Josefina. 1824.
Meet Claudie Wells!
In the heart of the Harlem Renaissance, Claudie Wells is surrounded by music, art, and dreams. As she searches for her own special talent, she discovers her power to unite people and make their stories shine.
Mama
Claudie’s dedicated mother reports for the Amsterdam News, covering civil rights and community stories. Her experiences in the South inspire her to speak out against injustice and advocate for change.
Daddy
Claudie’s loving father works at Angelo’s Bakery. He still struggles with his experiences as a soldier during World War One, but finds comfort in his family and in decorating beautiful cakes.
Jody
Claudie’s sweet, energetic six-year-old brother loves baseball. He looks up to his big sister and enjoys her puppet shows and storytelling.
Grandma
Claudie’s wise grandmother still lives on the family farm in Georgia. A masterful storyteller, she shares traditional tales and family history with Claudie, including the powerful legend “The People Could Fly.”
Nina
Claudie’s best friend is a talented dancer with the Harlem Angels. Claudie admires her grace and skill, but sometimes feels discouraged when comparing herself to Nina’s talent.
Winston
Claudie’s talented, artistic friend who moved to Harlem from Mississippi with his family in search of more opportunities. He designs the posters advertising Claudie’s variety show.
Miss Amelia
The kindhearted owner of the boardinghouse where the Wells family lives. She creates a warm, welcoming home, even as financial strain causes her to fall behind on rent payments.
Porter
A cornet player with jazz in his blood, he tells Claudie that music is like storytelling. He takes extra jobs to help with the rent, and his quartet plays in Claudie’s variety show.
Gwen
Gwen is a watercolor artist who paints scenes of Harlem and designs the backdrop for Claudie’s show. She encourages Claudie to take risks and share her voice through art.
Selma
A glamorous jazz singer whose stories of life on the road inspire Claudie. Selma offers voice lessons to help with rent and agrees to perform in Claudie’s variety show.
Cousin Sidney
Cousin Sidney drives Claudie and her mother to Georgia in his Model T Ford. Along the way, he helps Claudie understand the dangers of segregation and racism in the South.
Irving
A new boarder at Miss Amelia’s who is studying to be an engineer, Irving helps Claudie design the astonishing flying apparatus for the finale of her variety show.
Author Brit Bennett
Brit Bennett grew up in Southern California and as a child was a fan of the American Girl character Addy. She earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan. Her debut novel The Mothers was a New York Times best seller, and her second novel The Vanishing Half was an instant number one New York Times best seller. Her essays have been featured in The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel.
Illustrator Laura Freeman
Laura Freeman has earned an NAACP Image Award and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators and featured on the New York Times Best Seller List.
Dizzy Dot knows how to shake hands, and Jody is eager to teach her new tricks so they can perform together in the variety show.
Miss Zula, the Harlem Angels’ dance teacher, introduces Claudie’s class to griotic dance. She explains that griots were West African storytellers who shared history through music and poetry.
Claudie climbs a tree for the first time with her cousins cheering her on. Perched high in the branches, she feels like she really could fly, just like in her grandmother’s legend.
Claudie loves Br’er Rabbit stories—Black folktales about a clever rabbit who outwits bigger animals and teaches lessons about resilience and survival.
Claudie loves to help her Daddy where he works at Angelo’s Bakery. Her father is famous in the neighborhood for his highly decorated cakes that line the front windows.
Porter, with his love of jazz, says the warm-sounding cornet is perfect for Claudie. She gives it a determined try and manages a few squeaks and squawks.
Claudie’s family and other boarders were part of a movement in America called the Great Migration. In Harlem, the Black population grew from 50,000 to 200,000 from 1910 to 1930.
The Great Migration led to housing shortages in Harlem in the 1920s. This resulted in overcrowding and rising rents, which caused widespread evictions.
Claudie’s mother is a reporter for the famed Amsterdam News. The paper was founded in 1909 by James Henry Anderson, and it soon became the largest Black newspaper in the country.
Claudie’s grandmother tells her the story “The People Could Fly,” a legend based on Black folklore that represents hope, freedom, and the power of the human spirit.
Claudie and her mother travel to Georgia in a Model T Ford, one of the first affordable mass-produced cars in American history.
One of Claudie’s favorite magazines is The Brownies’ Book, created by W. E. B. Du Bois to share stories and articles about Black children and heroes.
