LARGER THAN LIFE · BOOK ONE
The Legend of Martin Delany
Not every hero leads. Some just make you brave enough to follow.
Status: Coming January 31, 2027
Martin Delany never set out to be a legend. He set out to survive a cholera epidemic no one else would walk into, to build a newspaper alongside Frederick Douglass, and to argue that formerly enslaved families should have the chance to lease or buy land of their own.
Told sideways, through four ordinary people changed by him at four turning points in American history — an orphaned errand boy in cholera-stricken Pittsburgh, a young apprentice caught between two great men’s clashing visions, a skeptical cooper who follows Delany to Africa as his assistant, hoping a homeland across the ocean could be real, and a soldier who enlists on a promise of equal pay and a hope that Black soldiers who prove themselves might one day lead men who look like him. None of them meet. All of them are changed by the same man.
Grounded in documented history: the triumphs are real, and so are the costs. A standalone YA historical novella — Book One in the Larger Than Life series, each volume built around an underserved figure in Black history.
Selected for the December 1, 2026 issue of Kirkus Reviews
Praise
“Tight prose and zippy pacing give this outside-in story unmistakable vitality . . . An accessible, engaging historical novel showcasing an unsung Black figure in American history.”
“An ingenious novelistic account of Delany's consequential life from the point of view of various characters who interacted with him. Middleton's use of dramatic scenes compellingly situates Delany in nineteenth-century history. An impressive achievement.”
—Robert S. Levine, editor of Martin R. Delany: A Documentary Reader
For Fans Of
The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Tiffany D. Jackson
Black Was the Ink by Michelle Coles
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Inside the Book
Includes four black-and-white interior illustrations, one per Part opener, rendered in a grayscale ink-wash vignette style — loose, gestural brushwork with selective black accents, edges fading to white. Each illustration is an atmospheric scene-setter for its Part’s era and location, rather than a character portrait:
Pittsburgh cobblestones (Part One)
A printing press half in shadow (Part Two)
A ship's rail against open ocean (Part Three)
A rifle and bayonet at rest (Part Four)
Delany himself does not appear directly in the interior art, consistent with the book's scarcity-driven structure.
Back matter includes: Fact From Fiction | Beyond the Book: Martin Delany | Words Worth Knowing | Educator's Guide | About the Author
Book Details
Pub Date: January 31, 2027
Page Count: 208 pages
Trim Size: 5.5 × 8.5 in
Age Range: 14 and up (Grades 9–12)
Also recommended for: Adult readers of historical fiction
Paperback: 978-1-935702-53-5 · $17.99
Hardcover: 978-1-935702-54-2 · $28.99
Ebook: 978-1-935702-55-9 · $9.99
Distribution: IngramSpark (wide) and Amazon (KDP)