AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

Learn about the inspiring life and career of professional football player and activist Colin Kaepernick in the new Who HQ Now format featuring newsmakers and trending topics.

On August 14, 2016, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began a protest when he refused to stand for the national anthem. He wanted…

Take a walk through Harlem’s Sugar Hill and meet all the amazing people who made this neighborhood legendary.

With upbeat rhyming, read-aloud text, Sugar Hill celebrates the Harlem neighborhood that successful African Americans first called home during the 1920s. Children raised in Sugar Hill not only looked up to these achievers but also experienced art…

Margot Lee Shettterly (A) 

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Biography / Science – Aerospace Engineer – 2015) 

This inspiring biography tells the story of Katherine Johnson, an African American mathematician. An inspiring figure in the history of STEM, she eventually worked on the mission to send a man to the moon.  Her story…

In this stirring picture book about social justice activism and the power of introverts, a quiet girl’s artwork makes a big impression at a protest rally.

Newbery Honor winner Marilyn Nelson and fine artist Philemona Williamson have come together to create this lyrical, impactful story of how every child,…

Nikki Grimes (A) and E. B. Lewis (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Aviation Pioneer – 2002)

Learn how a young African-American woman living in an era of segregation achieved her dream of flying. When the Wright brothers took their historic flight, 11-year-old Bessie Coleman vowed to become…

Isabel Wilkerson ( A)

List Price: $32.00 (Hardcover –  America’s Hidden Caste System – 2020)

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • “An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.”—Dwight Garner, The New York…

Ilyasha Shabazz (A) and AG Ford (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – African American Leader / Civil Rights Era – 2014)

Malcolm X grew to be one of America’s most influential figures. But first, he was a boy named Malcolm Little. Written by his daughter, this inspiring picture book biography celebrates a vision…

Discover how a young girl who loved to read and write became a voting rights activist, a candidate for governor of Georgia, and an author.

Presenting Who HQ Now: an exciting addition to the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Who Was? series!

Stacey Abrams began her career in politics at the age of seventeen…

Jim Gigliotti (A), Stephen Marchesi (ILT), Nancy Harrison (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Scientist – 2015)

Born in 1860s Missouri, nobody expected George Washington Carver to succeed. Slaves were not allowed to be educated. After the Civil War, Carver enrolled in classes and proved to be a star student. He…

Heather Henson (A) and Bryan Collier ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Legendary Cave Explorer and Slave -2016)

Grab your lantern and follow the remarkable and world-famous Mammoth Cave explorer—and slave—Stephen Bishop as he guides you through the world’s largest cave system in this remarkable homage to the resilience of human nature.

Welcome…

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Jesse Owens, the great track and field star.

The youngest of ten children, Jesse grew up working in the cotton fields of Alabama. Discovered by his high school track and field coach, Jesse quickly rose to…

Jacqueline Woodson (A) Hudson Talbott (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Family History / Slavery to Freedom – 2005)

Soonies great-grandma was just seven years old when she was sold to a big plantation without her ma and pa, and with only some fabric and needles to call her own. She…

Yona Zeldis McDonough (A) and Jim Eldridge (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Biography / Evangelist / Feminist – 2015)

Almost 100 years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat, Sojourner Truth was mistreated by a streetcar conductor. She took him to court–and won! Before she was Sojourner Truth, she…

Carole Boston Weatherford (A) and R. Gregory Christie (ILT)  

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – African American History / New Orleans / Congo Square – 2016)

This poetic, nonfiction story about a little-known piece of African American history captures a human’s capacity to find hope and joy in difficult circumstances and demonstrates how…

The life of civil rights icon Angela Davis is illuminated in an extraordinary picture book biography. Booklist praised this profound exploration of American history, activism, the civil rights movement, and the power of the people as a one that “should be part of all social studies curricula.” For fans of Maya’s Song, Nina, and <span class="a-text-bold…

Ann Turner (A) and James Ransome (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Abolitionist / Women’s Rights Activist / Evangelists – 2015)

Here is the remarkable true story of how former slave Isabella Baumfree transformed herself into the preacher and orator Sojourner Truth, as told by acclaimed author Ann Turner and award-winning…

Justin Simien (A) and Ian O’ Phelan (ILT)

List Price: $18.99  (Hardcover – Race Relations / Life On A White College Campus – 2014)

“A Guide to Inter-Racial Harmony in Post-Racial America”

In the satirical tradition of the New York Times bestseller Stuff White People Like comes this witty companion book to the…

Barry Dennenberg (A)

List Price: $12.99 (Paperback – Biography / Sports / Boxing Champion – 2014)

The impressive life story of Muhammad Ali is interwoven with vital moments in American history in this visually stunning, full-color biography.

The story of famed boxing champion Muhammad Ali is more appealing and accessible than ever before…

Kadir Nelson (A) and Ntozake Shange (ILT)

List Price $17.99 (Hardcover – African American History / Civil Rights Leader – 2009)

Walking many miles to school in the dusty road, young Coretta knew, too well, the unfairness of life in the segregated south.

A yearning for equality began to grow.
Together with Martin…

 Harriet A. Washington (A)

List Price: $17.95 (Paperback – Reveals Medical Mistreatment of Black People – 2007)

The first full history of Black America’s shocking mistreatment as unwilling and unwitting experimental subjects at the hands of the medical establishment. No one concerned with issues of public health and racial justice can afford not to read…

Andrea Davis Pinkney (A) and Brian Pinkney (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / African American Leader / Abolitionist and Feminist – 2009)

A dynamic portrait of the freed slave whose physical and spiritual strength made her one of America most powerful abolitionist voices.

Synopsis:She was big. She was black. She was…

Nico Medina (A) Who HQ and Gregory Copeland (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Legendary Singer – 2018)

There is only one QUEEN OF SOUL!  Discover why Aretha Franklin garners so much R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Aretha Franklin is a musical and cultural icon who created an amazing legacy spanning six decades! Born in…

Tony Medina (A) and Stacey Robinson (ILT) and John Jennings (ILT)

List Price: $18.95 (Paperback – Teen / Black Lives Matter / Police Brutality – 2017)

Named to the 2018 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens list (Young Adult Library Services Association) and the New York Public Library’s list of Best Books…

Contagiously upbeat, joyful, and positive . . . [C]herish this book.” –Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

“A must-have for any library that is in need of books with positive representation for and about black children, as there is no other alphabet book quite like this one.” –School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

“A necessary, uplifting volume that…

Jonah Winter (A) and Shane Evans (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover / African American History / Civil Rights / 2015)

An elderly African American woman, en route to vote, remembers her family’s tumultuous voting history in this picture book publishing in time for the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

…

Discover the life of Kamala Harris―a story for kids ages 6 to 9 about fighting for justice. The new edition, updated to reflect her vice presidency and 2024 presidential run!

Kamala Harris is the first woman, Black American, and South Asian American to become vice president of the United States―and now she is running…

Laban Carrick Hill (A) and Theodore Taylor III (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover –  Biography / Music / Hip Hop Era – 2013)

Before there was hip hop, there was DJ Kool Herc.

On a hot day at the end of summer in 1973 Cindy Campbell threw a back-to-school party at a park…

Denise Dennis (A) and Susan Willmarth (ILT)

List Price: $15.99 (Paperback- Graphic Novel / African American History – 2007)

This book covers a rich history often ignored. It chronicles the struggle from capture and enslavement in Africa right up through Civil Rights and the different kind of struggle Blacks face today. (192 pgs)

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Herb Boyd (A) and Shey Wolvek Pfister (ILT)

List Price: $14.95. (Paperback – Graphic Novel / African History – 2007)

African History For Beginners explores the rich history of this continent of contrasts. Discover the glory of the Pharaohs and Towers of Zimbabwe, the cosmology of the Yoruba, the courage of the Masai…

John Lewis (A), Andrew Aydin (A) and Nate Powell (ILT)

List Price: $19.95 (Paperback – Graphic Novel / Biography / African American History / Civil Rights Era – 2015) 

Don’t miss the long-awaited sequel to the #1 bestseller March: Book One!

“With March, Congressman John Lewis takes us behind the scenes of some…

Activists Colin Kaepernick and Nessa Diab present a poetic anthem to your brilliance, your beauty, your very existence.

Every child has the right to be free. … the right to reach … the right to dream!

This lyrical affirmation of what freedom truly means celebrates the principles of Colin and Nessa’s Know Your Rights…

Lynda Jones (A) and Ron Garnett (ILT) 

Carole Boston Weatherford (A) and Ekua Holmes (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Poetry / Freedom Fighter – 2015)

A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book
A 2016 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
A 2016 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award Winner

Stirring poems and stunning collage illustrations combine to celebrate the life…

Audrey Vernick (A) and Don Tate (ILT) Harper Collins

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Baseball – 2010)

Effa always loved baseball. As a young woman, she would go to Yankee Stadium just to see Babe Ruth’s mighty swing. But she never dreamed she…

Ben Carson (A)

List Price: $7.95 (Paperback – Biography / Medicine / Brain Surgeon – 2014)

From Inner-City Nobody to Brilliant Neurosurgeon

When Ben Carson was in school, his classmates called him the class dummy. Many—including Ben himself—doubted that he would ever amount to anything. But his mother never let him quit.…

Rhoda Blumberg (A) and Jaime J. Holmberg (A)

List Price: $25.99 (Hardcover – African American History – 2006) Out of Print

York’s Adventures with Lewis and Clark: An African-American’s Part in the Great Expedition

Did you know that an African-American man participated in Lewis and Clarks famous expedition? Working alongside free…

James Buckley Jr. (A) Who HQ (A) and Jake Murray (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Black Leader/ Business / Education  – 2020)

Learn how a slave became one of the leading influential African American intellectuals of the late 19th century.

African American educator, author, speaker, and advisor to presidents of the…

Floyd Cooper (A and ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Sports / Basketball – 2004)

What was Michael Jordan like as a boy? You might be surprised that the greatest professional basketball player ever wasn’t even the best player in his own family!

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Kari Cornell (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Biography / Science – Urban Biologist- 2016 )

After earning degrees studying animal behavior, Danielle Lee wanted to share her love of science with young people. Through urban outreach she has brought budding scientists into professional labs. She’s walked them through the steps of the…

Charles R. Smith Jr. (A) and Shane W. Evans (ILT)

List Price: $20.99 (Hardcover – History / 28 Important Days In History – 2015) 

Each day features a different influential figure in African-American history, from Crispus Attucks, the first man shot in the Boston Massacre, sparking the Revolutionary War, to Madame C. J. Walker, who…

The third picture book adaptation of one of Bob Marley’s beloved songs that has a timely message for children: To counter injustice, lift others up with kindness and courage.
A heartfelt and meaningful book that brings Bob Marley’s music to life in a new way: As a young girl goes on with her…

Wade Hudson (A) and Cheryl Willis Hudson (A)

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – 30 Celebrated Voices Advise Today’s Youth – 2020)

This powerful collection of short stories, essays, and poems is a call-to-action that invites all families to be anti-racist and advocates for change.

Thirty diverse, award-winning authors and…