AGES 9-12 / GRADES 4-5

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…

Nnedi Okorafor (A) 

List Price: $13.99 (Paperback – SciFi / Book 2 / Female Hero – 2017)

The thrilling sequel to the Hugo and Nebula-winning Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, and a finalist for the 2018 Hugo and Nommo Awards

It’s been a year since Binti and Okwu enrolled at Oomza University. A year since Binti was declared…

Louisa Jagger (A) and Shari Becker (A) and  Floyd Cooper (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – First Black Pilot to Fly Across the USA – 2021)

The inspirational and true story of James Herman Banning, the first African American pilot to fly across the country, comes to life in this picture book biography…

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…

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…

Frederick Douglass (A)

List Price: $6.00 (Paperback – Autobiography / Former Slave / Self Taught / Abolitionist – 1995)

Former slave, impassioned abolitionist, brilliant writer, newspaper editor and eloquent orator whose speeches fired the abolitionist cause, Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) led an astounding life. Physical abuse, deprivation and tragedy plagued his early years, yet…

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…

Ronald L. Smith (A)

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…

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…

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…

Victoria Bond (A) and T.R. Simon (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Historical Non-Fiction/Biography / Life of Young Nora Neal Hurston / Literary Giant / Coming of Age Adventure – 2010)

Winner of the 2011 John Steptoe New Talent (Author) Award

Racial duplicity threatens an…

Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Fantasy / Futuristic Africa / Friendship – 2008)

In the Ooni Kingdom, children born dada—with vines growing in their hair—are rumored to have special powers. Zahrah Tsami doesn’t know anything about that. She feels normal. Others think she’s different—they fear her. Only Dari, her best…

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,…

Chris Crowe (A) and Tim Okamura (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Fictionalized True Story / Emmett Till – 2002)

Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old black teenager from Chicago, was unused to the mores of the segregated South. While visiting his uncle in the summer of 1955, he allegedly made flirtatious remarks…

Ta-Nehisi Coates (A) and Brian Stelfreeze (ILT)

List Price: $16.99 (Paperback – Graphic Novel / Black Super Hero – 2016)

Description:  A new era begins for the Black Panther! MacArthur Genius and National Book Award-winning writer T-Nehisi Coates (BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME) takes the helm, confronting T’Challa with a dramatic upheaval in…

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

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Adventure / Buried Bones Mystery – 2011)

With their neighborhood basketball court destroyed by vandalism, Ziggy, Rashawn, Jerome, and Rico don’t know how they’re going to spend summer vacation. Then Ziggy has a brilliant idea (Ziggy…

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…

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…

Nnedi Okorafor (A)

List Price: $11.99 (Paperback – Fantasy / Futuristic Africa / Price of Knowledge – 2015)

Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy.…

Harry Knill (A)

List Price: $4.95 (Paperback – Multicultural Bilingual – 1981)

We all know the stories of the great Indians of the Plains, but California also had totally different cultures with fearless leaders who fought to the death trying to preserve them. (48 pgs) Ages 9 – 12

• Product Dimensions…

Lisa Moore Ramee (A)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – 12 Year Old / Friendship -2019)

From debut author Lisa Moore Ramée comes this funny and big-hearted debut middle grade novel about friendship, family, and standing up for what’s right, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give<span…

This lyrical celebration of Juneteenth, deeply rooted in Black American history, spans centuries and reverberates loudly and proudly today.

After 300 years of forced bondage;
hands bound, descendants of Africa
picked up their souls—all that they owned—
leaving shackles where they fell on the ground,<span…

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…

Langston Hughes (A)

List Price:$11.99 (Paperback – Poetry / Harlem Renaissance – 1996)

Illustrated in black-and-white. This classic collection of poetry is available in a handsome new gift edition that includes seven additional poems written after The Dream Keeper was first published. In a larger format, featuring Brian Pinkney’s scratchboard art on every…

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…

Jean Merrill (A)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Toothpaste Inventor  – 2006)

Sixth-grader Rufus Mayflower doesn’t set out to become a millionaire. He just wants to save on toothpaste. Betting he can make a gallon of his own for the same price as one tube from the store, Rufus develops a step-by-step…

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…

Another powerful story in the Logan Family Saga and companion to Mildred D. Taylor’s Newbery Award-winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Cassie Logan and her brothers have been warned never to go to the Wallace store.

So they know to expect trouble there. What they don’t expect…

The code isn’t all it’s cracked up to…

Pusch Commey (A) and Innocent Dembetembe (ILT)

List Price:  $19.99 (Paperback – African Kings and Queens – 2014)

Volume one of 100 GREAT AFRICAN KINGS AND QUEENS chronicle the amazing exploits of 10 extraordinary monarchs of the African continent. Spanning over…

Renee Watson (A) & Nina Mata (ILT)

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – A Young Girls World – 2020)

From Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award winner Renée Watson, the first book in a young middle grade series about Ryan Hart, a girl who is pure spirit, kindness, and sunshine.

Ryan…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Atlantis Tye Browder (A) and Anthony T Browder (A)

Liat Price: $11.99 (Paperback – Journal/ Travel To Africa – 1995)

Africa on My Mind is the second publication co-authored by 13 year old Atlantis Tye Browder and her father Anthony. It chronicles their experiences while participating in a 15 day study tour to…

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…

Edited By Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson + Many Creative Voices

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – Anthology of Black Life – 2021)

In the stunning follow-up to The Talk: Conversations About Race, Love & Truth, award-winning Black authors and artists come together to create a moving anthology collection celebrating Black love, Black creativity, Black resistance,…

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,…

Nikki Grimes (A) and Jerome LaGarrique (ILT)

List Price: $7.99  (Paperback – Poetry / Friendship / Mentor – 1999)

In 14 knowing, heartfelt poems, Nikki Grimes invites readers to witness the friendship that blossoms between Damon, an African-American boy without a father, and Blue, a tough-looking man who has lost…

Jason Reynolds (A) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – 10 Stories – 2019) 

A National Book Award Finalist!
Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
An NPR Favorite Book of 2019
A New York Times Best Children’s Book of 2019
A Time Best Children’s Book of 2019
A Today Show Best Kids’ Book of 2019
A Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2019
A School Library…

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…

 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…

Jacqueline Woodson (A) 

List Price: $17.99 ( Hardcover – Middle Students / Support Group / Friendships – 2018)

Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Jacqueline Woodson’s first middle-grade novel since National Book Award winner Brown Girl Dreaming celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of…

Tim Crothers (A) 

List Price: $16.00 (Paperback – Uganda / Chess Champion – 2016)

Now a major motion picture starring Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo, directed by Mira Nair.

The “astonishing” (The New York Times Book Review) and “inspirational” (Shelf Awareness) true story of Phiona Mutesi—a teenage chess prodigy…

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…

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…

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