Alexander, Kwame. Black Star. Door of No Return, The; bk. 2. Little, Brown, 09/2024. 372pp. Fiction. Trade $17.99. 978-0-316-44259-6. GRADES 4–7. OUTSTANDING.
One does not need to have read Alexander’s first book in this series, The Door of No Return (2022), to appreciate this companion book. Set in the 1920s, Black Star tells the story of a young girl named Charley who lives in segregated Virginia and yearns to be a professional baseball player for the Negro Leagues. She is Kofi’s granddaughter, the protagonist of the first book, who is now an elderly man. Told in free verse, the plot involves some dire consequences from a baseball game played on the white side of town. Tween readers will identify with Charley and appreciate her bravery despite the results of some of her actions. This satisfying historical novel includes a few real people, including Mary McLeod Bethune, and weaves Kofi’s stories of Africa smoothly into the main story of Charley.
Penny Peck—San José State University, iSchool