“With his compelling memoir, Hudson will inspire young readers to emulate his ideals and accomplishments.” –Booklist, Starred Review Getting to know Wade Hudson is such a treat and a privilege, and his middle grade memoir DEFIANT: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South, is a genuine blessing. In DEFIANT, readers will get a glimpse of [ Read the full article… ]
Category: Bookshelf Trailblazers
Putting Black Girls at the Center: A Chat with Andréa Butler of Sesi Magazine
Sesi Magazine celebrates the dynamic and multifaceted lives of Black girls and young women in ways that are thoughtful, joyful, and inspiring. And that’s no surprise — publisher and editor-in-chief Andréa Butler is all that and more. A t the age of seventeen, the magazine-loving Andréa decided that if the magazine world continued not to [ Read the full article… ]
Sweet Blackberry: Karyn Parsons Is Sharing Stories We All Need Now
It seems like Karyn Parsons was born to start Sweet Blackberry, the non-profit organization dedicated to bringing little known stories of African American achievement to light. Her mother was a librarian, and “I did grow up in libraries,” says the star of the long-running hit show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. “The advantage of having [ Read the full article… ]
Those Who Paved the Way
As we enter awards season, it’s the time to celebrate new voices, but also to pay homage to those who paved the way. So in the spirit of the coming year, here’s a quiz on some African-American children’s literature trailblazers: 1. The first Coretta Scott King Award was given in 1970. Who received it? A. Sharon Bell Mathis, [ Read the full article… ]
A Brown Bookshelf Trailblazer
One of my most favorite places in the world is the library. You know how most women might love to be locked inside of a department store or shoe store for a weekend? I would love to be locked inside the library. Even now, I love to go to the library and walk the aisles [ Read the full article… ]