From the author of Eliza's Freedom Road and Calico Girl comes a historical middle grade adventure about an enslaved girl's journey on the Overland Trail to California during the Gold Rush, and how she took the chance to fight for freedom. In Alexandria, Virginia, in the mid-19th century, a slave-owning family is facing financial trouble. The eldest son, Jason, thinks going to California to mine for gold might be the best way to protect his father's legacy. He'll need a cook, a laundress, and a hostler for the journey, and one of them is twelve-year-old Clementine, whose mother calls her Hope. From Independence, Missouri--the "Gateway to the West"--she and the others join a wagon train on the Emigrant Overland Trail. But what Jason didn't consider is taking the three enslaved people west will give them an opportunity to free themselves--manifesting their destiny.

Discover the early life and legacy of groundbreaking American writer Toni Morrison in this beautifully illustrated nonfiction picture book biography. Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in Ohio, Toni Morrison grew up listening to her family tell myths, legends, and stories from the Bible. She loved hearing the music and power of the words. Toni also heard new stories from the students from other countries who went to her school. After an early childhood of soaking up tales from those around her, it was no surprise Toni grew into a voracious reader. She worked at her town library as a teenager and was an editor for a New York publisher as an adult. When it came time for her to write her own stories, she knew she wanted to write about her people-Black people. Early in the morning and late at night after her children were asleep, Toni began work on what would become an acclaimed and trailblazing body of work. This luminous picture book has back matter with further reading on Toni Morrison's life and work.

"Powerful storytelling and immersive art." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Vibrant writing and magical realism lift this story to one of triumph." --Publishers Weekly "Nolen's lively prose style recalls the richness of the oral tradition in this tale of triumphant courage and abiding hope." --The Horn Book "A moving choice for children's collections." --Booklist A Parents' Choice Silver Award Recipient In this inspiring story in the tradition of American black folktales, an enslaved brother and sister are inspired by a majestic and mysterious bird to escape to freedom in this dramatic and unforgettable picture book. There was nothing civil about that war. They should have called it what it was: a big, bad war. Brother and sister Millicent and John are slaves on Simon Plenty's plantation and have suffered one hurt and heartbreak after another. Their parents had told them old tales of how their ancestors had flown away to freedom just as free and easy as a bird. Millicent and John hold these stories in their hearts long after their parents are gone. "Maybe such a time will come for you," their parents said. Then one day a mysterious bird appears in their lives. The bird transforms them and gives them the courage to set their plan into motion and escape to freedom.

Harvey Potter was a very strange fellow indeed. He was a farmer but not like any farmer you've ever met. He didn't grow corn, okra, or tomatoes. Harvey Potter grew balloons. No one knew exactly how he did it, but with the help of the light of a full moon, one friendly child catches a peek of just how Harvey Potter does it. And keeps some magic for herself.

"This is the best sort of fantasy imaginative, inventive, and believable. Harvey Potter is a wonder he's the owner of a genuine U.S. Government Inspected Balloon farm. And Nolen's tale about this man, narrated by the African-American girl who learns balloon-farming magic from him, is equally wondrous.... This title should sail onto every library shelf. May Nolen grow a bumper crop of books." School Library Journal.

"Downright glorious."Publishers Weekly(starred review).

Young Hewitt Anderson is sweet, smart, polite--and very, very small. This warmly humorous tale is "proof that, when it comes to heart, physical size isn't the whole story" ("Kirkus Reviews").
Descended from a long line of giants, the J. Carver Worthington Andersons take their height very seriously indeed. You see, without exception all of the many J. Carver Worthington Andersons have been giants until now. And poor Hewitt--hidden in the floorboards, trapped in the flour vat, lost in the bedsheets--has his struggles being tiny. Oh, his parents worry: How will their son manage to live in a world of big things? Leave it to Hewitt to prove the power of being small.
Inspired by the tale of "Jack and the Beanstalk," the inimitable Jerdine Nolen tells an original story of bravery and the power of the individual. Kadir Nelson's imaginative and loving illustrations create a world where smallness rules--a world that children will want to return to again and again.