Upset because his birthday falls on Christmas and will therefore be eclipsed as usual, and worried that there is less money because his father is out of work, eleven-year-old Chris takes solace in the carvings he is preparing for Kwanzaa, the Afro-Am...
It's Christmas time, and all the kids are talking about the presents they hope to get. It's also Chris's eleventh birthday--which he figures will get lost in the Christmas shuffle as it usually does. And this year, with his father out of work, there ...
Mariah is ecstatic when she discovers that her favorite singer, Sheik Bashara, will be giving a concert in her hometown until she learns that her father's daughter from a previous marriage is coming to live with her family...
Explains the principles and symbols of the special traditions associated with Kwanzaa and offers recipes, activity ideas, and craft suggestions that help families create their own unique holiday celebrations....
As a young boy born into slavery in Virginia, Alec Turner was forbidden to learn to read. Naturally he was frightened when Zephie, his owner's granddaughter, first offered to teach him, but she told him that if he learned to read, he could become a f...
Ten-year-old Justin hates that his sisters and his mama are always fussing at him. They make him feel stupid because he can't clean his room or cook. But why should he? He'd rather be outside playing. After all, cooking and cleaning is just “women'...
Emma’s dreams of popularity and academic success go up in smoke when she’s transferred to a less prestigious high school Twelfth grader Emma Walsh is one of the lucky few African Americans at exclusive Marlborough High School. She is the only bla...
Based on the 1957 Little Rock school integration, two teenage girls -- one white, one black -- are swept up in the fear and prejudice of their divided southern town It’s Sophia Stuart’s last year at Chatham High -- only now the pretty, popular...
Set during the American Revolution and based on a true story, Elizabeth Freeman, a young slave, sues for her freedom -- and wins Sheffield, Massachusetts. Six-year-old Aissa and her older sister, Elizabeth, work as slaves in the home of their owners ...
Fourteen-year-old Martha is torn between her love for her myth and superstition and her hunger for knowledge and adventure The superstitious folks of Blue Isle believe that a child born in a storm is born to trouble. But fourteen-year-old Martha only...
Determined to make the time pass on a hot and humid day, Ty is inspired by a man who fills the night with music using a washboard, comb, spoons, and a pail as his instruments. It’s the hottest day of the year, and the sun is burning so bright t...