Black Star

A Coretta Scott King Honor Book

The thrilling second book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Door of No Return trilogy stars Kofi's granddaughter, Charley, who's set on becoming the first female pitcher to play professional ball but who soon has to contend with the tensions about to boil over in her segregated town.You can't protect her from knowing. The truth is all we have.

12-year old Charley Cuffey is many things: a granddaughter, a best friend, and probably the best pitcher in all of Lee's Mill. Set on becoming the first female pitcher to play professional ball, Charley doesn't need reminders from her best friend Cool Willie Green to know that she has lofty dreams for a Black girl in the American South.

Even so, Nana Kofi's thrilling stories about courageous ancestors and epic journeys make it impossible not to dream big. She knows he has so many more to tell, but according to her parents, she isn't old enough to know about certain things like what happened to Booker Preston that one night in Great Bridge and why she can never play on the brand-new real deal baseball field on the other side of town.

When Charley challenges a neighborhood bully to a game at the church picnic, she knows she can win, even with her ragtag team. But when the picnic spills over onto their ball field, she makes a fateful decision.

A child cannot protect herself if she does not know her history, and Charley's choice brings consequences she never could have imagined.

In this riveting second book of the Door of No Return trilogy, set during the turbulent segregation era, and the beginning of The Great Migration, Kwame Alexander weaves a spellbinding story of struggle, determination, and the unflappable faith of an American family.

Author: Kwame Alexander
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 09/09/2025
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Paperback
Size: 7.63h x 5.25w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780316442695
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.3
Point Value: 5
Interest Level: Middle Grade Plus
Quiz #/Name: 552199 / Black Star


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 07/01/2024 pg. 74

About the Author
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times bestselling author of more than 35 books, including the Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, the Coretta Scott king Illustrator Award-winning picture book American Story, the Newbery medal-winning novel, The Crossover, Becoming Muhammad Ali, co-authored with James Patterson, Booked, which was longlisted for the National Book Award, Rebound, Solo and Swing. A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Kwame is also the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Coretta Scott King Author Honor, three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. He invites you to visit him at kwamealexander.com on IG and Twitter @kwamealexander.