Author Information
Julius Lester's Latest Book

Newest Release

  • Bibliography:
    34 Books
  • First Book:
    January 1970
  • Latest Book:
    May 2016
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Book List in Order: 34 titles



  • Twelve remarkable folktales, culled from the black experience in Africa and America, are freshly retold in the thoroughly original voice of Julius Lester. Arranged by topic - Origins, Love, Heroes, and People - the tales combine universal themes and ...




  • In a gray fieldstone house in Nashville, Tennessee, the Reverend Joshua Smith Sr.--the staunch and gentle man known to thousands in black churches throughout the South as the Singing Evangelist and to one white reporter as "the Colored Billy Graham"-...




  • The wily Brer Rabbit is back, along with all his friends and enemies. With all the distinctive humor that marked their first two Uncle Remus books, Newbery Honor author Julius Lester and Caldecott Honor artist Jerry Pinkney bring new life to thirty-t...




  • A man who presumes to know everything there is to know about eagles wrongly interprets a miraculous experience and evokes the curse of murder on the world, in a traditional fable from the Baila people of Zambia....



  • Nothing can stop John Henry-no boulder, no mountain, and definitely no steam drill.  Newbery Honor winner Julius Lester writes with such power that this African-American folk hero becomes as awesome as a natural phenomenon.  Jerry Pinkney received ...



  • A novel about the civil rights movement told in four voices-those of assassinated leader John Calvin Marshall; his passionate white mistress, Lisa Adams; his widow, Andrea; and his chief lieutenant, Bobby Card. Harvest American Writing series
    ...






  • Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator Jerry Pinkney and Newbery Honor-winning author Julius Lester team up in thi groundbreaking and delightful update of one of the most controversial stories in children’s literature. Hailed by Publishers Weekly as ...



  • Meet Rambler, a runaway slave roaming the countryside with a guitar, who knows the only way to stay free is to keep moving. Louis is another runaway, fleeing the plantation where he was raised, because he is about to be sold. And Jake and Mandy's mar...



  • Bob Lemmons is famous for his ability to track wild horses. He rides his horse, Warrior, picks up the trail of mustangs, then runs with them day and night until they accept his presence. Bob and Warrior must then challenge the stallion for leadership...



  • Discovering that making a world takes a lot of work, God calls on his secretary Bruce and the angel Shaniqua to help him create bushes, grass, flowers, and butterflies. By the award-winning author of How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have! ...



  • "What effect does [the climate of censorship] have on a writer?....It's chilling. It's easy to become discouraged, to second-guess everything you write. There seemed to be no one to stand up to the censors....so I began to speak out about my experie...



  • Brer Rabbit is causing trouble again for his fellow creatures Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, and the rest--this time in an omnibus edition that brings together all the stories from Tales of Uncle Remus, More Tales of Uncle Remus, Further Tales of Uncle Remus, ...



  • “I saved my brother from the soldiers, but the princess says he is hers now. Abba and Ima will never trust me again.” In ancient Egypt, there lives a girl named Almah who will do anything to ensure the safety of her baby brother, Mosis. She...



  • Chaos results when a dream tells all the children and animals of the world that they should do whatever they want without fear of adult reprisal, and it is up to Albidaro, Guardian of Children, and Olara, Guardian of Animals, to put everyone back whe...



  • A bee who falls head-over-heels in love with a bluebird? An eagle who is afraid of heights? An alligator in search of cooler waters in Vermont? Readers of all ages will laugh at these irresistible creatures and their gleefully absurd predicaments, al...



  • A Newbery Honor author tells about the blues while profiling ten of the most celebrated blues singers of last century, including Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, and James Brown, in a boldly illustrated picture book. 15,000 first printing....







  • In this heavenly sequel to the critically acclaimed WHAT A TRULY COOL WORLD, a star-studded duo once again finds playful, big-hearted answers to life's most mysterious questions.

    God, His wife Irene, His secretary Bruce, & the angel Shaniqua h...



  • When Dad killed mom, their world stopped. Jenna and Jeremy knew their parents' marriage was in trouble. Mom and Dad didn't talk much, and when they did, they had to work really hard at being civil. But no one would have predicted what came next. The...



  • Rebecca Nachman is a Rabbi without a synagogue. Having resigned from her dwindling congregation, she now works as a college counselor at a small Vermont college advising students about private matters and offering the "Jewish perspective" on issues r...



  • No one on the plantation had ever heard the Old African’s voice, yet he had spoken to all of them in their minds. For the Old African had the power to see the color of a person’s soul and read his thoughts as if they were words on a page. Now it ...



  • What was it like to be a slave?  Listen to the words and learn about the lives of countless slaves and ex-slaves, telling about their forced journey from Africa to the United States, their work in the fields and houses of their owners, and their pas...



  • A boy sent by an African god to tend the spirits of the dead struggles to fulfill his duty from within the bonds of slavery in Time's Memory, by National Book Award finalist Julius Lester.Amma is the creator god, the master of life and death, and he ...



  • This is the story of Cupid--the god responsible for heartache, sleepless nights, and all those silly love songs--finally getting his comeuppance. When the god of love falls in love himself, things are bound to get interesting. And when he crosses his...



  • Whether he is besting Brer Fox or sneaking into Mr. Man's garden, Brer Rabbit is always teaching a valuable lesson. These classic tales are full of wit, humor, and creativity, and Julius Lester brings an added contemporary sense to these forty-eight ...



  • On March 2 and 3, 1859, the largest auction of slaves in American history took place in Savannah, Georgia. More than 400 slaves were sold. On the first day of the auction, the skies darkened and torrential rain began falling. The rain continued throu...






  • In a small mountain village, a young girl named Shining is born. The villagers fear and shun her because she doesn't speak, but one day she will win the heart of her people.     Newbery Honor author Julius Lester has created a powerful tale about...



  • There are times when a tree can no longer withstand the pain inflicted on it, and the wind will take pity on that tree and topple it over in a mighty storm. All the other trees who witnessed the evil look down upon the fallen tree with envy. They pra...



  • There are ghosts in the cemetery near Malcolm David?s house, and they?re filling the air with their spooky OOOOOs and EEEEEs and ARRRRs. When Malcolm David dares to go looking for them late one night, he is surprised to discover that the eerie howlin...



  • When the girl, Silence, is sent by the trees to save Yesterday, she doesn't know what her task is, only that it is important. Returning to the village that cast her out, Silence recognizes her purpose: to join the dead with the living in an act th...



    • / General Fiction
    • Buy Buy

    Two short stories and one novella (all based on true stories) about love in the time of slavery. The first is about Ras, who helps other slaves escape, and ultimately escapes with his girlfriend, Sally. The second is about Maria, whose husband (a fre...


Award-Winning Books by Julius Lester

Black Cowboy, Wild Horses
1998 Parents Choice Award (Fall) (1998-2007) -- Silver
John Henry
1995 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award -- Picture Book
1997 Golden Sower Award -- Grades K-3
The Old African
2005 Parents Choice Award (Fall) (1998-2007) -- Gold
Sam and the Tigers
2000 Parents Choice Award (Fall) (1998-2007) -- Recommended


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Julius Lester has published 34 books.

Julius Lester does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, The Girl Who Saved Yesterday, was published in May 2016.

The first book by Julius Lester, Black Folktales, was published in January 1970.

No. Julius Lester does not write books in series.