Black & African American

Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family's struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence in the face of racism and social injustice....

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honoree about an unforgettable family on a road-trip during one of the most important times in the civil rights movement....

Hit the road with Bud in this Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic about a boy on a journey to find his father....

Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space....

Amari Peters has never stopped believing her missing brother, Quinton, is alive. Not even when the police told her otherwise, or when she got in trouble for standing up to bullies who said he was gone for good....

Jerry Pinkney drew everywhere, all the time. It was how he made sense of the world—how he coped with the stress of being a sensitive child growing up in crowded spaces, struggling with a learning disability, in a time when the segregation of Black Americans was the norm....

This deeply sensitive and “compelling” (BCCB) debut novel tells the story of a 13-year-old who must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family to finally learn to love herself....

"Cassie recounts harrowing events during late 1941. An engrossing picture of fine young people endeavoring to find the right way in a world that persistently wrongs them."....

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Kwame Mbalia's epic fantasy, a middle grade American Gods set in a richly-imagined world populated with African American folk heroes and West African gods....

The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book in verse, adapted for audio, chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States....

Elaine Harlowe has manipulated her way into becoming prime minister, using her mind control ability to force the Bureau to take up her vicious grudge against magiciankind.

Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team....

J.D. has a big problem - it's the night before the start of third grade and his mom has just given him his first and worst home haircut....

At first, beautiful, hardworking Tiana is not impressed when she meets spoiled Prince Naveen. But when the two of them are transformed into frogs, they quickly realize that they will have to learn to like each other, warts and all, if they hope to get out of the Louisiana bayou alive....

Knucklehead Fred is a whimsical, rhyming story about a fun-loving, energetic boy named Fred. His parents just can’t figure out how to make him sit still and listen! But when Fred finds himself in need of a favor, Mom and Dad use it as a perfect opportunity to teach him....

Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that's been unleashed....

A boy tries to steer a safe path through the projects in Harlem in the wake of his brother’s death in this outstanding debut novel that celebrates community and creativity....

An ode to the girl with scrapes on her knees and flowers in her hair, and every girl in between, this exquisite treasury will appeal to fans of Dear Girl and I Am Enough and have kids listening through it to find a poem that's just for them....

After finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze....

When Jaxon is sent to spend the day with a mean old lady his mother calls Ma, he finds out she's not his grandmother--but she is a witch! She needs his help delivering baby dragons to a magical world where they'll be safe.

Ghost. Patina. Sunny. Lu. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team....

The inspiring autobiography of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who helped launch Apollo 11....

Miles Lewis loves science and sports. But when his teacher announces a class field trip to an ice skating rink to learn about physics, he isn't so excited. He's never ice skated before, and his friend RJ won't let him forget it. RJ even challenges him to a bet....

Kemi, an aspiring scientist who loves statistics and facts, must navigate grief and loss at a moment when life as she knows it changes forever....

The letter waits in a book, in a box, in an attic, in an old house in Lambert, South Carolina. It's waiting for Candice Miller. When Candice finds the letter, she isn't sure she should read it. It's addressed to her grandmother....

Listen to the sound of survival, courage, and democracy—the soundtrack of America. Hear Billie Holiday's raspy, mournful voice, and tap your foot to Louis Armstrong's trumpet. Scream with James Brown and bop your head to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Can you spot the 80+ references to artists like Robert Johnson, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston, Lauryn Hill, and Beyonce?

The fight for civil rights in America didn’t begin in the 1960s—Black Americans have been working for justice, freedom, and equality since the first slave ships came to its shores. In I Am the Spirit of Justice, Jemar Tisby demonstrates that that arc of history bends toward equality. Throughout, the spirit of justice is personified as it moves through time, loving the oppressed and supporting the freedom fighters. The poetic text not only informs listeners of the countless and often nameless people who have taken up the fight, it also inspires them to continue working for equality for all.

It’s 1889, barely twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and a young Black family is tired of working on land they don’t get to own. So when Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush, they set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free—if they can get to it fast enough. But the journey isn’t easy—the terrain is rough, the bandits are brutal, and every interaction carries a heavy undercurrent of danger.

Before he became the president, Barack Obama was a little boy called Barry. Amid a happy childhood, he also yearned for a better understanding of Black history and culture, and a better sense of his own identity as a Black American. Spurred by conversations around race, injustice, and inequality, he became a community organizer, practiced civil rights law, and was elected to the US Senate. “Yes we can!” became a rallying cry for his message of hope and change throughout the 2008 presidential election—which resulted in Barack Obama becoming the first Black president of the United States.

One question must be answered before Afia can slip into a peaceful sleep: What does love look like? With the companionship of her loving papa, Afia journeys to find love and learns that it is the warmth of the sun’s hugs, the brook’s soothing song, and other mesmerizing gifts of nature. But Afia’s quest also teaches her that she may not have to go too far to see the emotion at the heart of the world’s wonders.

As school begins in 1963, Cooper Dale wrestles with what it means to “shine” for a black girl in a predominantly white community near Pittsburgh. Set against the historic backdrop of the Birmingham church bombing, the Kennedy assassination, and Beatlemania, Radiant is a finely crafted novel in verse about race, class, faith, and finding your place in a loving family and a complicated world.

Ten-year old Issa has an opportunity to meet the mayor of Chicago. He has a very important list he wishes to deliver, but he is very, very nervous. Can he summon the courage to deliver his message?

As a kid, Barrington Irving moved from Jamaica to Miami and played football—his ticket to success, he thought. But then Captain Gary Robinson swooped into his life. Barrington had never seen a Black pilot before. Captain Robinson showed Barrington a jet, a cockpit, and what it was like to actually fly a plane—WHOAAA! After that, Barrington had big plans, and two words: Let's Fly!

Yvonne Clark had an engineering spark—an instinct for figuring out how things worked. Broken lamp? She screwed, rewired, and wrenched until…light! Wrecked radio? She twisted, snipped, and hammered until…music! Clogged furnace? She picked, plucked, and cleared until…heat! When she grew up, Yvonne’s problem-solving power took her to NASA, where fellow engineers had a serious problem with the Saturn V rocket’s F-1 engine: It had hot spots—high temperatures in the engine. Can Yvonne Clark and her engineering spark solve the problem?

Before James Baldwin was a celebrated novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and activist, he was a boy who fell in love with stories. Words opened up new worlds for young Jimmy, who read and wrote at every opportunity. He ultimately realized his dreams of becoming an author and giving voice to his community, and in doing so he showed the world the fullness of Black American life. This book biography of an American icon is a poetic introduction to James Baldwin and celebration of the power of language.

The National Football League (NFL) changed forever in 1946. That year the Forgotten Four—Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, Marion Motley, and Bill Willis—joined the league. Learn about the history of Black football players, the integration of the league, and the first Black coaches, referees, and team owners in the NFL. Then discover how Black football players continue to make a difference on and off the field.

Major League Baseball (MLB) is a diverse sport played by athletes from around the world. But in the late 1800s and the first half of the 1900s, MLB was mostly segregated. Black players and coaches were not welcome. The Negro Leagues gave these players and coaches other options to play pro baseball. Meet unsung Negro Leagues stars such as Moses Fleetwood Walker and Toni Stone, and learn about the activists and heroes who helped integrate America's Pastime.

When much of the US was segregated, Black athletes were not allowed to play alongside white athletes. Black athletes started their own sports leagues, including the Black Fives. Learn about basketball's beginnings and the stars of the Black Fives Era, including Charles "Tarzan" Cooper and Ora Washington. Then discover how the National Basketball Association became integrated, what led to the creation of the Women's National Basketball Association, and how the Black Fives had a lasting impact.

One of Beyoncé’s biggest idols is Whitney Houston. The two met in a hotel lobby for the first time when she was just fifteen, but even before then, Beyoncé was influenced by Houston’s singing. Discover how both artists made it big, how they stole every stage, and more.

Kendrick Lamar draws influences from many areas in his life when it comes to music, but his biggest inspiration is Tupac Shakur. Discover both performers' history in the music industry, their lives offstage, and more with the help of captivating photos and accessible text.