The Beatitudes: From Slavery to Civil Rights by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Tim Ladwig

Abstract: The Beatitudes form the backdrop for Weatherford's free-verse poem that traces the African American journey from slavery to civil rights.









Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 1 v. (unpaged)

The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee Tucker Frazier

Abstract: Twin daughters of interracial parents, eleven-year-olds Keira and Minna have very different skin tones and personalities, but it is not until their African American grandmother enters them in the Miss Black Pearl Pre-Teen competition in North Carolina that red-haired and pale-skinned Minna realizes what life in their small town in the Pacific Northwest has been like for her more outgoing, darker-skinned sister.





Publisher: Delacorte, 296 p.

Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson by Charles R. Smith Jr., illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Abstract: Art and poetry combine to tell the story of boxer Jack Johnson, who became the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion in the early part of the twentieth century.









Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 1 v. (unpaged)

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Abstract: In New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, twelve-year-old Lanesha, who can see spirits, and her adopted grandmother have no choice but to stay and weather the storm as Hurricane Katrina bears down upon them.







Publisher: Little, Brown and Co., 160 p.

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

Abstract: Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.








Publisher: Atheneum, 295 p.

A Place Where Hurricanes Happen by Renee Watson, illustrated by Shadra Strickland

Abstract: Told in alternating voices, four friends from the same New Orleans neighborhood describe what happens to them and their community when they are separated, then reunited, as a result of Hurricane Katrina.






Publisher: Random House, 1 v. (unpaged).

You Don't Even Know Me: Stories and Poems about Boys by Sharon G. Flake

Abstract: Tow-Kaye just learned that the love of his life is pregnant--and though he knows what the right thing to do is, he's scared to death to do it. Jeffrey hates having a mom who dresses like a teenager, but when another sexy mom moves in next door--well, that's a different kind of problem. In these and twenty-two other short stories and poems, readers plumb the inner lives of African American teenage boys.






Publisher: Jump at the Sun, 195 p.