06/01/2026
Itās PRIDE, Yāall! And, NO ONE does it like NYC! LFG! š³ļøāšš³ļøāā§ļøš³ļøāšš³ļøāā§ļø
About the Book: Kicking off a picture book series of LGBTQ+ biographies is this inspiring story of the incomparable dancer Willi Ninja, Grandfather of Vogue and star of the film Paris Is Burning.
When little Willi Leake watched karate movies with his mother in their cozy Queens apartment, heād slice the air with his arms like swords. Heād swish his hips like the models he saw in magazines and copy ancient pharaohsā poses from Egyptian hieroglyphs. Bursting with energy, Willi would strut his way down the street, and his mother would tell him not to mind the puzzled looks heād get. When she took him to the Apollo Theater to watch ballerinas twirling, Willi allowed himself to dreamāand the more he dreamed, the more he danced. With an accessible text and dynamic illustrations, Joy Michael Ellison and Nabi H. Ali trace Williās path against the odds as he brings his signature moves to the dance style known as vogue and finds his spotlight at the Harlem drag balls where a performer known as Willi Ninja is born. Providing context, community, and comprehension of q***r and trans culture for young history buffs, the lively narrative is followed by back matter delving into more details about Willi Ninja and what life was like during his time.
