All You Have to Do by Autumn Allen; lyrics by Kahlil AkNahlej AllenHigh School Kokila/Penguin 432 pp.8/23 9780593619049 $19.99e-book ed. 9780593619056 $10.99Alternating first-person accounts tell the intrinsically linked stories of Gibran in 1995 and his uncle Kevin in 1968. When Gibran, one of the few Black students in his Massachusetts...
Harlem at Four by Michael Datcher; illus. by Frank MorrisonPreschool, Primary Random House Studio/Random 48 pp.9/23 9780593429334 $18.99Library ed. 9780593429341 $21.99e-book ed. 9780593429358 $10.99Datcher divides his narrative into two parts. First is a Black father’s loving tribute to his daughter, four-year-old Harlem. Championed by her father for her “Malcolm X...
Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Boston Weatherford; illus. by Jeffery Boston WeatherfordIntermediate, Middle School Atheneum 208 pp.9/23 9781665913621 $18.99e-book ed. 9781665913645 $10.99From a single photograph and sparse information to a fully realized lineage of excellence, an African American author, with dramatic illustrations by her son, traces their family’s roots....
Hello, Mister Blue by Daria Peoples; illus. by the authorPreschool, Primary Greenwillow 32 pp.5/23 9780063206755 $19.99A young Black girl cherishes her time with her papa. They have their routine; and “after breakfast, [they] make music.” One day, they are joined by Mister Blue. Papa explains that he and Mister Blue...
Chef Edna: Queen of Southern Cooking, Edna Lewis by Melvina Noel; illus. by Cozbi A. CabreraPrimary Cameron/Abrams 32 pp.4/23 9781951836399 $18.99Chef Edna Lewis (1916–2006) brought Southern cooking to the forefront of American cuisine. Growing up in Freetown, Virginia, a place founded by her grandfather and other formerly enslaved people, Edna...
Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy by Angie ThomasIntermediate Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins 368 pp.4/23 9780063225138 $19.99e-book ed. 9780063225152 $12.99Acclaimed for her young adult realistic fiction, Thomas (The Hate U Give, rev. 3/17) has taken on a new venture with this middle-grade fantasy. It’s Nichole “Nic” Blake’s twelfth birthday,...
Sincerely Sicily by Tamika BurgessIntermediate, Middle School Harper/HarperCollins 304 pp.1/23 9780063159600 $17.99e-book ed. 9780063159624 $8.99Sicily Jordan had been excited about starting sixth grade with her friend group, the “Tether Squad” (including coordinated “outfits for almost the entire first month”). A last-minute redistricting plan means she has to transfer to Shirley...
We Deserve Monuments by Jas HammondsHigh School Roaring Brook 384 pp.11/22 9781250816559 $18.99e-book ed. 9781250816566 $10.99Seventeen-year-old Avery is convinced her family has made a huge mistake in moving from Washington, DC, to Bardell County, Georgia. Biracial and queer, Avery is not sure how she will be received in her mother’s...
To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights by Angela Dalton; illus. by Lauren Semmer Primary Harper/HarperCollins 40 pp. 1/23 9780063073210 $18.99 e-book ed. 9780063292796 $12.99 During the struggles of the civil rights movement, one weekly image on America’s television screens was seen as a...