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.

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Book Club Guide

Nana Kofi tells Charley many stories from his past. Have you heard stories from your relatives about their lives? What did you learn? Why do you think it’s important to learn about what happened before? What does Charley learn from Nana Kofi?

Momma tells Charley that “girls should stay clean, be graceful, play piano or flute” (p. 21) and Willie Green “doesn’t think any girl can ever be as good as him” (p. 23). How do you think those comments make Charley feel? Have you ever been told you couldn’t do something for a reason that didn’t make sense to you?

Charley dreams of being “the first girl pitcher to play professional” (p. 30). Do you ever have dreams like Charley’s? What about? What do you dream of becoming?

When Charley insists that they “should be able to play wherever,” Willie Green responds, “Should and can is two different words” (p. 38-39). What do you think he means by that? Why are Charley and Willie Green not supposed to play on the other side of the bridge? What other restrictions and unspoken rules are they expected to follow by the “wonderfuls”?

How does baseball bring Charley and her friends together? What do you and your friends like to do together?

Why do you think food and community are so important to Charley and her family? What traditions does your family have around food? Do you have a favorite?

This book is told through and features different examples of poetry. How does the formatting and flow of the text reflect the emotions of the characters and action of the story? Do you have a favorite poem from the book?

Throughout the book, Charley asks many questions of the adults in her life. How do different people answer her questions? Why is it important to ask questions? What does Nana Kofi mean when he says, “without seeing we can have no imagination and without imagination there is no possibility” (p. 165)?

Momma takes Charley to hear Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune, who says, “A young woman. Is truly free. If she. Creates. Her own. Destiny” (p. 198). Who inspires you? Why?

Black Star continues Nana Kofi’s story from The Door of No Return. If you’ve read both books, how are Kofi and Charley’s stories alike? How are they different? What do Nana Kofi’s stories reveal about what happened in between these two books? What do you think will happen to Kofi, Charley, and their family next?

Kwame Alexander

About the Author

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, producer and #1 New York Times bestselling author of 40 books, including An American Story, The Door of No Return, Becoming Muhammad Ali (co-authored with James Patterson), Rebound, which was shortlisted for the prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, and The Undefeated, the National Book Award nominee, Newbery Honor, and Caldecott Medal-winning picture book illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

Kwame is also the Executive Producer, Showrunner, and Emmy-winning Writer of The Crossover TV series, based on his Newbery-Medal winning novel of the same name, which premiered on Disney+ in April 2023. The series was produced in partnership with LeBron James’ SpringHill Company and Big Sea Entertainment, Kwame’s production company that is dedicated to creating innovative, highly original children’s and family entertainment. Other current projects in development at Big Sea include America’s Next Great Author, the groundbreaking reality television series for writers.

A regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, he regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing there and around the world at events like the Chautauqua Lecture Series, the Edinburgh Book Festival, Aspen Ideas, and the Global Literacy Symposium in Ghana, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana. Most recently he was appointed the Rudell Artistic Director of Literary Arts and Writer-in-Residence at the Chautauqua Institution.
His mission is to change the world, one word at a time.

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