Three Pieces of Broken Glass

Written by Emily Barth Eisler
Illustrated by Vesper Stamper
(Abrams, Spring 2026)

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From award-winning creators Emily Barth Isler and Vesper Stamper, this luminous and moving story shows what it means to see the world in a hopeful light, even when it is broken.

Three pieces of broken glass sit on Grandma Inge’s windowsill.

Even though they are small, sharp, and jagged, the light shines through them, casting beautiful rainbows on the wall.

When Inge’s great-granddaughter asks why Inge has kept these shards, she learns decades-old stories from her great-grandmother’s life—from the joy of glass breaking at her wedding to harrowing reminders of smashed windows during Kristallnacht. And she comes to understand why we hold onto our memories both happy and sad.

Evocative and soul-stirring, and with incandescent illustrations by Vesper Stamper, Three Pieces of Broken Glass—based on the personal history of author Emily Barth Isler—explores how we must seek to find beauty and strength in even the darkest, most broken times.