AGES 9-12 / GRADES 4-5

Yona Zeblis McDonough (A) and John OBrien (ILT) and Nancy Harrison (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Musician / Trumpet – 2004)

If not for a stint in reform school, young Louis Armstrong might never have become a…

William Loren Katz (A)

List Price: $14.99 (Paperback – Native American /African American History – 1997)The compelling teen nonfiction account of how two heritages united in their struggle to gain freedom and equality in America.

The first paths to freedom taken…

At Michelle Obama Academy, International Day is a time to celebrate culture, family, and food. But when Kyndle is asked to share his family’s dish, he draws a blank. His beloved salmon croquettes and collard greens don’t seem to fit neatly into any country’s cuisine—and that question sparks a journey of discovery.

Determined to uncover…

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…

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

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Adventure / Space Mission – 2011)

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…

Kelly J. Baptist (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – An Uplifting Affirming Story – 2021)

A coming-of-age tale about a boy who proves that with superhero courage–and a few great sidekicks–you can take on even the toughest of odds. Adapted from a story that first appeared in Flying Lessons & Other Stories…

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…

Trevor Noah (A) 

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Entertainer / BiRacial / Memoire – 2020)

The host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah, shares his personal story and the injustices he faced while growing up half black, half white in South Africa under and after apartheid in this New York Times bestselling young readers’ adaptation of…

In this middle grade solar punk novel set in an alternate Egyptian universe, twelve-year-old Ash must compete to become the Shadow–and protector–of the prince.

FIVE DEADLY TESTS, ONLY ONE SHADOW PRINCE

Growing up as an orphan in a remote village in the Egyptian desert, Ash’s life is pretty…

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…

Coe Booth (A) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Abuse and Generational Family Secrets – 2022)

From the groundbreaking author of Tyrell, an astonishing middle-grade novel about a girl overcoming the secrets and abuse of her past.

This should be an exciting time for Caprice. She has…

Jamia Wilson (A) and Andrea Pippins (ILT) 

List Price:  $23.99 (Hardcover –  Biographies / Black Movers and Shakers –  2019)

“…to be revisited again and again…The candy-colored pages and straightforward stories are hard to resist…” –The New York Times

“…diverse collection of iconic figures…vibrantly illustrated…beautifully crafted volume…” –Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“…exuberant…exquisitely designed…a…

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…

Kofi A. Annan (A), Dudley J. Thompson (A) and Barrington A. Watson (ILT)

List Price: $15.00 (Paperback – Biographies / Pan Africanists – 2005)

This book celebrates the lives of seventeen Black leaders who have made outstanding contributions to the liberation, unity and solidarity of Africa and African peoples throughout…

Walter Dean Myers (A)

List Price : $7.99 (Paperback – Teen Fiction / Western Adventure / Friendship and Revenge – 1994)

Fifteen-year-old Artemis journeys from New York City to Tombstone, Arizona, in 1882, to avenge the murder of his uncle.

Ruby Bridges (A)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Civil Rights Activist – 2020)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges—who, at the age of six, was the first black child to integrate into an all-white elementary school in New Orleans—inspires readers and calls for action in this moving…

G. Neri (A) and Randy Duburke (ILT)

List Price: $16.95 (Paperback –   South Side Gang Member  – 2010)

Eleven-year old Roger is trying to make sense of his classmate Robert “Yummy” Sandifer’s death, but first he has to make sense of Yummy’s life. Yummy could be as tough as a pit bull…

Linda Williams Jackson (A)

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – Social Justice/ Decision Making – 2018)

After the murder of Emmett Till, thirteen-year-old Rose is struggling with her decision to stay in Mississippi. Torn between the opinions of Shorty, a boy who wants to meet violence with violence, and Hallelujah, her best friend who…

Jayson Reynold (A), Ibram X. Kendi (A)Sonja Sheryll-Paul (Adapter) & Rachelle Baker (ILT)

List Price: $15.99 (Hardcover – Racism  and Antiracism for Youth – 2021)

This chapter book edition of the groundbreaking #1 bestseller by luminaries Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds is an essential introduction to the history of racism and antiracism in America<br…

Discover the inspiring true story of extraordinary professional cyclist Major Taylor in this nonfiction picture book from Coretta Scott King Award winners Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome.

In 1891, Marshall Taylor could ride his bike forward, backward, even perched on the handlebars. When his stunts landed him a job at the famous…

James Pusch Comney (A)

List Price $15.99: (Paperback – African Kings and Queens – 2018)

For young children between the ages of 7 – 10, this beautifully illustrated book captures a panorama of African history through the eyes of ten illustrious monarchs. It spans 3000 years, from the Nile Valley across the whole of the…

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…

Christopher Paul Curtis (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Fiction / Depression Era / Family – 2013)

We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful” is the motto of Deza Malone’s family. Deza is the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, singled out by teachers for a…

Chrystal D. Giles. (A)  

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Community and Gentrification – 2021)

“This book made me want to step aside, hand over the mic, and listen to Wes. A must-read.” –Mariama J. Lockington, author of For Black Girls Like Me

Brand-new kicks, ripped denim…

Walter Dean Myers (A)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Leader / African American / Politics – 1994)

A Coretta Scott King Honor Book and an ALA Notable Children Book.

In this highly praised, award-winning biography, Walter Dean Myers portrays Malcolm X as prophet, dealer, convict, troublemaker, revolutionary, and…

Zetta Elliott (A) and Shadra Strickland (ILT)

List Price: $13.95 (Paperback – Fiction / Grief and Loss / Mentoring / Art / Hope)

An urban African-American boy transcends the loss of loved ones with help from a caring elderly mentor and from the sustaining ability to create art. Bird looks back and remembers…

Walter Dean Myers (A), Leonard Jenkins (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Biography / Leader / Revolutionary – 2003)

“I believe in recognizing every human being
as a human being, neither white, black, brown, nor red.”

This was just one of the messages that Malcolm X brought to people of…

Ty Allen Jackson (A) & Nicole Miles (ILT)

List price: $14.99 (Paperback – Money Self Help & Motivation – 2021)

Saving money for something? Then this is the book for you! Danny Dollar, the “King of Cha-Ching,” will teach you to make money, save money, and spend money wisely—and to dream big! Maybe you get…

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

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Adventure / Shadows of Caesar Creek – 2011)

After their counselors told them a story about spirits in the woods near the campsite, Ziggy and his friends get lost in that very place, known as Caesar’s Creek. When strange…

Kekla Magoon (A)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Friendship Story – 2018) 

★ An Amazon Best Children’s Book of the Year selection
Meet Caleb and Bobby Gene, two brothers embarking on a madcap, heartwarming, one-thing-leads-to-another adventure, for fans of As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds, Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina, Front Desk by Kelly Yang, and One…

Discover the incredible history and diversity of the…

Virginia Hamilton (A) and Leo and Dianne Dillon (ILT)

List Price: $25.99 (Hardcover – African American Folktales / Fairy Tales – 1995)

Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner

In the tradition of Hamilton’s The People Could Fly and In the Beginning, a dramatic new collection of 25 compelling tales…

Mildred D. Taylor (A)

List Price: $9.99. (Paperback – Logan Family Saga #2 – 1976)

With the land to hold them together, nothing can tear the Logans apart. Why is the land so important to Cassie family? It takes the events of one turbulent year – the year of the night…

Brandy Colbert (A)

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – Mystery Journals / Friendship – 2021)

From award-winning YA author Brandy Colbert comes a debut middle-grade novel about the only two Black girls in town who discover a collection of hidden journals revealing shocking secrets of the past.

Beach-loving surfer Alberta has…

Eve Bunting (A) and Chris K. Soentpiet (ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Japanese Family / Internment Memories – 2009)

Laura Iwasaki and her family are paying what may be their last visit to Laura’s grandfather’s grave. The grave is at Manzanar, where thousands of Americans of Japanese heritage were interned during…

The first book in a fast-paced, witty, and bighearted debut Afrofantasy trilogy about a twelve-year-old apprenticing in the kitchens at the prestigious Academy of Shamans who must ally with a snarky goddess and a knife-wielding warrior to save her kingdom.

Perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers and The…

Mildred D.Taylor (A)

List Price: $10.99 (Paperback – Logan Family Saga #3 – 2016)

A stunning repackage of a companion to Mildred D. Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, with cover art by two-time Caldecott Honor Award winner Kadir Nelson!

It is a frightening and turbulent time for the Logan family. First, their friend…

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…

Jason Reynolds (A) 

List Price: $7.99  (Paperback  – Track & Field, Friendships and Winning – 2017)

A National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature.
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his…

Tonya Bolden (A) 

List Price: $10.99 (Paperback – Young Girl Seeking A Better Life – 2020)

As a young black woman in 1880s Savannah, Essie’s dreams are very much at odds with her reality. Ashamed of her beginnings, but unwilling to accept the path currently available to her, Essie is trapped between…

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…

Incredible stories of Black men who changed the course of science—for kids ages 8 to 12

All throughout history, Black men have made important contributions to scientific discovery. This collection of biographies for kids explores 15 of these intelligent men and the extraordinary scientific accomplishments they achieved—even when they faced huge challenges. You’ll…

Scott Reynolds Nelson (A) and Marc Aronson (A)

List Price: $18.95 (Hardcover – History / John Henry / Folk Hero – 2007)

Who was the real John Henry? The story of this legendary African-American figure has come down to us in so many songs, stories, and plays, that the facts are often lost.…

Martha Freeman (A) and Katy Wu (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover –  Bios of 20 Female Scientists – 2020)

“An inspiring look at women who realized curiosity plus tenacity equals success.” —Kirkus Reviews
“[A] captivating compendium.” —Publishers Weekly

Discover the histories of twenty incredible female scientists in this inspiring biography…

Clock Striker, now in graphic novel format, follows Shonen manga’s first Black female lead hero, Cast, in her quest to become a member of the SMITHS, the legendary warrior engineers.

*2024 YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens*
*2023 Texas Library Association Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List Winner – Starred…

Praised as “a story of perserverance and love” in a starred review by Kirkus, here is a story about keeping dreams alive.

Onyx lives with his mother, who is showing signs of early-onset dementia. He doesn’t want to bring attention to his home — if Child Protective Services finds out, they’ll put him into foster…

Tiki Barber (A), Ronde Barber (A), Paul Mantell (Contri)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Series / Sports/ Football – 2014)

The Hidden Valley Eagles have high hopes for the football championship in this novel from NFL superstars and bestselling authors Tiki and Ronde Barber.

Tiki and Ronde are ready to end junior high…

Unlock your inner hero!

Jarell has accepted his destiny as the savior of Ulfrika. But when he’s summoned back to the kingdom through the magical portal in his cousin’s barbershop, he finds it in even greater danger than when he left. A powerful god has put the inhabitants of Ulfrika in peril, and the only…

Jewell Parker Rhodes (A)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Police Shooting / 12 Years Old – 2018)

A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a police officer, drawing connections through history, from award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes.

Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better.

Twelve-year-old…