Angela uses lessons learned in music to write lyrical poetry for children. Her works include Black Is a Rainbow Color, A Hero Like Me, Ordinary Days: The Seeds, Sound, and City that Grew Prince Rogers Nelson, and the critically acclaimed, award-winning biography, Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement. Angela moderates book discussions with adults and children, gives workshops for educators and writers, and contributes to podcasts and National Public Radio. She is a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors, and the recipient of the 2023 Young People’s Literature Award from the Friends of American Writers.
Early Life
Musician, actor, and award-winning author Angela Joy was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her passions were set early in life: singing church solos, attending local protests, and cabin camping “up North.”
Angela grew up loving words—words within books, occasionally. But stories set to music she loved best. George & Ira Gershwin, Carol King, Stevie Wonder, and Prince were early favorites. With magnificent beauty and economy of words, song lyrics became her gateway to poetry.
Adulthood
Angela Joy’s passion for music and social justice found their intersection in college. With a focus on African American art, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota with a degree in artistic practice as political discourse. After working as a TA and weekend wedding singer, Angela moved to Los Angeles where she performed on and off-screen as an actor and vocalist (X-Men, Happy Feet, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, 40-Year-Old Virgin, American Idol, Boston Legal, Boston Public, etc.). As a background vocalist for famous figures, Angela was known for spontaneously exploring the cities she visited.
When her children were small, Angela Joy stepped away from music, moving to Tennessee to help care for her parents-in-law. It was here that she decided to use her time, talent, and varied passions to write books for children. The kind of books that were difficult to find in her local library. The kind of books written specifically to engage, educate, and entertain children of color.
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 Hardcover
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 Ordinary Days
The Seeds, Sound, and City That Grew Prince Rogers Nelson
Roaring Brook Press
Before he became a legend, he was just a boy…
On an ordinary day, you could see him. A young boy named Prince Rogers Nelson, who had parents who fought, nowhere to call home, and a collection of memories turned into sound: the shouts of anger, the purr of pigeons, the roar of cars down a busy Minneapolis street, and the whisper of cold wind on budding lilac bushes. |
 Hardcover
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Choosing Brave
How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement
Roaring Brook Press
A Caldecott-honor winning picture book biography of the mother of Emmett Till, and how she channeled grief over her son's death into a call to action for the civil rights movement.
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 Hardcover
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Roaring Brook Press
A child reflects on the meaning of being Black in this moving and powerful anthem about a people, a culture, a history, and a legacy that lives on.
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BLACK IS A RAINBOW COLOR: The Magic of Melanin Using her book BLACK IS A RAINBOW COLOR as a point of departure, Angela Joy discusses the magic of melanin: what is it, why do we have it, and how does it make the human “race?” This presentation is a celebration of American history, diversity, science and poetry.
BLACK IS A RAINBOW COLOR: Deep Dive with Illustrations In this presentation, audience members lead the way! Choosing their favorite illustrations from her book BLACK IS A RAINBOW COLOR, Angela Joy dives into the “secret” historical messages embedded on each page. Discussions may include the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the history of American protest, the lives of poets Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Langston Hughes, and the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North and West.
BLACK IS A RAINBOW COLOR: A Dream Deferred What does it mean to have a dream deferred? Using the Langston Hughes poem Harlem (found in the back matter of her book BLACK IS A RAINBOW COLOR), Angela Joy explores dreams realized, lost, and put on hold. Historical figures such as Loraine Hansberry, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Hughes himself will be discussed, along with current issues surrounding book banning, police brutality, and the use of art as political discourse.
Not Your Mother’s Non-fiction Gone are the days of dry, boring, non-fiction. Today's bookshelves are lined with creative, emotion-inducing text that rivals fantastic tales of fiction. Join Angela Joy as she discusses five ways to breathe heart and beauty into fact-based content for young people, while outsmarting artificial intelligence.
Visit Angela Joy’s website and follow her on Facebook , Instagram, and Twitter.
Listen to Angela Joy in a 1a NPR interview on “Emmett Till, national monuments, and teaching Black history.”
Angela delivers her Walter Award Acceptance Speech presented by We Need Diverse Books.
— Michigan Department of Education, DEI Symposium
"Starlight Children’s Foundation is so grateful to Author Angela Joy for allowing us to host a special online reading of Angela’s book: Black Is a Rainbow Color. Starlight Families and Hospital Partners were invited to the virtual event, and some hospitals even streamed it on their CCTV so that all of their patients could attend! Those who joined us had the honor of listening to Angela read her book while discussing the strong connections to history, culture and people that are beautifully portrayed all throughout the book!
Angela speaks in a way that is articulate, empathetic and influential. The message that Angela shared with us during our virtual event, will not soon be forgotten. Thank you, Angela for sharing your story, knowledge, emotions, and warmth with us!"
- Viktoria de Jong, Mission Delivery Coordinator, Starlight Children’s Foundation
"Angela’s visit was amazing. Her presentation style which included her voice, her language and even the way she was dressed demonstrated that she was willing and able to connect with our students. Her presentation was perfectly paced and interactive. The questions she asked the students were thoughtful, engaging and reflective.
I have been an administrator for a long time and Angela was the best author visit that I have ever been part of."
- Amy Beldotti, Associate Superintendent, Cloonan Middle School, Stamford, CT
"We absolutely loved the assembly. Angela was magical, honestly, in her delivery. She explained everything so clearly and used great examples."
- Beth Mastrocola, Principal, Coopertown Elementary School, Bryn Mawr, PA
"My heart is full! What a substantive, deep, and gorgeous book. Miss Angela Joy was AMAZING. I love how she spoke to the children and stirred our hearts while making these big ideas accessible. Still tearing up and sniffling. So moved. Thank you."
– Unnamed Science Teacher, The Center for Early Education
Praise for Ordinary Days "This poetic picture-book biography is a sensitively expressed tribute... Through its compelling poetry, this poignant perspective on Prince’s boyhood illuminates the moments that led an ordinary boy to become a musician of extraordinary accomplishments."
— Booklist
"[A] lyrical tribute to the groundbreaking Black musician."
— Kirkus
Praise for Choosing Brave "In an extraordinary volume, Joy’s cadenced prose and Washington’s dimensional cut-paper artwork portray Mamie Till-Mobley’s (1921–2003) life."
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
"[T]old with hauntingly lyrical language... [and] powerful expressionistic art crafted from cut paper and silhouettes. A devastating, uniquely told story that will resonate."
— Kirkus, starred review
"Washington’s dramatic paper-cut art, featuring bold black-and-white silhouettes and figures on brown backgrounds with blue, brown, and red tissue-paper accents, perfectly captures the courage and dignity of the subject."
— Horn Book, starred review
Praise for Black Is a Rainbow Color "Joy’s words and Holmes’s art are a perfect pairing where the verse is as vivid as the paints and collage. Children (and parents) of all colors will be rereading this one plenty.”
— Washington Post, "Best Books of 2020"
"Both a beautiful celebration of black culture and an excellent first black history book for young children.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"A treasure trove of positivity, strength, and pride for anyone seeking to uplift and educate young people.”
—Horn Book, starred review