Biography
Black Ballerinas
Misty Copeland
Illustrated profiles introduce dancers whose careers expanded possibilities for Black ballet artists.
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Search the shelves by title, writer, subject, period, or connection to the Lyric.
10 books
Memoir
Brown Girl Dreaming
Jacqueline Woodson
Woodson remembers growing up between South Carolina and New York in verse attentive to family stories.
Fiction
Bud, Not Buddy
Christopher Paul Curtis
A boy in Depression-era Michigan follows clues he hopes will lead him to his father and a jazz band.
Biography
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
Vashti Harrison
Brief illustrated profiles introduce Black women whose work changed science, arts, and public life.
Graphic novel
New Kid
Jerry Craft
A young cartoonist navigates a new private school and the assumptions classmates and adults make about him.
Fiction
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Mildred D. Taylor
Cassie Logan watches her Mississippi family defend the land and independence they have worked to hold.
Poetry
The Crossover
Kwame Alexander
A novel in verse follows brothers whose closeness is tested on and off the basketball court.
Folklore
The People Could Fly
Virginia Hamilton
A collection of African American folktales includes animal stories, tales of magic, and stories of escape.
Fiction
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
A Michigan family’s visit to Birmingham brings a child’s perspective to an era of racial violence.
History
We Are the Ship
Kadir Nelson
Paintings and narrative bring the travel, teamwork, and resourcefulness of Negro League baseball into view.