CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 7, 2025) – North Carolina Humanities, home to the North Carolina Center for the Book, has selected two books to represent North Carolina at the Library of Congress National Book Festival this year: Akeem Keeps Bees! A Close-Up Look at the Honey Makers and Pollinators of Sankofa Farms written by Kamal Bell and illustrated by Darnell Johnson and Katherine, The Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood.
Akeem Keeps Bees!, the book selection for young readers, and Katherine, The Wright Sister, the adult book selection, will be featured on the national Great Reads from Great Places reading list that is distributed by the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book during the National Book Festival. The list is composed of books and authors from each state and territory affiliate Center for the Book to showcase the rich culture and heritage of our country. Books are either written by an author from the respective state/territory or portray stories of the area.
Those interested can see what other titles affiliate Centers for the Book selected this year by visiting the Library of Congress’ website.
Akeem Keeps Bees! and Katherine, The Wright Sister examine intergenerational stories and history, family, friendship, innovation, and building community. NC Humanities chose these books to encourage engaging, productive conversation among readers and to shed light on new perspectives about important, timely topics.
The 2025 National Book Festival will be held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday September 6, 2025. A selection of programs will be livestreamed online, and videos of all programs will be available shortly after the festival concludes. NC Humanities will be at the festival in Washington, D.C. to further promote these books, the resources of NC Humanities, and the important literary culture of North Carolina.
To further celebrate this year’s selections, NC Humanities is offering the following opportunities here in our home state of North Carolina:
- Akeem Keeps Bees! – NC Humanities is providing a limited number of free book boxes for teachers and school librarians in North Carolina! Book boxes can be used for curriculum or afterschool/youth programs and include 20 copies of Akeem Keeps Bees!, bookmarks, and other surprise goodies! A Reading Response Journal, where students can record their thoughts on the book, and NC Humanities-original interactive reading comprehension materials will also be included! Please follow the instructions on our website to apply for a book box.
- Katherine, The Wright Sister – NC Humanities will host a free, online book discussion program with author Tracey Enerson this summer! She will discuss her book, and the questions of race, gender, crime, and community the book asks. Program details will be announced later this summer at nchumanities.org.
About the Books:
Akeem Keeps Bees! by Kamal Eugene William Bell and illustrated by Darnell Johnson. Suggested age range: 6-10 (Grades K-4)
Told from Akeem’s perspective, Akeem Keeps Bees! begins with the arrival and installation of a package of bees and follows Akeem and his Dad throughout the year as they inspect the hive, find the queen, deal with a swarm, harvest honey, and prepare for winter.
Every part of the process is illustrated for young readers, teaching them the special role that bees play on a farm. The author, Kamal Bell, is a leading voice among Black farmers educating and inspiring Black youth about farming and beekeeping. From publisher description
Katherine, The Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood. Suggested age range: 18+
It all started with two boys and a bicycle shop. Wilbur and Orville Wright, both unsuited to college and disinclined to leave home, jumped on the popular new fad of bicycle riding and opened a shop in Dayton, Ohio. Repairing and selling soon led to tinkering and building as the brothers offered improved models to their eager customers. Amid their success, a new dream began to take shape. Engineers across the world were puzzling over how to build a powered flying machine—and Wilbur and Orville wanted in on the challenge. But their younger sister, Katharine, knew they couldn’t do it without her. The three siblings made a pact: the three of them would solve the problem of human flight.
As her brothers obsessed over blueprints and risked life and limb testing new models on the sand beaches of North Carolina, Katharine became the mastermind behind the scenes of their inventions. She sourced materials, managed communications, and kept Wilbur and Orville focused on their goal—even when it seemed hopeless. And in 1903, the Wright brothers made the first controlled, sustained flight of humankind.
What followed was the kind of fame and fortune the Wrights had never imagined. The siblings traveled the world to demonstrate their invention, trained other pilots, and built new machines that could fly higher and farther. But at the height of their success, tragedy wrenched the Wright family apart… and forced Katharine to make an impossible choice that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
From internationally bestselling author Tracey Enerson Wood, Katharine, the Wright Sister is an unforgettable novel that shines a spotlight on one of the most important and overlooked women in history, and the sacrifices she made so that others might fly. From publisher description
About North Carolina Humanities: Through public humanities programs and grantmaking, North Carolina Humanities connects North Carolinians with cultural experiences that spur dialogue, deepen human connections, and inspire community. North Carolina Humanities is a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The North Carolina Center for the Book is a collection of North Carolina Humanities’ reading and literature programs that celebrate the importance of books, reading, libraries, and North Carolina’s literary heritage. To learn more, visit www.nchumanities.org.
About the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress: The Library’s Center for the Book, established by Congress in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books and reading, is a national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages through its affiliated centers, collaborations with nonprofit reading-promotion partners, and through its Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress. For more information, visit www.read.gov.
