In a warm, personal voice, Tonya Bolden explores what it has meant to be young and black in America. From the first recorded birth of a black child in Jamestown, through the Revolution, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the fight for civil rights, right on up to our own time, Bolden brings to light how black children have worked and played, suffered and rejoiced. She covers a range of lifestyles, social classes, attitudes, and perceptions to portray children in ever-evolving states of life. Both unknown and celebrated children are included, from those remembered only from advertisements for the slave trade to those who would grow up to shape and make history, including Frederick Douglass, Benjamin Banneker, Sadie and Bessie Delany, Charles Johnson, and basketball legends Paula and Pamela McGee. This important book, the first trade book of its kind, draws on a wealth of primary sources, including interviews, diaries, news articles, and historical documents, and is generously illustrated with paintings, photographs, posters, and other ephemera.

Tonya Bolden has written more than 15 books for children and adults, including the best-selling 33 Things Every Girl Should Know. She lives in New York City.