HAND IN HAND presents the stories of 10 men from different eras in American history, organized chronologically to provide a scope from slavery to the modern day. The stories are accessible, fully-drawn narratives offering the subjects’ childhood influences, the time and place in which they lived, their accomplishments and motivations, and the legacies they left for future generations as links in the “freedom chain.”

Maya is the new girl at school, and she's different. So different that Chloe and her friends won't let Maya play with them, but when Maya stops coming to school, Chloe is sad she missed a chance to show a little kindness.

Lewis Michaux was born to do things his own way. When a white banker told him to sell fried chicken, not books, because Negroes don't read, Lewis took five books and $100 and built a bookstore. It soon became the intellectual center of Harlem, a refuge for everyone from Muhammad Ali to Malcolm X. In NO CRYSTAL STAIR, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson document the life and times of her great uncle, an extraordinary literacy pioneer of the Civil Rights era.

Langston Hughes was a courageous voice of his time, and his authentic call for equality still rings true today. Beautiful paintings from BARACK OBAMA illustrator Bryan Collier accompany and reinvent the celebrated lines of the poem “I, Too,” creating a breathtaking reminder to all Americans that we are united despite our differences.

A slam dunk from multi-award-winning author/illustrator Christopher Myers, H.O.R.S.E. is a celebration of the sport of basketball, the art of trash-talking, and the idea that what’s possible is bounded only by what you can dream.

Ellen always knew the broom resting above the hearth was special. Before it was legal for her mother and father to officially be married, the broom was what made them a family anyway. But now all former slaves who had already been married in their hearts could register as lawful husband and wife. When Ellen and her family make the long trip to the courthouse dressed in their best, she brings the broom her parents had jumped so many years before. Even though freedom has come, Ellen knows the old traditions are important too.

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King gave one of the most powerful and memorable speeches in our nation's history. His words, paired with Caldecott Honor winner Kadir Nelson's magnificent paintings, make for a picture book to be treasured by children and adults alike.