Laura Atkins – författare

Winner, Carter G. Woodson Book Award * Winner, New-York Historical Society Children’s Book Prize * Winner, Social Justice Literature Award * Honor Title, Jane Addams Children’s Book Award * Finalist, 2017 Cybils Awards * Nominee, Georgia Children’s Book Award * Nominee, Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award * Nominee, South Carolina Junior Book Award * A Kirkus Best Book of the Year * An Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California Outstanding Title"An invaluable profile of a civil rights hero whose story deserves greater attention. Middle schoolers will take to the superb writing and original format." —School Library Journal, starred review"Korematsu's is an important story and should be part of our national educational curriculum." —Los Angeles Review of BooksFred Korematsu liked listening to music on the radio, playing tennis, and hanging around with his friends—just like lots of other Americans. But everything changed when the United States went to war with Japan in 1941 and the government forced all people of Japanese ancestry to leave their homes on the West Coast and move to distant prison camps. This included Fred, whose parents had immigrated to the United States from Japan many years before. But Fred refused to go. He knew that what the government was doing was unfair. And when he got put in jail for resisting, he knew he couldn't give up.Inspired by the award-winning book for adults Wherever There's a Fight, the Fighting for Justice series introduces young readers to real-life heroes and heroines of social progress. The story of Fred Korematsu's fight against discrimination explores the life of one courageous person who made the United States a fairer place for all Americans, and it encourages all of us to speak up for justice.

Winner of the Nautilus Book AwardWinner of the 2021 FOCAL AwardSilver Award Winner, 2020 Independent Publisher Book AwardsWinner of the Book Award for Young People’s Literature, 2020 Maine Literary AwardsA Great Kid Books Best New BookBuilding on the brilliance of Fred Korematsu Speaks Up, the newest installment in the Fighting for Justice series introduces young readers to another real-life champion for civil rights: Bridget “Biddy” Mason, an African American philanthropist, healer, and midwife who was born into slavery.When Biddy Mason arrived in California, where slavery was technically illegal, she was kept captive by her owners and forced to work without pay. But when Biddy learned that she was going to be taken to a slave state, she launched a plan to win her freedom. She refused to be defined by her enslavement, and coauthors Arisa White and Laura Atkins devote much of their narrative to Biddy Mason's later life as a business and civic leader in the fledgling city of Los Angeles. Biddy Mason Speaks Up is an age-appropriate yet unflinching examination of slavery, racism, and community healing in the United States. Each chapter begins with lyrical verse and full-color illustrations that draw readers into the narrative, and is followed by visually engaging sections filled with keyword definitions, historical context, timelines, and primary sources. Throughout the book, the authors pose questions to the reader, such as “How do you see power at work in your community?”, making Biddy Mason's story all the more relatable to the present day.

Winner, Carter G. Woodson Book Award * Winner, New-York Historical Society Children’s Book Prize * Winner, Social Justice Literature Award * Honor Title, Jane Addams Children’s Book Award * Finalist, 2017 Cybils Awards * Nominee, Georgia Children’s Book Award * Nominee, Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award * Nominee, South Carolina Junior Book Award * A Kirkus Best Book of the Year * An Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California Outstanding TitleNow in paperback: The award-winning story of Fred Korematsu's fight for justice, acclaimed by School Library Journal as "an invaluable profile of a civil rights hero."Fred Korematsu liked listening to music on the radio, playing tennis, and hanging around with his friends—just like lots of other Americans. But everything changed when the United States was attacked by Japan in 1941 and the government forced all people of Japanese ancestry to leave their homes on the West Coast and move to distant prison camps. This included Fred, whose parents had immigrated to the United States from Japan many years before. But Fred refused to go. He knew that what the government was doing was unfair. And when he got put in jail for resisting, he knew he couldn't give up.The first book in Heyday's Fighting for Justice series and now in paperback, the story of Fred Korematsu's fight against discrimination explores the life of one courageous person who made the United States a fairer place for all Americans, and it encourages all of us to speak up for justice.