Black and African American heritage

An anthology of contemporary Black poets whose works explore joy, love, origin, race, resistance and praise.

This love letter to Black life in the United States highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion and perseverance of some of the world's greatest heroes.

Listen to the sound of survival, courage and democracy-- the soundtrack of America. Hear Billie Holiday's raspy, mournful voice, tap your foot to Louis Armstrong's trumpet, scream with James Brown, bop your head to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and more!

Surrounded by artists, writers and dancers during the Harlem Renaissance in 1922, nine-year-old Claudie Wells longs to be good at something and sets out to find her true talent.

While attending a new school that'll help him control his powers, Bobby Beacon finds his temper landing him in hot water until an understanding teacher gives him ways to calm himself and shows him that caring for others is its own kind of superpower.

A grandmother introduces her grandchildren to famous Black figures and important snapshots in Black history, and the children begin to imagine themselves in these moments.

Eniiyi must shake off a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin, Monife, fated to follow in her footsteps in all ways, including Monife's tragic end.

When Ruby Bridges was six years old, she became the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the South. Told from the perspective of her six-year-old self and based on the pivotal events that happened in 1960, Ruby tells her story of hope, innocence and courage.

Set in a world where white people no longer exist, college professor Charlie Brunton receives a call from his estranged daughter Sidney, setting off a chain of events as they journey across a truly "post-racial" America in search of answers.

In 1879, three women-- Lettie; her mother, Sylvia; and young teacher Philomena-- who are free from slavery but bound by poverty, access to opportunity and patriarchal social structures-- head westward on a perilous wagon journey that could cost them everything they have, including their lives.

In this fascinating STEAM-themed true story, the author highlights how the Apollo astronauts gave people a new way of looking at the world and inspired modern artist Alma Thomas.

Summoned home after his father's car accident, Roman finds his younger brother in debt to dangerous criminals and his sister exhausted from holding the family-- and the family's crematorium business-- together. Mortality draws closer when it becomes clear their father's crash was no accident.

Joyful illustrations and poetic text convey a wish from one generation to the next: that every Black girl knows and celebrates her own worth, sending positive words to instill them with confidence.

Piano-prodigy Isabella, 11, whose Black father and white mother struggle to share custody, never feels whole, especially as racial tensions affect her school, her parents both become engaged and she and her stepbrother are stopped by police.

Spotlighting courageous Black figures throughout history, these interconnected stories present a picture of racial inequality in America, revealing both the systemic discrimination in all areas of society and the unbroken line of Black resistance to this inequality.

No matter the season, no matter the reason, this boy's family never forgets to come together and celebrate what it truly means to be there for each other, from a golden anniversary to Juneteenth, a new baby sister to a special wedding.

Learning how to feel joy while healing from loss, Feyi Adekola starts dating the perfect guy, but discovers she has feelings for someone else who is off limits and must decide just how far she is willing to go for a second chance at love.

Set against the backdrop of the Great Migration, a Southern girl attends an elite girls boarding school in the North and must find the courage to be herself and to dream of a brighter future.

Real-life accounts from the age of Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era are used to explore the African American experience in post-Civil War United States.

Celebrate the community built at the hair salon and the dynamic variety of Black hairstyles!

A gripping story about a brother and sister, emancipated from slavery but still searching for true freedom, and their odyssey across the deserts of Mexico to finally reunite, all while escaping a former master still intent on their bondage.

In 1939 North Carolina, an all-Black baseball team "trespasses" on the whites-only baseball field, and the resulting racial outrage can only be resolved on the mound.

A girl connects with heritage, history and a higher power through the lyrics of 12 beloved spirituals and four seminal events in African American history.

An unflinching examination of the breadth of Black responses to white oppression, particularly those pioneered by Black women.

Rochelle "The Shell" Coleman gets a job working at Horizon Cinemas, the Black-owned movie theater, to boost her chance of getting into her dream school, but her nemesis and academic competitor, Amira Rodriguez, will be her boss.

While writing letters to Innocence X, a justice-seeking project, asking them to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row, teenaged Tracy takes on another case when her brother is accused of killing his white girlfriend.

Spend Saturday morning at the barbershop in this upbeat celebration of the spaces and places that bring communities together.

Birdie has big plans for eighth grade, including getting a boyfriend, but after her best friend Deve fights against it, the trickster West African god Anansi appears and grants Birdie's wish, which she soon regrets and tries to undo.

The author examines the significance of Black history and its role in education. Drawing on his experiences as a lifelong learner and classroom teacher, he explores topics such as the American Revolution, the concepts of race and nation and the importance of historical inquiry.

A memoir by the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement explains the movement's position of love, humanity and justice, challenging perspectives that have negatively labeled the movement's activists while calling for essential political changes.

On her 100th birthday, Great Grandma Caroline shares her secret for living a long life with her great granddaughter Jasmine.

The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in 1910 Chicago, and the two daughters, Olivia and Helen, are finding their way and finding love-- even where they are not supposed to.

An anthology of all-star poetic voices depicting the diversity of the Black experience.

The extraordinary story of Jessie Redmon Fauset whose exhilarating world of friends, rivals and passions all combined to create the magic that was the Harlem Renaissance.

A contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement and the "N" word.

When Nikki visits her estranged grandmother in western North Carolina, she uncovers a hidden legacy tied to a forgotten kingdom of freed people, unraveling her family's secrets and her own identity while fighting to protect their endangered heritage.

From imaginative child to visionary storyteller, Toni Morrison was a fiercely inspiring writer who helped change the world. This poetic picture book biography, part love letter and part biography, praises the power of this Nobel Prize winner.

After attending a powerful protest, Shayla starts wearing an armband to school to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but when the school gives her an ultimatum, she is forced to choose between her education and her identity.

Young Jim West loves to pull apart whatever electronics he can get his hands on to see how they work. His knack for all things electric (and luck in landing a summer job offering the freedom to experiment) led him to invent an important part of the devices we rely on every day.

While helping a man renovate his crumbling mansion once owned by a famous magician who disappeared after being accused of murder, Andy Carter decides to investigate the unsolved mystery and teams up with another boy to solve the vanishing act.

When 16-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend.

It's 1889, barely 25 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 from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free.

After seventh-grader Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat, he observes the aftermath of his death and meets the ghosts of other fallen Black boys including historical figure Emmett Till.

Eighteen-year-old Angélique, a talented young seamstress from a working-class background, seeks vengeance on the factory owner who destroyed her family, all while navigating a cutthroat competition for a coveted position in Paris' fashion world.

In the wake of being sexually assaulted by her pastor, 16-year-old Amina struggles to regain her footing until she finds the strength within herself to confront her abuser in court.

While a young Panamanian American girl and her father share "just-us" time on an early morning horseback ride around their town, he tells her cowboy stories and she realizes she is a cowboy, too.

Motivated by the realization of global inequities, a young boy embraces his dual identities as an artist and activist, becoming an "artivist" to make a difference by using his viral mural as a catalyst for positive change.

Kaya spent summers with her dad at the Renaissance Faire, and after he dies, she tries to become the Faire's first Black Queen.

In America, Black people "live sicker and die quicker" than their white counterparts. Learn more about the forces in American society that each year rob Black Americans of years of life.