Meet the Trailblazers
Through our collection of wonderful picture book biographies, you’ll meet remarkable men and women of color who helped to shape our world.
Trailblazers go places. Trailblazers explore uncharted areas. They do things first.
Trailblazers are bold, brave, and persistent. They are creative, confident, and strong. The trailblazers in these books are people of color. All of them have pursued their passion, overcome obstacles, fought prejudice, and changed the world.
Despite challenges, trailblazers move forward. They mark the way. Others follow.
As trailblazers, the men and women of color in these picture book biographies faced unique obstacles. They pursued their passions despite racism, prejudice, poverty, and injustice. Many were born disadvantaged, lacked opportunity, or had limited access to educational opportunities. Yet, they excelled. They were scientists, writers, poets, athletes, pilots, activists, dancers, musicians, inventors, astronauts, and more.
Meet the Trailblazers activity guide
From the booklists below, we've selected 14 picture book biographies to inspire the young learners in your life! For each featured book, we provide reflection questions, hands-on activities, and writing prompts — to jump-start conversations, curiosity, and exploration.
- Meet the Trailblazers activity guide › [1] (PDF)
Note: Be sure to view and print from Adobe Reader (or an alternative PDF reader), not your web browser.
[6]Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon
By: Suzanne Slade
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The inspiring true story of mathematician Katherine Johnson--made famous by the award-winning...
Purchase on Bookshop [13]
Purchase on Amazon [14]
A Ride to Remember: A Civil Rights Story
By: Sharon Langley, Amy Nathan
Illustrated by: Floyd Cooper
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The true story of how a community came together — both black and white — to make a change. When...
Purchase on Amazon [15]
A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin
By: Jen Bryant
Illustrated by: Melissa Sweet
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Horace Pippin was born in Pennsylvania in the late 19th century to become a talented — and...
Purchase on Bookshop [16]
Purchase on Amazon [17]
Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch
By: Chris Barton
Illustrated by: Don Tate
Age Level: 6-9 years old
An in-depth look at the Reconstruction period through the life of one of the first African-...
Purchase on Bookshop [18]
Purchase on Amazon [19]
Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy US Marshall
By: Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Illustrated by: Gregory Christie
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Formerly enslaved in the 19th century, Bass Reeves escaped Texas and lived with Indians. It was...
Purchase on Bookshop [20]
Purchase on Amazon [21]
Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins
By: Michelle Meadows
Illustrated by: Ebony Glenn
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A lyrical picture book biography of Janet Collins, the first African American principal dancer...
Purchase on Bookshop [22]
Purchase on Amazon [23]
Buzzing with Questions: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner
By: Janice N. Harrington
Illustrated by: Theodore Taylor III
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Charles Henry Turner, the first Black entomologist, was fascinated by plants and animals and bugs....
Purchase on Bookshop [24]
Purchase on Amazon [25]
Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code Talker's Story
By: Joseph Bruchac
Illustrated by: Liz Amini-Holmes
Age Level: 6-9 years old
During World War II, Chester was recruited by the US Marines to use the Navajo language to...
Purchase on Bookshop [26]
Purchase on Amazon [27]
Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13
By: Halaine Becker
Age Level: 6-9 years old
You've likely heard of the historic Apollo 13 moon landing. But do you know about the...
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Purchase on Amazon [29]
Dark Was the Night: Blind Willie Johnson's Journey to the Stars
By: Gary Golio
Illustrated by: E.B. Lewis
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The story of Blind Willie Johnson — the legendary Texas musician whose song "Dark Was the Night...
Purchase on Bookshop [30]
Purchase on Amazon [31]
Digging for Words: José Alberto Gutiérrez and the Library He Built
By: Angela Burke Kunkel
Illustrated by: Paola Escobar
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The inspiring story of Gutiérrez, a garbage collector in Bogotá, Colombia, who started a library...
Purchase on Bookshop [32]
Purchase on Amazon [33]
Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon
By: Kelly Starling Lyons
Illustrated by: Laura Freeman
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Philip Freelon’s dream became reality when his team was commissioned to design the National...
Purchase on Bookshop [34]
Purchase on Amazon [35]
Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist
By: Susan Wood
Illustrated by: Duncan Tonatiuh
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Meet Juan García Esquivel whose contributions to music can still be heard. From his early days...
Purchase on Bookshop [36]
Purchase on Amazon [37]
Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks
By: Suzanne Slade
Illustrated by: Cozbi A. Cabrera
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A picture-book biography of celebrated poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black person to win the...
Purchase on Bookshop [39]
Purchase on Amazon [40]
Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table
By: Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Illustrated by: Eric-Shabazz Larkin
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Martin shares the remarkable life story of former professional basketball player Will Allen,...
Purchase on Bookshop [42]
Purchase on Amazon [43]
Fearless Mary: Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver
By: Tami Charles
Illustrated by: Claire Almon
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A little-known but larger-than-life character, Mary Fields is one of the unsung, trailblazing...
Purchase on Bookshop [44]
Purchase on Amazon [45]
Fly High! The Story of Bessie Coleman
By: Louise Borden, Mary Kay Kroeger
Illustrated by: Teresa Flavin
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Bessie Coleman grew up picking cotton in Texas, but she aimed high -- soaring into history as...
Purchase on Bookshop [46]
Purchase on Amazon [47]
Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman's Dreams Took Flight
By: Karyn Parsons
Illustrated by: R. Gregory Christie
Age Level: 6-9 years old
...
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Purchase on Amazon [49]
Galápagos Girl / Galapagueña
By: Marsha Diane Arnold
Illustrated by: Angela Dominguez
Age Level: 6-9 years old
As a Galápagueña, Valentina spends her days observing the natural world around her. This...
Purchase on Bookshop [50]
Purchase on Amazon [51]
Harlem's Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills
By: Renee Watson
Illustrated by: Christian Robinson
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Bold, bright illustrations and a cheerful text that includes song lyrics introduce the life of an...
Purchase on Bookshop [52]
Purchase on Amazon [53]
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
By: Margot Lee Shetterly, Winifred Conklin
Illustrated by: Laura Freeman
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The true story of four African American women whose talent and tenacity led to careers at NASA...
Purchase on Bookshop [54]
Purchase on Amazon [55]
Hold the Flag High: The True Story of the First Black Medal of Honor Winner
By: Catherine Clinton
Illustrated by: Shane Evans
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The story of the first Black Medal of Freedom winner and a stirring account of one of the most...
Purchase on Bookshop [56]
Purchase on Amazon [57]
How to Solve a Problem: The Rise (and Falls) of a Rock-Climbing Champion
By: Ashima Shiraishi
Illustrated by: Yao Xiao
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Ashima Shiraishi, one of the world's youngest and most skilled climbers in the world, draws on...
Purchase on Bookshop [58]
Purchase on Amazon [59]
Howard Thurman's Great Hope
By: Kai Jackson Issa
Illustrated by: Arthur L. Dawson
Age Level: 6-9 years old
An introduction to one of the first leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, who became a prominent...
Purchase on Bookshop [60]
Purchase on Amazon [61]
Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told
By: Walter Dean Myers
Illustrated by: Bonnie Christensen
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Ida B. Wells worked bravely as an activist, educator, writer, journalist, suffragette, and...
Purchase on Bookshop [62]
Purchase on Amazon [63]
In Her Hands: The Story of Sculptor Augusta Savage
By: Alan Schroeder
Illustrated by: JaeMe Bereal
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Augusta Savage was a born artist, making clay figures even as a child. She pursued her passion,...
Purchase on Bookshop [64]
Purchase on Amazon [65]
It Jes' Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw
By: Don Tate
Illustrated by: Gregory Christie
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A former slave and sharecropper Bill Traylor moved to the city after his wife's death. Though he...
Purchase on Amazon [66]
Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century
By: Carole Boston Weatherford
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Born in the Mississippi Delta in 1927, the always musically gifted Mary Violet Leontyne Price...
Purchase on Amazon [67]
Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters
By: Andrea Pinkney
Illustrated by: Stephen Alcorn
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Brief sketches of the lives of both well-known (for example, Harriet Tubman) and lesser known...
Purchase on Amazon [68]
Lewis Latimer: The Man Behind a Better Light Bulb
By: Nancy Dickmann
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Lewis Latimer's invention of the carbon filament made light bulbs more affordable and longer...
Purchase on Bookshop [69]
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Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotton
By: Laura Veirs
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Elizabeth "Libba" Cotton heard music all around her growing up in North Carolina. She became a...
Purchase on Bookshop [71]
Purchase on Amazon [72]
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
By: Katheryn Russell-Brown
Illustrated by: Frank Morrison
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Melba Doretta Liston loved the sounds of music from as far back as she could remember....
Purchase on Bookshop [73]
Purchase on Amazon [74]
Mae Among the Stars
By: Roda Ahmed
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A beautiful picture book for sharing, inspired by the life of the first African American woman...
Purchase on Bookshop [75]
Purchase on Amazon [76]
Mae Jemison
By: Luke Collins
Age Level: 6-9 years old
An early biography of the first African-American female astronaut. This nonfiction book explores...
Purchase on Amazon [77]
Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist
By: Lesa Cline-Ransome
Illustrated by: James Ransome
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A picture-book biography of Marshall Taylor, an African American who became a great bicycle...
Purchase on Bookshop [78]
Purchase on Amazon [79]
Mario and the Hole in the Sky: How a Chemist Saved Our Planet
By: Elizabeth Rusch
Illustrated by: Teresa Martinez
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Mexican-American Mario Molina is a modern-day hero who helped solve the ozone crisis of the...
Purchase on Bookshop [80]
Purchase on Amazon [81]
Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans
By: Phil Bildner
Illustrated by: John Parra
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Cornelius Washington was proud of his hometown, New Orleans. His job as a sanitation worker was...
Purchase on Bookshop [82]
Purchase on Amazon [83]
Maryam’s Magic: The Story of Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani
By: Megan Reid
Illustrated by: Aaliya Jaleel
Age Level: 6-9 years old
As a little girl growing up in Tehran, Maryam Mirzakhani was spellbound by stories but she did...
Purchase on Bookshop [84]
Purchase on Amazon [85]
Midnight Teacher: Lilly Ann Granderson and Her Secret School
By: Janet Halfmann
Illustrated by: Landon Ladd
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Lilly Ann Granderson,, who was enslaved, secretly learned to read and write as a child and...
Purchase on Bookshop [86]
Purchase on Amazon [87]
Molly, by Golly! The Legend of Molly Williams, America's First Female Firefighter
By: Dianne Ochiltree
Illustrated by: Kathleen Kemly
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Williams was a cook for New York City's volunteer Fire Company 11 in the early 1800s. When a...
Purchase on Bookshop [88]
Purchase on Amazon [89]
My Name Is Gabriela / Me llamo Gabriela
By: Monica Brown
Illustrated by: John Parra
Age Level: 6-9 years old
"My name is Gabriela Mistral. It is a name I chose myself because I like the sound of it." With...
Purchase on Bookshop [90]
Purchase on Amazon [91]
My Name Is Truth: The Life of Sojourner Truth
By: Ann Turner
Illustrated by: James Ransome
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Isabella Baumfree was born into slavery but she would not remain enslaved. Instead, she took the...
Purchase on Bookshop [92]
Purchase on Amazon [93]
Nacho's Nachos: The Story Behind the World's Favorite Snack
By: Sandra Nickel
Illustrated by: Oliver Dominguez
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Meet Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya and learn the true story of how he invented the world's most beloved...
Purchase on Bookshop [94]
Purchase on Amazon [95]
Patricia's Vision: The Doctor Who Saved Sight
By: Michelle Lord
Illustrated by: Alleana Harris
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Born in the 1940s, Dr. Patricia Bath dreamed of being an ophthalmologist at a time when becoming...
Purchase on Bookshop [96]
Purchase on Amazon [97]
Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum
By: Robert Andrew Parker
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Art Tatum came from modest beginnings and was nearly blind, but his passion for the piano and...
Purchase on Bookshop [98]
Purchase on Amazon [99]
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré
By: Anika Aldamuy Denise
Illustrated by: Paola Escobar
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A picture book biography of storyteller, puppeteer, and New York City’s first Puerto Rican...
Purchase on Bookshop [100]
Purchase on Amazon [101]
Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton
By: Don Tate
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Horton, an inspirational poet, was the first Black author in the South to ever be published....
Purchase on Amazon [102]
Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom
By: Teresa Robeson
Illustrated by: Rebecca Huang
Age Level: 6-9 years old
When Wu Chien Shiung was born in China 100 years ago, most girls did not attend school; no one...
Purchase on Bookshop [103]
Purchase on Amazon [104]
Richard Wright and the Library Card
By: William Miller
Illustrated by: R.Gregory Christie
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Richard Wright, one of this country's most brilliant writers (Native Son) and his early...
Purchase on Bookshop [105]
Purchase on Amazon [106]
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation
By: Duncan Tonatiuh
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end...
Purchase on Bookshop [107]
Purchase on Amazon [108]
Purchase audio version [109]
Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World
By: Susan Hood
Age Level: 6-9 years old
This book of poems introduces fourteen revolutionary young women—each paired with a noteworthy...
Purchase on Bookshop [110]
Purchase on Amazon [111]
Shaped By Her Hands: Potter Maria Martinez
By: Anna Harber Freeman
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The most renowned Native American Indian potter of her time, Maria Povika Martinez learned...
Purchase on Bookshop [112]
Purchase on Amazon [113]
She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story
By: Audrey Vernick
Illustrated by: Don Tate
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Effa Manley, born when jazz was new and sports were segregated, was passionate about fairness...
Purchase on Bookshop [114]
Purchase on Amazon [115]
She Persisted: Claudette Colvin
By: Lesa Cline-Ransome
Illustrated by: Gillian Flint
Age Level: 6-9 years old
She was named after a white actress of the time, but this young Black girl’s life took a very...
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Purchase on Amazon [117]
Purchase audio version [118]
She Persisted: Harriet Tubman
By: Andrea Davis Pinkney
Illustrated by: Gillian Flint
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Born enslaved, Harriet Tubman rose up to become one of the most successful, determined and well-...
Purchase on Bookshop [119]
Purchase on Amazon [120]
Purchase audio version [121]
She Was the First! The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm
By: Katheryn Russell-Brown
Illustrated by: Eric Velasquez
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Meet the dynamic educator, activist, and politician Shirley Chisholm. Even as a young child...
Purchase on Bookshop [122]
Purchase on Amazon [123]
Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb
By: Veronica Chambers
Illustrated by: Rachelle Baker
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress, famously said, "If they don't give you a...
Purchase on Bookshop [124]
Purchase on Amazon [125]
Side by Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez / /Lado a Lado: La Historia de Dolores Huerta y Cesar Chavez
By: Monica Brown
Illustrated by: Joe Cepeda
Age Level: 6-9 years old
This bilingual book pairs the dual stories of powerful activists César Chávez and Dolores Huerta...
Purchase on Bookshop [126]
Purchase on Amazon [127]
Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee
By: Marissa Moss
Illustrated by: Carl Angel
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The true story of one of only two Chinese-American women to fly for the U.S. Air Force during...
Purchase on Amazon [128]
Sweet Dreams, Sarah
By: Vivian Kirkfield
Illustrated by: Chris Ewald
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Originally enslaved, Sarah E. Goode moved to Chicago after the abolition of slavery and started...
Purchase on Bookshop [129]
Purchase on Amazon [130]
Purchase audio version [131]
Take a Picture of Me, James VanDerZee!
By: Andrea J. Loney
Illustrated by: Keith Mallett
Age Level: 6-9 years old
James VanDerZee (1886–1983) was a prolific photographer who used his camera to capture the...
Purchase on Bookshop [132]
Purchase on Amazon [133]
The East-West House: Noguchi's Childhood in Japan
By: Christy Hale
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A biography of Isamu Noguchi, Japanese American artist, sculptor, and landscape architect,...
Purchase on Amazon [134]
The Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee
By: Julie Leung
Illustrated by: Julie Kwon
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Hazel Ying Lee, the first Chinese American woman to fly for the US military, was born fearless...
Purchase on Bookshop [135]
Purchase on Amazon [136]
The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague
By: Julia Finley Mosca
Illustrated by: Daniel Rieley
Age Level: 6-9 years old
After touring a German submarine in the early 1940s, young Raye set her sights on becoming an...
Purchase on Bookshop [137]
Purchase on Amazon [138]
The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne
By: Lesa Cline-Ransome
Illustrated by: John Parra
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The story of Ethel Payne, a groundbreaking African American journalist and one of the first...
Purchase on Bookshop [139]
Purchase on Amazon [140]
The Unstoppable Garrett Morgan
By: Joan DiCicco
Illustrated by: Ebony Glenn
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Using his ingenuity and tenacity, Garrett overcame racial barriers and forged a career as a...
Purchase on Bookshop [141]
Purchase on Amazon [142]
The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid
By: Jeanette Winter
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Zaha Hadid grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, and dreamed of designing her own cities. After studying...
Purchase on Bookshop [143]
Purchase on Amazon [144]
Ticktock Banneker's Clock
By: Shana Keller
Illustrated by: David C. Gardner
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The story of 18th century African American scientist Benjamin Banneker and his three-year...
Purchase on Bookshop [145]
Purchase on Amazon [146]
Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper
By: Anna Malaspina
Illustrated by: Eric Velasquez
Age Level: 6-9 years old
In Alice Coachman's Georgia hometown, there was no track where an African-American girl could...
Purchase on Bookshop [147]
Purchase on Amazon [148]
Trailblazer: The Story of Ballerina Raven Wilkinson
By: Leda Schubert
Illustrated by: Theodore Taylor III
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Raven Wilkinson, born in 1935, was the first African American ballerina to dance with a major...
Purchase on Bookshop [149]
Purchase on Amazon [150]
Trombone Shorty
By: Trou "Trombone Shorty" Andrews
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Troy Andrews grew up in a New Orleans family of musicians so it’s not surprising that he, too,...
Purchase on Bookshop [151]
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What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan
By: Chris Barton
Illustrated by: Ekua Holmes
Age Level: 6-9 years old
From a very young age, Barbara Jordan had a voice that stood out. The repeated refrain, “what...
Purchase on Bookshop [153]
Purchase on Amazon [154]
When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop
By: Laban Carrick Hill
Age Level: 6-9 years old
From his early childhood in Jamaica, Clive loved all types of music. When he was 13 years old,...
Purchase on Bookshop [155]
Purchase on Amazon [156]
Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions
By: Chris Barton
Illustrated by: Don Tate
Age Level: 6-9 years old
As a kid, Lonnie fiddled around with toy rockets and more. But all of his tinkering led to a...
Purchase on Bookshop [157]
Purchase on Amazon [158]
Purchase audio version [159]
Purchase Kindle version [160]
William Still and His Freedom Stories
By: Don Tate
Age Level: 6-9 years old
William Still was the youngest child of parents who escaped slavery and went on to become the...
Purchase on Bookshop [161]
Purchase on Amazon [162]
Purchase audio version [163]
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman
By: Kathleen Krull
Illustrated by: David Diaz
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Wilma Rudolph not only overcame polio, she went on to become the first woman to win three...
Purchase on Bookshop [164]
Purchase on Amazon [165]
Wind Flyers
By: Angela Johnson
Illustrated by: Loren Long
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A young African American boy tells the story of his great-great-uncle, who realized his dream of...
Purchase on Bookshop [166]
Purchase on Amazon [167]
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina
By: Carmen Bernier-Grand
Illustrated by: Raúl Colón
Age Level: 9-12 years old
From childhood, Alonso exhibited a passion for dancing, studying first in Cuba and later in New...
Purchase on Bookshop [168]
Purchase on Amazon [169]
Asian-Americans Who Inspire Us
By: Analiza Quiroz Wolf
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Engaging stories of 16 trailblazing Asian-Americans. The stories bring to life Vietnam Memorial...
Purchase on Amazon [170]
Awesome Asian Americans: 20 Stars Who Made America Amazing
By: Phil Amara, Oliver Chin
Illustrated by: Juan Calle
Age Level: 9-12 years old
This anthology spotlights 20 historical and contemporary Asian Americans who "came from...
Purchase on Bookshop [171]
Purchase on Amazon [172]
Black Pioneers of Science and Invention
By: Louis Haber
Age Level: 9-12 years old
...
Purchase on Amazon [173]
Bravo! Poems About Amazing Hispanics
By: Margarita Engle
Illustrated by: Rafael López
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Lyrical poems introduce a “variety of amazing people …” including Pura Belpre became a New York...
Purchase on Bookshop [174]
Purchase on Amazon [175]
Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM
By: Tanya Bolden
Age Level: 9-12 years old
With profiles on groundbreaking computer scientists, doctors, inventors, physicists, pharmacists...
Purchase on Bookshop [176]
Purchase on Amazon [177]
Civil Rights Pioneer: A Story About Mary Church Terrell
By: Gwenyth Swain
Illustrated by: Ellen Beier
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Terrell worked to gain equal rights for herself and other African Americans, and is best-known...
Purchase on Amazon [178]
Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer
By: Traci Sorell
Illustrated by: Natasha Donovan
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Mary Golda Ross designed classified airplanes and spacecraft as Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's...
Purchase on Bookshop [179]
Purchase on Amazon [180]
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
By: Philip Hoose
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nine months before Rosa Parks’ history-making protest on a city bus, Claudette Colvin, a 15-year...
Purchase on Amazon [181]
Purchase audio version [182]
Finish the Fight! The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote
By: Veronica Chambers Staff of the, New York Times
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Who was at the forefront of women's right to vote? What about so many others from diverse...
Purchase on Bookshop [183]
Purchase on Amazon [184]
Firebird
By: Misty Copeland
Illustrated by: Christopher Myers
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Misty Copeland, the African American Ballet Theater soloist, has an encouraging conversation...
Purchase on Bookshop [185]
Purchase on Amazon [186]
Fred Korematsu Speaks Up
By: Laura Atkins, Stan Yogi
Illustrated by: Yutaka Houlette
Age Level: 9-12 years old
The story of civil rights icon Fred Korematsu's fight against Japanese American incarceration...
Purchase on Bookshop [187]
Purchase on Amazon [188]
Growing Up Pedro: Candlewick Biographies: How the Martinez Brothers Made It from the Dominican Republic All the Way to the Major Leagues
By: Matt Tavares
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Before Pedro Martínez pitched the Red Sox to a World Series championship, before he was named to...
Purchase on Bookshop [189]
Purchase on Amazon [190]
Hammering for Freedom: The William Lewis Story
By: Rita Lorraine Hubbard
Illustrated by: John Holyfield
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Born into slavery in Chattanooga, Tennessee, William "Bill" Lewis learned the blacksmith trade...
Purchase on Bookshop [191]
Purchase on Amazon [192]
I, Matthew Henson: Polar Explorer
By: Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by: Eric Velasquez
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Matthew Henson, an African American explorer, accompanied Robert Peary to the North Pole where...
Purchase on Amazon [193]
Jump Back, Paul: The Life and Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
By: Sally Derby
Illustrated by: Sean Qualls
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Experience the breadth and depth of Paul Laurence Dunbar's poetry. From his childhood in poverty...
Purchase on Bookshop [194]
Purchase on Amazon [195]
Purchase audio version [196]
Latinitas: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers
By: Juliet Menéndez
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Discover how 40 influential Latinas became the women we celebrate today in this collection of...
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Purchase on Amazon [198]
Mamie on the Mound: A Woman in Baseball's Negro Leagues
By: Leah Henderson
Illustrated by: George Doutsiopoulos
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Mamie "Peanut" Johnson had one dream: to play professional baseball, but she wasn't welcome in...
Purchase on Bookshop [199]
Purchase on Amazon [200]
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Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala-Ša, Native American Author, Musician, and Activist
By: Gina Capaldi, Q.L. Pearce
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Born in 1876 on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota, Zitkala-Ša willingly left her...
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Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library
By: Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by: Eric Velasquez
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Who was Arturo Alfonso Schomburg? He was an Afro-Puerto Rican man whose thirst for knowledge...
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Sharuko: Peruvian Archaeologist Julio C. Tello / El Arqueólogo Peruano Julio C. Tello
By: Monica Brown
Illustrated by: Elisa Chavarri
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Peruvian archaeologist and national icon Julio C. Tello unearthed Peru's ancient cultures and...
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Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman
By: Nikki Grimes
Illustrated by: E.B. Lewis
Age Level: 9-12 years old
After aviator Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman is lost in a plane crash, those who knew her celebrate...
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The Undefeated
By: Kwame Alexander
Illustrated by: Kadir Nelson
Age Level: 9-12 years old
This poem is a love letter to black life in the U.S. It highlights the unspeakable trauma of...
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Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas
By: Gwendolyn Hooks
Illustrated by: Colin Bootman
Age Level: 9-12 years old
A picture book biography about the genius and research of Vivien Thomas. Despite persistent...
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Together We March
By: Leah Henderson
Illustrated by: Tyler Feder
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Learn about 25 groundbreaking protest movements that have shaped the way we fight for equality...
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Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer
By: Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by: Ekua Holmes
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Stirring poems and vibrant collage illustrations combine to celebrate the life of Fannie Lou...
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What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors
By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Illustrated by: Ben Boos
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Basketball legend Abdul-Jabbar champions a lineup of little-known African-American inventors in...
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Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells: The Daring Life of a Crusading Journalist
By: Philip Dray
Illustrated by: Stephen Alcorn
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Journalist Ida B. Wells faces the greatest challenge of her life as a tireless crusader for...
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