It is November 1857 in
Savannah, Georgia, and the heat is stifling. Choir director James Lord
Pierpont is busy writing a song for the children of the church to perform
to usher in the holiday season. He is also worried. Many townspeople are
angry because the congregation does not believe in slavery, and someone
has thrown a brick through one of the church windows. As Mr. Pierpont sweeps up the glass from
the broken window, he recalls his own Boston childhood, the sound of
sleigh bells, and the fun of riding in a sleigh through the snow. Suddenly
he gets an idea. A few days later - with the happy sounds of children
singing and jingling bells and bags of "snow" - Mr. Pierpont
introduces the delighted churchgoers to the charms of a northern
Christmas!
This inspiring story of
little-known civil rights champion Oscar Chapman and his role in Marian
Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial reminds readers that one person
can truly make a difference.
Many know the story of Robert Peary’s great 1909 expedition to reach the
North Pole. Yet few people know that Peary was joined on this grueling,
history-making journey by fellow explorer Matthew Henson. Henson was born
just after the Civil War, a time when slavery had been abolished, but few
opportunities were available for black people. Even as a child, he exhibited
a yearning for adventure, and at the age of only thirteen, he embarked on
a five-year voyage sailing the seven seas and learning navigation,
history, and mathematics. Henson’s greatest adventure began when he
accepted an invitation from Robert Peary to join his expedition to the
North Pole. The team endured storms, shifting ice, wind, injuries,
accidents, and unimaginable cold. Finally on April 1, Peary, Henson, and
four Inuit men began the final 133-mile push to the Pole. Readers will share in the excitement and
drama of this remarkable adventure as award-winning author Deborah
Hopkinson pays tribute to a great but under-recognized figure from
America’s past. Illustrator Stephen Alcorn’s large-format, stylized
ink-and-watercolor illustrations capture all the action. Excerpts from
Henson’s expedition diaries, a time line, and an epilogue place the story
in its historical context.
Ages 7 - 11
Louis Daniel hates it when Mama
treats him like a baby. But when Hurricane Katrina blows through the Gulf
Coast on a fateful August night, Louis feels like a little kid again. With no time to gather their belongings
- except Louis's beloved horn - Daddy leads the family from their home and
into an unfamiliar, watery world of floating debris, lurking critters, and
desperate neighbors heading for dry ground. Taking shelter in the already-crowded
Superdome, Louis and his parents wait...and wait. Conditions continue to
worsen and their water supply is running out. When Daddy fails to return
from a scouting mission within the Dome, Louis knows he's no longer a
baby. It's up to him to find his father - with the help of his prized
cornet.
Ages 8 - 12
A moving, coming-of-age story
of a young white girl who overcomes family prejudice and cultural
differences when she befriends a black girl in a small working-class town.
James Longstreet Sayre, known
to all as Brother, lives with his mother and sister in their well-run if
run-down boardinghouse. The men who board there work for the Southern
Railroad and Brother loves listening to their stories—especially to Mr.
Edwards, the railroad engineer. But Brother's life is changed forever when
he meets Champion Always Luckey, a black boy his own age who has been sent
from Detroit to live with his aunt, who works for Brother's family. With
Champion, Brother learns all sorts of things—how to fish, that he needs
glasses, and that there are subtle and powerful rules of race and power
that he's never noticed. A child of privilege, Brother has never
questioned the ways of his small southern town—but now he has reason to.
Sara Harrell Banks sets her dramatic story of an adolescent friendship
during a troubled, complex time in our nation's history. Readers will be
easily drawn into the action and learn a valuable lesson in Depression-era
Southern history, when resources were scarce and segregation was firmly in
place.
In the first book of this
engrossing middle-grade trilogy set during the Civil War, a young Kentucky
slave dares to pursue his dream of becoming a jockey.
In the second book in the
Racing to Freedom trilogy, ex-slave Gabriel faces challenges and setbacks
as he pursues his dream of becoming a famous jockey.
In the final book of the Racing
To Freedom trilogy, ex-slave Gabriel leaves behind a successful horse
racing career to join his parents at Camp Nelson, where his father is a
Sergeant in the Fifth US Colored Calvary of the Union Army.
For Kate, being poor in a small
rural Florida town means feeling ashamed and isolated. Her classmates
laugh at her old clothes and worn shoes and Kate's mother is working long
hours at a dairy farm to keep food on the table. But one day, Kate meets
the Wilsons, a tight knit, middle-class African-American family. Kate is
particularly drawn to Ruby, the glamorous grown daughter who has returned
home from New York City. As Kate begins to spend time with Ruby in town,
she becomes aware of the undercurrent of discrimination and prejudice that
runs through her community and the complex roles of race and class in her
own relationships.
Charlie wants two things he
can't get: to make the local Wildcats Baseball team and to have life to
return to the way it was before his father died two years earlier in the
Korean War. Then Charlie meets Luther, a stranger who quietly and
mysteriously arrives in town and sets up camp near the river. Luther is a
former Negro Baseball League player, and Charlie loves baseball. The two
strike up a friendship and Luther agrees to coach Charlie's fledgling
neighborhood baseball team for a game against the Wildcats. But many of
Holden's white residents are suspicious of Luther because of his skin
color. And when Charlie inadvertently reveals a secret of Luther's,
violence erupts in the town and both Luther and Charlie are drawn into
serious danger.
As the son of the famous Black
Jack Valera, the best whaler on the eastern seaboard, thirteen-year-old
Lucky Valera has led a charmed and happy life at sea. Following his
father's death, Lucky is kidnapped and pressed into a life of servitude by
his cruel and embittered half brother, Fortuna. He immediately puts Lucky
to work under harsh conditions in a textile mill and confiscates the boy's
wages. But when Lucky meets Emmeline, a spirited girl with abolitionist
sympathies, and Daniel, a fugitive slave from the South, his dream for a
return to his old life of freedom and the sea seems to be within reach.
That is, if he and his new friends can outwit and outrun Fortuna and an
enraged slave trader, both of whom will stop at nothing to get back what
they believe is their rightful property.
It is 1739. Young Jem has been
rescued from slavery and finds himself at Fort Mose, a settlement in
Florida run by the Spanish. He is in the custody of an ornery and damaged
woman named Phaedra, who dictates his every move. When Jem sets out to
break free of her will, an adventure begins in which Jem saves a baby owl,
a pair of runaway slaves, and, eventually, maybe all the residents of Fort
Mose. While Jem and the other
characters are fictitious, the story is based on historical record. Fort
Mose was the first legally sanctioned free African settlement in what is
now the United States. In 1994 the site was designated a National Historic
Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2009,
the National Park Service named Fort Mose a precursor site on the National
Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells
Blessed with a strong will, an eager mind, and a deep belief in the
promise of freedom and justice for all, young former slave Ida never
turned away from the challenges she faced. And when she became a
journalist, she used her position to speak out about injustice. But Ida's
greatest challenge arose after one of her friends was lynched. How could
one headstrong young woman help free America from the "shadow of
lawlessness" that loomed over the country?
The 1963 Birmingham Children's March
was a turning point in American history. In the streets of Birmingham, Alabama,
the fight for civil rights lay in the hands of children like Audrey Hendricks,
Wash Booker, James Stewart, and Arnetta Streeter. Through the eyes of these four protesters and
others who participated, We've Got a Job tells the little-known story of the
4,000 black elementary, middle, and high school students who voluntarily went
to jail between May 2 and May 11, 1963. The children succeeded - where adults
had failed - in desegregating one of the most racially violent cities in
America. By combining in-depth,
one-on-one interviews and extensive research, author Cynthia Levinson recreates
the events of the Birmingham Children's March from a new and very personal
perspective.
Thanks for tuning in, and
happy celebrating!
N & C