Be the Light
How She Became Angela Davis
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · June 3, 2025
The life of civil rights icon Angela Davis is illuminated in an extraordinary picture book biography.
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- Who it’s for
- Trace Angela Davis’s path from a Birmingham girl to a civil rights activist and abolitionist.
- Themes
- Civil rights movement, Activism and abolitionism, Freedom and hope
- Genres
- Social Activist Biographies for Kids, Civil & Human Rights, Biographies of Women for Kids
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Start with this bookAbout this book
The life of civil rights icon Angela Davis is illuminated in an extraordinary picture book biography. Booklist praised this profound exploration of American history, activism, the civil rights movement, and the power of the people as a one that “should be part of all social studies curricula.” For fans of Maya's Song, Nina, and There Was a Party for Langston.
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Before she was an iconic civil rights activist, before she was one of the FBI’s Most Wanted, before she was a teacher, Angela Davis was a young girl in Birmingham, Alabama. A girl whose parents taught her that freedom lives anywhere and everywhere it pleases. A girl who believed it when her mother told her, “It won’t always be this way.” And a girl who grew up to fight for the world and the future that she imagined could exist—for all people. In this resonant and timely picture book biography of Angela Davis, acclaimed author-artist Daria Peoples invites young readers to join the fight. Her striking paintings and powerful text pay tribute to Angela Davis’s evolution as an abolitionist, and dare readers of all ages to light the way to the future. An inspiring choice for fans of books by Kwame Alexander, Kadir Nelson, Christian Robinson, and Carole Boston Weatherford. Features extensive back matter, including a timeline of Angela Davis’s life, a visual glossary, and an author’s note.
Angela Davis’s Beginnings
Trace Angela Davis’s path from a Birmingham girl to a civil rights activist and abolitionist.
Come here for
- Angela Davis’s childhood in Birmingham, Alabama
- A timeline, visual glossary, and author’s note
Expect
- Striking paintings and biographical text
- Back matter with a timeline, visual glossary, and author’s note
Where it sits
| Social Activist Biographies for Kids | 85% |
|---|---|
| Civil & Human Rights | 57% |
| Biographies of Women for Kids | 37% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Historical Biographies for Kids
- Cultural Heritage Biographies for Kids
- Social Activist Biographies for Kids
- Biographies of Women for Kids
Show all 8 publisher categories
- African American Life (U.S.)
- 20th Century U.S.
- Prejudice & Racism
- Civil & Human Rights
- Authors
- Daria Peoples
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- June 3, 2025
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Civil rights movement · Activism and abolitionism · Freedom and hope
- Reading lane
- Historical Biographies for Kids