african american women

Discusses the life and work of the Underground Railroad activist, Harriet Tubman.

"This picture book biography focuses on critically acclaimed talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who used her struggles in childhood as motivation to become 'Queen of All Media'"--Provided by publisher.

"A chapter book biography of Florence Griffith Joyner"--Provided by publisher.

Discusses the achievements of more than forty African American women.

"Find out about the life of American entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey from her childhood to breaking into the media and her many campaigns for change. The book has photographs and a simple text suitable for young children"--Provided by publisher.

"This book examines the life of Misty Copeland in a simple, age-appropriate way that will help children develop word recognition and reading skills"--Provided by publisher.

"One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins. For as long as she could remember, Ashley has put her father on a pedestal. Despite having only vague memories of seeing him face-to-face, she believes he's the only person in the entire world who understands her. She thinks she understands him too. He's sensitive like her, an artist, and maybe even just as afraid of the dark. She's certain that one day they'll be reunited again, and she'll finally feel complete. There are just a few problems: he's in prison, and she doesn't know what he did to end up there. Through poverty, puberty, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley returns to her image of her father for hope and encouragement. She doesn't know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates; when the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley finally finds out why her father is in prison. And that's where the story really begins. Somebody's Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she provides a poignant coming-of-age recollection that speaks to finding the threads between who you are and what you were born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them. "Ashley Ford's prose is glass-so clear, sharp and smooth that the reader sees, in vivid focus, her complicated childhood, brilliant mind, and golden heart. The gravity and urgency of Somebody's Daughter anchored me to my chair and slowed my heartbeat-like no book has since Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Ashley Ford is a writer for the ages, and Somebody's Daughter will be a book of the year." -- Glennon Doyle, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Untamed and founder of Together Rising"--.

"Graphic biography detailing Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and her efforts with other abolitionists to rescue dozens of those still enslaved"--Provided by publisher.

"Sitting in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture is a rough cotton bag, called 'Ashley's Sack,' embroidered with just a handful of words that evoke a . . . family story of loss and of love passed down through generations. In 1850s South Carolina, just before nine-year-old Ashley was sold, her mother, Rose, gave her a sack filled with just a few things as a token of her love. Decades later, Ashley's granddaughter, Ruth, embroidered this history on the bag--including Rose's message that 'It be filled with my Love always.' Historian Tiya Miles carefully follows faint archival traces back to Charleston to find Rose in the kitchen where she may have packed the sack for Ashley. From Rose's last resourceful gift to her daughter, Miles then follows the paths their lives and the lives of so many like them took to write a . . . history of the lived experience of slavery in the United States. The contents of the sack--a tattered dress, handfuls of pecans, a braid of hair, 'my Love always'--speak volumes and open up a window on Rose and Ashley's world. As she follows Ashley's journey, Miles metaphorically 'unpacks' the sack, deepening its emotional resonance and revealing the meanings and significance of everything it contained. These include the story of enslaved labor's role in the cotton trade and apparel crafts and the rougher cotton 'negro cloth' that was left for enslaved people to wear; the role of the pecan in nutrition, survival, and southern culture; the significance of hair to Black women and of locks of hair in the nineteenth century; and an exploration of Black mothers' love and the place of emotion in history"--Provided by publisher.

"Introduces the reader to women's rights movement"--Provided by publisher.