Mid Air
Coming April 23, 2024
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Who says world records can't be broken?
Who says Jordans are better than Vans?
Who says some streets are for certain people and not for others?
Who says you have to bottle everything
you feel inside
when it wants to bust out,
especially after the worst thing happens?
Who says what is brave? Really brave?
And is it braver to fit in or be true to you?
Isaiah isn't sure. And if he doesn't figure out the answer soon,
well, who says he won't explode?
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The Talk
2023 Coretta Scott King Honor Book
2023 Golden Kite Honor Book
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Jay’s most favorite things are hanging out with his pals, riding in his dad’s cool car, and getting measured by his mom with pencil marks on the wall. But as those height marks inch upward, life comes with many warnings. And Jay just wants to be a kid.
All Black and Brown kids get The Talk—the talk that could mean the difference between life and death in a racist world. Told in an age-appropriate fashion, with a perfect pause for parents to insert their own discussions with their children to accompany prompting illustrations, The Talk is a gently honest and sensitive starting point for this far-too-necessary conversation, for Black children, Brown children, and for ALL children. Because you can’t make change without knowing what needs changing.
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Genesis Begins Again
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2021 Audie Award Finalist For Best Middle Grade Audio Book
2020 ALA Newbery Honor Book
2020 ALA Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe Award for New Talent
2020 ALA/William C. Morris Prize Finalist
2019 Kirkus Prize Finalist
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Thirteen year-old Genesis Anderson hates her dark skin shade and kinky, coily hair. She prays every night for one thing—to be beautiful. If she's beautiful like her lighter Mama, then Grandma will love her more, the ruthless taunts at school will end, and most importantly, Dad will stop drinking.
Singing becomes her only solace, so when a school talent show is announced, she wonders if this might be her one true chance to win Dad’s approval and make her family whole again. But will she be able to get up on stage, as black as she is, and sing? Drawing strength from Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Etta James—their music and who they were—Genesis harnesses their power into finding her own voice.
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Available on audio--Listen to the excerpt.
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. . . Stunning debut novel . . .the standout voice in this tinder and empowering novel--reminiscent of Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," but more appropriate for a much younger audience. - New York Times
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Jump At The Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston
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This story shines the light on Zora Neale Hurston, the extraordinary folklorist and novelist extraordinaire who changed the face of American literature.
Zora was a girl who hankered for tales like bees for honey. Now, her mama always told her that if she wanted something, “to jump at de sun”, because even though she might not land quite that high, at least she’d get off the ground. So Zora jumped . . . the porch of the general store where she listened to folktales . . . to Howard University where she dug into books . . . to Harlem at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. Everywhere she landed, she shone sunlight on the tales most folks hadn’t even bothered to listen to . . . until Zora. Tales no one had written down, until Zora. Tales on an entire culture unrecognized, until Zora. Until Zora jumped.
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Newbery Honeree Williams crafts distinctive prose evoking Black folktales of the American South. - Publishers Weekly Starred Review
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This introduction to an American icon feels just right. -Kirkus Starred Review
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Download Free Curriculum Guide
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Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress
2022 Jane Addams Book Children's Award
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Meet Shirley, a little girl who asks way too many questions! After spending her early years on her grandparents' farm in Barbados, she returns home to Brooklyn and immediately makes herself known. Shirley kicks butt in school; she breaks her mother's curfew; she plays jazz piano instead of classical. And as a young adult, she fights against the injustice she sees around her, against women and black people. Soon she is running for state assembly...and winning in a landslide. Three years later, she is on the campaign trail again, as the first black woman to run for Congress. Her slogan? "Fighting Shirley Chisholm--Unbought and Unbossed!" Does she win? You bet she does.
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Recognize! An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life!
More than thirty award-winning Black authors and artists come together to create a moving anthology collection celebrating Black love, Black creativity, Black resistance, and Black life. These creators lend their voice, insight, and talent to this inspiring anthology full of essays, poems, short stories, and historical excerpts. In these pages, find stories of the past, journeys of the present, and the light guiding the future.
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