Mazie is ready to celebrate liberty. She is ready to celebrate freedom. She is ready to celebrate a great day in American history. The day her ancestors were no longer slaves. Mazie remembers the struggles and the triumph, as she gets ready to celebrate Juneteenth.

Ben, a young slave, uses every chance he gets to teach himself to read, practicing with the words he sees on street signs and in shop windows and even in cast-off newspapers he finds in the gutter.But after the Civil War breaks out, his master leaves town and Ben finds himself in a slave prison. One night, the prisoners bribe a guard to get their hands on a newspaper, and to the applause of his fellow slaves, Ben reads aloud the momentous news of Mr. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamat...

Leah Henderson’s picture book A Day for Rememberin’ is a moving tribute to the little-known history behind the first Memorial Day, illustrated by Coretta Scott King Award winner Floyd Cooper.Today is a special day. Eli knows it’s important if he’s allowed to miss one second of school, his “hard-earned right.”Inspired by true events and told through the eyes of a young boy, this is the deeply moving story about what is regarded as the first Memorial...

The true story of how a 1963 ride on a carousel in Maryland made a powerful Civil Rights statement.A Ride to Remember tells how a community came together—both black and white—to make a change. When Sharon Langley was born in the early 1960s, many amusement parks were segregated, and African-American families were not allowed entry. This book reveals how in the summer of 1963, due to demonstrations and public protests, the Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Maryla...

The picture book inspiration for the Academy Award-winning film The Green BookRuth was so excited to take a trip in her family's new car! In the early 1950s, few African Americans could afford to buy cars, so this would be an adventure. But she soon found out that Black travelers weren't treated very well in some towns. Many hotels and gas stations refused service to Black people. Daddy was upset about something called Jim Crow laws . . .Finally, a ...

Told for the first time in picture book form is the true story of James Lafayette—an enslaved person who spied for George Washington's army during the American Revolution.After his resounding defeat at the battle of Yorktown, British general Charles Cornwallis made a point of touring the American camp, looking for the reason behind his loss. What he didn't expect to see was James, an escaped enslaved person who had served as a guide to the British army. Or at least...

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards for Author and IllustratorA Caldecott Honor BookA Sibert Honor BookLonglisted for the National Book AwardA Kirkus Prize FinalistA Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book"A must-have"—Booklist (starred review)In the early 1900s, Tulsa, Oklahoma, was home to a thriving Afr...

"This one's a winner." --Chicago TribuneA 2019 ILA Teacher's Choices Reading List Selection!An inspiring picture book sports biography about two of the greatest female tennis players of all-time! Venus and Serena Williams: Best friends. Sisters. Champions.Everyone knows the names Venus & Serena Williams. They've become synonymous with championships, hard work, and with shaking up the tennis world. This insp...

“A lovely book celebrating nature and Black voices enjoying nature.” —BookRiot, "Riot Recommendations"Tasha is a girl who has trouble using her voice to speak in school or to even make a friend. Then her class visits a park, the best park ever. With the help of an encouraging park ranger, an understanding teacher, two new companions, and a tiny turtle, Tasha finds connection with others and her own voice.This story takes place on the same class trip featur...

The inspiring biography of Ira Aldridge, a Black actor who overcame racism to become one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the nineteenth century.Ira Aldridge dreamed of being on stage one day and performing the great works of William Shakespeare. He spent every chance he had at the local theaters, memorizing each actor's lines. He knew he could be a great Shakespearean actor if only given the chance. But in the early 1800s, only white actors were allowed to ...

Young Langston Hughes was a dreamer. He dreamed about heroes like Booker T. Washington, who was black just like him. When he heard the clackety-clack of train wheels, he dreamed about the places it had been. But most of all, he dreamed about having a happy home. And so, one day, he began turning those dreams into beautiful prose. As he did, he discovered where his home really was—in the words and rhythms of his poetry that reached people all over the world. The beloved Langston Hughes come...

Here is a story of Alice Coachman, the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal.When Alice Coachman was a girl, most White people wouldn't even shake her hand. Yet when the King of England placed an Olympic medal around her neck in 1948, he extended his hand to Alice in congratulations. Standing on a podium in London's Wembley Stadium, Alice was a long way from the fields of Georgia where she ran barefoot as a child. With a record-breaking leap, sh...