Robin Miles
Author
Language
English
Description
In 1958, when Esquire magazine planned an issue saluting the American jazz scene, graphic designer Art Kane pitched a crazy idea: how about gathering a group of beloved jazz musicians and photographing them in front of a Harlem brownstone? He didn't own a good camera and didn't know if any of the musicians would show up-but, in the end, he pulled it off. In this captivating collection of poems, Roxane Orgill steps into that photograph, bringing to...
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 5.4 - AR Pts: 3
Language
English
Description
When August, an anthropologist who has studied the funeral traditions of different cultures, revisits her old neighborhood after her father's death, her reunion with a brother and a chance encounter with an old friend bring back a flood of childhood memories. Flashbacks depict the isolation she felt moving from rural Tennessee to New York and show how her later years were influenced by the black power movement, nearby street violence, her father's...
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 9.7 - AR Pts: 18
Lexile measure
1350L
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
"Before John Glenn orbited the earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in...
Author
Language
English
Description
"One night Mary Pat's teenage daughter Jules stays out late and doesn't come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck by a subway train under mysterious circumstances. The two events seem unconnected. But Mary Pat, propelled by a desperate search for her missing daughter, begins turning over stones best left untouched--asking questions that bother Marty Butler, chieftain of the Irish mob, and the men who work for him, men who...
Author
Language
English
Description
"Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Brown was promised her freedom on her eighteenth birthday. Instead she finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil's Half-Acre, a jail where slaves are broken, tortured, and sold every day. Forced to become the mistress of the brutal man who owns the jail, Pheby's survival lies in outwitting him-- even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice."--
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
"As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power--which groups have it and which do not. In this book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories...
Author
Language
English
Description
In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America.
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
"On the occasion of her 46th birthday, Caroline Wimbley Levine is concerned about filling the large shoes of her late, force-of-nature mother, Miss Lavinia, the former Queen of Tall Pines Plantation. Still, Caroline loves a challenge - and she simply will not be fazed by the myriad family catastrophes surrounding her. She'll deal with brother Trip's tricky romantic entanglements, son Eric and his mysterious girlfriend, and go toe-to-toe with alcoholic...
Author
Language
English
Description
Leslie Anne Greene Carter is the last 'original' wife among her husband's successful Atlanta social set; his friends have all traded in their first wives for new, trophy ones. Though Leslie was proud of her status and the longevity of her marriage--even if the spark wasn't there anymore--one day an incident occurs that convinces Leslie it's time to cease being the good wife to a husband who thinks he's doing her a favor by keeping her around. Returning...
11) Counting by 7s
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 5.6 - AR Pts: 10
Lexile measure
770L
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Twelve-year-old genius and outsider Willow Chance must figure out how to connect with other people and find a surrogate family for herself after her parents are killed in a car accident.
12) All things new
Author
Language
English
Description
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Josephine Weatherly vows to rebuild her family's once-grand Virginia plantation. But her privileged life is now a daily struggle for survival, her father and brother are gone, her remaining brother has returned home broken by the war--and her mother's seemingly shared dream of rebuilding White Oak is one fueled by hatred. Lizzie, one of the few remaining servants, is all Josephine has for support--
13) Worcester County
Author
Language
English
Description
Worcester County is nestled along the Atlantic Ocean between Delaware and Virginia. Traversed by Capt. John Smith and inhabited by European settlers as early as 1642, Worcester County boasts a rich history and continues to be both a rural paradise and an exciting tourist destination.
Author
Series
Lowcountry tales volume 10
Language
English
Description
Lisa St. Clair knows a thing or two about weathering storms. A dedicated nurse with a healthy sense of humor, she single-handedly raised her truculent daughter, Marianne, after her ex walked out on them twenty-four years ago, sending them a lottery ticket once a year as support. One day he reappeared and lured their daughter into a dubious but lucrative venture in Colorado. Now mother and daughter aren't speaking. So when Kathy Harper, Lisa's favorite...
Author
Series
Lowcountry tales (Dorothea Benton Frank) volume 11
Language
English
Description
"Hurricane season begins early and rumbles all summer long, well into September. Often poeple's lives reflect the weather and The Hurricane Sisters is just such a story. The matriarch, Maisie Pringle, is a force to be reckoned with. Her daughter, Liz, is caought up in the classic maelstrom of middle age. And Liz's beautiful twenty-something daughter, Ashley, and her dreamy ambitious for the future keep them all at odds. Ashley's brother, Ivy, is her...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
"At home they are just sisters, but on stage, they are The Salvations. Ruth, Esther, and Chloe have been singing and dancing in harmony since they could speak. Thanks to the rigorous direction of their mother, Vivian, they've become a bona fide girl group whose shows are the talk of the Jazz-era Fillmore. Now Vivian has scored a once-in-a-lifetime offer from a talent manager, who promises to catapult The Salvations into the national spotlight. Vivian...
17) Folly Beach
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
"Returning to Folly Beach, her childhood home, newly widowed Cate Cooper, whose late husband's financial exploits have left her homeless and broke, discovers that it is possible to go home again and discover the person she was meant to become."--from NoveList.
18) Porch lights
Author
Series
Lowcountry tales (Dorothea Benton Frank) volume 10
Language
English
Description
When Jimmy McMullen, a fireman with the NYFD, is killed in the line of duty, his wife, Jackie, and ten-year-old son, Charlie, are devastated. Charlie idolized his dad, and now the outgoing, curious boy has become quiet and reserved. Trusting in the healing power of family, Jackie decides to return to her childhood home on Sullivans Island. Crossing the bridge from the mainland, Jackie and Charlie enter a world full of wonder and magic--lush green...
Author
Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 5.3 - AR Pts: 7
Lexile measure
820L
Language
English
Description
"When catastrophe strikes their beloved upstairs neighbors, the Vanderbeeker children set out to build the best, most magical healing garden in Harlem--in spite of a locked fence, thistles and trash, and the conflicting plans of a wealthy real estate developer"--
Author
Series
Vanderbeekers volume 3
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 5.3 - AR Pts: 8
Lexile measure
830L
Language
English
Description
"The Vanderbeeker children, ages six to thirteen, race to help save their mother's baking business from closure after it fails an inspection"--Title verso page.