Best Selling Books by Tonya Bolden

Presents biographical sketches of notable African American men, from their earliest arrival in this country to the present time.

This autobiographical picture book by the multiple Grammy Award-winning singer Roberta Flack recounts her childhood in a home surrounded by music and love: it all started with a beat-up piano that her father found in a junkyard, repaired, and painted green. Growing up in a Blue Ridge mountain town, little Roberta didn''t have fancy clothes or expensive toys...but she did have music. And she dreamed of having her own piano. When her daddy spies an old, beat-up upright piano in a junkyard, he knows he can make his daughter''s dream come true. He brings it home, cleans and tunes it, and paints it a grassy green. And soon the little girl has an instrument to practice on, and a new dream to reach for--one that will make her become a legend in the music industry. Here is a lyrical picture book--perfect for aspiring piano players and singers--that shares an intimate look at Roberta Flack''s family and her special connection to music.

Examines Franklin Roosevelt''s first 100 days in office and his unveiling of his New Deal to combat the Great Depression.

A timely and essential history of Black voter suppression, adapted from the National Book Award longlisted adult book This young adult adaptation brings to light the shocking truth about how not every voter is treated equally. After the election of Barack Obama, a rollback of voting rights occurred, punctuated by a 2013 Supreme Court decision that undid the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Known as the Shelby ruling, this decision allowed districts with a history of racial discrimination to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice. This book follows the stunning aftermath of that ruling and explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. It also explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans. Complete with a discussion guide, photographs, and information about getting involved with elections in teens'' own community, this is an essential explanation of the history of voting rights—and a call to action for a better future. As the nation gears up for the 2020 presidential election season, now is the time for teens to understand the past and work for change.

Coretta Scott King Honor–winning author Tonya Bolden chronicles the life of an intrepid lawyer and civil rights pioneer. Dovey Johnson Roundtree was most famous for her successful defense of an indigent Black man accused of the murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer, a prominent white Washington, DC, socialite, in 1965. Despite her triumph in this high-profile case, Roundtree continued to represent the poor and the underserved. She was the first lawyer to bring a bus desegregation case before the Interstate Commerce Commission, clinching the ruling that enabled Robert F. Kennedy to enforce bus integration. She was also among the first Black women to enter the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, and was one of the first ordained female ministers in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Tracing Roundtree’s life from her childhood in Jim Crow North Carolina through her adulthood, Tonya Bolden illuminates a little-known figure in American history who believed the law should serve the people, and places her firmly in the context of twentieth-century civil rights and African American culture.

In a warm, personal voice, Tonya Bolden explores what it has meant to be young and black in America. From the first recorded birth of a black child in Jamestown, through the Revolution, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the fight for civil rights, right on up to our own time, Bolden brings to light how black children have worked and played, suffered and rejoiced. 127 illustrations.

"Published in association with The Field Museum, Chicago."

Rolling Stone compared it to melted caramel, and Miles Davis compared it to his horn. Chaka Khan''s scorchingly soulful voice first dazzled most of us back in 1974 with Rufus and "Tell Me Something Good," and most recently in her Grammy Award-winning performance in Standing in the Shadows of Motown, singing "What''s Going On?" with the Funk Brothers. Over the years, she''s had twelve number-one hits and nine number-one albums. Over one hundred appearances on the Billboard charts. Nineteen Grammy nominations and eight Grammy wins. Her achievements in the music industry are legendary, and like her twenty albums, they''re well-known to the public. But the private side of Chaka, the story of what fame and fortune have cost her-- and taught her-- hasn''t been told before. In Chaka! Through the Fire, Chaka Khan gives us the whole story of the woman behind the diva and reveals her high and low points. A happy early childhood in a loving, creative home was shattered by escalating fights between her parents. When they finally split, Chaka''s father disappeared without even a goodbye, leaving Chaka bewildered, bereft, and blaming her mother. She reconnected with her dad in her teens, finding that he was as liberal and permissive a parent as her mother was strict. Chaka started experimenting with drugs and joined the Black Panthers. Soon after, she fronted for a band called Rufus. They hit it big with "Tell Me Something Good," and Chaka''s stardom was launched. But life on the road was grueling, and as the years went by, the pressures grew. Chaka turned to alcohol and drugs to numb the pain of failed relationships, the guilt of leaving her kids to be raised by Grandma, the resentment she felt about the exhausting demands of her career. It wasn''t until things got very bad that she started to see the patterns. All the things she had suffered through in her childhood and swore never to do to her kids-- well, she was doing them. That''s when she began the work of turning it all around. These days, she''s still a musical powerhouse, but she''s making sure there''s time for family, too. She''s drug-free. She''s started her own record label and has also started a foundation to help women and children in need. Remarkably, Chaka has remained a true wild child despite all the changes: a fiercely independent woman who never compromised her spirit.

"Under a radiant moon and surrounded by all the noises of the city at night, a little boy prays for those in need, for wars to end, for the sick to be healed, and for all the members of his family"--

Ten-year-old Beryl is fairly content with her life in East Harlem in the 1960s, until she learns that her older sister is really her half-sister and worries that her family will begin to change.

"As a mail carrier, Victor Hugo Green traveled across New Jersey every day. But with Jim Crow laws enforcing segregation since the late 1800s, traveling as a Black person in the US could be stressful, even dangerous. So in the 1930s, Victor created a guide--The Negro Motorist Green-Book--compiling information on where to go and what places to avoid so that Black travelers could have a safe and pleasant time. While the Green Book started out small, over the years it became an expansive, invaluable resource for Black people throughout the country--all in the hopes that one day such a guide would no longer be needed"--

Biographical portraits of ten African-American women, including Leontyne Price, Toni Morrison, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, depict strength of character during times of slavery and prejudice.

When WWII ended, millions of men in the military were eager to get back to jobs on the home front. Propagandists flipped the script. For many women, the new norm was the old norm: a woman¿s place was in the home -- not in a plant, or behind the wheel of a truck, and not on a bandstand laying down the jive. Many women lost the jobs they had in all-girl bands during the war. But some of them stayed on, as this book shows. Contents: Part 1: ¿The Band Was on Fire¿: Ada Leonard¿s All-American Girl Orchestra; Part 2: ¿We Played All the Way up to New York!¿: The Prairie View State College Co-Eds; Part 3: ¿What Are We Gonna Do for a Drummer?¿: The International Sweethearts of Rhythm; Outro. Includes a CD of songs to swing to! Photos.