By Marilyn Nelson The true narrative of a slave from Africa, crafted in verse by Marilyn Nelson. Born an African prince, Broteer Furro was captured by slave traders at age six. As he stepped onto a cargo ship, the vessel’s steward purchased the boy and gave him a new name: Venture. He landed in Rhode…
By Marilyn Nelson “Nelson writes with extraordinary sensitivity. . . . Ering’s brilliantly drafted artwork sweeps. . . . Triumphant.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) Abba Jacob is a monk who lives on a faraway island with his loyal terrier, Snook. Every day, from the wee hours of dawn till the sun sets over the sea,…
By Marilyn Nelson Pemba knows she’s not crazy. But who is that looking out at her through her mirror’s eye? And why is the apparition calling her “friend”? Her real friends are back home in Brooklyn, not in the old colonial house in Colchester, Connecticut, where none of this would have happened if Daddy were…
By Marilyn Nelson ALSC Notable Children’s Book Here is the story of Miss Prudence Crandall and her black students, who endured the cruelty of prejudice and hateful actions for the sake of their education. Miss Crandall faced legal proceedings for opening her school of African American women. But her young students knew that Miss Crandall…
By Marilyn Nelson Winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award For young readers comes a poetic commemoration of the life of an 18th-century slave, from a past poet laureate and three-time National Book Award finalist For over 200 years, the Mattatuck Museum in Connecticut has housed a mysterious skeleton. In 1996, community members decided…
By Marilyn Nelson Newbery Honor Book National Book Award finalist Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Flora Stieglitz Straus AwardBeautiful verse explores agricultural scientist George Washington Carver’s life and many achievements, from his work as a botanist and inventor to his unsung gifts as a painter, musician, and teacher.George Washington Carver…
By Marilyn Nelson A talented team of children’s book creators craft a beautiful, stirring tribute to the grace and power of prima ballerinas everywhere. Every little girl has the dream to become a prima ballerina! On today’s ever-changing cultural stage, ballerinas come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and abilities. To celebrate the beauty of black…
By Marilyn Nelson Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)ALA Notable Children’s BookKirkus Reviews Best BooksCoretta Scott King Honor BookBoston Globe–Horn Book AwardBook Links Lasting ConnectionMichael L. Printz AwardMichael L. Printz Honor BookPublishers Weekly Best BookNotable Children’s Book in the Language Arts (NCTE) 2006 Coretta Scott King Honor Book In 1955,…
By Carol Antoinette Peacock When a girl is adopted from a Chinese orphanage, everything she knew about family, best friends, and sisterhood must change. Wen has spent the first eleven years of her life at an orphanage in rural China, and the only person she would call family is her best friend, Shu Ling. When…
Written by Marilyn Nelson Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney In the 1940s, as the world was at war, a remarkable jazz band performed on the American home front. This all-female band, originating from a boarding school in the heart of Mississippi, found its way to the most famous ballrooms in the country, offering solace during the…
