AGES 9-12 / GRADES 4-5

Ashley Bryan (A and ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – The Lives of 11 African American Slaves – 2016) 

Newbery Honor Book
Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

Using original slave auction and plantation estate documents, Ashley Bryan offers a moving and powerful picture book that contrasts…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Ben Carson (A)

List Price: $7.95 (Paperback – Biography / Medicine / Brain Surgeon – 2014)

From Inner-City Nobody to Brilliant Neurosurgeon

When Ben Carson was in school, his classmates called him the class dummy. Many—including Ben himself—doubted that he would ever amount to anything. But his mother never let him quit.…

Barbara Kramer (A) and Who HQ and Dede Putra (ILT) 

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback –  Biography  – Entertainer /  Movie Mogul Extraordinaire – 2019) 

The story of how a young Southern girl who was raised on a pig farm became one of the most influential and inspiring people in the world.

We all know Oprah…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

Andrea Pinkney (A) and Stephen Alcorn (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Biographies / Women Leaders / Activists – 2013)

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and sparked a boycott that changed America. Harriet Tubman helped more than three hundred slaves escape the South on…

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…

Nikki Giovanni (A), Alicia Vergel de Dios (ILT), Damian Ward (ILT), Kristen Balouch (ILT), Jeremy Tugeau (ILT), Michele Noiset (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Book and CD / Poetry – 2008)

Hip Hop Speaks to Children is a celebration of poetry with a beat. It has both a book and CD…

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

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…

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…

Robert Edwards (A) and True Kelley (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Egyptian / Pharaoh – 2006)

Ever since Howard Carter uncovered King Tutankhamun tomb in 1922, the young pharaoh has become a symbol of the wealth and mystery of ancient Egypt. Now, a…

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

Wade and Cheryl Hudson and Various Amazing Authors, Illustrators and Poets

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Anthology of Poetic Advice to Children – 2018)

Fifty of the foremost diverse children’s authors and illustrators–including Jason Reynolds, Jacqueline Woodson, and Kwame Alexander–share answers to the question, “In this divisive world, what shall we tell our…

Sojourner Truth (A)

List Price: $3.00 (Paperback – Autobiography – 1997)

Unabridged reproduction of Narrative of Sojourner Truth. She was sold for $100 but grew beyond her place in society to demand rights for women as well as African Americans.  This is her story.  This is her voice.

She is the passionate woman…

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…

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…

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature

Member of the 2023 Notable Books for a Global Society (NGBS) List

From the beloved author of President of the Whole Fifth Grade, a story about a young Black girl who summons the courage to fight against a discriminatory dress…

Help kids grow their executive functioning skills with activities for ages 6 to 9

Executive functioning is the name for the skills we use to pay attention, complete tasks, and remember important things. But that’s a lot for a brain to do every day―especially for kids. TheExecutive Functioning Workbook for Kids helps them train…

The start of a thrilling, highly illustrated series about a boy who finds a portal to a legendary world in his local barbershop . . . and learns he’s the hero they’ve been waiting for. For younger fans of Black Panther and Last Gate of the Emperor!

Jarell…

Chris Barton (A) and Eukua Holmes (ILT) 

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover –  Biography / Congresswoman Barbara Jordan – 2017) 

When Barbara Jordan talked, we listened.” —Former President of the United States, Bill Clinton

Congresswoman Barbara Jordan had a big, bold, confident voice—and she knew how to use it! Learn all about her…

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…

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,…

Discover the incredible history and diversity of the…

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…

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…

John Steptoe (A and ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover Fiction / African Folktale – 1987)

Mufaro was a happy man. Everyone agreed that his two daughters were very beautiful. Nyasha was kind and considerate as well as beautiful, but everyone — except Mufaro — knew that Manyara was selfish, bad tempered, and spoiled.

…

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

List Price: $13.00 (Paperback – African American Folklore -1993)

Many of the stories in this collection were told among slaves as they dreamt of freedom or remembered their lives in Africa. Hamilton focuses on several themes-animal tales, magical and supernatural tales, and tales of…

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…

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

List Price: $19.95 (Paperback – Graphic Novel / Biography / African American History / Civil Rights Era – 2015) 

Don’t miss the long-awaited sequel to the #1 bestseller March: Book One!

“With March, Congressman John Lewis takes us behind the scenes of some…

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…

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…

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…

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

List Price: $19.99 (Paperback – Civil Rights Era / Leader / Congressman – 2016)

One of the Best Books of 2016” – Publishers Weekly

Welcome to the stunning conclusion of the award-winning and best-selling

MARCH trilogy. Congressman John Lewis, an American icon…

Lamar Giles (A)

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…

Leslie Youngblood (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback -Family Issues / Stress and Depression – 2019)

In this heartfelt middle-grade novel that “brims with charm and compassion” (Vashti Harrison, New York Times bestselling author of Little Leaders), eleven-year-old G-baby must bring her family together…

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…

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…

Penelope Arlon (A) 

List Price: $11.99 (Paperback – Ancient Egypt Guide – 2014)

A visual guide to ancient Egypt for newly confident readers.

This book is packed with exclusive photos so that kids can see ancient Egypt like never before! The images are accompanied by time lines, step-by-steps, and cross-section graphics for…

A riveting story with a dollop of southern gothic appeal.” – Booklist

Ike Pressure is an Army brat.

Which, if you ask him, is not an insult.

His mom’s new job is in Mercury, Nevada, on a secretive military base close to Area 51. What’s more, his childhood friend, Eesha Webb, and her family are…