About the Award
National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) established the Carter G. Woodson Book Awards for the most distinguished books appropriate for young readers that depict ethnicity in the United States. First presented in 1974, this award is intended to “encourage the writing, publishing, and dissemination of outstanding social studies books for young readers that treat topics related to ethnic minorities and race relations sensitively and accurately.”--from website
Carter G. Woodson Book Award and Honor Winners
William Still and His Freedom Stories by
From Ezra Jack Keats Award-winning author-illustrator Don Tate comes a remarkable picture book biography of William Still, known as Father of the Underground Railroad. Essential for black history collections. ? ?Brings deserved attention to the life of a man who dedicated himself to recording the lives of others.? ?Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW ? ?An illuminating picture book biography of a lesser-known hero.? ?Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW ? ?Inspirational.? ?School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW William Still?s parents escaped slavery but had to leave two of their children behind, a tragedy that haunted the family. As a young man, William went to work for the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, where he raised money, planned rescues, and helped freedom seekers who had traveled north. One day, a strangely familiar man came into William?s office, searching for information about his long-lost family. Could it be? Motivated by his own family?s experience, William Still began collecting the stories of thousands of other freedom seekers. As a result, he was able to reunite other families and build a remarkable source of information, including encounters with Harriet Tubman, Henry ?Box? Brown, and William and Ellen Craft. Award-winning author-illustrator Don Tate brings to life the incredible, stranger-than-fiction true story of William Still, a man who dedicated his life to recording the stories of enslaved people fleeing to freedom. Tate?s powerful words and artwork are sure to inspire young readers in this first-ever picture book biography of the Father of the Underground Railroad. eBook available. Awards: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book ?Chicago Public Library Eureka! Nonfiction Children?s Book Award Silver Honor ?California Reading Association Best of Picture Books ?Kirkus Reviews Children?s Crown Award (Nominee) ?National Christian School Association Golden Kite (Finalist, Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers) ?Society of Children?s Book Writers and Illustrators Kansas State Reading Circle Recommended Reading List (Intermediate) ?Kansas National Education Association Also available from Don Tate: Carter Reads the Newspaper Poet
ISBN: 1561459356Publication Date: 2020-11-01
The Power of Her Pen by
"A powerful story." --The Horn Book "A worthy addition to children's biography collections." --Booklist "A solid treatment of an important but little-known figure, and it may prompt kids to think about the role and composition of a free press." --BCCB "Cline-Ransome tells [Ethel Payne's] story with economy and drive. 'Somebody had to do the fighting,' she quotes Payne saying, 'somebody had to speak up.'" --Publishers Weekly Renowned author Lesa Cline-Ransome and celebrated illustrator John Parra unite to tell the inspiring story of Ethel Payne, a groundbreaking African American journalist known as the First Lady of the Black Press. "I've had a box seat on history." Ethel Payne always had an ear for stories. Seeking truth, justice, and equality, Ethel followed stories from her school newspaper in Chicago to Japan during World War II. It even led her to the White House briefing room, where she broke barriers as the only black female journalist. Ethel wasn't afraid to ask the tough questions of presidents, elected officials, or anyone else in charge, earning her the title, "First Lady of the Black Press." Fearless and determined, Ethel Payne shined a light on the darkest moments in history, and her ear for stories sought answers to the questions that mattered most in the fight for Civil Rights.
ISBN: 9781481462891Publication Date: 2020-01-14
Black Heroes of the Wild West: Featuring Stagecoach Mary, Bass Reeves, and Bob Lemmons by
NYPL'S TOP 10 BOOKS âe Exploring American history and finding diversity at its roots! This graphic novel by JAMES OTIS SMITH celebrates the extraordinary true tales of three black heroes who took control of their destinies and stood up for their communities in the Old West. Born into slavery in Tennessee, Mary Fields became famous as "Stagecoach Mary," a cigar-chomping, card playing coach driver who never missed a delivery. Bass Reeves, the first black Deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi, was one of the wiliest lawmen in the territories, bringing thousands of outlaws to justice with his smarts. Bob Lemmons lived to be 99 years old and was so good with horses that the wild mustangs on the plains of Texas took him for one of their own. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection From the introduction by KADIR NELSON, winner of the 2020 Caldecott Award: "Black Heroes of the Wild West is a brilliant and entertaining offering. Through sharp and evocative storytelling in the exciting medium of comics, lesser-known African American historical figures will be introduced to new generations of readers."
ISBN: 9781943145515Publication Date: 2020-09-15
Dream Builder by
Philip Freelon's grandfather was an acclaimed painter of the Harlem Renaissance. His father was a successful businessman who attended the 1963 March on Washington. When Phil decided to attend architecture school, he created his own focus on African American and Islamic designers. He later chose not to build casinos or prisons, instead concentrating on schools, libraries, and museums- buildings that connect people with heritage and fill hearts with joy. And in 2009, Phil's team won a commission that let him use his personal history in service to the country's: the extraordinary Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon celebrates a contemporary black STEAM role model, a man whose quiet work enabled the creation of an iconic building reflecting America's past and future. With a stirring text by Kelly Starling Lyons, vibrant pictures by Laura Freeman, and an afterword from Philip Freelon himself, it is sure t
ISBN: 9781620149553Publication Date: 2020-01-14
Lifting As We Climb by
For African American women, the fight for the right to vote was only one battle. An eye-opening book that tells the important, overlooked story of black women as a force in the suffrage movement--when fellow suffragists did not accept them as equal partners in the struggle. For African American women, the fight for the right to vote was only one battle. This Coretta Scott King Author Honor book tells the important, overlooked story of black women as a force in the suffrage movement--when fellow suffragists did not accept them as equal partners in the struggle. Susan B. Anthony. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Alice Paul. The Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls. The 1913 Women's March in D.C. When the epic story of the suffrage movement in the United States is told, the most familiar leaders, speakers at meetings, and participants in marches written about or pictured are generally white. That's not the real story. Women of color, especially African American women, were fighting for their right to vote and to be treated as full, equal citizens of the United States. Their battlefront wasn't just about gender. African American women had to deal with white abolitionist-suffragists who drew the line at sharing power with their black sisters. They had to overcome deep, exclusionary racial prejudices that were rife in the American suffrage movement. And they had to maintain their dignity--and safety--in a society that tried to keep them in its bottom ranks. Lifting as We Climb is the empowering story of African American women who refused to accept all this. Women in black church groups, black female sororities, black women's improvement societies and social clubs. Women who formed their own black suffrage associations when white-dominated national suffrage groups rejected them. Women like Mary Church Terrell, a founder of the National Association of Colored Women and of the NAACP; or educator-activist Anna Julia Cooper who championed women getting the vote and a college education; or the crusading journalist Ida B. Wells, a leader in both the suffrage and anti-lynching movements. Author Evette Dionne, a feminist culture writer and the editor-in-chief of Bitch Media, has uncovered an extraordinary and underrepresented history of black women. In her powerful book, she draws an important historical line from abolition to suffrage to civil rights to contemporary young activists--filling in the blanks of the American suffrage story. "Dionne provides a detailed and comprehensive look at the overlooked roles African American women played in the efforts to end slavery and then to secure the right to vote for women." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
ISBN: 9780451481542Publication Date: 2020-04-21
Dragon Hoops by
In his latest graphic novel,Dragon Hoops,New York Times bestselling author Gene Luen Yang turns the spotlight on his life, his family, and the high school where he teaches. Gene understands stories--comic book stories, in particular. Big action. Bigger thrills. And the heroalways wins. But Gene doesn't get sports. As a kid, his friends called him "Stick" and every basketball game he played ended in pain. He lost interest in basketball long ago, but at the high school where he now teaches, it's all anyone can talk about. The men's varsity team, the Dragons, is having a phenomenal season that's been decades in the making. Each victory brings them closer to their ultimate goal: the California State Championships. Once Gene gets to know these young all-stars, he realizes that their story is just as thrilling as anything he's seen on a comic book page. He knows he has to follow this epic to its end. What he doesn't know yet is that this season is not only going to change the Dragons's lives, but his own life as well.
ISBN: 9781626720794Publication Date: 2020-03-17
The Undefeated by
Originally performed for ESPN's The Undefeated, this poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. It 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. The text is also peppered with references to the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others, offering deeper insights into the accomplishments of the past, while bringing stark attention to the endurance and spirit of those surviving and thriving in the present.
ISBN: 9781328780966Publication Date: 2019-04-02
Todos Iguales / All Equal by
The empowering true story of the 1931 Lemon Grove Incident, in which Mexican families in southern California won the first school desegregation case in United States history. Twelve-year-old Roberto Álvarez loved school. He, his siblings, and neighbors attended the Lemon Grove School along with the Anglo children from nearby homes. The children studied and played together as equals. In the summer of 1930, the Lemon Grove School Board decided to segregate the Mexican American students. The board claimed the children ha...language handicap" and needed to be "Americanized." When the Mexican families learned of this plan, they refused to let their children enter the small, inferior school that had been erected. They forme...eighborhood committee and sought legal help. Roberto, an excellent student who spoke English well, became the plaintiff i...uit filed by the Mexican families. On March 12, 1931, the case of Roberto Álvarez v. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District was decided. The judge ruled in favor of the children's right to equal education, ordering that Roberto and all the other Mexican American students be immediately reinstated in the Lemon Grove School. The Lemon Grove Incident stands a...ajor victory in the battle against school segregation, an...estament to the tenacity of an immigrant community and its fight for educational equality.
ISBN: 9780892394272Publication Date: 2019-08-13
Carter Reads the Newspaper by
Carter G. Woodson was born to two formerly enslaved people ten years after the end of the Civil War. Though his father could not read, he believed in being an informed citizen. So Carter read the newspaper to him every day. When he was still a teenager, Carter went to work in the coal mines. There he met a man named Oliver Jones, and Oliver did something important: he asked Carter not only to read to him and the other miners, but also research and find more information on the subjects that interested them. "My interest in penetrating the past of my people was deepened," Carter wrote. His journey would take him many more years, traveling around the world and transforming the way people thought about history.
ISBN: 9781561459346Publication Date: 2019-02-01
Midnight Teacher by
Born into slavery around 1821 in Petersburg, Virginia, Lilly Ann Granderson secretly learned to read and write from her master's children. Lilly Ann read everything she could get her hands on, and through newspapers, she learned of places in the North where slavery had been abolished. She longed to have that freedom too. As Lilly Ann's reading and writing skills improved, she shared her knowledge with others by starting a school. After toiling for their masters all day, Lilly Ann's students would slip nervously into the night to attend her "midnight" school. Every noise reminded them of the painful punishment they faced if they were found out. But the students were willing to risk any danger for the chance at an education. Over the years, hundreds of enslaved men and women learned to read and write under their teacher's patient guidance. Midnight Teacher is an inspiring testament to an amazing instructor and pioneer in education. Lilly Ann Granderson's steadfast courage in the face of adversity provides an inspiring model for all who attempt to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges.
ISBN: 9781620141632Publication Date: 2018-02-06
The Vast Wonder of the World by
"A must-purchase picture book biography of a figure sure to inspire awe and admiration among readers."--School Library Journal (starred review) Extraordinary illustrations and lyrical text present pioneering African American scientist Ernest Everett Just. Ernest Everett Just was not like other scientists of his time. He saw the whole, where others saw only parts. He noticed details others failed to see. He persisted in his research despite the discrimination and limitations imposed on him as an African American. His keen observations of sea creatures revealed new insights about egg cells and the origins of life. Through stunning illustrations and lyrical prose, this picture book presents the life and accomplishments of this long overlooked scientific pioneer.
ISBN: 9781512483758Publication Date: 2018-11-01
The Youngest Marcher by
Presents the life of nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks who became the youngest known child to be arrested for picketing against Birmingham segregation practices in 1963.
ISBN: 9781481400701Publication Date: 2017-01-17
Infinite Hope by
From celebrated author and illustrator Ashley Bryan comes a deeply moving picture book memoir about serving in the segregated army during World War II, and how love and the pursuit of art sustained him. In May of 1942, at the age of eighteen, Ashley Bryan was drafted to fight in World War II. For the next three years, he would face the horrors of war as a black soldier in a segregated army. He endured the terrible lies white officers told about the black soldiers to isolate them from anyone who showed kindness--including each other. He received worse treatment than even Nazi POWs. He was assigned the grimmest, most horrific tasks, like burying fallen soldiers...but was told to remove the black soldiers first because the media didn't want them in their newsreels. And he waited and wanted so desperately to go home, watching every white soldier get safe passage back to the United States before black soldiers were even a thought. For the next forty years, Ashley would keep his time in the war a secret. But now, he tells his story. The story of the kind people who supported him. The story of the bright moments that guided him through the dark. And the story of his passion for art that would save him time and time again.
ISBN: 9781534404908Publication Date: 2019-10-15
This Promise of Change by
In 1956, one year before federal troops escorted the Little Rock 9 into Central High School, fourteen year old Jo Ann Allen was one of twelve African-American students who broke the color barrier and integrated Clinton High School in Tennessee. At first things went smoothly for the Clinton 12, but then outside agitators interfered, pitting the townspeople against one another. Uneasiness turned into anger, and even the Clinton Twelve themselves wondered if the easier thing to do would be to go back to their old school. Jo Ann--clear-eyed, practical, tolerant, and popular among both black and white students---found herself called on as the spokesperson of the group. But what about just being a regular teen? This is the heartbreaking and relatable story of her four months thrust into the national spotlight and as a trailblazer in history.
ISBN: 9781681198521Publication Date: 2019-01-08
Accused! the Trials of the Scottsboro Boys : Lies, Prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment by
This chilling and harrowing account tells the story of the Scottsboro Boys, nine African-American teenagers who, when riding the rails during the Great Depression, found their lives destroyed after two white women falsely accused them of rape.
ISBN: 9781629797755Publication Date: 2019-10-15
Attucks! by
A rousing rags-to-riches episode, a tale of youth power, and a scarcely told chapter in African-American history, Attucks! charts the rise of the legendary Crispus Attucks High School Tigers in the 1950s. By winning the Indiana state high school basketball boys' championship in 1955, ten teens from a school meant to be the centerpiece of racially segregated education in Indiana shattered the myth of their own inferiority. Their brilliant coach had fashioned an unbeatable team from a group of boys born in the South and raised in poverty, anchored by the astonishing player Oscar "The Big O" Robertson. The Crispus Attucks Tigers went down in history as the first state champions from the city of Indianapolis and the first all-black team in U.S. history to win a racially open championship tournament.
ISBN: 9780374306120Publication Date: 2018-10-23
A Few Red Drops by
On a hot day in July 1919, five black youths went swimming in Lake Michigan, unintentionally floating close to the "white" beach. An angry white man began throwing stones at the boys, striking and killing one. Racial conflict on the beach erupted into days of urban violence that shook the city of Chicago to its foundations. This mesmerizing narrative draws on contemporary accounts as it traces the roots of the explosion that had been building for decades in race relations, politics, business, and clashes of culture. Archival photos and prints, source notes, bibliography, index.
ISBN: 9780544785137Publication Date: 2018-01-02
Twelve Days in May by
Documents the heroic 1961 campaign of the civil rights activists known as the "Freedom Riders," describing their peaceful protests to raise awareness about unconstitutional segregation and the increasing violence they endured as they traveled south.
ISBN: 9781629795867Publication Date: 2017-10-24
Now or Never! by
Recounts the achievements of George Stephens and James Henry Gooding, two soldiers in the all-black Massachusetts 54th Infantry during the Civil War who became the war's first black correspondents.
ISBN: 9781629793405Publication Date: 2017-10-10
So Tall Within by
From celebrated author Gary D. Schmidt comes a picture book biography of a giant in the struggle for civil rights, perfectly pitched for readers today. Sojourner Truth was born into slavery but possessed a mind and a vision that knew no bounds.So Tall Withintraces her life from her painful childhood through her remarkable emancipation to her incredible leadership in the movement for rights for both women and African Americans. Her story is told with lyricism and pathos by Gary D. Schmidt, one of the most celebrated writers for children in the twenty-first century, and brought to life by award winning and fine artist Daniel Minter. This combination of talent is just right for introducing this legendary figure to a new generation of children.
ISBN: 9781626728721Publication Date: 2018-09-25
America, Border, Culture, Dreamer by
In a unique collaboration with photographer and educator Wendy Ewald, eighteen immigrant teenagers create an alphabet defining their experiences in pictures and words. Wendy helped the teenagers pose for and design the photographs, interviewing them along the way about their own journeys and perspectives. America Border Culture Dreamer presents Wendy and the students' poignant and powerful images and definitions along with their personal stories of change, hardship, and hope. Created in a collaboration with Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, this book casts a new light on the crucial, under-heard voices of teenage immigrants themselves, making a vital contribution to the timely national conversation about immigration in America.
ISBN: 9780316484954Publication Date: 2018-10-16
