Wade Hudson on DEFIANT: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South

“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… ]

Andréa Butler head shot

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… ]

African Icons Cover Reveal!

We are thrilled to share the cover for Brown Bookshelf board member Tracey Baptiste. This book of narrative nonfiction features ten people from all over the African continent who were movers and shakers in world history. It illuminates a part of Black history that often (always) gets left out during Black history month celebrations–the thousands [ Read the full article… ]

Cover Reveal–It Doesn’t Take A Genius

Gordon C. James has said of his work: “When people see my art I want them to say, I know that person, I know that feeling.” And I burst into cheers when I saw this NY Times bestselling artist’s cover art for my middle grade novel IT DOESN’T TAKE A GENIUS. He so beautifully captured [ Read the full article… ]

OPAL’S GREENWOOD OASIS: History in Full Color

The upcoming centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre on May 31, 2021 – June 1, 2021 offers us the opportunity to hear from Black creators telling the story of what happened in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921 through books, television, film, radio and other planned public programs. Three Black creatives in Oklahoma [ Read the full article… ]

On Becoming Muhammad Ali: A Conversation with Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times best-selling author of thirty-five books, including his Newbery Medal–winning novel, The Crossover. Some of his other works include Booked, which was long-listed for the National Book Award, The Playbook, and The Undefeated, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Caldecott [ Read the full article… ]

The Talk Cover

Torrey Maldonado on: The Talk

In The Talk, out today, thirty diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators engage young people in frank discussions about racism, identity and self-esteem. Featuring stories and images filled with love, acceptance, truth, peace, and an assurance that there can be hope for a better tomorrow, The Talk is an inspiring anthology and must-have resource published in [ Read the full article… ]

Word bubble with words Book Talk