Kwame Alexander

"Before Josh and Jordan Bell were streaking up and down the court, their father was learning his own moves. Chuck Bell takes center stage as readers get a glimpse of his childhood and how he became the jazz music worshiping, basketball star his sons look up to." --publisher's website.

"12-year old Charley Cuffey is many things: a granddaughter, a best friend, and probably the best pitcher in all of Lee’s Mill. Set on becoming the first female pitcher to play professional ball, Charley doesn’t need reminders from her best friend Cool Willie Green to know that she has lofty dreams for a Black girl in the American South. Even so, Nana Kofi’s thrilling stories about courageous ancestors and epic journeys make it impossible...

"This is a lover letter to America. To black America. To the grit, passion, and perseverance of our greatest artists, athletes, and activists. to the dreamers. To the strength and bravery of everyday people caught in the web of history. With reerences to lyrics and lines originally shared by our most celebrated heroes, this poem digs into the not-so-distant past to underline the endurance and spirit of those surviving and thriving in the present."...

Seventeen-year-old Blade endeavors to resolve painful issues from his past to navigate the challenges of his former rockstar father's addictions, scathing tabloid rumors, and a protected secret that threatens his own identity.

"In an intimate and non-traditional (or 'new-fashioned') memoir, Kwame Alexander shares snapshots of a man learning how to love. He takes us through stories of his parents: from being awkward newlyweds in the sticky Chicago summer of 1967, to the sometimes-confusing ways they showed their love to each other, and for him. He explores his own relationships—his difficulties as a newly wedded, 22-year-old father, and the precariousness of his early...

"Basketball phenom Josh Bell and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court. With crossovers that make even the toughest ballers cry. But when Jordan meets the new girl in school, the twins' bond unravels. Basketball and brotherhood intertwine to show Josh and Jordan that life doesn't come with a playbook and, sometimes, it's not about winning." --back cover.

From NPR correspondent and New York Times bestselling author, Kwame Alexander, comes a powerful and provocative collection of poems that cut to the heart of the entrenched racism and oppression in America and eloquently explores ongoing events. A book in the tradition of James Baldwin's "A Report from Occupied Territory," Light for the World to See is a rap session on race. A lyrical response to the struggles of Black lives in our world...

Suggests a method of reading that begins with planting oneself beneath a tree and leads to a book party one hopes will never end.

"This third book by the team that created the New York Times bestselling How to Read a Book and How to Write a Poem celebrates the magic of listening to the song that echoes inside you, and letting your music ring out. "Hush / Now, turn up your ears / and listen / to the concert happening / all around you." As this quiet overture builds to a full symphony, Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander and singer-songwriter Randy Preston conduct a melody of a...

"In this comprehensive and vibrant poetry anthology, bestselling author and poet Kwame Alexander curates a collection of contemporary anthems at turns tender and piercing and deeply inspiring throughout. Featuring work from well-loved poets such as Rita Dove, Jericho Brown, Warsan Shire, Ross Gay, Tracy K. Smith, Terrance Hayes, Morgan Parker, and Nikki Giovanni, This Is the Honey is a rich and abundant offering of language from the poets giving voice...