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Curiosity is what motivates writer Lesa Cline-Ransome to pursue a topic. It was just that instinct that started her deep dive into 1940’s Chicago and brought us the Coretta Scott King Honor book, Finding Langston and follow-up, Leaving Lymon. Now the best-selling author brings us, Being Clem. In the final book in the trilogy Cline-Ransome once again masterfully recreates mid-twentieth century America through the eyes of a young boy. Exploring the impact of the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, Jim Crow laws, and much more, Lesa’s work manages at once to be both an intimate portrait of each boy and his family as well as a landscape of American history.



Even though his father is away, serving as a sailor in World War II, Clem is getting along okay. School is easy for him, and his good humor makes him popular. As soon as his family receives the news that their father has died in the Port Chicago disaster, everything begins to fall apart. Clem can barely recognize his home—or himself. The obstacles put in place by racial injustice seem insurmountable. Now, being named after the father he barely knew takes on a whole new meaning. How can Clem navigate this harsh new reality and still be true to himself?