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Black Star

Contributors

By Kwame Alexander

Formats and Prices

Price

$17.99

Price

$23.99 CAD

The thrilling second book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Door of No Return trilogy stars Kofi’s granddaughter, Charley, who’s set on becoming the first female pitcher to play professional ball but who soon has to contend with the tensions about to boil over in her segregated town.

You can’t protect her from knowing. The truth is all we have.

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 not to dream big. She knows he has so many more to tell, but according to her parents, she isn’t old enough to know about certain things like what happened to Booker Preston that one night in Great Bridge and why she can never play on the brand-new real deal baseball field on the other side of town.

When Charley challenges a neighborhood bully to a game at the church picnic, she knows she can win, even with her ragtag team. But when the picnic spills over onto their ball field, she makes a fateful decision.

A child cannot protect herself if she does not know her history, and Charley’s choice brings consequences she never could have imagined.

In this riveting second book of the Door of No Return trilogy, set during the turbulent segregation era, and the beginning of The Great Migration, Kwame Alexander weaves a spellbinding story of struggle, determination, and the unflappable faith of an American family.

  • *"Powerful and realistic, this continuing saga offers heartbreaking portrayals of the African American experience."
    Booklist, starred review
  • *"A powerful and thoroughly satisfying blend of sports, history, family saga, and self-discovery."
    Kirkus Reviews, starred review
  • "A memorable and moving second book in the trilogy."
    The Horn Book
  • *“Engrossing and utterly gripping….Black Star is an outstanding and thorough novel that radiates in every line of text the pride, strength, and determination of African Americans and their African ancestors.”
    Shelf Awareness, starred review
  • Praise for The Door of No Return:
    A#1 Amazon Best Book of the Year
    A#1 Indie Next List Pick
    A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2022 Pick
    Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2022 Pick
    Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Book Pick
    Horn Book Best Book of 2022 Pick


    "Absolutely spellbinding: Kwame Alexander weaves together storytelling, poetry, music and history like no one else can. An unforgettable journey to be treasured and shared across generations."
    Rick Riordan, NYT bestselling author of the Percy Jackson series
  • *“The multigenerational nature of these stories makes them unique, the verse format is accessible, and the references to historical events of the time provides a wealth of opportunities for classroom use…. A first-rate historical verse novel with opportunities for classroom extension activities.”
    School & Library Journal, starred review
  • *“Readers continuing the series, as well as those starting with Black Star, will be gifted with a reading experience that is equal parts difficult and beautiful. All will be called to remember Nana Kofi’s wisdom, that “when we water our words, they grow our minds.”
    Bookpage, starred review
  • "Alexander turns the nightmare of the past into an epic story for all times and all people. The Door of No Return is a breathtaking, heartbreaking triumph and an instant classic."
    Lev Grossman, NYT bestselling author of The Magicians
  • “As I read The Door of No Return I kept thinking about how transformative it would have been to have had a book like this when I was young. This novel moves a devastating history beyond the realm of abstraction and fills our imaginations with characters who laugh, cry, love, learn, worry, and wonder. I will be thinking about this book for a long time. Kwame Alexander has given us a gift.”
    Clint Smith, #1 NYT bestselling author of How the Word Is Passed
  • "Alexander lures you in and endears you to Kofi and his world in a way that has you fully invested in time and place…His writing is at once vivid and simple, lyrical and surgical, expressive and exacting, comforting and cutting. It hypnotizes and sobers, hypnotizes and sobers, in a rhythm as timeless as the talking drum that carries the tales of his people: Kum-PUM PUM! Kum-PUM PUM! I wish this book existed alongside Huckleberry Finn when I was in school. I am glad it exists now!"
    Lupita Nyong'o, Actress and Author
  • *“A riveting, not-to-be-missed trilogy opener that will leave readers invested in what is to come.”
    Kirkus Reviews, starred review
  • *"Alexander weaves a breathtaking tale that is ripe with the juxtaposing emotions that come with any coming-of-age story. Through Alexander’s verse, readers are reminded of the beauty and unbounded richness that Ghana and her people have to offer...Alexander has written a masterpiece, one that powerfully and truthfully gives agency to the Black voices of the past. Profound and important reading."
    Booklist, starred review
  • *"Themes of conflict within and between cultures, and of war and peace, hate and love, despair and hope are deeply embedded throughout this gripping tale."
    Horn Book, starred review
  • *"Interweaving moments of joyful exuberance and heartbreaking sadness via sensate lines by turns sweet and stinging, Alexander’s sweeping novel conjures a captivating, resonant world of African tradition, life, and ancestral wisdom."
    Publishers Weekly, starred review
  • *“Alexander weaves a breathtaking tale that is ripe with the juxtaposing emotions that come with any coming-of-age story. Through Alexander’s verse, readers are reminded of the beauty and unbounded richness that Ghana and her people have to offer.”
    School & Library Journal, starred review
  • *“An 11-year-old Ghanian boy must fight for his survival in this gut-wrenching historical novel in verse from Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander.”
    Shelf Awareness, starred review
  • *“Every person who was enslaved came from a home with a rich history and unique culture. Their stories have been told in excellent books for young readers, including Sharon Draper’s Copper Sun; Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson and Nikkolas Smith’s The 1619 Project: Born on the Water; and Ashley Bryan’s Freedom Over Me. But many more are needed, and there’s no one better to add to this vital canon than Alexander.”
    Bookpage, starred review
  • *“This tragic realism culminates in a climactic enactment of “The People Could Fly” that will feel triumphant for readers who recognize and embrace the allusion and will offer an introduction to those unfamiliar with that work.”
    BCCB, starred review

On Sale
Sep 24, 2024
Page Count
384 pages
ISBN-13
9780316442596

Book Club Guide

  1. Nana Kofi tells Charley many stories from his past. Have you heard stories from your relatives about their lives? What did you learn? Why do you think it’s important to learn about what happened before? What does Charley learn from Nana Kofi?
  2. Momma tells Charley that “girls should stay clean, be graceful, play piano or flute” (p. 21) and Willie Green “doesn’t think any girl can ever be as good as him” (p. 23). How do you think those comments make Charley feel? Have you ever been told you couldn’t do something for a reason that didn’t make sense to you?
  3. Charley dreams of being “the first girl pitcher to play professional” (p. 30). Do you ever have dreams like Charley’s? What about? What do you dream of becoming?
  4. When Charley insists that they “should be able to play wherever,” Willie Green responds, “Should and can is two different words” (p. 38-39). What do you think he means by that? Why are Charley and Willie Green not supposed to play on the other side of the bridge? What other restrictions and unspoken rules are they expected to follow by the “wonderfuls”?
  5. How does baseball bring Charley and her friends together? What do you and your friends like to do together?
  6. Why do you think food and community are so important to Charley and her family? What traditions does your family have around food? Do you have a favorite?
  7. This book is told through and features different examples of poetry. How does the formatting and flow of the text reflect the emotions of the characters and action of the story? Do you have a favorite poem from the book?
  8. Throughout the book, Charley asks many questions of the adults in her life. How do different people answer her questions? Why is it important to ask questions? What does Nana Kofi mean when he says, “without seeing we can have no imagination and without imagination there is no possibility” (p. 165)?
  9. Momma takes Charley to hear Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune, who says, “A young woman. Is truly free. If she. Creates. Her own. Destiny” (p. 198). Who inspires you? Why?
  10. Black Star continues Nana Kofi’s story from The Door of No Return. If you’ve read both books, how are Kofi and Charley’s stories alike? How are they different? What do Nana Kofi’s stories reveal about what happened in between these two books? What do you think will happen to Kofi, Charley, and their family next?

Kwame Alexander

About the Author

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, producer and #1 New York Times bestselling author of 40 books, including An American Story, The Door of No Return, Becoming Muhammad Ali (co-authored with James Patterson), Rebound, which was shortlisted for the prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, and The Undefeated, the National Book Award nominee, Newbery Honor, and Caldecott Medal-winning picture book illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

Kwame is also the Executive Producer, Showrunner, and Emmy-winning Writer of The Crossover TV series, based on his Newbery-Medal winning novel of the same name, which premiered on Disney+ in April 2023. The series was produced in partnership with LeBron James’ SpringHill Company and Big Sea Entertainment, Kwame’s production company that is dedicated to creating innovative, highly original children’s and family entertainment. Other current projects in development at Big Sea include America’s Next Great Author, the groundbreaking reality television series for writers.

A regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, he regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing there and around the world at events like the Chautauqua Lecture Series, the Edinburgh Book Festival, Aspen Ideas, and the Global Literacy Symposium in Ghana, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana. Most recently he was appointed the Rudell Artistic Director of Literary Arts and Writer-in-Residence at the Chautauqua Institution.
His mission is to change the world, one word at a time.

Learn more about this author