Best Selling Books by Tonya Bolden

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.

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.

Space science and shared humanity shine as the first Black head of NASA offers an up-close and thrilling account of his shuttle missions, including some of the defining moments of NASA''s history. With immersive full-color photos. Sail the stars with astronaut Charlie Bolden as he recounts his amazing shuttle missions, including deploying the Hubble Space Telescope, training with Sally Ride, and leading the first US space mission that included a Russian cosmonaut as a crew member. Charlie even got to congratulate Star Wars creator George Lucas at the Academy Awards--from space! Follow Charlie''s incredible story, from watching movies as a kid about Flash Gordon flying to Mars--from the balcony where Black people had to sit--all the way to becoming the first Black NASA Administrator. From the thrill of watching lightning storms from the mesosphere to the heartbreak of the Challenger disaster, Charles''s life as a star sailor is full of adventure and discovery, told in his own words along with award-winning author Tonya Bolden. In-depth looks at how astronauts train, work, and live are complemented by diagrams, highlighted vocabulary, scientific sidebars, and incredible personal photographs. Back matter includes an author''s note and timeline.

Here, ideal for African-American History Month, is a stunningly beautiful book consisting of portraits-in pictures and words-of twenty outstanding African-Americans. The individuals range from historical to contemporary figures, such as the dancer Judith Jamison, and represent diverse fields of endeavor, from the law (Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall) to athletics, science, and more. For each individual, there is a three-page biography by the noted author Tonya Bolden and a striking black-and-white portrait that captures not only the subject''s likeness but is a work of art in itself. A book to inspire, to teach, or to display, with its large trim size and striking design, it is as handsome as it is important.

Multiple award-winning author Gates takes young readers on a journey through America''s past and our nation''s attempts at renewal in this look at the Civil War''s conclusion, Reconstruction, and the rise of Jim Crow segregation.

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

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.

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.

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

"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"--

A class trip to the Big Apple is played out as an urban variation of the "Twelve Days of Christmas."

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.

Among the 150 great African-American women featured are Cioncoin, a slave turned plantation owner; Annie Davis, who was Lincoln''s pen pal; Phillis Wheatley, a poet; and Lucie Eddie Campbell, the "Mother of Gospel Music."

Legal legend Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer once stated that there were "only two people in the world who really understood the Constitution" and its impact on American lives. One was Hugo Black, deceased Supreme Court justice. The other was William Benson Bryant Sr. (1911-2005), who in the early 1950s became the first Black assistant US attorney to try cases in Washington, DC''s federal court, and became that same court''s first Black chief judge in 1977. Written by award-winning author Tonya Bolden, this biography presents the story of Bryant''s remarkable, pioneering life in the law--one that began in a segregated DC and included many years as an extraordinary criminal defense attorney, most notably as the dogged defender of Andrew Mallory, a young poor Black man sentenced to the electric chair for the 1954 rape of a white woman. Bryant fought for Mallory''s life all the way to the US Supreme Court, chiefly on the grounds that Mallory''s confession--the most damning evidence against him--was the fruit of an illegal detention. The High Court overturned Mallory''s conviction. Mallory v. United States was among the cases that culminated in the landmark 1966 Miranda rule. Appointed to federal judicial service by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, Bryant''s forty-year tenure included cases ranging from overturning a corrupted election of the United Mine Workers and unconstitutional conditions at the DC jail. The biography draws upon an array of documents, newspaper articles, interviews with the judge''s friends, colleagues, and family members, as well as oral histories, including Judge Bryant''s. Bolden beautifully narrates the story of a life of compassion, unparalleled integrity, and unwavering belief in the dignity of every human being.

Brief bios of African American figures who paved the way for themselves and others in America.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, perhaps best known for his seminal work The Souls of Black Folk and as the founding editor of the NAACP''s groundbreaking magazine The Crisis, was ever a soul in motion for justice. Whether he was protesting Jim Crow laws and lynch mobs in the Deep South, advocating for the end of European Colonialism, or campaigning for world peace, Du Bois was always speaking out for others. This fascinating Up Close biography by award-winning author Tonya Bolden tells the story of how one man, tirelessly and never quietly, fought for equality until his death at age ninety-five.

An exuberant, no-holds-barred account of the amazing life of music icon ChakaKhan.

Seventeen stories from around the world dealing with the universal trials of growing up.