African-American Books

Identical twins Ronde and Tiki Barber's excitement over the approaching state championship football game turns to worry when there is a chicken pox outbreak at Hidden Valley Junior High.

Ruby wants to get back at her brother Roosevelt because he played tricks on her and her friends at her last slumber party.

Raised in Charleston, West Virginia, at the turn of the twentieth century by her grandfather and aunt on off-putting tales of family members she has never met, twelve-year-old Delana is shocked when, after Aunt Tilley dies, she learns the truth about her parents and some of her other relatives.

In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.

Sassy and her sparkle sack are back -- this time in a kitchen caper! Sassy wants to cook a fancy meal and it turns out to be a disaster. The recipe goes wrong. The cooking is a mess. And -- the dog eats the cake. Thank goodness for friends and for all of the wonderful items Sassy stashes in her sack. Who knew stuff in a sack could save a dinner party?! Well, when you're Sassy Simone Sanford, a little ingenuity goes a long way. Backmatter provides simple and safe recipes that kids can do with the help of an adult.

When Nikki and her best friend, Deja, start a newsletter about what is happening on their street and in their school, they focus more on writing exciting stories than on finding the truth.

Ten-year-old Queen, a spoiled and conceited African American girl who is disliked by most of her classmates, learns a lesson about friendship from an unlikely "knight in shining armor."

Brendan Buckley, a biracial ten-year-old, applies his scientific problem-solving ability and newfound interest in rocks and minerals to connect with his white grandfather, the president of Puyallup Rock Club, and to learn why he and Brendan's mother are estranged.

Perfectionistic Jerzey desperately wants to be a good ballet dancer like her sisters, but her efforts to learn are repeatedly thwarted, until she finds help in an unexpected place.

In 1958 Little Rock, Arkansas, painfully shy twelve-year-old Marlee sees her city and family divided over school integration, but her friendship with Liz, a new student, helps her find her voice and fight against racism.

Friends Zander, Kambui, LaShonda, and Bobbi, caught in the middle of a mock Civil War at DaVinci Academy, learn the true cost of freedom of speech when they use their alternative newspaper, The Cruiser, to try to make peace.

When a new, white student nicknamed "The Jesus Boy" joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.