As a teacher, I felt blessed to rely on specific authors to convert reluctant readers into enthusiastic readers. Kwame Alexander is one such author, so I was excited to pick up a DRC of Black Star from @littlebrownyr and @lbschool.

Black Star is the story of Charley, a young, strong, inquisitive, baseball-playing 12-year-old girl growing up in Virginia during the segregation era. Told in verse, Charley’s voice is powerful and beautifully accessible for young readers. The novel’s extremely relatable characters will appeal to middle-grade students as will the baseball narrative at the forefront of the story.

Although I’m no longer in the classroom, I constantly thought about how I would have used this novel in my history and language arts classes for small group reading or a whole-class unit study. Brutal truths are delicately woven throughout Charley’s story, exposing the cruelty within American history while also underscoring the necessity for courage, compassion, sensibility, and honesty in our world.

Black Star is the second in the series, but the first I’ve read. It easily reads as a stand-alone. I’ll be picking up the first in the series for my library and looking for the third when it publishes.

Black Star publishes September 24. Thank you to Little Brown Young Readers for the DRC.

** Review will be added to the blog and X prior to pub day

Kwame Alexander continues Kofi’s story from The Door of No Return. Alexander skips a generation and the story is told from Kofi’s granddaughter’s perspective. Charley loves to play baseball and hear her grandfather’s stories from before. A fabulous historical novel in verse!

Black Star by Kwame Alexander:
Rating: 5⭐️s

This is the second book in The Door of No Return series. I absolutely loved how this book tied into the first one. I enjoyed how Alexander’s lyrical words flowed across the page like they always do. I will say that if you’ve read another Alexander book, you’re prepared for some sadness…and this one is no different.