A collaborative partnership between Newton Education Foundation, Oxford College of Emory University, Newton County Schools, and Little Shop of Stories, is bringing award-winning young adult author Derrick Barnes to Newton County. On October 3, 2025, 150 8th grade students from Cousins Middle School and Liberty Middle School, will have the opportunity to hear from the author, tour Oxford College’s campus and eat in the dining hall. Each student will also receive a free book, signed by the author. Newton Education Foundation is covering the cost of the books as part of their focus on literacy.
Author Bio: Derrick Barnes is a National Book Award Finalist for his graphic novel Victory. Stand!-Raising My Fist For Justice, which also won the YALSA Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award, and a Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning picture book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut which received a Newbery Honor, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award, and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers. In 2020, he became the only author to win the Kirkus Prize twice for the New York Times bestseller, I Am Every Good Thing, which also won a Charlotte Huck Award and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor. Derrick is also the creator of the New York Times bestselling companion picture books, The King of Kindergarten and The Queen of Kindergarten. He is a native of Kansas City, MO, but currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his enchanting wife, Dr. Tinka Barnes, and their four sons, the Mighty Barnes Brothers.
Newton Education Foundation is supported by donations from the community, grants and our spring Harlem Wizards Event. Please consider making a donation so we can continue to bring great experiences to our students. Make an online gift at www.newtoneducationfoundation.org/donate.