The Adventures of Chelsea B. – Danita Matthews
Chelsea B. is a bright, precocious 5-year-old who loves to have fun. Summer comes to an end and Chelsea prepares to go to school for the first time in the fall. Before she can attend school, she has to go to the doctor to get a check-up, and to the dentist to have her teeth cleaned! To help boost Chelsea’s confidence, her mom prepares a picnic in the park for some end-of-the-summer fun! There Chelsea meets new friends, and together, they have a fun-filled day before school begins. Join Chelsea and her parents in a series of real-life adventures as they encounter different childhood experiences. Each story offers a life lesson with a positive outcome!
September 1st (Sleeping Bear Press)
Ticktock Banneker’s Clock – Shana Keller
Throughout his life, Benjamin Banneker was known and admired for his work in science, mathematics, and astronomy, just to name a few pursuits. But even when he was born in Maryland in 1731, he was already an extraordinary person for that time period. He was born free at a time in America when most African Americans were slaves. Though he only briefly attended school and was largely self-taught, at a young age Benjamin displayed a keen aptitude for mathematics and science. Inspired by a pocket watch he had seen, at the age of 22 he built a strike clock based on his own drawings and using a pocket-knife. This picture book biography focuses on one episode in a remarkable life.
September 2nd
My Color is Special – Jasmine Pruitt
Come along with Little Elize as she shares what makes her color so special. A perfect story to share with the brown beauty in your life.
September 6th (Viking Books for Young Readers)
How to Build a Museum: Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture – Tonya Bolden
Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture is truly groundbreaking! The first national museum whose mission is to illuminate for all people, the rich, diverse, complicated, and important experiences and contributions of African Americans in America is opening. And the history of NMAAHC--the last museum to be built on the National Mall--is the history of America. The campaign to set up a museum honoring black citizens is nearly 100 years old; building the museum itself and assembling its incredibly far-reaching collections is a modern story that involves all kinds of people, from educators and activists, to politicians, architects, curators, construction workers, and ordinary Americans who donated cherished belongings to be included in NMAAHC's thematically-organized exhibits.
September 13th (Wordsong/Boyds Mills)
Catching a Story Fish - Janice Harrington
Keet knows the only good thing about moving away from her Alabama home is that she’ll live near her beloved grandfather. When Keet starts school, it’s even worse than she expected, as the kids tease her about her southern accent. Now Keet, who can “talk the whiskers off a catfish,” doesn’t want to open her mouth. Slowly, though, while fishing with her grandfather, she learns the art of listening. Gradually, she makes her first new friend. But just as she’s beginning to settle in, her grandfather has a stroke, and even though he’s still nearby, he suddenly feels ever-so-far-away. Keet is determined to reel him back to her by telling him stories; in the process she finds her voice and her grandfather again. This lyrical and deeply emotional novel-in-verse celebrates the power of story and of finding one’s individual voice.
September 13th (Balzer + Bray)
Two Naomis – Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich & Audrey Vernick
A realistic contemporary story of two girls, both named Naomi, whose divorced parents begin to date—perfect for fans of Lisa Graff, Sara Pennypacker, and Rita Williams-Garcia. Other than their first names, Naomi Marie and Naomi Edith are sure they have nothing in common, and they wouldn’t mind keeping it that way. Naomi Marie starts clubs at the library and adores being a big sister. Naomi Edith loves quiet Saturdays and hanging with her best friend in her backyard. And while Naomi Marie’s father lives a few blocks away, Naomi Edith wonders how she’s supposed to get through each day a whole country apart from her mother. When Naomi Marie’s mom and Naomi Edith’s dad get serious about dating, each girl tries to cling to the life she knows and loves. Then their parents push them into attending a class together, where they might just have to find a way to work with each other—and maybe even join forces to find new ways to define family.
September 13th (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books)
Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan – Ashley Bryan
Using original slave auction and plantation estate documents, Ashley Bryan offers a moving and powerful picture book that contrasts the monetary value of a slave with the priceless value of life experiences and dreams that a slave owner could never take away. Imagine being looked up and down and being valued as less than chair. Less than an ox. Less than a dress. Maybe about the same as…a lantern. You, an object. An object to sell. In his gentle yet deeply powerful way, Ashley Bryan goes to the heart of how a slave is given a monetary value by the slave owner, tempering this with the one thing that CAN’T be bought or sold—dreams. Inspired by the actual will of a plantation owner that lists the worth of each and every one of his “workers”, Bryan has created collages around that document, and others like it.
September 13th (Feiwel & Friends)
Into White - Randi Pink
LaToya Williams lives in Montgomery, Alabama, and attends a mostly white high school. It seems as if her only friend is her older brother, Alex. Toya doesn’t know where she fits in, but after a run-in with another student, she wonders if life would be different if she were . . . different. And then a higher power answers her prayer: to be “anything but black.” Toya is suddenly white, blond, and popular. Now what? Randi Pink’s audacious fiction debut dares to explore a subject that will spark conversations about race, class, and gender.
September 13th (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers)
The Water Princess – Susan Verde & Georgie Badiel
Based on supermodel Georgie Badiel’s childhood, a young girl dreams of bringing clean drinking water to her African village. With its wide sky and warm earth, Princess Gie Gie’s kingdom is a beautiful land. But clean drinking water is scarce in her small African village. And try as she might, Gie Gie cannot bring the water closer; she cannot make it run clearer. Every morning, she rises before the sun to make the long journey to the well. Instead of a crown, she wears a heavy pot on her head to collect the water. After the voyage home, after boiling the water to drink and clean with, Gie Gie thinks of the trip that tomorrow will bring. And she dreams. She dreams of a day when her village will have cool, crystal-clear water of its own. Inspired by the childhood of African–born model Georgie Badiel…As a child in Burkina Faso, Georgie and the other girls in her village had to walk for miles each day to collect water.
September 20th (Bloomsbury USA Children’s)
Stealing Snow - Danielle Page
