AGES 9-12 / GRADES 4-5

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…

Discover the incredible history and diversity of the…

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,…

Leon is an ordinary kid who becomes extraordinary when he fights a supervillain to save his school!

In the city where Leon lives, superheroes — and supervillains — are commonplace. So how does an ordinary kid like Leon, who has no superpowers himself, become the superhero he wants to be? When all his…

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…

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…

Ronde Barber (A), Tiki Barber (A) and Paul Mantell (ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Series: Football / Identical Twins / New Coach / Team Spirit – 2008)

It Tiki and Ronde second year on their junior high school football team, the Hidden Valley Eagles. The eighth-grade season is here, and the boys…

Rita Williams-Garcia (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Series Book 3 / Off to Alabama – 2016)

Coretta Scott King Award winner * ALA Notable Book * School Library Journal Best Book of the Year * Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year * ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice * Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year * Washington Post Best Books of the Year…

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…

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…

A friendship hypothesis—and one failed experiment—leads one girl to investigate the science of middle school friendship makeups and breakups in this hopeful and heartwarming story from Tanita S. Davis, author of Partly Cloudy and Serena Says.

Rylee Swanson is beginning eighth grade with zero friends.

A humiliating moment at the end-of-seventh-grade pool party involving a…

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…

 Amanda Gorman (A and Poet)

List Price: $24.99 (Hardcover – Poetry / Inaugeral Messenger – 2021)

The breakout poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman

Formerly titled The Hill We Climb and Other Poems, the luminous poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author…

Outgrow your piggy bank―an intro to investing for kids ages 8 to 12

Did you know that the sooner you understand money, the sooner you can make more of it? It’s true! Investing for Kids can help make you money savvy, showing you how to earn it, how to start a savings plan, and the…

Pablo Cartaya (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – A Protest Story / Finding Your Voice – 2018)

Save the restaurant. Save the town. Get the girl. Make Abuela proud. Can thirteen-year-old Arturo Zamora do it all or is he in for a BIG, EPIC FAIL? 

For Arturo, summertime in Miami means…

Diane Bailey (A)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback –  Biography / Journalist/ She Exposed Lynching – 2019)

Jeter Publishing presents a brand-new series that celebrates men and women who altered the course of history but may not be as well-known as their counterparts.

Ida B. Wells was an African-American journalist and activist…

Vashti Harrison (A and ILT)

Tony Medina (A) and R. Gregory Christie (ILT)

List Price: $10.95 (Paperback – Biography / Langston Hughes -2006)

Fourteen original poems offer young readers an exciting glimpse into the life of Langston Hughes, one of America most beloved poets. Each of Medina engaging poems explores…

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…

Farrah Gray with Fran Harris

List Price:$14.99 (Paperback / Self Help and Improvement / Teen Success Story – 2005)

A remarkable teenager who went from public assistance to a million dollar net worth shares his story and offers 9 key principles to success.

Farrah Gray is no ordinary teenager. He wears a suit…

Lamar Giles (A)

Margaret Musgrove (A) Leo Dillon (ILT) and Diane Dillon (ILT)

List Price $21.99 (Hardcover – 26 African Tribes / Traditions – 1992)

From A to Z, an authentic portrait of 26 African tribes, stunningly illustrated by winners of the 1976 & 1977 Caldecott Medal. The magnificently composed pictures are warm with the tones…

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…

After twelve-year-old aspiring superstar, Sparkle Moore, is diagnosed…

Maya Angelou (A) and Jean-Michel Basquiat (ILT) and Sara Jan Boyers (A)

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…

American Medical Association and Amy B. Middleman (EDIT) and Kate Gruenwald Pfeifer (A)

List Price: $17.00 (Paperback – Teen Self Help / Boys / Puberty / Health – 2006)

Becoming a teen is an important milestone in every boy life. It even more important to get answers and advice to the…

Rick Bowers (A) 

List Price: $16.95  (Hardcover – African American History / Civil Rights Era / White Supremacy – 2010) 

The Spies of Mississippi is a compelling story of how state spies tried to block voting rights for African Americans during the Civil Rights era. This book sheds new light on one of…

Jacqueline Woodson (A)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Poetic Verse / Writer’s Childhood – 2015)

National Book Award Winner

Jacqueline Woodson, one of today’s finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each…

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

Samhita Arni (A) and Mona Chirakar (ILT) 

List Price: $24.95  (Hardcover –  India / Graphic Novel / War /  A  Woman’s Opinion -2011)

The Ramayana is an epic poem by the Hindu sage Valmiki, written in ancient Sanskrit sometime after 300 BC. It is an allegorical story that contains important Hindu teachings, and it…

Jason Reynold (A)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Track and Field / Competition – 2018)

l to National Book Award Finalist Ghost and a New York Times bestseller

A newbie to the track team, Patina must learn to rely on her teammates as she tries to outrun her personal demons in this follow-up…

Doreen Rappaport (A) and Charles Lilly (ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Slavery / Escape / Underground Railroad – 1998)

Eliza and her baby, running across the ice. Selena and Cornelia Jackson, masquerading as boys. Henry Box Brown, shipping himself north in a wooden crate. Jane Johnson, risking everything to testify against…

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…

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…

Kate Bisantz and Max Bisantz (A)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Popular Singer / Artist – 2018)

As a young girl, Selena Quintanilla sang in a band called Selena y Los Dinos with her brother and sister. The family performed at fairs, weddings, quinceañeras, and on street corners in their native…

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…

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

List Price: $14.95 (Paperback – Graphic Novel / Biography /African American History – Civil Rights Era – 2015)

Declaration: Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence…

Walter Dean Myers (A) and Bonnie Christensen (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Activist – Journalist/ Exposed Lynching – 2008)

Ida B. Wells was an extraordinary woman. Long before boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom rides, Ida B. Wells was hard at work to better the lives…

American Medical Association and Amy B. Middleman (EDIT) and Kate Gruenwald (A)

List Price: $18.00 (Paperback – Teen Self Help / Girls / Puberty / Health – 2006)

Becoming a teen is an important milestone in every girl’s life. It?s even more important to…

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (A) and Ray Obstfeld (A) and A.G. Ford (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – African American History / Scientists – 2013)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball legend and the NBA’s all time leading scorer, champions a lineup of little-known African-American inventors in this lively, kid-friendly book.

Did you know that James West invented…

Sherri Winston (A)

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

When Brianna Justice’s hero, the famous celebrity chef Miss Delicious, speaks at her school and traces her own success back to being president of her fifth grade class, Brianna determines she must do the same. She just knows that becoming…

Christopher Paul Curtis (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Fiction / Family / Segregation-2000)

The Newbery Honor-winning American classic, The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963, celebrates 20 years with this anniversary edition featuring a special letter from Christopher Paul Curtis and an introduction by noted educator Dr. Pauletta Bracy.

Enter the hilarious world of…

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…

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…

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…

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.…