As part of our celebration of Black History Month, author Tracey Baptiste met with all students at WMS on February 17th and met with 30 lucky winners for a virtual lunch. Baptiste has written over twenty books, both fiction and nonfiction. Some of her books include The Jumbies Series, Because Claudette, African Icons, Sycorax’s Daughters, Who Wrote That? Series, Angel’s Grace, and Minecraft the Crash. Many of her books have received accolades from Kirkus Reviews and Publisher’s Weekly and appear on recommended lists such as Junior Library Guild Selections.

During her visit, she discussed her book, Because of Claudette, with seventh and eighth-graders. The novel focuses on Civil Rights heroine Claudette Colvin, who was one of the first boycotters against segregation. Students were shocked to learn that Colvin’s actions took place before the well-known heroine Rosa Parks.

For her presentation to the sixth grade, Baptiste focused on her most recent nonfiction book, African Icons, and a previous novel, Totally Gross Ancient Egypt. African Icons is regularly listed as one of the top 50 new middle-grade reads in 2021. Sixth graders drew numerous connections to their social studies curriculum. Multiple copies of her books, as well as additional books about Claudette Colvin, were and still are available in the WMS library.

If interested, see what you remember by taking this “Quiz” about Tracey Baptiste!

Click the link below to access the quiz.

https://forms.gle/tTFcJKYpqGf41vhF8