CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2012
"Readers will come away moved, saddened, troubled by this stain on their country's past and filled with abiding respect for those who fought and overcame. (timeline, notes, bibliography, note on sources) (Nonfiction. 11-14)"
Cogent and stirring, this very readable book focuses on the Jim Crow era, that period between 1896 and 1954, a shameful time in U.S. history framed by two landmark Supreme Court cases.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2012
"A stirring and thought-provoking account of an unsung figure in 20th-century American history. (author's notes, source notes, bibliography, index) (Fictional biography. 12-18)"
Lewis Michaux provided a venue for his fellow African-Americans to have access to their own history and philosophy at a time when the very idea was revolutionary.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 12, 2010
"Absolutely outstanding. (Historical fiction. 10-16)"
The childhood of African-American literary giant Zora Neale Hurston is brought to life with this fictionalized account.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 1, 2009
"The illustrator is at his best in the wordless full-bleed doublespreads interspersed throughout the book, which set a contemplative pace that invites flipping back and forth through the pages documenting the Sweethearts' travels, triumphs and travails. (Picture book/poetry. 10-14)"
Nelson brings her signature poetic treatment of history to this outstanding collaboration with illustrator Pinkney about a racially integrated "all-girl swing band" that toured the United States during World War II.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: June 9, 2009
"Absolutely essential reading. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)"
A summer road trip serves as frame for the story of Octavia and Tali's extraordinary grandmother.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 1, 2009
"A vibrant picture of WWII women and of Jim Crow as it was then. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)"
During World War II, a semi-military unit of women pilots, the WASPs, fought for their chance to serve their country.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Nov. 1, 2008
"Eminently moving and highly recommended, especially as an alternative to To Kill a Mockingbird for less able teen readers. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)"
This slim yet essential new tale of the Jim Crow South unfolds primarily through the eyes of Ansel Anderson, only son of the storekeeper in the small town of Davis.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Dec. 1, 2007
"It also rightly presents Paige as hero, showman and symbol. (Graphic fiction. 11-15)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: May 8, 2007
In the argot of the times, Bolden offers a fascinating study of the girl bands of the Swing era during WWII.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: April 19, 2004
"Freedman at his best. (Nonfiction. 9+)"
She had played the major cities in Europe, appeared before filled-to-capacity halls throughout the US, and been welcomed at the White House, but famous contralto Marian Anderson was turned down by Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The Daughters of the American Revolution, headquartered there, stood by their "white artists only" policy and wouldn't let her perform.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 1, 2001
"They will root for him, as they have for his children and grandchildren, to overcome. (Fiction. 12 )"
"Some white men took care of their colored children; most didn't. My daddy was one who did."
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CHILDREN'S
Released: April 1, 2001
"Rich historical context, fully realized characters, great baseball action, and trademark Myers humor combine to make this one a homerun. (Fiction. 9-14)"
Biddy Owens, 17, "equipment manager, scorekeeper, errand boy, and sometimes right fielder" for the Birmingham Black Barons, narrates in diary form the twilight time of the Negro Leagues.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Nov. 1, 1998
"Pascal, who has a withered arm and leg, is an inveterate punster, which adds levity to an otherwise grim story. (bibliography) (Fiction. 9-12)"
From Robinet (The Twins, the Pirates, and the Battle of New Orleans, 1997, etc.), an earnest look at the human face and the human cost of Reconstruction in the South.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 29, 1997
Tillage, a black custodian in a Baltimore private school, reminisces about his childhood as a sharecropper's son in the South, and his youth as a civil-rights protester.
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