Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement won a Caldecott Honor, Robert Sibert Honor (for informational books), and Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award (for illustrator Ekua Holmes) at the American Library Association Youth Media Awards in January 2016. The book also won a a silver medal at the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show, a Parent’s Choice Gold Medal, the Flora Steiglitz Straus Award for nonfiction from Bank Street College of Education. The book made several 2015 shortlists: Horn Book Fanfare, Booklist Best Picture Books and Editor’s Choice for middle grade nonfiction, Amelia Bloomer Top Ten, ALA Notables, CCBC Choices, IRA Notable Books for a Global Society, National Council for Social Studies Notables, Chicago Public Library Best Books and New York Public Library’s 100 Notable Titles for Reading and Sharing.

Source: Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century

Just Us Books’ Sankofa imprint has reissued Sink or Swim: African-American Lifesavers of the Outer Banks. Consider using this true adventure, which is full of primary source documents and images–with the fictional Storm Warriors by Elisa Carbone. Order Sink or Swim here.

Jim Crow Slide Show

A Bat Cave: An Abecedarian Bedtime Chronicle. By Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Jeffery Weatherford. Sparse text in alphabetical order pairs with cinematic digital art to follow bats from their lairs into the night air. Paperback from Amazon and ebook from Barnes & Noble

AFRICA. By Carole Boston Weatherford; designed by Jeffery Weatherford. Rhyming read-aloud text and vivid photos give young readers a glimpse of African culture, landscape and wildlife. Ebook from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

This spring I will be teaching a new online course, ENGL 370-D1, “Junior Seminar:  Hip Hop: Poetry, Politics and Pop Culture” at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.

Description: This course draws connections between rap, oral traditions, and hip-hop culture, and explores the place of rap music in literature and society. Students will read articles, watch videos, and listen to podcasts addressing not only artistry, but also such controversial subjects as censorship, sexism, obscenity, and race politics in the U.S. as they relate to hip-hop culture. Students will produce multimedia projects, write criticism and positions, and create raps. Prerequisites: ENGL 110, 120 and junior standing.

See flyer.

I have changed domain names. This is my now my official author web site. Most teacher resources and more up-to-date news can now be found here. I hope you’ll visit me often.