27 Books Published by Sourcebooks on AALBC — Book Cover Collage

“A big, beautiful, devastating, and ultimately hopeful novel.” —Erica Bauermeister, New York Times bestselling author of No Two Persons

An explosive and emotional story of four siblings—each fighting their own personal battle—who return home in the wake of their father’s death in order to save their family’s home from being sold out from under them, from the author of One Summer in Savannah.

“Don’t let the white man take the house.”

These are the last words King Solomon says to his son before he dies. Now all four Solomon siblings must return to North Carolina to save the Kingdom, their ancestral home and 200 acres of land, from a development company, who has their sights set on turning the valuable waterfront property into a luxury resort.

While fighting to save the Kingdom, the siblings must also save themselves from the secrets they’ve been holding onto. Junior, the oldest son and married to his wife for eleven years, is secretly in love with another man. Second son Mance can’t control his temper, which has landed him in prison more than once. CeCe, the oldest daughter and a lawyer in New York City, has embezzled thousands of dollars from her firm’s clients. Youngest daughter Tokey wonders why she doesn’t seem to fit into this family, which has left an aching hole in her heart that she tries to fill in harmful ways. As the Solomons come together to fight for the Kingdom, each of their façades begins to crumble and collide in unexpected ways.

Told in alternating viewpoints, Long After We Are Gone is a searing portrait on the power of family and letting go of things that no longer serve you, exploring the burden of familial expectations, the detriment of miscommunication, and the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children.

Part history and part cultural analysis, The Grift chronicles the nuanced history of Black Republicans. Clay Cane lays out how Black Republicanism has been mangled by opportunists who are apologists for racism.

After the Civil War, the pillars of Black Republicanism were a balanced critique of both political parties, civil rights for all Americans, reinventing an economy based on exploitation, and, most importantly, building thriving Black communities. How did Black Republicanism devolve from revolutionaries like Frederick Douglass to the puppets in the Trump era?

Whether it’s radical conservatives like South Carolina Senator Tim Scott or Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, they are consistently viral news and continuously upholding egregious laws at the expense of their Black brethren. Black faces in high places providing cover for explicit bigotry is one of the greatest threats to the liberation of Black and brown people. By studying these figures and their tactics, Cane exposes the grift and lays out a plan to emancipate our future.

How will Maya create a brighter world? By learning to honor her glowing feelings, just like Black women have done throughout history!

Maya feels a warm glow when she picks strawberries in the community garden, hears music in her neighborhood, or spends time with the people she loves.

She feels a different kind of glow when she gets pushed down on the playground, overhears her family worrying about bills, and sees her favorite cousin stopped by police. Sometimes that glowing seems like too much to carry.

But Maya is learning that others feel the same glowing light. Black women throughout history, like Ida B. Wells, Nina Simone, June Jordan, and Maya’s own ancestors, found ways to honor these glowing feelings. They were guided by their light to make a difference. The light Maya feels inside is an important part of her that she’ll share as she works toward a brighter world.

“Nothing short of astonishing. The best writers are brave writers, and Harris has proven herself among those ranks.” — Mateo Askaripour, New York Times bestselling author of Black Buck

A compelling debut that glows with bittersweet heart and touching emotion, deeply interrogating questions of family, redemption, and unconditional love in the sweltering summer heat of Savannah, as two people discover what it means to truly forgive.

It’s been eight years since Sara Lancaster left her home in Savannah, Georgia. Eight years since her daughter, Alana, came into this world, following a terrifying sexual assault that left deep emotional wounds Sara would do anything to forget. But when Sara’s father falls ill, she’s forced to return home and face the ghosts of her past.

While caring for her father and running his bookstore, Sara is desperate to protect her curious, outgoing, genius daughter from the Wylers, the family of the man who assaulted her. Sara thinks she can succeed—her attacker is in prison, his identical twin brother, Jacob, left town years ago, and their mother are all unaware Alana exists. But she soon learns that Jacob has also just returned to Savannah to piece together the fragments of his once-great family. And when their two worlds collide—with the type of force Sara explores in her poetry and Jacob in his astrophysics—they are drawn together in unexpected ways.

Praise for One Summer in Savannah:

“Harris’s provocative debut is beautifully written, absorbing, and brimming with emotion and insight.” — Rochelle B. Weinstein, USA Today bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends

“An unforgettable portrayal of familial tragedy, bravery, and redemption.” — Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman’s Daughter

“Harris is definitely a writer to watch!” — Catherine Adel West, author of The Two Lives of Sara

“A gorgeously written, tender examination of love, loss, and the heart-wracking journey toward forgiveness.” — Lola Akinmade Akerstrom, international bestselling author of In Every Mirror She’s Black

One Summer in Savannah will turn readers’ hearts inside out.” — Julie Carrick Dalton, author of The Last Beekeeper

Celebrate family love with this heartwarming and soulful bedtime book perfect for toddlers 1-3!

Shoo-be-do-wop along with your little one as you introduce them to the legendary music of the Motown era. Heartfelt text and whimsical illustrations will touch the hearts of sentimental parents and grandparents and will ensure little ones enjoy a jazzy drift off to dreamland. Sugar Pie Lullaby also includes delightful facts so that kids and caregivers can learn more about Motown legends together!

Baby love,
Little bitty precious one,
I was born to love you.
What else is there to do?
You are the sunshine of my life.
Morning, noon and night
All I do is thank God for you.

Are you ready to do your part to create a better world?

This official guided journal companion to Me and White Supremacy: Young Readers Edition includes everything kids need as they learn, grow, and embark on their antiracism journey, including:

• Easy-to-understand explanations of key topics like racism, white privilege, cultural appropriation, and more
• Reflection questions from Me and White Supremacy: Young Readers Edition
• Plenty of space for readers to respond to prompts, take notes, free write, and check in with their emotions

This timely, crucial, and empowering journal is designed to help kids become changemakers. As readers make their way through the questions and activities at their own pace, they’ll craft a powerful resource to use as they join the fight against racism and white supremacy.

“Timely, thrilling, and gripping from start to finish. An absolute page-turner.” —Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying

Jay is living his best life at Karloff Country, one of the world’s most famous resorts. He’s got his family, his crew, and an incredible after-school job at the property’s main theme park. Life isn’t so great for the rest of the world, but when people come here to vacation, it’s to get away from all that.

As things outside get worse, trouble starts seeping into Karloff. First, Jay’s friend Connie and her family disappear in the middle of the night and no one will talk about it. Then the richest and most powerful families start arriving, only… they aren’t leaving. Unknown to the employees, the resort has been selling shares in an end-of-the-world oasis. The best of the best at the end of days. And in order to deliver the top-notch customer service the wealthy clientele paid for, the employees will be at their total beck and call.

Whether they like it or not.

Yet Karloff Country didn’t count on Jay and his crew—and just how far they’ll go to find out the truth and save themselves. But what’s more dangerous: the monster you know in your home or the unknown nightmare outside the walls?

Mysterious disappearances. An urban legend rumored to be responsible. And one group of friends determined to save their city at any cost. Stranger Things meets Jordan Peele in this utterly original debut from an incredible new voice.

For over a year, the Bronx has been plagued by sudden disappearances that no one can explain. Sixteen-year-old Raquel does her best to ignore it. After all, the police only look for the white kids. But when her crush Charlize’s cousin goes missing, Raquel starts to pay attention—especially when her own mom comes down with a mysterious illness that seems linked to the disappearances.

Raquel and Charlize team up to investigate, but they soon discover that everything is tied to a terrifying urban legend called the Echo Game. The game is rumored to trap people in a sinister world underneath the city, and the rules are based on a particularly dark chapter in New York’s past. And if the friends want to save their home and everyone they love, they will have to play the game and destroy the evil at its heart—or die trying.

The Hate U Give meets Internment in this pulse-pounding thriller about an impenetrable dome around Baltimore that is keeping the residents in and information from going out during a city-wide protest.Jamal Lawson just wanted to be a part of something. As an aspiring journalist, he packs up his camera and heads to Baltimore to document a rally protesting police brutality after another Black man is murdered.But before it even really begins, the city implements a new safety protocol…the Dome. The Dome surrounds the city, forcing those within to subscribe to a total militarized shutdown. No one can get in, and no one can get out.Alone in a strange place, Jamal doesn’t know where to turn…until he meets hacker Marco, who knows more than he lets on, and Catherine, an AWOL basic-training-graduate, whose parents helped build the initial plans for the Dome.As unrest inside of Baltimore grows throughout the days-long lockdown, Marco, Catherine, and Jamal take the fight directly to the chief of police. But the city is corrupt from the inside out, and it’s going to take everything they have to survive.

How do we give young people the tools they need to actively dismantle racism and create a better world for everyone? From the author of the groundbreaking NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, Me and White Supremacy, Layla Saad’s young readers’ edition is a timely, crucial, and empowering guide for today’s youth on how to be antiracist change makers.

Layla Saad meticulously updated the content for young readers to include:

• definitions and history of various topics covered
• sections to help readers process complex topics
• no time limit—unlike the adult edition, this is not a 28-day challenge so readers can use this content for however long it takes to do the work
• content that is approachable and applicable for those with and without white privilege

Me and White Supremacy has reached so many adults in their journeys to become better ancestors. This edition aims to teach readers how to explore and understand racism and white supremacy and how young readers can do their part to help change the world. Covering topics such as white privilege, white fragility, racist stereotypes, cultural appropriation, and more, Layla Saad has developed a brilliant introduction and deep dive that is sure to become a standard in antiracist education.

"This young readers’ edition empowers young people to have courageous conversations about race, power, and privilege with themselves first and then with others." —Elisabet Velasquez, author of When We Make It

From the New York Times bestselling authors of I’m Not Dying with You Tonight comes a story about friendship, privilege, sports, and protest.

With a rocky start to senior year, cheerleaders and lifelong best friends Eleanor and Chanel have a lot on their minds. Eleanor is still in physical therapy months after a serious concussion from a failed cheer stunt. Chanel starts making questionable decisions to deal with the mounting pressure of college applications. But they have each other’s backs—just as always, until Eleanor’s new relationship with star quarterback Three starts a rift between them.

Then, the cheer squad decides to take a knee at the season’s first football game, and what seemed like a positive show of solidarity suddenly shines a national spotlight on the team—and becomes the reason for a larger fallout between the girls. As Eleanor and Chanel grapple with the weight of the consequences as well as their own problems, can the girls rely on the friendship they’ve always shared?

Praise For Why We Fly…
“Co-authors extraordinaire, Jones and Segal, pen another compelling page-turner set in the world of cheerleading, where tensions rise between friends.” - Kim Johnson, author of This is My America, an NPR Best Book of the Year

“A sexy, surprising, searing debut about love, loss, desire, and the many dimensions of Black womanhood.”—Deesha Philyaw, 2020 National Book Award Finalist & award-winning author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

An arresting debut for anyone looking for insight into what it means to be a Black woman in the world.

Three Black women are linked in unexpected ways to the same influential white man in Stockholm as they build their new lives in the most open society run by the most private people.

Successful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi is lured from the U.S. to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, CEO of the nation’s largest marketing firm, to help fix a PR fiasco involving a racially tone-deaf campaign. A killer at work but a failure in love, Kemi’s move is a last-ditch effort to reclaim her social life.

A chance meeting with Jonny in business class en route to the U.S. propels former model-turned-flight-attendant Brittany-Rae Johnson into a life of wealth, luxury, and privilege—a life she’s not sure she wants—as the object of his unhealthy obsession.

And refugee Muna Saheed, who lost her entire family, finds a job cleaning the toilets at Jonny’s office as she works to establish her residency in Sweden and, more importantly, seeks connection and a place she can call home.

Told through the perspectives of each of the three women, In Every Mirror She’s Black is a fast-paced, richly nuanced yet accessible contemporary novel that touches on important social issues of racism, classism, fetishization, and tokenism, and what it means to be a Black woman navigating a white-dominated society.

“In Every Mirror She’s Black highlights the struggles of three women fighting to assimilate into a society that ignores their worth. These characters will pull at your heartstrings. Lola writes with a contemporary flair, highlighting the layered subtleties of the Black woman’s plight. In Every Mirror She’s Black will stay with readers for a long time.” — Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of bestselling novels Here Comes the Sun and Patsy

“In her debut novel, Lola Akinmade Akerstrom has given us a story that is at once enjoyable and disturbing as it explores the painful price millions of women around the world pay for walking around with black skin.” — Imbolo Mbue, New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers

I am The Rage is a poetry collection that explores racial injustice from the raw, unfiltered viewpoint of a Black woman in America. Dr. Martina McGowan is a retired MD, a mother, grandmother, and a poet. Her poetry provides insights that no think piece on racism can; putting readers in the uncomfortable position of feeling, reflecting, and facing what it means to be a Black American.

This entire collection was created during 2020, many shortly after the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, to name but a few.

One of PopSugar’s Best New YA Novels of 2021A Buzzfeed Top LGBTQ+ YA BookA Lambda Literary YA Book to Add to Your TBR PileA Goodreads Pride Month PickAn epic, heartfelt romance about a boy torn between two loves, one in his present … and one in the past. A story of Black queer history, love, loss, and learning to stay in the moment before it passes you by.Weeks ago, Andre Cobb received a much-needed liver transplant.He’s ready for his life to finally begin, until one night, when he passes out and wakes up somewhere totally unexpected…in 1969, where he connects with a magnetic boy named Michael.And then, just as suddenly as he arrived, he slips back to present-day Boston, where the family of his donor is waiting to explain that his new liver came with a side effect—the ability to time travel. And they’ve tasked their youngest son, Blake, with teaching Andre how to use his unexpected new gift.Andre splits his time bouncing between the past and future. Between Michael and Blake. Michael is everything Andre wishes he could be, and Blake, still reeling from the death of his brother, Andre’s donor, keeps him at arm’s length despite their obvious attraction to each other.Torn between two boys, one in the past and one in the present, Andre has to figure out where he belongs—and more importantly who he wants to be—before the consequences of jumping in time catch up to him and change his future for good.Fast-paced, fun, and perfect.—Laurie Halse Anderson, NYT bestselling author of SpeakThis book was absolutely incredible.—Creya, Goodreads reviewerTears, man. So. Many. Tears.—Marci, Goodreads reviewerOh my goodness. This book y’all. I’m a mess.—Netgalley reviewer* A Junior Library Guild Selection A stellar novel that today’s teens needed yesterday.—Booklist, STARRED reviewCharming and captivating.—Phil Stamper, bestselling author of The Gravity of UsA clever and honestly brilliant novel.—Julian Winters, award-winning author of Running With LionsA skillful and engrossing time-travel adventure.—Kirkus ReviewsCompelling and memorable… a] gem of a novel.—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s BooksIn his YA debut, Jackson has a great gimmick as well as a likeable protagonist who faces sociocultural realities across time.—Publishers Weekly

From Children's Literature Legacy Award-winning author Nikki Grimes and acclaimed illustrator Elizabeth Zunon comes an adventurous bath time story.

Night has fallen and Mom and Dad need to get their little one in the tub. To make it more fun, Mom brings a magical adventure out at sea to life, where the faucet is a waterfall, a rubber ducky is a sea creature, and the splashing water is a raging sea! In their ocean journey, Mom and Dad manage to get their little one clean just in time to dock for bedtime.

“Children will delight… This ebullient account of a common childhood experience bursts with love and universal appeal.”—Booklist, STARRED review

From the Newbery-Medal winning author of The Crossover and The Undefeated comes an exciting, interactive, poetry notebook—empowering kids to express themselves in verse.

Have you ever written a poem? How about rap lyrics or a letter or even a list? ’Cause those can all be poetry too. Wanna give it a try? Bestselling author and poet extraordinaire Kwame Alexander created this super-fly notebook just for YOU It’s bursting with cool activities, sizzling poetry starters, inspirational quotes, and lots of space to create. So grab your pen or pencil ’cause it’s time to give your words FLOW and RHYTHM and RHYME.

Incredible stories. Award-winning storytellers. Epic adventure, mystery, and fun? We’ve got it all in Ghostwriter, the extraordinary new series from the Emmy-award winning hit Apple TV+ show, created by your friends at Sesame Workshop.

Introduce your little computer scientist to the essential coding basics and turn their everyday world into an extraordinary learning adventure

Written by an expert, I Can Code: AND/OR uses simple text, colorful illustrations, and interactive flaps to help little ones discover the building blocks of coding all around them As kids follow along with an adorable story about sharing, they’ll explore fundamental concepts like logical operators and true/false statements—and have fun doing it.

Educators are saying every child needs to know the basics of coding—this is the book to get them started as early as possible

The New York Times and USA Today bestseller! This eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.

"Layla Saad is one of the most important and valuable teachers we have right now on the subject of white supremacy and racial injustice."?New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert

Based on the viral Instagram challenge that captivated participants worldwide, Me and White Supremacy takes readers on a 28-day journey, complete with journal prompts, to do the necessary and vital work that can ultimately lead to improving race relations.

Updated and expanded from the original workbook (downloaded by nearly 100,000 people), this critical text helps you take the work deeper by adding more historical and cultural contexts, sharing moving stories and anecdotes, and including expanded definitions, examples, and further resources, giving you the language to understand racism, and to dismantle your own biases, whether you are using the book on your own, with a book club, or looking to start family activism in your own home.
This book will walk you step-by-step through the work of examining:

• Examining your own white privilege
• What allyship really means
• Anti-blackness, racial stereotypes, and cultural appropriation
• Changing the way that you view and respond to race
• How to continue the work to create social change

Awareness leads to action, and action leads to change. For readers of White Fragility, White Rage, So You Want To Talk About Race, The New Jim Crow, How to Be an Anti-Racist and more who are ready to closely examine their own beliefs and biases and do the work it will take to create social change.

"Layla Saad moves her readers from their heads into their hearts, and ultimately, into their practice. We won’t end white supremacy through an intellectual understanding alone; we must put that understanding into action." ?Robin DiAngelo, author of New York Times bestseller White Fragility

"[A] rhythmic, playful romp through a restless child’s bedtime routine… a loving, effective lullaby."—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

A sweet bedtime story from the award-winning author Nikki Grimes about a mother, her little boy, and their imagination-fueled and animal filled journey to get to sleep.

It’s bedtime. But Mommy’s little one is not sleepy.

He growls like a bear, he questions like an owl, he tosses his mane like a lion. He hunts for water like a sly wolf, and hides like a snake.

Mommy needs to wrangle her sweet creature for sleep in this endearing and imagination-fueled journey to bedtime, from Children’s Literature Legacy Award-winning author Nikki Grimes and acclaimed illustrator Elizabeth Zunon.

"The mother’s loving understanding is demonstrated by how she works with her child’s rich imagination, never slipping into admonishment. As such, children will engage with the pajama-clad tot’s antics and be soothed by the book’s positive tone. A fabulous interpretation of an everyday battle."—Booklist, STARRED review

By Lewis Carroll, Adapted by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, with an Introduction by Kwame Alexander

Incredible stories. Award-winning storytellers. Epic adventure, mystery, and fun? We’ve got it all in Ghostwriter—the extraordinary new series from the Emmy-award winning hit Apple TV+ show, created by your friends at Sesame Workshop.

Masterfully adapted by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, this playful retelling of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is sure to delight today’s readers for years to come. Featuring an introduction by Newbery and Coretta Scott King Award winning poet and writer Kwame Alexander.

The book also includes bonus activities from the stars of the show:

Games
Quizzes
Puzzles
Vocabulary
Reading Comprehension
and Crafts!

Told from two viewpoints, Atlanta high school seniors Lena and Campbell, one black, one white, must rely on each other to survive after a football rivalry escalates into a riot.

A new collection of poetry for kids from Coretta Scott King Book Award winner Eloise Greenfield!

Thinker isn’t just an average puppy—he’s a poet. So is his owner, Jace. Together, they turn the world around them into verse.

There’s just one problem: Thinker has to keep quiet in public, and he can’t go to school with Jace. That is, until Pets’ Day. But when Thinker is allowed into the classroom at last, he finds it hard to keep his true identity a secret.

Praise for Thinker:
"Coretta Scott King Award-winner Greenfield sensitively conveys Jace’s anxiety about being perceived as different, and his realization that being true to one’s self is the best bet—for kids and dog poets, too."—Publishers Weekly
A Kate Greenaway Medal nominee

"A lush, beautifully written story about the indelible mark of first love. Intelligent, fresh, and utterly lovely."?KRISTAN HIGGINS for Back to Your LoveFake engagements are a dangerous business.Bryan James’s job is on thin ice unless he can secure a contract with a popular design house. He knows his best friend’s sister can help?but her terms are more than he bargained for.Alexis Devers’s debut fashion line is a hit. But when Alexis’s publicist tells buyers that it landed her a wealthy, gorgeous fiancé, Alexis needs to come up with one?fast. Bryan’s offer to strike a deal is perfectly timed. She’s more than willing?on one condition… It’s the perfect plan…until feelings start getting in the way. Suddenly, the dangers of mixing business and pleasure become much more real than either of them expected.The Southern Gentlemen series:
Back to Your Love (Book 1)
Couldn’t Ask for More (Book 2)What People Are Saying About Back to Your Love:
"The romantic ride of a lifetime."?Heroes and Heartbreakers
"Worth every moment…true depth of feeling."?Harlequin Junkies
"A strong introduction to a new series."?RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars

Hear voices contemporary and classic as selected by New York Times bestselling author Nikki Giovanni

Award-winning poet and writer Nikki Giovanni takes on the impossible task of selecting the 100 best African American works from classic and contemporary poets. Out of necessity, Giovanni admits she cheats a little, selecting a larger, less round number.

The result is this startlingly vibrant collection that spans from historic to modern, from structured to freeform, and reflects the rich roots and visionary future of African American verse. These magnetic poems are an exciting mix of most-loved classics and daring new writing. From Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes to Tupac Shakur, Natasha Trethewey, and many others, the voice of a culture comes through in this collection, one that is as talented, diverse, and varied as its people.

African American poems are like all other poems: beautiful, loving, provocative, thoughtful, and all those other adjectives I can think of. Poems know no boundaries. They, like all Earth citizens, were born in some country, grew up on some culture, then in their blooming became citizens of the Universe. Poems fly from heart to heart, head to head, to whisper a dream, to share a condolence, to congratulate, and to vow forever. The poems are true. They are translated and they are celebrated. They are sung, they are recited, they are delightful. They are neglected. They are forgotten. They are put away. Even in their fallow periods they sprout images. And fight to be revived. And spring back to life with a bit of sunshine and caring.
-Nikki Giovanni

Read

• Gwendolyn Brooks
• Kwame Alexander
• Tupac Shakur
• Langston Hughes
• Mari Evans
• Kevin Young
• Asha Bandele
• Amiri Baraka

Hear

• Ruby Dee
• Novella Nelson
• Nikki Giovanni
• Elizabeth Alexander
• Marilyn Nelson
• Sonia Sanchez

And many, many, more

Nikki Giovanni is an award-winning poet, writer, and activist. She is the author of more than two dozen books for adults and children, including Bicycles, Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea, Racism 101, Blues: For All the Changes, and Love Poems. Her children’s book-plus-audio compilation Hip Hop Speaks to Children was awarded the NAACP Image Award. Her children’s book Rosa, a picture-book retelling of the Rosa Parks story, was a Caldecott Honor Book and winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. Both books were New York Times bestsellers. Nikki is a Grammy nominee for her spoken-word album The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection and has been nominated for the National Book Award. She has been voted Woman of the Year by Essence, Mademoiselle, and Ladies’ Home Journal. She is a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech, where she teaches writing and literature.

An Excerpt
From the Introduction:

Poems are like clouds on a June morning or two scoops of chocolate ice cream on a sugar cone in August…something everyone can enjoy. Or maybe poems are your cold feet in December on your lover’s back…he is in agony but he lets your feet stay…something like that requires a bit of love. Or could it be that poems are exactly like Santa Claus…the promise, the hope, the excitement of a reward, no matter how small, for a good deed done…or a mean deed from which we refrained. The promise of tomorrow. I don’t know. It seems that poems are essential. Like football to Fall, baseball to Spring, tennis to Summer, love Anytime. Something you don’t think too much about until it is in Season. Then you deliciously anticipate the perfection. African American poems are like all other poems: beautiful, loving, provocative, thoughtful, and all those other adjectives I can think of.

Poems know no boundaries. They, like all Earth citizens, were born in some country, grew up on some culture, then in their blooming became citizens of the Universe. Poems fly from heart to heart, head to head, to whisper a dream, to share a condolence, to congratulate, and to vow forever. The poems are true. They are translated and they are celebrated. They are sung, they are recited, they are delightful. They are neglected. They are forgotten. They are put away. Even in their fallow periods they sprout images. And fight to be revived. And spring back to life with a bit of sunshine and caring.

These poems, this book, admit I cheated. The idea of this and no more would simply not work for me. I needed these plus those. My mother’s favorite poem by Robert Hayden, plus James Weldon Johnson beginning a world that included the longing of the unfree for a loving God. My own fun "Ego Tripping" reaching to embrace Margaret Walker’s "For My People." "Train Rides" and "Nikki-Rosa" read by old and loving friends. But also the newness: Novella Nelson lending that sultry voice to the youngsters; Ruby Dee bringing her brilliance to the Gwendolyn Brooks cycle. My Virginia Tech Family wanted to participate: our president Dr. Charles Steger reading "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," recognizing all our souls "have grown deep like the rivers." We celebrate our Hips; we See A Negro Lady at a birthday celebration. Our friends from James Madison University and West Virginia University came to celebrate poetry with us, too. I love these poems so much. The only other thing I would have loved is Caroline Kennedy reading "A Clean Slate."

At the end of a loving day of laughter in Jeff Dalton’s studio, when Clinton’s makeup had taken forty years off some of us and twenty-five off others, we all came together with one last great cry: the Dean of our College; the Director of Honors; young, old, professional, professor, and recited in one great voice "We Real Cool." Yeah. We are. This book says Poetry Is For Everyone. What a Treat to be Snowbound with The 100* Best African American Poems (*but I cheated).

I did cheat.
It’s true.
But I did not lie.

Nikki Giovanni Poet
12 December 2009

Table of Contents

Dedication: The Aunt: xxi — Track 1
Mari Evans

1. For My People: 1 — Track 2
Margaret Walker

2. Leroy: 3
Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)

3. Ars Poetica: Nov. 7, 2008: 4
L. Lamar Wilson

4. Ka’Ba: 8
Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)

5. When You Have Forgotten Sunday: The Love Story: 9 — Track 3
Gwendolyn Brooks

6.
The Sermon on the Warpland: 11 — Track 4
Gwendolyn Brooks We Real Cool: 12 — Track 5
Gwendolyn Brooks

7.
Jazz Baby Is It In You: 13
Antoine Harris
"I Fade Into the Night": 14
Adam Daniel

8. Old Lem: 15 — Track 6
Sterling A. Brown

9. I Am Accuse of Tending to the Past: 17 — Track 7
Lucille Clifton

10. I Am A Black Woman: 18 — Track 8
Mari Evans

11. Who Can Be Born Black?: 20 — Track 9
Mari Evans

12. Nikka-Rosa:21 — Track 10
Nikki Giovanni

13. Knoxville, Tennessee: 23 — Track 11
Nikki Giovanni

14. The Dry Spell: 24 — Track 12
Kevin Young

15. Those Winter Sundays: 26 — Tracks 13 & 14
Robert Hayden

16. Frederic Douglass: 27
Robert Hayden

17. The Negro Speaks of Rivers: 28 — Track 15
Langston Hughes

18. Choosing the Blues: 29
Angela Jackson

19. My Father’s Love Letters: 30
Yusef Komunyakaa

20. The Creation: 32 — Track 16
James Weldon Johnson

21. A Negro Love Song: 36
Paul Laurence Dunbar

22. Lift Every Voice and Sing: 37
James Weldon Johnson

23. Go Down Death: 39
James Weldon Johnson

24. Between Ourselves: 42
Audre Lorde

25. The Union of Two: 45
Haki R. Madhubuti

26. Ballad of Birmingham: 46
Dudley Randall

27. A Poem to Complement Other Poems: 48
Haki R. Madhubuti

28. No Images: 51
Waring Cuney

29. Between the World and Me: 52
Richard Wright

30. Theme for English B: 54
Langston Hughes

31. Harlem Suite
Easy Boogie: 56
Langston Hughes Dream Boogie: 57
Langston Hughes Dream Boogie: Variation: 58
Langston Hughes Harlem: 58
Langston Hughes Good Morning: 59
Langston Hughes Same in Blues: 60
Langston Hughes Island: 61
Langston Hughes

32. The Blue Terrance: 62
Terrance Hayes

33.
The Mother: 64 — Track 17
Gwendolyn Brooks A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon: 66
Gwendolyn Brooks — Track 18
The Last Quatrain of the Ballad of Emmett Till: 72
Gwendolyn Brooks A Sunset of the City: 73 — Track 19
Gwendolyn Brooks

34. Things I Carried Coming to the World: 75
Remica L. Bingham

35. Topography: 77
Remica L. Bingham

36. Beneath Me: 79
Jericho Brown

37. Autobiography: 80
Jericho Brown

38. Parable of the Sower: 82
Pamela Sneed

39. Heritage: 86
Countee Cullen

40. Yet I Do Marvel: 91 — Track 20
Countee Cullen

41. Incident: 92 — Track 21
Countee Cullen

42. We Wear the Mask: 93 — Track 22
Paul Laurence Dunbar

43. Triple: 94
Georgia Douglas Johnson

44. The Heart of a Woman: 95 — Track 23
Georgia Douglas Johnson

45. Woman With Flower: 96
Naomi Long Madgett

46. The Idea of Ancestry: 97
Etheridge Knight

47. Don’t Say Goodbye to the Porkpie Hat: 99
Larry Neal

48. Cleaning: 105
Camille T. Dungy

49. Boston Year: 106 — Track 24
Elizabeth Alexander

50. She Wears Red: 107
Jackie Warren-Moore

51. Commercial Break: Road-Runner, Uneasy: 110
Tim Seibles

52. Before Making Love: 114
Toi Derricotte

53. Be-Bop: 115
Sterling Plumpp

54. Personal Letter No. 3: 116 — Track 25
Sonia Sanchez

55. Poem at Thirty: 117 — Track 26
Sonia Sanchez

56. A Poem for Sterling Brown: 118 — Track 27
Sonia Sanchez

57. Marchers Headed for Washington, Baltimore, 1963: 120
Remica L. Bingham

58. And Yeah…This is a Love Poem: 123
Nikki Giovanni

59. The Carousel: 123
Gloria C. Oden

60. Only Everything I Own: 127
Patricia Smith

61. Lot’s Daughter Dreams of Her Mother: 128 — Track 28
Opal Moore

62. The Girlfriend’s Train: 131
Nikky Finney

63. Back from the Arms of Big Mama: 136
Afaa Michael Weaver

64. Mama’s Promise: 139 — Track 29
Marilyn Nelson

65. Bop: A Whistling Man: 142
Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon

66. Homage to My Hips: 144 — Track 30
Lucille Clifton

67. Train Ride: 145
Kwame Dawes

68. Train Rides: 148 — Track 31
Nikki Giovanni

69. A Great Grandaddy Speaks: 153
Lamonte B. Steptoe

70. Eddie Priest’s Barbershop & Notary: 154
Kevin Young

71. View of the Library of Congress From Paul Laurence Dunbar High School: 156
Thomas Sayers Ellis

72. Drapery Factory, Gulfport, Mississippi, 1956: 159 — Track 32
Natasha Trethewey

73. Some Kind of Crazy: 161
Major Jackson

74. From: 163
A. Van Jordan

75. Freedom Candy: 165
E. Ethelbert Miller

76. The Supremes: 167
Cornelius Eady

77. Jazz Suite
Nikki Save Me: 169
Michael Scott
"Nikki, If You Were a Song…": 170 — Track 33
Kwame Alexander Haiku: 170
DJ Renegade Untitled: 170
Nadir Lasana Bomani
"I Wish I Could’ve Seen It…": 171
Leodis McCray

78. That Some Mo’: 174
DJ Renegade

79. Sometime in the Summer There’s October: 175
Tony Medina

80. Dancing Naked on the Floor: 178
Kwame Alexander

81. Harriet Tubman’s Email 2 Master: 180
Truth Thomas

82. A River That Flows Forever: 181 — Track 34
Tupac Shakur

83. The Rose that Grew from Concrete: 181 — Track 34
Tupac Shakur

84. Rochelle: 182
Reuben Jackson

85. All Their Stanzas Look Alike: 183
Thomas Sayers Ellis

86. From the Center to the Edge: 185
Asha Bandele

87. The Subtle Art of Breathing: 187
Asha Bandele

88. Southern University, 1963: 192
Kevin Young

89. Poetry Should Ride the Bus: 195
Ruth Forman

90. Blues for Spring: 197
Colleen J. McElroy

91. The Bicycle Wizard: 198
Sharon Strange

92. Bicycles: 199
Nikki Giovanni

93. A Clean Slate: 200
Fred D’Aguiar

94. Song Through the Wall: 201
Akua Lezli Hope

95. A Seat Saved: 203
Shana Yarborough

96. Sunday Greens: 205
Rita Dove

97. The Untitled Superhero Poem: 206
Tonya Maria Matthews

98. Mercy Killing: 209 — Track 35
Remica L. Bingham

99. If You Saw a Negro Lady: 210
June Jordan

100. Ego Tripping (There May Be a Reason Why): 212 — Track 36
Nikki Giovanni

From a top young adult literary agent, the only guide on how to write for young adults With an 87 percent increase in the number of titles published in the last two years, the young adult market is one of the healthiest segments in the industry. Despite this, little has been written to help authors hone their craft to truly connect with this audience. Writing Great Books for Young Adults gives writers the advice they need to tap this incredible market. Topics covered include: Listening to the voices of youth Meeting your young protagonist Developing a writing style Constructing plots Trying on points of view Agent Regina Brooks has developed award-winning authors across the YA genre, including a Coretta Scott King winner. She attends more than 20 conferences each year, meeting with authors and teaching.

NOW A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND INCLUDED IN THE BOOKLIST TOP 10 ART BOOKS FOR YOUTH! Our consensus is Hip Hop Speaks to Children is the most essential poetry purchase to make this year.
The poetry is enough.
The illustrations are enough.
The CD is enough.
Together, this book is a treasure of which you cannot get enough.
We shall accomplish much this year. Children will be encouraged to put their words to poetry and beats. Teachers will be encouraged to allow the artists to speak to children.
—Diane Chen, School Library Journal blog "Practically Paradise" ————————————————————————————————————————————— Hip Hop Speaks to Children is a celebration of poetry with a beat. Poetry can have both a rhyme and a rhythm. Sometimes it is obvious; sometimes it is hidden. But either way, make no mistake, poetry is as vibrant and exciting as it gets. And when you find yourself clapping your hands or tapping your feet, you know you’ve found poetry with a beat! Like Poetry Speaks to Children, the New York Times Bestselling classic poetry book and CD that started it all, Hip Hop Speaks to Children is meant to be the beginning of a journey of discovery. READ more than 50 remarkable poems and songs! HEAR poetry’s rhymes and rhythms from Queen Latifah to Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes to A Tribe Called Quest and more! * Also hear part of Martin Luther Kind’s original "I Have a Dream" speech, followed by the remarkable live performance of the speech by Nikki Giovanni, Oni Lasana and Val Gray Ward. * The Hip Hop Speaks to Children CD contains more than 30 performances, either by the artists who created them, or as unique interpretations by admiring poets and artists. DISCOVER Langston Hughes’s elegant gospel "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," A Tribe Called Quest’s playful "Ham ’N’ Eggs," Sterling A. Brown’s hard-luck "Long Track Blues," Gwendolyn Brooks’s wake-up call "We Real Cool," Kanye West’s lovely "Hey Mama," and Martin Luther King Jr.’s awe-inspiring "I Have a Dream." This is a collection of rhymes and rhythms unlike any other poetry book! Celebrate with remarkable poets, including:
Eloise Greenfield
Mos Def
Lucille Clifton
Oscar Brown Jr.
Tupac Shakur
Maya Angelou
Queen Latifah
Nikki Grimes
Walter Dean Myers
Common
and, of course, Nikki Giovanni Poems Include:
Ego Tripping
Rapper’s Delight
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Hey Mama
Ham ’N’ Eggs
Everything Is Everything
Ladies First MORE PRAISE FOR HIP HOP SPEAKS TO CHILDREN "With its archival recordings of poems read by the poets themselves, [Hip Hop] reminds everyone that poetry springs from an oral tradition."
—Publishers Weekly "This is the way to get children interested in reading and loving poetry. … A great book for both teachers and parents."
— Valerie Lewis, owner of Hicklebee’s children’s bookstore "The poems, the artwork, the CD…all complement each other to create a wonderful experience."
—Becky Laney, Becky Laney’s Books blog "Love this book. I think it is a K-8 must-have for classrooms and libraries. Like I said it is packed and it may be (at first) intimidating to young readers. But, once they hear some of the audio, spend time with the illustrations, and experience some of the poetry, I think it will become a favorite."
—Franki Sibberson, A Year of Reading blog "Hip Hop Speaks to Children is a wonderfully composed collection of poems from writers like Eloise Greenfield to late rapper and poet, Tupac Shakur. … Whether you read poetry or you hear it in a rap song, Giovanni’s genius endeavor will inspire children of all ages to have fun while listening to poetry. Rap is poetry, right?"
—Amy Bowllan, Amy Bowllan’s Blog (a School Library Journal Blog) "I highly recommend this one for all collections. If the title didn’t include the word "children" it’d be an excellent book all the way to high school. My coworkers and I are already talking about doing a Hip Hop poetry story time for our elementary school kids."
—Jennifer Rothschild, Biblio File blog "This is an incredibly powerful, beautiful and important book. Both the book and CD are stellar in quality and diversity. The artwork is amazing and I find myself pulling it out of the shelf over and over for just one more re-read. The grandchildren (ages 3 and 5) love it as well and ask to hear the CD while they pore over the pages and take breaks prancing around the room

Yes, no matter what the weather or the quarterly forecast, it’s always the best of all worlds to be the boss…

?The boss said what??!!

?A laugh a minute at the crazy world of the workplace, whether the boss is making you wash his car, locking you in your cubicle or booby trapping the office supplies cabinet.

Charlos Gary is a nationally syndicated cartoonist with Creators Syndicate whose current series, Working It Out, appears weekly in over 35 newspapers nationwide. Charlos Gary, syndicated cartoonist with Creators Syndicate, provides a laugh a minute and the perfect gift for coworkers, whether the boss is asking you to wash his car, locking you in your cubicle, booby trapping the office supplies cabinet or firing someone on the same day they’re closing on their new house.