My People

Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms

28 Days: Moments in Black History That Changed the World

Hoop Kings (Sports Royalty)

Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson

Brick by Brick

Bessie the Motorcycle Queen

Extraordinary

Set to the beat of an urban summer, this street-smart novel follows an L.A. teen as he hangs with friends and faces life transitions — and his first romance.

Shooting the breeze with his boys. Tightening his D on the court. Doing a color check — making sure nobody's wearing blue or red, which some Crip or Piru carrying a cut-down golf club would see as disrespect. Then back to Auntie's, hoping she isn't passed out from whiskey at the end of the day. Now that Shawn is headed for high school, he wonders if he'd be better off at the school in Mama's neighborhood, where he'd be free of Compton's hassles. But then he wouldn't be with his fellas — cracking jokes, covering each other's backs — or the fine Marisol, who's been making star appearances in his dreams. Dad says he needs to make his own decision, but what does Shawn want, freedom or friendship? With teasing, spot-on dialogue and an eye to the realities of inner-city life,  Chameleon  takes on the shifting moods of a teenager coming of age.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

My People

Charles R. Smith Jr., Langston Hughes, 2009

Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms

Charles R. Smith Jr., 1999

28 Days: Moments in Black History That Changed the World

Charles R. Smith Jr., Shane W. Evans, 2015

Hoop Kings (Sports Royalty)

Charles R. Smith Jr., 2004

Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson

Charles R. Smith Jr., Shane W. Evans, 2010

Brick by Brick

Floyd Cooper, Charles R. Smith Jr., 2012

Bessie the Motorcycle Queen

Charlot Kristensen, Charles R. Smith Jr., 2022

Extraordinary

Miriam Spitzer Franklin, 2015