Tells the story of Booker T. Washington's childhood following the end of slavery, his struggle to get an education, and his journey at age sixteen to the Hampton Institute.

Author Walter Dean Myers describes his childhood in Harlem in the 1940s and 1950s, discussing his loving stepmother, his problems in school, his reasons for leaving home, and his beginnings as a writer.

"Your story begins in Africa. Your African ancestors defied the odds and survived 400 years of slavery in America and passed down an extraordinary legacy to you. Beginning in Africa before 1619, Your Legacy presents an unprecedentedly accessible, empowering, and proud introduction to African American history for children. While your ancestors' freedom was taken from them, their spirit was not; this book celebrates their accomplishments, acknowledges...

A biography of Harriet Tubman written in verse, in which poem and watercolor come together to honor a woman of humble origins whose courage and compassion make her larger than life.

"An examination of American slavery through the true stories of five enslaved people who were considered the property of some of our best-known presidents"--

Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of fast money, then drugged and beaten and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity on a Louisiana cotton plantation. After his rescue, Northup published...

Tells the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his life, accomplishments in the civil rights movement, and his impact on American history.

A biography of Muhammad Ali, from his childhood in Louisville, Kentucky, his legendary boxing career, and his conversion to Islam and opposition to the war in Vietnam, to his appearance at the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Traces the life of the innovative jazz saxophonist and the evolution of his music.

Introduces Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play major league baseball.