Warriors Don't Cry
by Melba Pattillo Beals
from Simon Pulse
An innocent teenager. An unexpected hero.
In 1957, Melba Pattillo turned sixteen. That was also the year she became a warrior on the front lines of a civil rights firestorm. Following the landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, Melba was one of nine teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School.
Throughout her harrowing ordeal, Melba was taunted by her schoolmates and their parents, threatened by a lynch mob's rope, attacked with lighted sticks of dynamite, and injured by acid sprayed in her eyes. But through it all, she acted with dignity and courage, and refused to back down.
This is her remarkable story.
The Story Of Ruby Bridges (Scholastic Bookshelf)
by Robert Coles
from Scholastic Paperbacks
The Story of Ruby Bridges, Paperback\n This is the true of an extraordinary 6-year old who helped shape history when she became the first African-American sent to first grade in an all white school. This moving book captures the courage of a little
Teammates (A Voyager/Hbj Book)
by Peter Golenbock
from Voyager Books
Rosa
by Nikki Giovanni
from Square Fish
Amazon.com's Significant Seven
Nikki Giovanni graciously agreed to answer the questions we like to ask every author: the Amazon.com Significant Seven.
Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: No single book. The poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes, and Gwendolyn Brooks was an impact, however.
Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A: Sula by Toni Morrison, Great American Spirituals, and The Godfather.
Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: "You're the best."
Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: A cup of coffee, my rocking chair, the sun just rising through my left window.
Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: "I tried."
Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: Lorraine Hansberry
Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
A: I would fly.
Six Million Paper Clips: The Making Of A Children's Holocaust Memorial
by Peter W. Schroeder
from Kar-Ben Publishing
The Courage To Be Yourself: True Stories By Teens About Cliques, Conflicts, And Overcoming Peer Pressure
from Free Spirit Publishing
Cassandra is hassled by her friends for sitting with the "wrong" kids at lunch. Jennifer gets harassed because she's overweight. Dwan's own family taunts her for not being "black enough." Yen is teased for being Chinese; Jamel for not smoking marijuana. Yet all find the strength to face their conflicts and the courage to be themselves. In 26 first-person stories, real teens write about their lives with searing honesty. They will inspire young readers to reflect on their own lives, work through their problems, and learn who they really are.
Correct the page count; it is 160 pp.
Add the reading level of Ages 13 and up.
Getting Away with Murder (Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards))
by Chris Crowe
from Dial
The kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till is famous as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old Black teenager from Chicago, was visiting family in a small town in Mississippi during the summer of 1955. Likely showing off to friends, Emmett allegedly whistled at a white woman. Three days later his brutally beaten body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River. The extreme violence of the crime put a national spotlight on the Jim Crow ways of the South, and many Americans-Black and white-were further outraged at the speedy trial of the white murderers. Although the two white men were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury, they later bragged publicly about the crime. It was a galvanizing moment for Black leaders and ordinary citizens, including such activists as Rosa Parks. In clear, vivid detail Chris Crowe investigates the before-and-aftermath of the crime, as well as the dramatic court trial, and places it into the context of the nascent Civil Rights Movement.
With lively narrative and abundantly illustrated with forty fascinating contemporaneous photographs, this impressive work of nonfiction brings fresh insight to the case in a manner that will be accessible and eye-opening for teenagers and adults alike.
Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? (Who Was...?)
by Bonnie Bader
from Grosset & Dunlap
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was only 25 when he helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott and was soon organizing black people across the country in support of the right to vote, desegregation, and other basic civil rights. Maintaining nonviolent and peaceful tactics even when his life was threatened, King was also an advocate for the poor and spoke out against racial and economic injustice until his death—from an assassin’s bullet—in 1968. With clearly written text that explains this tumultuous time in history and 80 black-and-white illustrations, this Who Was…? celebrates the vision and the legacy of a remarkable man.
Remember: The Journey to School Integration (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards))
by Toni Morrison
from Houghton Mifflin
Toni Morrison has collected a treasure chest of archival photographs that depict the historical events surrounding school desegregation. These unforgettable images serve as the inspiration for Ms. Morrison's text—a fictional account of the dialogue and emotions of the children who lived during the era of "separate but equal" schooling. Remember is a unique pictorial and narrative journey that introduces children to a watershed period in American history and its relevance to us today. Remember will be published on the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision ending legal school segregation, handed down on May 17, 1954.
The Greatest Story Never Told: The Babe and Jackie
by Ray Negron
from HarperCollins
Skippy and Connor don't like each other. In fact, each of them wants a new roommate because the other is too "different." Stuck in the hospital with serious illnesses, the boys get a surprise visit from Ray, a Yankee batboy who whisks them away on a magical journey back in time to meet the legendary Babe Ruth. The adventure doesn't stop there, as the Bambino takes them to see baseball hero Jackie Robinson play at Ebbets Field. Along the way, the Babe and Jackie share some unforgettable lessons with their young friends about baseball, friendship, and accepting others' differences.
Ray Negron and Laura Seeley, the New York Times bestselling team from the boy of steel, have hit another home run with The Greatest Story Never Told: The Babe and Jackie, a touching story inspired by real events related to Ray by Babe Ruth's granddaughter.
+++
