Award-winning author Tonya Bolden’s books have garnered much praise and earned countless starred reviews. Her books have been won the James Madison Book Award and have been named the School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, YALSA Best Book of the Year, and CCBC Best Book of the Year. Bolden’s works were twice nominated for an NAACP award, for her books Searching for Sarah Rector and Beautiful Moon. She won a Coretta Scott King Honor Award for Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl. Bolden’s acclaimed works include Capital Days: Michael Shiner’s Journal and the Growth of Our Nation’s Capital; Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty; 12 Days of New York; George Washington Carver; M.L.K.: Journey Of A King; Tell All the Children Our Story: Memories and Mementos of Being Young and Black in America; and Wake Up Our Souls: A Celebration of Black American Artists.
Pathfinders: The Journeys of 16 Extraordinary Black Souls
by Tonya Bolden
Hardcover
24.95
Out Of Stock
Over the centuries, untold numbers of black men and women in America have achieved great things against the odds. Pathfinders is a collective biography of sixteen diverse American men and women of African descent who made their mark on American history in the 18th to 20th centuries. People who dared to dream, take risks, and create goals not only for themselves, but for others and the betterment of their society, too. Award-winning author Tonya Bolden offers an insightful look at these figures, from Venture Smith, who bought his freedom; to Sadie Alexander, who contributed to the Civil Rights movement in the United States; to Katherine Johnson, who helped the United States land on the moon. Among the incredible people in this nonfiction masterpiece are James Forten (1766–1842), a powder boy then prisoner of war during the Revolution, who grew up to be the captain of his own ship and one of Philadelphia’s leading abolitionists and wealthiest citizen; Richard Potter (1783-1835), an accomplished magician, ventriloquist, and hypnotist who paved the way for other well-known entertainers like Harry Houdini; Paul Revere Williams (1894–1980), born poor and an orphan by age four, who became known as the “Architect to the Stars” (among them Danny Thomas); Jackie Ormes (1911–1985), who first made her mark as a cartoonist in the 1930s; and Katherine Johnson (1918), a mathematician and physicist whose calculations were key to the successful missions of astronauts Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong. Each evocative profile includes an enlightening look at the historical build up and several images ranging from paintings and photographs to primary documents. The book ends with endnotes, a timeline, a bibliography, and an index. Ideal for Black History Month and common core usage, this book will also find wide appeal year-round for curious minds looking to discover fascinating pieces of American History, as well as interesting career possibilities. The book examines the lives of: Venture Smith, prince James Forten, entrepreneur Richard Potter, magician James McCune Smith, physician Mary Bowser, spy Allen Allensworth, town founder Clara Brown, pioneer Sissieretta Jones, concert singer Maggie Lena Walker, bank founder Charlie Wiggins, race car driver Eugene Bullard, combat pilot Oscar Micheaux, filmmaker Jackie Ormes, cartoonist Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, economist and attorney Paul R. Williams, architect Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson, mathematician
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Publishers Weekly
★ 11/14/2016In an immersive series of brief, chronological biographies, Bolden (Capital Days) highlights 16 pioneering African-American men and women, beginning with Venture Smith—the son of a West African prince who was sold into slavery, freed himself and his family, and fought during the Revolutionary War—and concluding with mathematician and NASA researcher Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson. Detailed descriptions and sidebars offer rich portraits of each person’s life and era, and period illustrations and photographs lend further depth to figures who will likely be unfamiliar to many readers, including soprano Sissieretta Jones, banker Maggie Lena Walker, and WWI combat pilot Eugene Bullard. While recognizing these individuals’ accomplishments, Bolden makes it clear that countless other innovative and brave black citizens blazed trails alongside them. Ages 10–14. Agent: Jennifer Lyons, Jennifer Lyons Literary. (Jan.)
Booklist
"A well-researched book introducing a varied group of African Americans who excelled in their own, individual ways."Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Bolden relates the tales of her subjects with a zest that will make for great classroom readalouds."School Library Connection
"This book is a fascinating, well-written account of the lives of some obscure African-Americans. Organized in a rough chronological order...the book sheds light on their abilities to overcome racism through education and employment."School Library Journal
★ 11/01/2016Gr 5–8—The lives of 16 fascinating and innovative black men and women are given due recognition in this masterly work. Bolden makes use of a variety of features to convey information in an accessible yet deeply enlightening manner. For instance, sidebars titled "In His/Her Time" provide historical context without burdening the main text with lengthy exposition. With a variety of subjects in different fields, from a magician to a mathematician, a bank founder to a race car driver, there is plenty of fresh report material within these pages. The clean layout and the smart design make for a book that is not only expertly researched but attractive as well. (Each chapter receives its own color palette, visually linking the content within that section together.) VERDICT Teachers and librarians seeking to further develop their history and biography collections will be thrilled with this fine offering.—Erinn Black Salge, Saint Peter's Prep, Jersey City, NJ
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2016-10-19In 16 minibiographies, Bolden tells the stories of little-known African-Americans who "had big, bold dreams. Pursued passions. Caught up with their callings." A good portion of American history is related through historical sketches arranged chronologically. The volume opens with the story of Venture Smith. Captured from his West African village and transported by slaver to America, Smith grew up in bondage, but he eventually bought his and his family's freedom and built a house, a boatyard, and a farm in the village of Haddam Neck, Connecticut. The pageant of fascinating historical characters continues with a magician, a physician, a female Civil War spy, a pioneer, a concert singer, a race car driver, a mathematician, a cartoonist, and others. The colorful volume uses photographs, advertisements, fliers, theater posters, engravings, and cartoons to great effect, each well captioned and complemented by sidebars that add historical context. An epilogue points out the changes in America since Venture Smith arrived, including the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, and the Brown v. Board of Education case that struck down government-sanctioned segregation in schools. A full-page color photograph of dancer Misty Copeland concludes the volume, representing the "new odysseys…in the offing." A lively volume and an excellent approach to U.S. history. (glossary, source notes, bibliography, image credits, acknowledgments, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)