Kwame Alexander Books in Order

This early collection gathers poems and counterpoems written across nearly a decade. It shows Alexander working through love, identity, and everyday Black life by setting different voices and perspectives beside one another.

Alexander helped assemble this anthology of contemporary Black poets at different stages of their careers. The result is a wide-ranging collection of voices, styles, and spoken-word energy.

This teen poetry collection follows the rush of first attraction, flirting, heartbreak, and everything in between. Alexander writes about young love with humor, vulnerability, and plenty of musical swagger.

Named for the Swahili word connected to love, this collection leans into romance, longing, and desire. These poems are intimate, direct, and written to be felt aloud.

Alexander and Nina Foxx break self-publishing into clear, manageable steps. It is a straightforward guide for writers who want help shaping a manuscript and getting it into print.

Part poetry collection, part essay collection, this book moves through personal reflection, social observation, and spoken-word rhythm. It captures Alexander testing ideas about love, life, and the world around him.

This collection gathers poems about love, life, and loss. The pieces lean personal and reflective, looking at how hurt and hope can sit close together.

Edited by Alexander, this anthology pairs poems and photographs in a celebration of family life. It brings together many voices to show the joy, strain, memory, and love that hold families together.

Acoustic Rooster wants to win the barnyard talent show, but first he needs a band. With jazz-inspired animal friends and plenty of musical wordplay, this picture book makes collaboration sound like fun.

This selected collection gathers poems written between 1987 and 2009. It offers a broad look at Alexander's early work, from love poems to more reflective pieces about memory, spirit, and everyday life.

Indigo builds a rooftop garden to help her neighborhood go green and think differently about the city around them. It is a bright, upbeat story about imagination, community, and small acts of change.

Two high school seniors who seem like total opposites are thrown together to lead a student protest. Their romance unfolds alongside questions about identity, activism, reputation, and how teenagers tell the truth.

This picture book celebrates the energy, curiosity, and imagination of boyhood. With photographs and simple text, it encourages young boys to play, dream, and see themselves as full of possibility.

Basketball twins Josh and Jordan Bell rule the court, but life off the hardwood gets more complicated fast. In electric verse, Alexander captures brotherhood, rivalry, first love, and the pressure of a family in change.

Nick Hall lives for soccer, but an injury, a bully, family trouble, and a first crush throw him off balance. Told in verse, his story mixes humor, heartbreak, and the messy work of growing up.

Bro wants to hit the beach, but Dude is hooked on a book. Their funny back-and-forth turns into a joyful reminder that reading can feel every bit as wild as the waves.

Pairing poems with striking wildlife photography, this book celebrates the beauty and variety of animals around the world. It is both an ode to wonder and a reminder that the natural world is fragile.

Alexander, Chris Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth pay tribute to twenty poets with original poems inspired by their styles. It is a warm introduction to poetry as conversation, imitation, and delight.

Blade wants out of the chaos that comes with being the son of a washed-up rock star. In verse and song lyrics, he tries to hold on to love, survive family secrets, and figure out who he is.

Using sports as his frame, Alexander offers 52 short lessons on goals, grit, teamwork, and character. It reads like a pep talk for readers who need a little push on or off the court.

Before he was Josh and Jordan Bell's dad, Chuck Bell was a grieving boy sent to spend the summer with his grandparents. There he finds basketball, family history, and a way to begin healing.

Best friends Noah and Walt are tired of being overlooked and want junior year to be different. As first love, friendship, art, and questions of race collide, Noah has to decide whether he is ready to stop hiding.

This classroom guide shows teachers how to make writing workshop more creative, practical, and student-driven. Alexander shares lessons, examples, and strategies that use poetry as a door into confidence and voice.

Alexander turns reading into an adventure of sound, feeling, and imagination. It is a playful picture book that invites children to slow down, open a page, and lose themselves inside a story.

This picture book poem honors Black Americans whose strength, creativity, and courage shaped history, even through slavery, segregation, and violence. The language is spare and powerful, and the book carries both grief and triumph.

Indigo Blume loves music, but stage fright threatens to silence her before a big community festival. In a lively dream adventure with Acoustic Rooster and his jazz-loving friends, she finds courage, teamwork, and her own voice.

This verse novel follows young Cassius Clay before the world knew him as Muhammad Ali. It traces the early swagger, discipline, friendship, and racism that shaped the boy who would become a legend.

Part notebook, part writing coach, this interactive book invites kids to try poems, lists, rhymes, and free verse. Alexander fills it with prompts, examples, and space to help young writers loosen up and begin.

This collection responds to racism in America with anger, grief, memory, and stubborn hope. Alexander writes in a direct, lyrical voice that turns public pain into urgent, personal language.

In 1861, 11-year-old Kofi lives in Upper Kwanta, Ghana, until one terrible night sends him away from home and into danger. His verse story turns personal history into a gripping journey across land, water, and loss.

A teacher tries to tell the truth about American slavery, guiding readers from an African village across the Atlantic and into the American South. It is a clear, powerful picture book about pain, endurance, and what must be remembered.

This playful companion to How to Read a Book shows children that poems start with attention, questions, and feeling. It invites readers to notice the world closely and turn what they find into words.

In poems, letters, recipes, and memories, Alexander opens a very personal window into fatherhood, love, grief, and family. The result feels intimate without losing the rhythm of his poetry.

Charley Cuffey dreams of becoming the first female pitcher in professional baseball, even in a segregated town that keeps setting limits. As family stories surface, her fight for the mound becomes part of a much larger history.

Alexander and Randy Preston turn listening into the first step of music-making. Surrounded by nature's sounds, readers are encouraged to hear the rhythm around them and sing from somewhere honest.

At Dean Ashley Public School, two gifted fifth graders turn creativity into a full-on rivalry, one with drawing, the other with writing. Their clash is funny, fast, and built around learning to respect each other's strengths.

Macy loves books, so when budget cuts limit access to her school library, she decides to speak up. With help from friends, family, and her father's poems, she learns that quiet kids can be powerful advocates.