Sharon M Draper

"Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school -- but no one knows it. Most people -- her teachers and doctors included -- don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could...

When a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town.

Three eighth-grade friends, preparing for the International Double Dutch Championship jump rope competition in their home town of Cincinnati, Ohio, cope with Randy's missing father, Delia's inability to read, and Yo Yo's encounter with the class bullies.

In 1957, Sylvia Patterson's life--that of a normal African American teenager--is disrupted by the impending integration of Little Rock's Central High when she is selected to be one of the first black students to attend the previously all white school. Includes author's note and related websites.

From a map Ziggy and his friends discover an old tunnel that was once used as a safe haven by escaped slaves. While checking out the tunnel, the trap door gets stuck and the boys are forced to use the old, dark, damp tunnels that just may be haunted. Ziggy, Rashawn, Jerome, and Rico--the Black Dinosaurs--are thrilled to discover that their hometown was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and their friend Mr. Greene has given them an old map that...

After rescuing an orphaned deer, Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs club members decide to stage a neighborhood animal show to raise money for the local wildlife rescue center.