Derrick Barnes is a National Book Award Finalist for his 2022 graphic novel Victory. Stand! -Raising My Fist For Justice, which also won the 2023 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 have won the Kirkus Prize twice for his twelfth release, the New York Times bestseller I Am Every Good Thing. The title also won a Charlotte Huck Award (NCTE), 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 (2019) and The Queen of Kindergarten (2022).

He is a graduate of Jackson State University (BA-Marketing ’99) and was the first African American male creative copywriter hired by greeting cards giant Hallmark Cards. Derrick is a native of Kansas City, MO, but currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his enchanting wife, Dr. Tinka Barnes, and their four sons, the Mighty Barnes Brothers.

School Visit Presentations 

Audience: PK-12th grade (45-60min per session) – No more than three presentations in a day.

Derrick tailors his presentations to the various grade levels. He shares his journey growing up in Kansas City, MO in a single parent household, how he became a writer and why the fifth grade was so pivotal for helping to mold what kind of writer/man he is today. He likes to cover the importance of reading and writing, tips on how to become an award-winning writer, and reading from the selected titles (based on grade level/age group).

Keynotes

The Story Behind the Stories: The Inspiration that Helped Derrick Pen His Top Five Titles

One of the most asked questions during presentations is, “How did you come up with the idea for that book?” Derrick shares the origins of his most popular, award winning, chart topping titles (The Kindergarten companion books, Crown, I Am Every Good Thing, Ruby and the Booker Boys series. Whether it be from a conversation with one of his four sons, or addressing a social issue, all of his ideas are rooted in reality and filling a void.

It’ll Only Take One Book: How Derrick’s Ninth Title Changed his Career and his Life Forever

In 2017, Derrick’s ninth book and his first picture book was published by a house on the outside of Chicago that was most known for publishing award winning autobiographies and cookbooks than they were children’s books. Plus, he was on the verge of deciding if his career had gone as far as it could go. But that ninth title, Crown: An Ode To The Fresh Cut became not only an enormous hit, the book that kicked the door open for him, but is quite possibly the most decorated children’s book ever. This is a story about resilience, about faith and the support of loved ones that inspire you to never give up.

Lyrics and Langston-The Works of Wonder and Hughes that Sparked Derrick’s Writing Career

“What were some of your favorite books growing up?” Who were your favorite authors as a kid?” Derrick gets asked those questions all of the time. And as cool as it might sound to roll off all of the classics like Of Mice and Men, A Wrinkle In Time, Hatchet or Bridge To Terabithia—his response always leads back to music or poetry. Derrick grew up in a very musical household, where gospel, R &B, blues, jazz and hip-hop played around the clock. But no one’s music and lyrics moved him like that of Stevie Wonder. Then he discovered the work of Langston Hughes in the fifth grade, which equally changed his life forever. He wanted to someday, make people feel the same way those lyrics and those stanzas made him feel. He wanted to weave his stories and characters together with soul, with passion, and the most vibrant and descriptive emotions that he heard and read in Ribbon In The Sky or I Too Am America. Derrick compares and contrasts some of his favorite songs and poems by these two geniuses with his work to show their lasting influence on his writing.

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