AGES 9-12 / GRADES 4-5

Jim Gigliotti (A) and Who HQ (A) and Stephen Marchesi (ILT) 

List Price: $6.50 (Paperback – Biography / Singer – 2018)

Discover more about Stevie Wonder, the music prodigy whose awards include 25 Grammy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Stevie Wonder is one of the most successful singer-songwriter-musicians of our time.…

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…

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…

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

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Teen Fiction / Friendship / Drama – 2006)

Junior Brown, an overprotected three-hundred pound musical prodigy who prone to having fantasies, and Buddy Clark, a loner who lives by his wits…

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…

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…

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…

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…

A moving novel about how a girl’s family and friendships are turned upside down—just as the world is changing in 1970s Los Angeles, for fans of Rita Williams-Garcia and Renée Watson.

Stevie’s life is fluctuating rapidly. She’s starting over in a brand new middle school. Quiet and observant, it’s hard for her to…

C. Taylor-Butler (A) and Patrick Arrasmith (ILT)

List Price: $10.95 (Paperback – SCi Fi Thriller / Ancient Universe – 2016)

Five Friends . . . A Dangerous Game . . and the Truth About The Family Business.

Five friends are in a race against time in this action-adventure story involving ancient tribal artifacts…

James Buckley (A), Ted Hammond (ILT) and Nancy Buckley (ILT)

Mo’ne Davis (A)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Biography / Sports / Baseball – 2015)

Be inspired to reach for your dreams!

In August 2014, Mo’ne Davis became the first female pitcher to win a game in the Little League World Series and the first Little Leagues to be featured on the cover…

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…

April Jones Prince (A) and Robert Squier (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Biography / Abolitionist / Orator – 2014)

Born into slavery in Maryland in 1818, Frederick Douglass was determined to gain freedom–and once he realized that knowledge was power, he secretly learned to read and write to give himself an advantage.…

Rita Williams-Garcia (A)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Series Book 2 / Fiction / Siblings / Family – 2013)

Rita Williams-Garcia much-anticipated middle-grade novel P.S. Be Eleven, winner of Coretta Scott King Award, is the sequel to her New York Times bestseller One Crazy Summer,…

The highly anticipated sequel to the instant #1New York Times bestseller Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy—a boldly original and suspenseful fantasy adventure by one of the most popular and imaginative voices of this generation, Angie Thomas.

All of Nic’s dreams have come true. After years of living…

Nnedi Okorafor (A) 

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover –  SciFi / Fantasy / Super Powers – 2019)

An NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

An AMAZON BEST CHILDREN’S BOOK OF 2020
 
Nnedi Okorafor’s acclaimed first novel for middle grade readers introduces a boy who can access super powers with the help of the…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

This is the story of LeBron James and his social justice work.

Ta-Nehisi Coates (A) and Chris Sprouse  (ILT)

List Price: $15.99 (Paperback – Graphic Novel / Black Super Hero – 2017)

Dark times for the Black Panther, as Ta-Nehisi Coates chronicles the fi nal days of the kingdom of Wakanda! As Zenzi and the People poison Wakanda’s populace against their king, a cabal of…

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…

Kristen Anderson (A) and Dede Putra (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Sports / Basketball Legend  – 2019)

Grab your Js and hit the court with this Who Was? biography about NBA superstar Michael Jordan.

Meet the man who changed the game forever. Michael Jordan has always been competitive–even as a young boy,…

Bonnie Bader (A) and Nancy Harrison (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Biography / Preacher and Civil Rights Leader  – 2007)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was only 25 when he helped organize <span…

Jason Reynolds (A) and Kadir Nelson (ILT) 

List Price: $10.99 (Paperback – Graphic Novel / Super Hero – 2018) 

“Everyone gets mad at hustlers, especially if you’re on the victim side of the hustle. And Miles knew hustling was in his veins.”

Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday…

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…

Help your child become a financial whiz kid―for ages 8 to 12

It’s never too early to set children on the path to financial literacy. This activity book, a companion to Investing for Kids, teaches them how to become savvy with their finances. Through educational and engaging exercises, they’ll learn how to track their…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Sherri Winston (A)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – 6th Grade President / Book 2 -2015)

Brianna Justice is determined to raise enough money for the big class trip to Washington, D.C., but she’s up against a lot: classmates…

Yona Zeldis McDonough (A), Nancy Harrison (ILT) and Stephen Marchesi (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Biography – Activist /Civil Rights Leader – 2010)

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. This seemingly small act triggered civil rights protests across America and earned…

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…

 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…

The third installment of the action-packed Future Hero series–perfect for younger fans of Black Panther!

Jarell answered the call of his ancestors and proved that he’s a worthy defender of the kingdom of Ulfrika. But with time running out, will he find the tools he needs to defeat the evil wizard?

Jason Reynold (A)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Track and Field / Competition – 2019)

Sunny tries to shine despite his troubled past in this third novel in the critically acclaimed Track series from National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds. 

Ghost. Patina. Sunny. Lu. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds, with personalities that…

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…

Kadir Nelson (A and ILT)

List Price: $21.99 (Hardcover – Sports / Negro League Baseball – 2008)

2010 Coretta Scott King Author Award and Illustrator Honor Award

We are the ship; all else the sea. Rube Foster, founder of the Negro National League

The story of…

Angela Johnson (A)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Teen Fiction / Special Needs / Rare Skin Disease – 2003)

Born with a rare and dangerous allergy to sunlight, Lila’s spent her life hidden from the daylight-staying covered up and indoors until dark,…

A powerful contemporary novel about an aspiring 12 year-old filmmaker whose world is turned upside down when his grandfather is slain in a senseless and racist act of violence. From the author of the award-winning memoir, Defiant: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South and co-editor of Recognize! An Anthology Honoring and…

From the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning author Kwame Alexander, comes the first book in a searing, breathtaking trilogy that tells the story of a boy, a village, and the epic odyssey of an African family.

In his village in Upper Kwanta, 11-year-old Kofi loves his family, playing oware with his grandfather and swimming in…

Montdrew Dunham (A)

List Price $7.99 (Paperback – Biography / First Black Supreme Court Justice -1998)

Whenever Thurgood Marshall got into trouble at school, the principal would make him sit in the basement and read the U.S. Constitution. By the time he was 12, he had most of it memorized and his interest…

Sarah Fabiny (A) Who HQ (A) and Ted Hammond (ILT)

 List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Journalist / Activist- Exposed Lynching -2020) 

The story of how a girl born into slavery became an early leader in the civil rights movement and the most famous black female journalist in nineteenth-century America.

Born into slavery in 1862, Ida…

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…