Biographies
Whoosh! : Lonnie Johnson's super-soaking stream of inventions
Chris Barton
jBIOGRAPHY Johnson, Lonnie.
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
Chronicles the life and achievements of the NASA engineer and inventor, from his childhood to his accidental invention of the Super Soaker water gun.
Josephine : the dazzling life of Josephine Baker
Patricia Hruby Powell
jBIOGRAPHY Baker, Josephine
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
A portrait of the passionate performer and civil rights advocate Josephine Baker, the woman who worked her way from the slums of St. Louis to the grandest stages in the world. Meticulously researched by both author and artist, Josephine's powerful story of struggle and triumph is an inspiration and a spectacle, just like the legend herself.
Added by Casey
Harlem's little blackbird
Renee Watson
jE Watson
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
Added by Casey
Ona Judge outwits the Washingtons : an enslaved woman fights for freedom
Gwendolyn Hooks
jBIOGRAPHY Judge, Oney
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
"Soon after American colonists had won independence from Great Britain, Ona Judge was fighting for her own freedom from one of America's most famous founding fathers, George Washington. George and Martha Washington valued Ona as one of their most skilled and trustworthy slaves, but she would risk everything to achieve complete freedom. Born into slavery at Mount Vernon, Ona seized the opportunity to escape when she was brought to live in the President's Mansion in Philadelphia. Ona fled to New Hampshire and started a new life. But the Washingtons wouldn't give up easily. After her escape, Ona became the focus of a years-long manhunt, led by America's first president. Gwendolyn Hooks' vivid and detailed prose captures the danger, uncertainty, and persistence Ona Judge experienced during and after her heroic escape."--Provided by publisher.
Ona Judge's story is powerful, moving, and for many, may be a suprising new look at our first president. -Casey
Pies from nowhere : how Georgia Gilmore sustained the Montgomery bus boycott
Dee Romito
jE Romito
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Read Woke, Picture Books, Biographies
Georgia Gilmore was a cook at the National Lunch Company in Montgomery, Alabama. When the bus boycotts broke out in Montgomery after Rosa Parks was arrested, Georgia organized a group of women who cooked and baked to fund-raise for gas and cars to help sustain the boycott. This picture book highlights a hidden figure of the civil rights movement who fueled the bus boycotts and demonstrated that one person can make a real change in her community and beyond
Added by Casey
Frida Kahlo and her animalitos
Monica Brown
jE Brown
Read Woke, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Biographies
"Chronicles Frida's life -- from her childhood to her rise as one of the world's most influential painters -- capturing the beauty and strength of Frida's creative spirit, which carried her through tragedy and triumph, and the animals that inspired her along the way." -- Book jacket.
Added by Casey
Planting stories : the life of librarian and storyteller Pura Belpré
Anika Denise
jE Denise
Read Woke, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Biographies
"From the author of MONSTER TRUCK and STARRING CARMEN comes a gorgeous and lyrical story about Pura Belpré, a Puerto Rican librarian who changed the world"--
Added by Casey
Planting stories : the life of librarian and storyteller Pura Belpré
Anika Denise
jE Denise
Read Woke, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Biographies
"From the author of MONSTER TRUCK and STARRING CARMEN comes a gorgeous and lyrical story about Pura Belpré, a Puerto Rican librarian who changed the world"--
Added by Casey
The autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X
BIOGRAPHY X, Malcolm
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Nonfiction, Biographies
In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American Dream, and the inherent racism in a society that denies its nonwhite citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time. The Autobiography of Malcolm X stands as the definitive statement of a movement and a man whose work was never completed but whose message is timeless. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand America.
Added by Melody
Brown girl dreaming
Jacqueline Woodson
jBIOGRAPHY Woodson, Jacqueline
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Biographies, Poetry, Literary Nonfiction, Memoir
"The author shares her childhood memories and reveals the first sparks that ignited her writing career in free-verse poems about growing up in the North and South"--
Pick this one up, especially now, even if you've read it before. Woodson's story resonates with quiet truth, resiliency, and hope. -Casey
Be warned! This book may have you rifling through your childhood toy collection in the best possible way. -Casey