How the Word Is Passed (Adapted for Young Readers)

Clint Smith is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of the narrative nonfiction book, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism, and selected by the New York Times as one of the 10 best books of 2021. He is also the author of the poetry collection Counting Descent, which won the 2017 Literary Award for Best Poetry Book from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. His writing has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Poetry Magazine, The Paris Review. and elsewhere. Clint received his B.A. in English from Davidson College and a Ph.D. in Education from Harvard University.

Jason Reynolds is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many books, including When I Was the Greatest, Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely), As Brave as You, For Every One, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), Long Way Down, and Look Both Ways. He is a two-time National Book Award finalist; the recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and multiple Coretta Scott King Honors; and the winner of a Kirkus Prize, two Walter Dean Myers Awards, and an NAACP Image Award, among other honors. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, and the Founding Director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. He is an Ideas Columnist at The Atlantic, and a correspondent with CBS News. He is the author of many books including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and three #1 New York Times bestsellers: How to Be an Antiracist; Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored with Jason Reynolds; and Antiracist Baby, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky.

Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul is an educator, author, and the co-founder of the Institute for Racial Equity in Literacy. She is the Director of Diversity and Equity at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. As a former middle school English teacher, Sonja developed curriculum that centered the work of racial literacy in K-12 schools. She leads presentations at educational conferences and works with educators around the world providing professional development on antiracist reading and writing instruction. 

Rachelle Baker is a multi-disciplinary artist from Detroit, Michigan. She is the artist behind many the covers of New York Times and Indie bestsellers including Grown and Furia, as well as the illustrator of Shirley Chisolm is a Verb by Veronica Chambers (Dial/PRH) and Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream by Blair Imani (Ten Speed Press/PRH). Her work has been featured in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Netflix, and Entertainment Weekly, among others.