Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barack, and the Pioneers of Change by Michelle Cook, art by 13 Illustrators

llustrators: Cozbi A. Cabrera, R. Gregory Christie, Bryan Collier, Pat Cummings, Leo and Diane Dillon, AG Ford, E. B. Lewis, Frank Morrison, James Ransome, Charlotte Riley-Webb, Shadra Strickland and Eric Velasquez



Abstract: Part historical, part poetry, and entirely inspirational, this unique picture book takes the reader through the cumulative story of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, expanding the popular slogan beyond Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Barack Obama to include more key players in the struggle for equality.




Publisher: Bloomsbury, unpaged

Mare's War by Tanita S. Davis

Abstract: Teens Octavia and Tali learn about strength, independence, and courage when they are forced to take a car trip with their grandmother, who tells about growing up Black in 1940s Alabama and serving in Europe during World War II as a member of the Women’s Army Corps.




Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, 341 p.

Amiri & Odette: A Love Story, a poem by Walter Dean Myers, paintings by Javaka Steptoe

Abstract: Presents a modern, urban retelling in verse of the ballet in which brave Amiri falls in love with beautiful Odette and fights evil Big Red for her on the streets of the Swan Lake Projects.




Publisher: Scholastic Press, 37 p.

Sassy: Little Sister Is Not My Name by Sharon M. Draper

Abstract: Fashion-savy Sassy does not like being the smallest student in her fourth-grade class, until a family emergency calls for a pint-sized hero.








Publisher: Scholastic Press, 102 p.