AGES 9-12 / GRADES 4-5

New York Times bestselling author Jerry Craft is back with the newest adventures of Jordan, Drew, Liam, and all the characters that fans first met in New Kid, winner of the Newbery Award and the Coretta Scott King Author Award!

In this…

Dr. Mae Jemison (A)

A Collection of Moments in Dr. Mae’s Life

List Price: $23.95 (Hardcover – First Black Astronaut- 2021)

“The writing sings” says Publisher’s Weekly in this “inspiring autobiography.” Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, is truly a modern hero with a remarkable, inspirational story to tell.

…

Kadir Nelson (A and ILT)

List Price: $10.99 (Paperback – African American History / Colonial Days to Civil Rights Movement – 2011)

Kadir Nelson’s Heart and Soul—the winner of numerous awards, including the 2012 Coretta Scott King Author Award and Illustrator Honor, and the recipient of five starred reviews—now features eight pages of discussion…

Christopher Paul Curtis (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Fiction / Foster Child – 2004)

It 1936 Flint, Michigan during the Depression. Times may be hard, and 10-year-old Bud may be an orphan, but Bud got a few things going for him: 1. He has his own suitcase full…

Justin A. Reynolds (A) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Doomsday Story – 2022) 

A hilarious new middle-grade from Justin A. Reynolds that asks: What happens when five unsupervised kids face the apocalypse under outrageously silly circumstances? Twelve-year-old Eddie Gordon Holloway has concocted his most genius plan ever to avoid chores . . . especially the…

Ramona T. Nickens (A) and Yvetta Doll Franklin (A) and Tammy Artis (ILT)

List Price: $12.00 (Paperback – Friendship / Communication / Slang vs Standard English – 2012)

A tender naive friendship is challenged when both girls become valedictorian candidates. One young girl emulates street talk and the other articulates Standard…

Eloise Greenfield (A) and Leo and Diane Dillon (ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Poetry – 1986)

Love don’t mean all that kissing
Like on television
Love Means Daddy
Saying keep your mama company till I get back
And me doing it

Sixteen poems tell of love and…

Anne Petry (A)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – History / Biography / Underground Railroad / Escape from Slavery – 1996)

This quintessential middle grade biography of Harriet Tubman now features a cover by NAACP Image Award winner and Caldecott Honor illustrator Kadir Nelson, a foreword by National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds,…

Marne Ventura (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Biography / Science – Astro Physicist and Space Advocate – 2014)                                               

“Have you ever stared into the night sky, full of stars…

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…

Renee Watson (Author)

List Price $16.99 (Hardcover – A Novel About Family And Forgiveness – 2019)

From Newbery Honor- and Coretta Scott King Author Award-winning, New York Timesbestselling author Renée Watson comes a heartwarming and inspiring novel for middle schoolers about finding deep roots and exploring the past, the present, and the places that make…

Cynthia Leitich Smith (EDIT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Anthology of Native American Stories – 2021)

Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride.

Native…

Ellen Labrecque (A), Dede Putra (ILT), Nancy Harrison (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Author / Poet – 2016)

Born in Missouri in 1928, Maya Angelou had a difficult childhood. Jim Crow laws segregated blacks and whites in the South. Her family life was unstable at times. But much like her…

Ann Cameron (A)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Benin / Young Prince / Captured –  2000)

Kidnapped at the age of 11 from his home in Benin, Africa, Olaudah Equiano spent the next 11 years as a slave in England, the U.S., and the West Indies, until he was able to buy…

Meg Belviso (A), Pamela D. Pollack (A) and Stephen Marchesi (ILT)

List Price: $5.57 (Paperback – Biography / South African / Leader – 2014)

As a child he dreamt of changing South Africa; as a man he changed the world. Nelson Mandela spent his life battling apartheid and championing a peaceful revolution. He…

Kimberly Brown Pellum PhD (A) 

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Black Women In Science -2019)

Bold, black women in science―where will their inspiration take you?

Throughout history, black women have blazed trails across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Black Women in Science brings something special to black history books for kids, celebrating incredible black…

Ellen Morgan (A) and Stephen Marchesi (ILT)

List Price: $5.57 (Paperback – Biography / Religious Icon – 2015)

This fascinating addition to the best-selling Who Was…? series does not settle questions of theology. Instead, it presents young readers with a biography that covers what is known historically about Jesus and places in his…

Rachelle Burke (A) 

List Price $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Gymnastics Star -2021)

Simone Biles has been called the greatest gymnast of all time, winning five Olympic and 25 World Champion medals by age 22. Before she wowed the world with her incredible gymnastics skills, Simone was an energetic young girl who dreamed of becoming…

Kwame Mbalia (Editor) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – 17 Voices Sharing Their Joy – 2021)

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • FIVE STARRED REVIEWS

Celebrate the joys of Black boyhood with stories from seventeen bestselling, critically acclaimed Black authors—including Jason Reynolds, Jerry Craft, and Kwame Mbalia!

★ “Pick up Black Boy Joy for a heavy…

Empathy-building tools for kids ages 6 to 9

Help young kids discover how to be kind as they develop their empathy skills and learn to handle difficult social situations. Created by a school psychologist, this top choice in empathy books for kids is full of fun exercises that teach kids how to understand and…

Ilyasah Shabazz (A) and Renee Watson (A)

List Price: $17.56 (Hardcover – Biography / Young Activist – 2018) 

In Detroit, 1945, eleven-year-old Betty’s house doesn’t quite feel like home. She believes her mother loves her, but she can’t shake the feeling that her mother doesn’t want her. Church helps those worries fade, if only for…

A “2020 NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People” Selection

A vibrantly illustrated and compelling collection of profiles about women and men who revolutionized politics, policy, commerce and activism.

You likely know that Barack Obama was the first African American president of the United States. And you…

Linda Williams Jackson (A)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Social Injustice  – 2017)

It’s Mississippi in the summer of 1955, and Rose Lee Carter can’t wait to move north. For now, she’s living with her sharecropper grandparents on a white man’s cotton plantation. Then, one town over, an African American boy, Emmett Till, is…

Sharon M. Draper (A) and Jesse Joshua Watson (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Adventure / Animal Show – 2011)

Ziggy, Rashawn, Jerome, and Rico are excited about watching the heavy machinery at the construction site for a new apartment complex — until a doe is killed by a dump truck,…

 The Manifestor of Prophecy Book 1 

Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of an inventive, hilarious, and suspenseful new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.

It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool—like getting a pet…

Arlisha Norwood (A)

List Price: $14.99 (Paperback – Black Leaders In History  – 2020)

Meet extraordinary black heroes throughout history―biographies for kids ages 8 to 12

You’re invited to meet ancient Egyptian rulers, brilliant scientists, legendary musicians, and civil rights activists―all in the same book! Black Heroes introduces you to 51 black…

The whole world seems to transform during the summer of 1965, when Eden’s cousin from Mississippi comes to visit her in L.A. just as the Watts Riots erupt, in this stirring new novel by Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods.

When Eden’s cousin Winter comes for a visit, it turns out he’s not…

Belinda Rochelle (A)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – African American Poetry and Art – 2000)

This stunning collection pairs twenty poems by distinguished African-American poets with twenty works of art by acclaimed African-American artists, in a way that has never been done before. Poets and artists span…

Andrea Davis Pinkney (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Friendship – 2012)

In a small upstate New York town during the Great Depression, three children–Hibernia, Willie, and Otis–are about to meet.

Hibernia dreams of becoming a famous singer and performing at Harlem’s swanky Savoy Ballroom.
Willie is recovering from a tragedy that prevents…

Nic Stone (A)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Sports / Girl Softball Player – 2021) 

 New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone comes a challenging and heartwarming coming-of-age story about a softball player looking to prove herself on and off the field.

Shenice Lockwood, captain of the Fulton Firebirds, is hyper-focused when she steps up to the…

Varian Johnson (A) 

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Mystery Fortune – 2018)

A Coretta Scott King Author Honor and Boston Globe / Horn Book Honor winner!

“Powerful…. Johnson writes about the long shadows of the past with such ambition that any reader with a taste for mystery will appreciate the puzzle Candice and…

Ibi Zoboi (A)

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – Coming of Age Strory – Loves Science – 2019)

National Book Award-finalist Ibi Zoboi makes her middle-grade debut with a moving story of a girl finding her place in a world that’s changing at warp speed.

Twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace Norfleet has lived with her beloved…

Sharon M. Draper (A) and Jesse Joshua Watson (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Adventure / Lost In The Tunnel – 2011)

Ziggy, Rashawn, Jerome, and Rico — the Black Dinosaurs — are thrilled to discover that their hometown was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Even more exciting, their new…

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…

Nikole Hannah Jones (A) and Renee Watson (A) and Nikkolas Smith (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Retells The Journey of An Enslaved People to the US – 2021)

The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book in verse chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered…

From bestselling, award-winning creators Renée Watson and Bryan Collier comes a stunningly crafted picture book chronicling the life of poet and activist Maya Angelou.

This unforgettable picture book introduces young readers to the life and work of Maya Angelou, whose words have uplifted and inspired generations of readers. The author…

Various Authors and Tom Feelings (EDIT) and ILT)

List Price: $8.99  (Paperback – Poetry / African American – 1999)

Artist Feelings invited poets whom he admired to compose original, short verses for these drawings, with breathtakingly rich and powerful results. Together they created a tribute to African-American creativity, the collection…

Jacqueline Woodson (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Foster Siblings – 2010)

The stunning companion to the National Book Award finalist–from a four-time Newbery Honor winning author

Twelve-year-old Lonnie is finally feeling at home with his foster family. But because he’s living apart from his little sister, Lili, he decides it’s his…

William Kamkwamba (A) and Bryan Mealer (A)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover) – Malawi / Young Inventor – 2014)

The New York Times bestselling memoir of the heroic young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village adapted for young readers. Now available in paperback!

When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba’s tiny village…

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…

Sharon M. Draper (A) Jesse Joshua Watson (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Adventure / Stars on Stage – 2012)

The Clubhouse kids compete for a big prize—and make some creative moves—in this repackaged and talent-filled tale from bestselling author Sharon Draper.

Ziggy, Jerome, Rashawn, and Rico are sure they’re going…

Rita Williams Garcia (A)

List Price: $9.99 ( Paperback – Series Book 1 / Fiction / Missing Parent / Summer Camp / Self Discovery – 2011)

Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and…

Monica Brown (A) and Rafael Lopez (ILT) 

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Musician / Drummer – 2013)

In this vibrant bilingual picture book biography of musician Tito Puente, readers will dance along to the beat of this mambo king’s life. Tito Puente loved banging pots and pans as a child, but what he really…

Doreen Rappaport (A) and Shane W. Evans (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback- African American History / Civil Rights Era – 2006)

In the summer of 1955, Moses Wright braved mortal danger to testify against three white men accused of murdering Emmett Till – a brutal event that helped to spur the…

Michelle Y. Green (A), Kadir Nelson (ILT), Mamie Johnson (Introduction)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Biography / Female / Sports / Negro Leagues / Pitcher – 2004)

Motivated by her love for the game and inspired by the legendary Jackie Robinson, Mamie Johnson is determined to be a professional baseball pitcher.…

Reníe Watson (A)

List Price: $10.99 ( Paperback – Coming of Age / Loss / Family Support / Faith – 2019)

Rediscover Newbery Honor- and Coretta Scott King Author Award-winner Renée Watson’s heart-rending debut, about one girl’s journey to reconnect to joy.

Serenity is good at keeping secrets, and she’s got a whole…

Tonya Bolden (A) and Ansel Pitcairin (ILT)

List Price: $13.99 (Paperback – African American History / Heroes -2005)

This is a stunningly beautiful book consisting of portraits-in pictures and words-of twenty outstanding African-Americans. The individuals range from historical to contemporary figures, such as the dancer Judith Jamison, and represent diverse…

Zona Zeldis McDonough (A) and Nancy Harrison (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Conductor / Underground Railroad – 2002)

Born a slave in Maryland, Harriet Tubman knew first-hand what it meant to be someone’s property; she was whipped by owners and almost killed by an overseer. It was from other field…