About the Author
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times bestselling author of 37 books, including the Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, the Newbery medal-winning novel, The Crossover (a forthcoming TV series on Disney+), and Becoming Muhammad Ali, co-authored with James Patterson. He is also a regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition. Learn more at kwamealexander.com.
Why Kwame penned An American Story:
“I wrote this book after a rather difficult parent-teacher conference back in my daughter’s fourth-grade school year. I wrote this book because the majority of teachers were never taught how to teach slavery, so they are afraid, unprepared, and the students suffer for it. So, I decided to fix it. This book is for all the teachers and parents trying to find their voices, trying to share a lesson that we all find so difficult to discuss. An American Story is a story for readers of all ages — a story of a people’s struggle, strength, horror, and hope that needs to be told and understood by all of us.”
