind. In the decades since, it’s been a summer ritual for many black families to reverse the journey and return South for a nostalgic visit to their homeplaces. Nothing Special celebrates the enduring connection between the generations who stayed in the South, and the millions of emigrants for whom it will always be home.

PRAISE FOR Nothing Special

“A heartfelt ode to the simple, forgotten pleasures of ‘going home’— to old places, bygone times, and circles of love. Sloane’s rich and tactile illustrations perfectly complement Cooper’s warm and affecting prose.” —Holman Wang, children’s author and fiber artist

“This heart-warming and gently paced story is a perfect read aloud, sure to be a bedtime (or any calm-down time) favorite. Kids will feel welcomed along on Jax’s visit to his grandparents' Virginia home, and will marvel at the tactile crafted art, which literally stitches together the theme that there's just ‘something special’ in taking the time for homemade fun.” —Meg Lemke, MUTHA Magazine

“Desiree Cooper’s Nothing Special reminds us that the simplest things in life are the ones that mean the most, especially when accompanied by love. Bec Sloane’s exuberant illustrations evoke a vivid patchwork dream quilt. A treasure!”

—Sharon Dennis Wyeth, author of Something Beautiful

 “Contrary to its title, Nothing Special is both a loving reminder of a family’s cultural roots and the simple pleasures of life. Wrapped in a story of multiple generations coming together, it’s a warm love letter to the grandparent/grandchild relationship.”

—Dan Yaccarino, children's book author and illustrator

A Note from Author Desiree Cooper

A Note From Author Desiree Cooper

I’m an Air Force brat who was born in Japan. After traveling the world most of my childhood, I spent my adult years raising a family in Detroit. There, I became a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, an award-winning author, and an activist for women’s rights.

Despite living in Michigan for 30 years, “home” always remained the birthplace of both of my parents--a little town in the piney woods of central Virginia. Like so many other black families in the North, I took my children on the pilgrimage back South every summer to remain connected to our Southern roots. Nothing Special is an homage to that cherished tradition of returning home.  Six years ago, I moved back to Virginia permanently to help my parents through their final years. I now live near Virginia Beach in the family home, where I’m raising my three grandchildren. 

 A Note from Illustrator Bec Sloane

I’ve always gravitated toward the old ways, finding kinship in traditions like storytelling and sewing by hand. Naturally, I found there was just one way to bring Nothing Special to life. As a homespun tale of finding connection across generations, it called for that human touch. Through my signature textiles, each with tales of their own, I invite readers to share in that connection.

Over the years, I have employed my craft in film and theatre, children’s media, education and animation, reintroducing audiences to the textures and patterns of shared familiarities: Reimagined and thoroughly dissected, an old tote bag gives us thousands of leaves for a magnolia tree. A sock gives us its blossoms. Piece by piece, I gathered the materials to build the elements of Jax’s world, each intentionally chosen to play its part. Together, they reveal the evolving narratives among ordinary things. At a certain angle, you might even call them nothing special.