Feeling isolated as the only African American in her sixth grade class, Jessi gains a sense of belonging by participating in the Baby-sitters Club, learning sign language in order to communicate with a deaf child, and dancing in a ballet.

Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.

A black family living in Missippippi during the Depression of the 1930s is faced with prejudice and discrimination which its children do not understand.

Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, a young black boy grows in courage and understanding by learning to read and with the help of the devoted dog Sounder.

A brief recounting of the career of this jazz musician and composer who, along with his orchestra, created music that was beyond category.

Addy and her mother forgo their Christmas plans to help the newly freed slaves arriving in Philadelphia during the Civil War. Addy Walker is a proud, courageous girl growing up in 1864, during the midst of the Civil War. Addy's stories tell of her daring escape with her mother from slavery, and the challenges they face afterward as they try to reunite their family. But Addy's stories are about much more than hardship. They are full of the love and...

Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.

To thank Miss Eula for her wonderful Sunday chicken dinners, three children sell decorated eggs to buy her a beautiful Easter hat.

In the spring of 1865, Addy finds inspiration from a new friend and chooses a birthday for herself as she and her parents try to shape a new life of freedom in Philadelphia despite the racial prejudice they encounter throughout the city. Addy Walker is a proud, courageous girl growing up in 1864, during the midst of the Civil War. Addy's stories tell of her daring escape with her mother from slavery, and the challenges they face afterward as they...

The life of the eighteenth-century African prince who, after being captured by slave traders, was brought to Massachusetts where he was a slave until he was able to buy his freedom at the age of sixty.