Navigate Your Stars
4.6
-
264 ratings
A revelatory, uplifting, and gorgeously illustrated meditation on dedication, hard work, and the power of perseverance from the beloved, New York Times bestselling, and two-time National Book Award–winning Jesmyn Ward.
For Tulane University’s 2018 commencement, Jesmyn Ward delivered a stirring speech about the value of hard work and the importance of respect for oneself and others. Speaking about the challenges she and her family overcame, Ward inspired everyone in the audience with her meditation on tenacity in the face of hardship. Ward’s moving words will inspire readers as they prepare for the next chapter in their lives, whether, like Ward, they are the first in their families to graduate from college or are preceded by generations, or whether they are embarking on a different kind of journey later in life.
Beautifully illustrated in full color by Gina Triplett, this gorgeous and profound book will charm a generation of students—and their parents. Ward’s inimitable voice shines through as she shares her experience as a Southern black woman and addresses the themes of grit, adversity, and the importance of family bonds. Navigate Your Stars is a perfect gift for anyone in need of inspiration from the author of Salvage the Bones,Men We Reaped, and Sing, Unburied, Sing.
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Audiobook
$0.00
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Hardcover
$14.49
Audio CD
$12.99
Ships from
Amazon.com
Payment
Secure transaction
ISBN-10
1982131322
ISBN-13
978-1982131326
Print length
64 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Scribner
Publication date
April 06, 2020
Dimensions
5 x 0.4 x 7 inches
Item weight
6.4 ounces
Product details
ASIN :
B07TGF7MKD
File size :
29478 KB
Text-to-speech :
Not Enabled
Enhanced typesetting :
Not Enabled
X-Ray :
Not Enabled
Word wise :
Not Enabled
Editorial Reviews
“Ward’s text mixes moving personal anecdotes with words of inspiration... [an] exhilarating little volume.” —BookPage
About the authors
Jesmyn Ward
Jesmyn Ward received her MFA from the University of Michigan and has received the MacArthur Genius Grant, a Stegner Fellowship, a John and Renee Grisham Writers Residency, and the Strauss Living Prize. She is the winner of two National Book Awards for Fiction for Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017) and Salvage the Bones (2011). She is also the author of the novel Where the Line Bleeds and the memoir Men We Reaped, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize and the Media for a Just Society Award. She is currently an associate professor of creative writing at Tulane University and lives in Mississippi.
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Reviews
Customer reviews
4.6 out of 5
264 global ratings
James Hunt
5
Lovely Book
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2020
Verified Purchase
Gave this to my Granddaughter for middle school graduation. I love it.
2 people found this helpful
DG_Reads
5
Beautiful book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2020
Thank you to Scribner for the advanced copy of NAVIGATE YOUR STARS by Jesmyn Ward!
NAVIGATE YOUR STARS uses the Tulane University 2018 commencement speech given Jesmyn Ward and brings it together with illustrations by Gina Triplett to deliver a powerful message. The speech is part memoir and part inspiration, delving into the author’s history and that of her family. She encourages graduates to recognize that a degree is not an automatic ticket to success, but that each person must find their own path through hard work and opportunity.
I really enjoyed this little book and certainly its message about overcoming difficulties is especially poignant at the moment. Though our backgrounds are very different, there was much in Ward’s history that resonated with me. College was a given for me growing up, it was what one did to get ahead in life. Like me, Ward graduated college with a degree in English and had a bit of time where she wasn’t sure what came next.
Jesmyn Ward is the author of many books that I have really loved and her voice rings through in this speech. The illustrations are beautiful and capture the mood of Ward’s story, from times of hardship and grief to the triumph of finding her path.
I can see this as a wonderful graduation gift for those completing their education. As I was reading it, I especially had those in mind who are having the least normal of senior years right now that I could imagine!
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2 people found this helpful
L. Brooks
5
Encouraging, insightful, heartfelt
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2020
Verified Purchase
Loved this little book. I bought it to give as a graduation present and ended up ordering more for gift giving
3 people found this helpful
James Carter
5
make what you will
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2024
When someone speaks their truth it’s for you to find what will resonate and guide your own path. There’s a wealth of hard learned lessons here for your consideration.
ACustomer
5
The perfect gift for graduation!
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2020
Verified Purchase
I love Jesmyn's novels and stumbled across this in audio, read by the author and was blown away. So powerful. Then to find this gorgeous giftable hardcopy with amazing interior design/graphics was pure joy.
2 people found this helpful
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