CBC Showcase

February is Black History Month, and we invite you to help young readers celebrate by focusing on books that explore history and experiences from picture books to novels and from poetry to nonfiction.

These books are available at your local bookstore. Check the ABA's directory of member bookstores for a bookseller near you. You may also purchase these books at BookSense.com.

Note: Showcase titles are selected by the books' publishers, who provide cover art, interior art, and descriptive information.

Almost to Freedom by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by Colin Bootman. Ages 5-8. This book tells the intriguing story of a young slave girl, from the eyes of her doll Sally. (Lerner Publishing Group)

American Patriots: A Young People's Edition The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm by Gail Lumet Buckley. Adapted by Tonya Bolden. All Ages. They are the black Americans who fought, often in foreign lands, for freedoms that they did not enjoy at home. (Random House Children's Books)

The Beast by Walter Dean Myers. Ages 12 and up. No one writes about Harlem with the authority, insight, and passion of Walter Dean Myers. (Scholastic Press)

Days of Jubilee The End of Slavery in the United States by Pat and Fredrick McKissack, illustrated by Leo and Dianne Dillon. Ages 9-12. Days of Jubilee chronicles the various stages of U.S. emancipation. (Scholastic Press)

A Dream of Freedom The Civil Rights Movement From 1954 to 1968 by Diane McWhorter. Ages 9 and up. Vividly illustrated with unforgettable photographs, A Dream of Freedom is a fair and balanced presentation that captures the turning points of the civil rights movement. (Scholastic Inc.)

Grandma's General Store—The Ark by Dorothy Carter, illustrated by Thomas B. Allen. Ages 7-10. A testament to the fortitude and resilience of the author's grandmother in pre-Civil Rights era Florida, Grandma's General Store—The Ark is a moving tribute featuring charcoal drawings by artist Thomas B. Allen. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Here in Harlem: Poems in Many Voices by Walter Dean Myers. Ages 12 and up. A two-time Newbery Honor award-winning author celebrates his hometown and its residents in an exhilarating collection of original first-person poems for young adults. (Holiday House)

Hot Day on Abbott Avenue by Karen English, illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. Ages 5-8. Two Coretta Scott King honorees tell the spirited story of a feud—and eventual reconciliation—between two friends. (Clarion Books)

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt. Ages 11 and up. Despite the town's disapproval, rebellious minister's son Turner Buckminster befriends Lizzie Bright, a smart and sassy girl from a nearby island founded by former slaves. (Clarion Books)

Mahalia Jackson Gospel Singer and Civil Rights Champion by Montrew Dunham, illustrated by Cathy Morrison. Ages 7-12. Childhood adventures of the "Queen of Gospel" who shared the podium with Dr. King at the March on Washington. Young Patriots Series Volume 7. (The Young Patriots Series/Patria Press)

Mississippi Morning by Ruth Vander Zee, illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Ages 9 and up. Racial prejudice and equal doses of a boy's naiveté and experiences collide in a coming-of-age story set in 1933 rural Mississippi. (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers)

Phillis Wheatley Young Revolutionary Poet by Kathryn Kilby Borland and Helen Ross Speicher, illustrated by Cathy Morrison. Ages 7-12. Phillis Wheatley's rise from slavery to recognition by George Washington as the foremost African American poet in the American Colonies is featured in Volume 10 of the Young Patriots Series. (The Young Patriots Series/Patria Press)

The Power of One by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Blooom Fradin. Illustrated with black-and-white archival photographs. Ages 10-14. A stirring biography of Daisy Bates, civil rights activist and organizer of the Little Rock Nine, the group who integrated that's city's schools in 1957. (Clarion Books)

Powerful Words More than 200 Years of Extraordinary Writing by African Americans by Wade Hudson, illustrated by Sean Qualls. Ages 9-12. Powerful Words gathers together the dynamic, timely, eloquent, and enduring writings of more than thirty African Americans from colonial times to today. (Scholastic Inc.)

Promises to Keep How Jackie Robinson Changed America by Sharon Robinson. Ages 9-12. A warm, intimate portrait of America's sports icon, told from the unique perspective of a unique insider: Jackie Robinson's only daughter. (Scholastic Press)

Stormwitch by Susan Vaught. Ages 12 and up. The fury of racism collides with the fury of a hurricane in this powerful work of historical fiction. (Bloomsbury Children's Books)

Talking Drums written and illustrated by Véronique Tadjo. Ages 10 and up. A fascinating dance through the rhythms of African poetry. (Bloomsbury Children's Books)

Time For Kids: Jackie Robinson by the editors of Time For Kids. Ages 7-9. Time For Kids brings you the illustrated life of one of the most popular African American activists of all time, baseball great Jackie Robinson. (HarperCollins Children's Books)

The Voice That Challenged a Nation by Russell Freedman. Illustrated with black-and-white archival photographs. Ages 9-12. The inspiring story of a famed vocalist who bravely pursued her art and broke racial barriers. (Clarion Books)

The Way a Door Closes by Hope Anita Smith and illustrated by Shane W. Evans. Ages 8-12. "Hope Smith's voice is vivid and evocative, I'm glad her words are in the world." —Jacqueline Woodson. (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny An Original African American Scare Tale by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Barry Moser. Ages 7-10. In the vein of her distinctive African American folktales comes a thrillingly creepy witch tale from Newbery Medalist Virginia Hamilton. (The Blue Sky Press)

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