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Each February we recognize the contributions African Americans have made in our nation's history. Black History Week was created by Carter G. Woodson in 1926. In 1976, it was officially recognized by the United States and Canada as Black History Month. It's a time to recognize prominent figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and countless others whose lives and words have shaped our future. We hope you enjoy these titles, for all ages, selected just for you by our staff!
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Carolina Built
by Kianna Alexander
Josephine N. Leary is determined to build a life of her own and a future for her family. When she moves to Edenton, North Carolina from the plantation where she was born, she is free, newly married, and ready to follow her dreams. As the demands of life pull Josephine's attention she struggles to balance her real estate aspirations with the realities of keeping life going every day. She teaches herself to be a business woman, to manage her finances, and to make smart investments in the local real estate market. But with each passing year, it grows more and more difficult to focus on building her legacy from the ground up. Moving and inspiring, Josephine Leary's untold story speaks to the part of us that dares to dream bigger, tear down whatever stands in our way, and build something better for the loved ones we leave behind.
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The violin conspiracy
by Brendan Slocumb
Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian's life is already mapped out. If he's lucky, he'll get a job at the hospital cafeteria. If he's extra lucky, he'll earn more than minimum wage. But Ray has a gift and a dream-he's determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can't afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music. When he discovers that his great-great-grandfather's beat-up old fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach. Together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition-the Olympics of classical music-the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Ray will have to piece together the clues to recover his treasured Strad ... before it's too late.
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Black Cake
by Charmaine Wilkerson
In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother's death and her hidden past-a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake. In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking journey Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their family, and themselves. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.
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Harlem shuffle
by Colson Whitehead
A furniture salesman in 1960s Harlem becomes a fence for shady cops, local gangsters and low-life pornographers after his cousin involves him in a failed heist, in the new novel from the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad. (general fiction). Simultaneous
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Black food : stories, art & recipes from across the African diaspora
by Bryant Terry
A James Beard Award-winning chef, educator and author presents a joyful celebration of Black culture by interweaving food, experiences and community through poetry, essays and recipes including Crispy Cassava Skillet Cakes,, Meatballs with Egusi and Squash and Jerk Chicken Ramen.
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How the word is passed : a reckoning with the history of slavery across America
by Clint Smith
This is Clint Smith's revealing, contemporary portrait of America as a slave owning nation. Beginning in his own hometown of New Orleans, Smith leads the reader through an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks - those that are honest about the past and those that are not - that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nations collective history, and ourselves.
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You don't know us negroes and other essays
by Zora Neale Hurston
Spanning more than 35 years of work, this anthology showcases the writings of one of the most acclaimed artists of the Harlem Renaissance, providing a window into her world and time.
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Black was the ink
by Michelle Coles
Despondent sixteen-year-old Malcolm finds new strength and courage as he is transported between his family's modern-day Mississippi farm and the life of his ancestor Cedric Johnson, a congressional aide in post-Civil War America
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Ain't Burned All the Bright
by Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds and his best bud, Jason Griffin had a mind-meld. And they decided to tackle it, in one fell swoop, in about ten sentences, and 300 pages of art, this piece, this contemplation-manifesto. This smash-up of art and text visually captures what it is to be Black in America.
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The me I choose to be
by Natasha Tarpley
This joyful ode to the power of potential is an immersive call for self-love and highlights the inherent beauty of all Black and Brown children.
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Because Claudette
by Tracey Baptiste
From a New York Times best-selling author comes a singular picture book that is both a biography about Claudette Colvin, the teen whose activism launched the Montgomery bus boycott, and a celebration of collective action.
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Freewater
by Amina Luqman-Dawson
After escaping Southerland Plantation with his little sister, 12-year-old Homer becomes part of a secret community called Freewater, where he finally finds a place to call home and the courage to go back and free his mother from enslavement.
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