Black Trailblazers

by Bijan Bayne

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Black Trailblazers: 30 Courageous Visionaries Who Broke Boundaries, Made a Difference, and Paved the Way is a collection of short illustrated biographies of famous men and women of color in a wide variety of fields written by Bijan Bayne. Released 27th Sept 2022 by Andrews McMeel, it's 128 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is an accessible and well written anthology of short bios for 30 innovators and icons from a broad section of media, entertainment, science/medicine, philosophy, politics, sports, aviation, mathematics, and more. These famous men and women excelled and succeeded despite racism and phenomenal hindrances.

Each of the biographies is accompanied by one or more portraits and illustrations. The art is rendered by Joelle Avelino. The art is simple, but effective and suits the direct nature of the book very well. The themes of racism and segregation are written in age-appropriate language, but also honestly.

Five stars. This would be an excellent choice for public or school library acquisition, home use, and gift giving. Lexile 1040, intended for readers aged circa 10-15 years.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.