A Kwanzaa Fable — Eric V. Copage

In A Kwanzaa Fable, when a young boy's widowed father suddenly dies, he finds himself growing up fast while he assumes the adult responsibility of taking care of his younger, twin siblings.

Even though their grandmother lives with them, she relies on thirteen-year-old Jordan to baby-sit while she goes to work. As Jordan approaches puberty, he is torn between staying home and going out with his friends, who have started playing hooky and stealing in order to be cool.

In an effort to impress his posse, Jordan makes up a story that he's robbed a neighborhood shopkeeper and family friend named "Snackman" who always had faith that Jordan could make something of himself, as long as he learns to respect his greatness as an African-American young man.

According to Snackman, if Jordan applies the seven principles of Kwanzaa to his life, he will learn to love himself as a black man and to spurn his friends' criminal values.