Miracle's Boys

Format: Hardcover, 192pp.
ISBN: 0399231137
Publisher: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers
Pub. Date: March  2000

From the Publisher
For Lafayette and his brothers, the challenges of growing up in New York City are compounded by the facts that they've lost their parents and it's up to eldest brother Ty'ree to support the boys, and middle brother Charlie has just returned home from a correctional facility.

Lafayette loves his brothers and would do anything if they could face the world as a team. But even though Ty'ree cares, he's just so busy with work and responsibility. And Charlie's changed so much that his former affection for his little brother has turned to open hostility.

Now, as Lafayette approaches 13, he needs the guidance and answers only his brothers can give him. The events of one dramatic weekend force the boys to make the choice to be there for each other--to really see each other--or to give in to the pain and problems of every day.

 Let It Shine: The Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters

Format: Hardcover, 120pp.
ISBN: 015201005X
Publisher: Harcourt
Pub. Date: September  2000
Edition Desc: 1 ED

From the Publisher
Ten freedom fighters let their lights shine on the darkness of discrimination.

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and sparked a boycott that changed America. Harriet Tubman helped more than three hundred slaves escape the South on the Underground Railroad. Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The lives these women led are part of an incredible story about courage in the face of oppression; about the challenges and triumphs of the battle for civil rights; and about speaking out for what you believe in--even when it feels like no one is listening. Andrea Davis Pinkney's moving text and Stephen Alcorn's glorious portraits celebrate the lives of ten bold women who lit the path to freedom for generations.

Andrea Davis Pinkney is the author of numerous award-winning picture book biographies. A former editor at Essence Magazine who now edits children's books, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Uptown

Format: Hardcover, 32pp.
ISBN: 0805057218
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated
Pub. Date: April  2000
Edition Desc: 1 ED
Recommend Age Range: 5 to 8

Discover the vibrant world of Harlem, New York, as seen through the eyes of one little boy who lives there.

"Uptown . . .
Harlem, New York.
Chicken and waffles.
Jazz.
Home."

Uptown is a rich mix of flavors, colors, sounds, and cultures that come together to create a vibrant community like no other in the world. Seen through the eyes of one little boy who lives there, the details of life in Harlem are as joyous as a game of basketball on a summer's afternoon and as personal as a trip to the barbershop where old-timers reminisce.

Bryan Collier's spare, poetic text and beautiful, intricate illustrations evoke every aspect of Harlem, from the legendary Apollo Theater to chocolate-colored brownstones, weekend shopping on 125th Street, and the music of Duke Ellington.

A Freedom River

Format: Hardcover, 32pp.
ISBN: 0786803509
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Pub. Date: July  2000
Edition Desc: 1 ED
Recommend Age Range: 7 to 10

Describes an incident in the life of John Parker, an ex-slave who became a successful businessman in Ripley, Ohio, and who repeatedly risked his life to help other slaves escape to freedom.

Only Passing through: The Story of Sojourner Truth
(click to buy book on-line now)

Format: Hardcover, 40pp.
ISBN: 0679891862
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Pub. Date: December  2000
Recommend Age Range: 9 to 12

From the Publisher
A powerful picture book biography of one of the abolitionist movement's most compelling voices.

Sojourner Truth traveled the country in the latter half of the 19th century, speaking out against slavery. She told of a slave girl who was sold three times by age 13, who was beaten for not understanding her master's orders, who watched her parents die of cold and hunger when they could no longer work for their keep. Sojourner's simple yet powerful words helped people to understand the hideous truth about slavery. The story she told was her own.

Only Passing Through is the inspiring story of how a woman, born a slave with no status or dignity, transformed herself into one of the most powerful voices of the abolitionist movement. Anne Rockwell combines her lifelong love of history with her well-known skill as a storyteller to create this simple, affecting portrait of an American icon.

Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys
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Format: Hardcover, 32pp.
ISBN: 0689800762
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's
Pub. Date: December  1999
Recommend Age Range: 5 to 8

 In the post-Civil War South, a young African American girl is determined to prove that she can go to school just like her older brothers.