Elementary Summer Reading 2024: Biographies, 5th-6th Grade

Edna loved to cook. Growing up on a farm in Freetown, Virginia, she learned the value of fresh, local, seasonal food from her Mama Daisy, as well as how to measure ingredients for biscuits using coins and to listen closely to her cakes to know when they were done. Edna carried these traditions with her all the way to Manhattan, where she became a celebrated chef, cooking traditional French food in her signature Southern style and introducing the world to the flavors of her home.

This picture book adaptation of her critically acclaimed adult memoir paints a vivid portrait of the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a singular 20th-century American civil and human rights activist who fought for justice against all odds, becoming an unforgettable champion of social change.

Mahani Teave grew up on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, one of the most remote islands in the world, where moai statues stand and music is everywhere. When she began taking lessons on the island's only piano, she proved to be a great talent. She left Rapa Nui when she was just nine to continue her music education, wishing she didn't have to leave such a beautiful place to pursue her dreams. She became an internationally acclaimed classical pianist, playing around the world for all kinds of audiences. But her island home kept calling her back. Years later, she returned to Rapa Nui to stay, and with a new dream: to save its environment and culture. She helped create a music and arts school, so that children there could learn music in ways that kept the island's unique traditions alive. Mahani also saw the island's struggles with sustainability issues and pollution from tourism and ocean plastics, so the school was built using thousands of tires, bottles, and cans in its walls, and incorporates rain barrels, solar panels, and a food garden. Mahani and her team have created an inspiring place that celebrates the land of Rapa Nui and its people.

Illuminates the lesser-known history of Victor Hugo Green, a Black postal worker from Harlem in the 1930s, who created The Green Book, a guide for African Americans to stay safe while traveling around the U.S. during the era of segregation.

To her adoring public, Hedy Lamarr was a glamorous movie star, widely considered the most beautiful woman in the world. But in private, she was something more: a brilliant inventor. And for many years only her closest friends knew her secret. Now Laurie Wallmark and Katy Wu, who collaborated on Sterling’s critically acclaimed picture-book biography Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code, tell the inspiring story of how, during World War Two, Lamarr developed a groundbreaking communications system that still remains essential to the security of today’s technology.

When Jackie Ormes sees an opportunity, she takes it. She's a journalist, cartoonist, fashionista, philanthropist, and activist -- and she wants to use her artistry to bring joy and hope to Black people everywhere. But in post-World War II America, Black people are still being denied their civil rights, and Jackie has a dilemma: How can her art remain true to her signature Jackie joy, while also staying honest about the inequalities Black people have been fighting against? Traci N. Todd and Shannon Wright have crafted a . . . tribute to the . . . legacy of America's first Black woman cartoonist.

This first-ever picture book biography of the legendary writer and activist introduces readers to this passionate Black man who discovered his true power in the written word, which opened the world to him as he used his voice fearlessly.

Ella Baker worked to lift others up by fighting racial injustice and empowering poor African Americans to stand up for their rights. Her dedication and grassroots work in many communities made her a valuable ally for leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and she has been ranked as one of the most influential women in the civil rights movement. In the 1960s she worked to register voters and organize sit-ins, and she became a teacher and mentor to many young activists.