14 Books Published by Levine Querido on AALBC — Book Cover Collage

I am the river. Blue and green, fast and flowing,
sweeping river grasses aside…
moving between Lake Erie and Detroit.

The Detroit River has long had a story to tell. It has seen a time before people. And it has seen many faces cross its waters, from Indigenous people guiding canoes to settlers on its banks and freedom seekers riding the Underground Railroad north toward liberty, with Bob-Lo Island at the river’s end, so close to Canada. At one time, a giant steamboat carried hundreds of excited children and adults to the amusement park that was built on Bob-Lo.

But Sarah E. Ray discovered in 1945 that not all people were invited on this boat, to this island, once a symbol of the journey to freedom. It depended, she discovered, on the color of your skin.

This is the dramatic story of how one young woman’s courage could create a turning point that would stand out proudly, and forevermore, in the history of a river older than the country called America.

The Wild Robot meets Restart when Colorado’s unluckiest foster kid battles a rogue AI robot at school.

Malcolm Montgomery is the new kid at Shirley Chisholm Charter Middle School. In no time at all, he’s been slapped with the weird kid label. Is it because he’s a foster kid who’s been in nine homes? Or maybe because he burps when he gets nervous…which is often? Malcolm has a plan to finally get adopted by a forever family before it’s too late. But then on Visiting Professionals’ Day, his school invites Dr. Alphonse Hatch, president of Hatch-ED—one of the fastest-growing artificial intelligence companies in the state—to give a presentation. Dr. Hatch brings his AI-powered robot, and events get set in motion that create…THE INCIDENT.

An irresistible MG novel about the role of AI in schools and in our lives…and what it means to be human.

“An easy bedtime tale with a special affection for nighttime.” — Kirkus

Even long ago, there was day and night. The day was full of light and warmth, and people and animals alike rejoiced in the rays of the sun. But what happens when people get greedy and take the Night for granted? What will become of the Earth and those who dwell upon it? Humans, turtles, elephants, monkeys, cheetahs, and rhinos all need to know!

Katherine Jumbe masterfully brings the world of the Malawian savanna to life, telling a rhythmic tale perfect for bedtime. Rich illustrations by Shana Dixon depict Baby Mwana and her older sister Alekachawo as they trek up the great Sky Road to bring the heavens back into balance.

Perfect for:

• Pre-schoolers to early elementary-aged children
• Parents looking for African representation in a picture book
• Fans of Berry Song, Where Wonder Grows, and Soul Food Sunday

Uncover oft-forgotten figures in Black and Queer art history in this treasure trove of nearly 400 full-color images from the 19th century to the present

“This wildly impressive feat of research outlines a Black, queer history of art and design, dating all the way back to the 19th century. The book also represents author and graphic designer Jon Key’s effort to situate himself in the history of American visual culture, from which Black queer contributions have too often been erased.” — them.

In Black, Queer, & Untold, acclaimed designer and artist Jon Key pays tribute to the incredible designers, artists, and people who were erased from a design canon that consistently failed artists who were not white, straight, and male. From abolitionist newspapers to the little magazines of the Harlem Renaissance to the zines that fueled AIDS activism, Key takes an expansive approach to design history from the 19th century to the present.

Arranged chronologically in six sections, Key leaves no stone unturned and carefully surveys oral histories, personal narratives, album covers, newspaper clippings, academic essays, archival letters, posters, and other design objects. Guided by his firm narrative hand, he provides these unsung heroes with an enduring, reverential stage—and in so doing, gifts us a book that takes its place among the creative arts canon.

Jonell Joshua spent her childhood shuttling back and forth between Savannah and New Jersey—living in grandparents’ homes during the times her mother, struggling with mental illness, needed support to raise her and her brothers. Together the family found a way to keep going even in the darkest of times.

How Do I Draw These Memories? is an illustrated memoir about nostalgia, faith, the preciousness of life, and unconditional love.

From Jonell’s devastatingly brilliant pen as a writer and an artist, it plumbs the depths of what family can be—and how joy and hope can be found in the most ordinary and extraordinary moments.

Rosie: Capricorn. Does great in class. Wants nothing more than to get into the prestigious Innovation Technical Institute and kiss this awful school goodbye. Her talisman: a magical jacket from her mother’s past that gets people to do whatever she says.

Caro: Leo. Rosie’s older sister. Always been closer to their estranged father—and always butted heads more with their strict mother. A trip to the Dominican Republic for her father’s wedding leads her deep into family history that clears up any illusions about her parents she’s ever had. Her talisman: a baseball bat that fixes whatever it breaks.

Zeke: Certified Triple Pisces. Up in cold-ass Jersey City living with his aunt after his grandmother dies and his father moves to London to take care of his mother. He crushes on EVERYone—he knows he’ll find happiness in love, and maybe a way out of this depression. His talisman: a manifestation stone that will make anyone fall in love with him.

Rosie, Caro, and Zeke—and their talismans—find themselves intertwined in a magical, hilarious, and whip-smart Outsiders for the modern day, written by Camille Gomera-Tavarez, a 2022 Publishers Weekly Flying Start.

Harriet Adu knows that her brother’s death is her fault. I mean, it’s not actually her fault, but it still kinda is, isn’t it?

She would do anything to live in a world where she could take back what she said that morning.

Then a strange girl shows up at Harriet’s high school – a girl who loves the same weird books Harriet does, who doesn’t vibe with anyone at school the same way Harriet does – and that different world suddenly seems possible. The girl speaks of a place underneath the subways of New York, where people like them can go and find a home. A place away from the world of high school, grief, cool people, and depression. A place where one may be able to bend the lines of reality and get a second chance at being a better person.

Will Harriet open the door?

With You’re Breaking My Heart, award-winning author Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich offers a remarkable speculative novel that will hit home for anyone who yearns for that one chance to do things over.

A queer, witchy Fast and the Furious that shines light on history not often told.

Best of the Year:
Booklist – Kirkus – Polygon – Chicago Public Library – New York Public Library

Mississippi, 1930s. Magic simmering beneath the surface, kept in check by unjust laws and societal expectations. But for six extraordinary women, the roar of enchanted engines and the thrill of the forbidden broom race offer a chance to rewrite their destinies.

Meet Billie Mae, captain of the Night Storms racing team, and Loretta, her best friend and second-in-command. They’re determined to make enough money to move out west to a state that allows Black folks to legally use magic and take part in national races.

Cheng-Kwan—doing her best to handle the delicate and dangerous double act of being the perfect “son” to her parents, and being true to herself while racing.

Mattie and Emma—Choctaw and Black—the youngest of the group and trying to dodge government officials who want to send them and their newly-surfaced powers away to boarding school.

And Luella, in love with Billie Mae. Her powers were sealed away years ago after she fought back against the government. She’ll do anything to prevent the same fate for her cousins.

Brooms is a heart-pounding graphic novel soaring with magic, friendship, and rebellion. It’s a Fast and the Furious with broomsticks instead of cars, a historical spotlight on struggles silenced by time, and a celebration of the indomitable spirit that dares to defy the odds. Buckle up, witches and dreamers, for this ride is about to take flight.

NYPL Best of the Year
Best of the Best, Black Caucus of the American Library Association

A stunning collection of oral histories from Black elders who grew up in the Jim Crow South

The past is not past. We may think something ancient history, or something that doesn’t affect our present day, but we would be wrong.

Those Who Saw the Sun is a collection of oral histories told by Black people who grew up in the South during the time of Jim Crow. Jaha Nailah Avery is a lawyer, scholar, and reporter whose family has roots in North Carolina stretching back over 300 years. These interviews have been a personal passion project for years as she’s traveled across the South meeting with elders and hearing their stories.

One of the most important things a culture can do is preserve history, truthfully. In Those Who Saw the Sun we have the special experience of hearing this history as it was experienced by those who were really there. The opportunity to read their stories, their similarities and differences, where they agree and disagree, and where they overcame obstacles and found joy—feels truly like a gift.

Best of the Best, Black Caucus of the American Library Association

One week. One prize. Seven really weird challenges.

The kids at Benjamin Banneker College Prep are a little… competitive. Okay. They’re a LOT competitive.

The minute Principal Yee announces an epic competition for the golden B-B trophy, seventh-grader Frederick Douglass Zezzmer knows he has to win.

But it won’t be easy. The competition doesn’t just include science, technology, engineering and math. It also has arts and sports. Not Doug’s best subjects.

Even worse, it’s a TEAM competition. Instead of being in a superstar group, Doug gets paired with four middle school misfits no one else wants.

Worst of all, Doug’s dad has a horrible backup plan. If Doug doesn’t win, he has to forget about becoming The World’s Greatest Inventor and spend the summer in sports camp, with his scary stepbrother.

With only a week to go, Doug launches a quest to turn his team of outcasts into winners… and maybe even friends.

Praise

A People Magazine Must-Read of Summer

★ “Thomas strews the increasingly suspenseful competition with teachable moments and traces learning curves not only for the students but for teachers and parents, too. Reminiscent of E. L. Konigsburg’s The View from Saturday.”
—Booklist (starred)

“Creative and hilarious…the novel’s narration shifts among many perspectives, giving a rich, panoramic view of how stressful yet ultimately rewarding these learning experiences are for the overachievers, the socially awkward, the kids with complicated home lives, and all those who just need to see each other a little differently.”
—Kirkus

“…Witty competition drama… a telling that prioritizes characters’ interiority as well as their impact on each other’s lives. While Doug’s determined voice is the primary focus, the rotating narratives showcase each of the racially diverse characters’ individual stressors, delivering a well-rounded accounting that is better for its multiplicity.”
—Publishers Weekly

THE BSE (Best Summer Ever) LIST!

1. Blueberries
2. Art show in ShoeHorn
3. Lizzo concert
4. Thrift shop pop-up
5. Skinny dipping at the lake house
6. Amusement Park Day!
7. Drew Barrymarathon
8. Paintball day
9. Fall out of love with Hailee

Andrea Williams has got this. The Best Summer Ever. Last summer, she spent all her time in bed, recovering from the latest surgery for her cerebral palsy. She’s waited too long for adventure and thrills to enter her life. Together with her crew of ride-or-die friends, and the best parents anyone could ask for (just don’t tell them that), she’s going to live it up.

There’s just one thing that could ruin it: her best friend, Hailee, finding out Andrea’s true feelings. So Andrea will fall out of love with Hailee—even if it means dating the cute boy George who keeps showing up everywhere with a smile.

Do we want Andrea to succeed? No! Does she? We’re not telling!

Common Sense Media Selection for Teens
Booklist Best of the Year
NYPL Top 10 of the Year
HipLatina Best of the Year

Elizabeth Acevedo has said that reading Lorraine Avila feels like an “UPPERCUT to the senses.” You’ve never encountered an author with prose of this sensitivity and fire.

Yolanda Alvarez is having a good year. She’s starting to feel at home at Julia De Burgos High, her school in the Bronx. She has her best friend Victory, and maybe something with José, a senior boy she’s getting to know. She’s confident her initiation into her family’s bruja tradition will happen soon.

But then a white boy, the son of a politician, appears at Julia De Burgos High, and his vibes are off. And Yolanda’s initiation begins with a series of troubling visions of the violence this boy threatens. How can Yolanda protect her community, in a world that doesn’t listen? Only with the wisdom and love of her family, friends, and community—and the Bruja Diosas, her ancestors and guides.

The Making of Yolanda la Bruja is the book this country, struggling with the plague of gun violence, so desperately needs, but which few could write. Here Lorraine Avila brings a story born from the intersection of race, justice, education, and spirituality that will capture readers everywhere.

Pura Belpré Honor Book
Best of the Year
Chicago Review of Books – Kirkus – Los Angeles Public Library

Publishers Weekly Flying Start

High Spirits is a collection of eleven interconnected short stories from the Dominican diaspora, from debut author Camille Gomera-Tavarez.

It is a book centered on one extended family—the Beléns—across multiple generations.

It is set in the fictional small town of Hidalpa—and Santo Domingo and Paterson and San Juan and Washington Heights too.

It is told in a style both utterly real and distinctly magical—and its stories explore machismo, mental health, family, and identity.

But most of all, High Spirits represents the first book from Camille Gomera-Tavarez, who takes her place as one of the most extraordinary new voices to emerge in years.

For fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Sandra Cisneros, Angie Cruz, and Yaa Gyasi.

Read a PDF of the first Chapter 1, Cruisin’ Huey / Bobby / A Long Freedom Struggle

Booklist Editors’ Choice
Winner of the Russell Freedman Award for Non-Fiction for a Better World
Winner – International Literacy Association (ILA) – Young Adult Nonfiction
Honor – 2023 Malka Penn Award for Human Rights
Top 10 – In the Margins Book Award
Editor’s Choice – Booklist

Knowledge is power. The secret is this. Knowledge, applied at the right time and place, is more than power. It’s magic.

That’s what the Black Panther Party did. They called up this magic and launched a revolution.

In the beginning, it was a story like any other. It could have been yours and it could have been mine. But once it got going, it became more than any one person could have imagined.

This is the story of Huey and Bobby. Eldridge and Kathleen. Elaine and Fred and Ericka.

This is the story of the committed party members. Their supporters and allies. The Free Breakfast Program and the Ten Point Program. It’s about Black nationalism, Black radicalism, about Black people in America.

From the authors of the acclaimed book, Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, and introducing new talent Jetta Grace Martin, comes the story of the Panthers for younger readers—meticulously researched, thrillingly told, and filled with incredible photographs throughout.

P R A I S E

★ “A passionate, honest, and intimate look into an important time in civil rights history.”
—Booklist (starred)

★ “Impeccable writing and stellar design make this title highly recommended.”
—School Library Journal (starred)

“Detailed, thoroughly researched...A valuable addition to the history of African American resistance.”
—Kirkus