 | Allie has waited and waited. Finally the day of the big neighborhood block party has come. At a block party there are so many exciting things to do. Jump rope, play freeze-tag and hide and seek with friends. Taste the yummy dishes that the neighbors bring. Listen to the musicians play the bongos, trumpet and guitars. Cool off with an icy piragua. But the weatherman has forecasted rain. Will the rain stay away so Allie can enjoy all the fun that she has been waiting for?   |
 | Beautiful palm trees, pretty flowers and a warm breeze are all waiting to welcome 8-year-old Carol Ann to her new school in Hawaii. But Carol Ann doesn’t want a new school. She doesn’t want new friends, or palm trees or awarm breeze. She wants her old friends. She wants her old home. She wants things the way they used to be. How will she remember her new classmates’ names? Who will she play with at recess? How will she ever feel at home in this new place? |
 | Allie loves Sunday dinners with her family. She loves the yummy arroz and pollo they eat. She loves spending time with her granddad and grandma, Abuelo and Abuela. And she loves the funny stories everyone shares at the table. But when Abuela tells stories in Spanish, Allie feels left out because she’s the only one in the family who doesn’t understand the language. Allie is anxious to know “What did Abuela say?” And Abuela is going to help her learn. |
 | Eight-year-old Conrad loves Pinger Park. He knows it’s a special place. It’s where he and his friends play. It’s where colorful fish swim and where pretty flowers grow. It’s where people who live in the city go to enjoy the outdoors. The park is even where Conrad lost his very first tooth. Then, one day the mayor of the city announces plans to have the park replaced with apartment buildings. Conrad knows he has to act fast. But what can he do to save Pinger Park? You can be sure that a creative and resourceful Conrad will find an answer.  |
 | 12 Brown Boys by Omar Tyree is a collection of short stories that focuses on the lives of Black pre-teen boys. Readers will connect with Tyree’s engaging characters including: • Red Head Mike, who hates his nickname, but hates his red hair even more. • Chestnut, who is sent to live with relatives down South to keep him out of trouble in his Brooklyn neighborhood.  |
 | Six-year-old Brian loves to play football. But everyone thinks he’s too small. When he finally gets a chance, he proves that he’s got what it takes to succeed, even against the big boys. Drawing from his own experiences as a youngster, former Major League Baseball player Brian Jordan has written a heartwarming story about an empowered little boy who exudes confidence, self assurance and a sense of humor, the same characteristics that helped Jordan become one of only a few athletes to play both Major League Baseball and professional football. |
 | When her father is transferred from his position as a professor at a Capetown, South Africa university to Buena Vista, California, Thandie Sobukwe says goodbye to her friends, family and favorites places and hello to self-doubt, rejection and cultural confusion. Everything from the way she looks to the way she speaks, and even the way she thinks is questioned, mocked or simply misunderstood. Thandie's struggling to be comfortable in her skin, but between her California girl dreams, ambivalent feelings about Black American culture, and sensitivity about the ethnic background she thinks makes her stand out too much, she doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. Thandie's facing a real dilemma: How can you be true to yourself when you're trying to discover who you are?  |
 | All of us have special places in our childhood memories. They are happy places, fun places. They are places where unique people live. They are places that elicit warm, comforting and safe feelings. They are places we want to visit again and again. Ma Dear’s old green house is such as place. There, Sunday morning breakfast is an event. Hide-and-seek is more than just an outdoor game. It’s an adventure. The tall pecan tree isn’t just a familiar landmark. It’s a place to rest and dream. At Ma Dear’s old green house nurturing relatives come and go. Children are surrounded by caring neighbors. And there is freedom to jump, to skip, to run and to grow.  |
 | Thirteen year old Eddie Delaney loves his dad. But sometimes he wishes that he’d lighten up. His father, a lawyer who grew up during the civil rights movement, expects nothing but the best from his only son. And with Eddie’s success as a starter on the basketball team, and his good grades, Mr. Delaney’s been getting it. Then Eddie brings home a D in language arts and everything changes. His parents make him quit the team. And now Eddie’s lost the one thing he knows he’s good at, the very thing that had helped bring him and his dad together. Why is his dad so hard on him? Eddie’s friends decide to find out. But when they dig into Mr. Delaney’s past they uncover a secret that rocks the foundation of the already unsteady father-son relationship, and changes Eddie’s life forever. |
 | Can you keep a secret? Olivia has a secret-a BIG secret. It's a secret that she tells only to her very best friend. And her best friend promises she won't say a word. But the secret is really BIG and really JUICY. What happens when a trusted friend slips and the secret gets out? Can YOU keep a secret? In The Secret Olivia Told Me, find out just what happens when Olivia's friend can't. A Coretta Scott King Honor Book for Illustration.   |
 | All Annie ever wanted was to make music and this book illustrates how it became possible. |
 | He came from modest beginnings. Born in South Carolina in 1811 to free people of color, he was orphaned by age 9, and raised by a great aunt. At that time slavery ruled the South, but he believed in the power of education and the promise of faith, and he wanted to make a positive difference in the world. Often teaching himself, he conquered physics, Latin, and geometry. At the age of 18, he started his first school. He went on to study in the North, become an ordained minister, and later a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Untimately, he became one of the most influential religious leaders in Black America. He also made history as the first Black president of an African American college - Wilberforce University. MEET EDUCATOR, MINISTER, AUTHOR DANIEL A. PAYNE |
 | Courtney is very excited. Her seventh birthday is only a few days away, and her mother has planned a special party. All of Courtney's classmates will be invited, including Courtney's best friend, Dejana. Courtney and Dejana have been best friends for a long time. They ride the bus to school together; they sit next to each other in class. It has never mattered to them that one is white and one is black. Dejana is excited, too. In the days leading up to the party, she works hard at several odd jobs so she can buy a special gift to give to her friend. But when the invitations to the party are passed out, Dejana doesn't receive one. Courtney's mother doesn't want Dejana to attend. Both Dejana and Courtney are devastated. But friendship wins the day when Courtney's determination forces her mother to change her mind. In engaging prose, actress and educator Loretta Long shows that loyalty and determination can overcome racial prejudice and ignorance. |
 | Corinne has changed, and Annie, her best friend, is alarmed. Corinne has become withdrawn. She doesn't visit Annie anymore, and she doesn't want Annie to visit her. She doesn't even want to talk. What has happened? Frustrated by her friend's reluctance to communicate, Annie begins to send Corinne letters. "Dear Corinne," she writes, "you're hiding somewhere inside yourself, and I can't find you. . . . I'm sorry, because I'm your friend, and I love you anyhow." Corinne responds with letters of her own, but at first they don't reveal much. Annie doesn't give up. Slowly she encourages her friend to reveal her frightening secret. Now Annie must convince Corinne to tell someone who can help. |
 | Glo is a girl on a mission: she must find just the right birthday gift for her friend Nandi. At the mall, she makes the rounds of stores, browsing and considering. There are so many choices, Glo is a bit overwhelmed. Suddenly she sees the perfect present for Nandi!. |
 | When Robo is asked to name his favorite place, he can't decide. There is school, where he learns new ideas. The park, with the great climbing equipment. The swimming pool on hot days, and the skating rink in winter. The library, where Robo reads after school. The science museum with its interesting exhibits. How can he possibly decide? |
 | The six children featured in several previous Afro-Bets titles here consider various career paths. Inserted on each page is a portrait of an African American professional, underneath which is a picture of one of the kids acting out the individual's career. For example, a child wearing a white coat and stethoscope announces: ``I'm gonna be a doctor like Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. I could discover a cure for a terrible disease.'' Jesse Jackson, director Spike Lee, physicist Shirley Jackson and diplomat Ralph Bunche are among the other figures included. A glossary provides definitions of each occupation and brief notes on the lives of the individuals cited. Publishers Weekly |
 | It was summer of 1937 in Southern Georgia--a summer that nine-year-old Peach Lucas would never forget. Peach and his family had been able to make it through the Great Depression. Times had been hard. But like millions of other Americans, they made do. But now, the Lucases and the folks of Georgia were facing yet another catastrophe, one much more difficult than the Depression: a drought of end time proportions. Crops dried up and died. So did flowers and plants. Animals went thirsty, too. There wasn't even enough water for people to drink. And, if things could get worse, they did. A forest fire raged and Peach's friend High-Pants is accused of starting it. But the summer of 1937 would also be the time that Peach proved himself to a family that had always taken him for granted. He and High-Pants would find an answer to the worst drought of all time. In this coming of age story, Peach stands tall when the well runs dry. |
 | When Noel and his Grandpa Will go fishing, Noel learns about how things were when his grandfather was little. |
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