From a leading prison abolitionist, a moving memoir about coming of age in Brooklyn and surviving incarceration—and a call to break free from all the cages that confine us. Marlon Peterson grew up in 1980s Crown Heights, raised by Trinidadian immigrants. Amid the routine violence that shaped his neighborhood, Marlon became a high-achieving and devout child, the specter of the American dream opening up before him. But in the aftermath of immense trauma, he participated in a robbery that resulted in two murders. At nineteen, Peterson was charged and later convicted. He served ten long years in prison. While incarcerated, Peterson immersed himself in anti-violence activism, education, and prison abolition work. In Bird Uncaged, Peterson challenges the typical “redemption” narrative and our assumptions about justice. With vulnerability and insight, he uncovers the many cages—from the daily violence and trauma of poverty, to policing, to enforced masculinity, and the brutality of incarceration—created and maintained by American society. Bird Uncaged is a twenty-first-century abolitionist memoir, and a powerful debut that demands a shift from punishment to healing, an end to prisons, and a new vision of justice.

Anita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her 12th birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have emigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has disappeared without a trace, and the government’s secret police terrorize her remaining family because of their suspected opposition of el Trujillo’s dictatorship. Using the strength and courage of her family, Anita must overcome her fears and fly to freedom, leaving all that she once knew behind. From renowned author Julia Alvarez comes an unforgettable story about adolescence, perseverance, and one girl’s struggle to be free.

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned. Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity.”—James Baldwin From the Paperback edition.

Rashin Kheiriyeh, 2014 IBBY Award winner and Iranian-American artist, makes Rumi's classical story of a parrot wishing to be free fly off the page! A plucky parrot living in the home of a wealthy merchant appears to have everything: the love of his owner, the best food, and a golden cage. But despite all this, the parrot is sad. The merchant will do anything to make his parrot happy! But will he be willing to set his beloved pet free? Rashin Kheiriyeh’s colorful and lively illustrations bring a fresh and distinctive perspective to this thoughtful classic about what is most important in life.

Raising Ivy is an amazing true story of faith, hope, and love that chronicles one family's journey from the cruelty of slavery, poverty, and segregation in the fields of rural Alabama to prosperity and triumph on the football fields and in vaunted halls of the Ivy League. Raising Ivy examines the power of education, faith, family, and football to lift and transform the family from illiteracy to a fifth generation descendent becoming an Ivy League graduate and only the fifth black man to be captain of the Yale Football Team. The journey is filled with murder, intrigue, secret societies, and tales of glory on the grid iron. Raising Ivy combines simple faith-based lessons with humorous anecdotes, powerful true events, and poignant revelations that take the reader along on this the incredible journey to Yale and back.