Richard Wright and the Library Card

By William Miller, R. Gregory Christie
Paperback: $10.95

This is the true story of the renowned African American author Richard Wright and his determination to borrow books from the public library that turned him away because of his color.

Front cover for Richard Wright y el carné de biblioteca by William Miller and R. Gregory Christie
This book is also available in Spanish
Richard Wright y el carné de biblioteca
By William Miller, R. Gregory Christie

Description

As a young black man in the segregated South of the 1920s, Wright was hungry to explore new worlds through books, but was forbidden from borrowing them from the library. This touching account tells of his love of reading, and how his unwavering perseverance, along with the help of a co-worker, came together to make Richard’s dream a reality.

An inspirational story for children of all backgrounds, Richard Wright and the Library Card shares a poignant turning point in the life of a young man who became one of this country’s most brilliant writers, the author of Native Son and Black Boy.

This book is the third in a series of biographies by William Miller, including Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree and Frederick Douglass: The Last Day of Slavery. All focus on important moments in the lives of these prominent African Americans.

About the Creators

William Miller

William Miller is the award-winning author of numerous books for children for Lee & Low. Mr. Miller lives in York, Pennsylvania, where he teaches African American literature and creative writing at York College.

R. Gregory Christie
R. Gregory Christie

R. Gregory Christie is the recipient of numerous awards including a Caldecott Honor and six Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honors, and his books have been recognized by The New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books list three times. He currently paints in the evenings while traveling around the country doing school visits. You can visit him online at gas-art.com.

Awards

  • Outstanding Title

    Parent Council, Ltd.

Reviews

  • "Miller focuses his story on the stirring final chapters of Wright's autobiography Black Boy (1945), in which he describes his struggle to get books from the whites-only library in Memphis. Christie's powerful impressionistic paintings in acrylic and colored pencil show the harsh racism in the Jim Crow South. . . There are also strong portraits of Wright reading avidly through the night, lost in the world of books."

    - Booklist
  • "An episode from the autobiography of Richard Wright is skillfully fictionalized, resulting in a suspenseful and gratifying story about the power of reading. . . A challenging endeavor, and an accomplished one."

    - Kirkus Reviews
  • "This fictionalized version of an incident of the life of the African American author is a moving account of a scene recounted in Richard Wright's autobiography, Black Boy. Written simply and powerfully, and accompanied by quiet but emotionally charged illustrations, this book makes the story of a young black man's struggle for the right to read in a southern city during the early decades of this century easily accessible for young readers."

    - Book Links
  • "In 1920s Memphis, the young man who would become a great American writer could not borrow books from the whites-only library. Ultimately, Wright forged his own passage to Dickens and Tolstoy: Miller's transcendent account of this moment is memorable indeed."

    - Smithsonian Magazine
  • "Richard Wright and the Library Card is the perfect book for teachers, librarians, and even parents to read to their children and discuss the wonderful opportunities that come with having a library card... I love historical fiction, and this book did not leave me disappointed. Mr. Miller tells Richard's story in such a way that it is enjoyable and entertaining for children. As I read it, I found myself feeling sorry for Richard; no one should be deprived of the joy of reading, especially when it is a great personal desire... This book is well written and would open up a lot of great discussion in the classroom and at home."

    - Write for a Reader

Paperback

  • ISBN 9781880000885
  • Price $10.95
  • Publication Date Oct 01, 1997
  • Trim Size 10 × 8.5 in
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Word Count 1320
  • Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781880000571
  • Price $16.95
  • Publication Date Oct 01, 1997
  • Trim Size N/A
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Word Count 1320
  • Interests

  • Imprint Lee & Low Books
  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JNF / Books & Libraries
  • BISAC Category 2 JNF / Biography & Autobiography / Literary
  • BISAC Category 3 JNF / African American & Black
  • Themes African / African American / Black, Biography / Memoir, Civil Rights Movement, Conflict resolution, Discrimination, Education, Fiction, Friendship, Nonfiction, Overcoming Obstacles, Persistence / Grit
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 7 - 11
  • Grade Range Grades 2 - 6
  • Guided Reading Q
  • ATOS Book Level 4
  • DRA 40
  • Interest Level Grades 2 - 6
  • Lexile Level 700
  • Reading Level Grades 3 - 4
  • SRC 4.8
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
  • This Book is Included in These Collections:

    ADA Site Compliance-Accessibility Policy