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African American Voices

Draper, Sharon M. Copper Sun.

Fiction Draper, 2006

Two fifteen-year-old girls--one a slave and the other an indentured servant--escape their Carolina plantation and try to make their way to Fort Moses, Florida, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves.

Sitomer, Alan Lawrence. Hip hop high school.

Fiction Sitomer, 2006

Follows an African-American teenager through four years at her inner-city high school.

Myers, Walter Dean. Game.

Fiction Myers, 2008

If Harlem high school senior Drew Lawson is going to realize his dream of playing college and then professional basketball, he will have to improve at being coached and being a team player, especially after a new--white--student threatens to take the scouts' attention away from him.

Myers, Walter Dean. Harlem Summer.

Fiction Myers, 2007

In 1920s Harlem, sixteen-year-old Mark Purvis, an aspiring jazz saxophonist, gets a summer job as an errand boy for the publishers of the groundbreaking African American magazine, "The Crisis," but soon finds himself on the enemy list of mobster Dutch Shultz.

Myers, Walter Dean. Street Love.

Fiction Myers, 2006

This story told in free verse is set against a background of street gangs and poverty in Harlem in which seventeen-year-old African American Damien takes a bold step to ensure that he and his new love will not be separated.

Woodson, Jacqueline. After Tupac & D Foster.

2008

In the New York City borough of Queens in 1996, three girls bond over their shared love of Tupac Shakur's music, as together they try to make sense of the unpredictable world in which they live.

Sitomer, Alan Lawrence. Homeboyz.

Fiction Sitomer, 2007

Seventeen-year-old Teddy Anderson, who is known on the streets as T-Bear, decides to seek revenge on the person responsible for his little sister's death, which was caused by a stray bullet from a semiautomatic handgun.

Draper, Sharon M. November Blues.

Fiction Draper, 2007

A teenaged boy's death in a hazing accident has lasting effects on his pregnant girlfriend and his guilt-ridden cousin, who gives up a promising music career to play football during his senior year in high school.

Lester, Julius. This Strange New Feeling

Fiction Lester, 2006

One of the most complex periods in American history is illuminated by the love stories of three couples and their fights for freedom from slavery.

Lester, Julius. Time's Memory.

Fiction Lester, 2006

Ekundayo, a Dogon spirit brought to America from Africa, inhabits the body of a young African American slave on a Virginia plantation, where he experiences loss, sorrow, and reconciliation in the months preceding the Civil War.

McDonald, Janet. Harlem Hustle.

Fiction McDonald, 2006

Eric "Hustle" Samson, a smart and street-wise seventeen-year-old dropout from Harlem, aspires to rap stardom, a dream he naively believes is about to come true. Hustle's personal Harlem was sorely in need of a renaissance. For him, it was the place where a scared kid named Eric Samson had been ditched by druggy parents and dismissed by frustrated teachers.

Moses, Shelia. The Return of Buddy Bush.

Fiction Moses, 2006

Following her grandfather's death in rural North Carolina in 1947, twelve-year-old Pattie Mae learns more about her family after reading her grandmother's collection of obituaries and traveling to Harlem, New York, to find her uncle who has escaped.

Booth, Coe. Tyrell.

Fiction Booth, 2006

Fifteen-year-old Tyrell, who is living in a Bronx homeless shelter with his spaced-out mother and his younger brother, tries to avoid temptation so he does not end up in jail like his father.

Wright, Bil. When the Black Girl Sings.

Fiction Wright, 2008

Lahni Schuler is the only black student at her private prep school. She's also the adopted child of two loving, but white, parents who are on the road to divorce. Struggling to comfort her mother and angry with her dad, Lahni feels more and more alone. But when Lahni and her mother attend a local church one Sunday, Lahni hears the amazing gospel choir, and her life takes an unexpected turn.

Millner, Denene. Hotlanta.

Fiction Millner, 2008

Living a privileged life in Atlanta, wealthy and beautiful African American twin sisters, Sydney and Lauren, must deal with family secrets and scandal when their father is released from prison.

Divine, L. Frenemies.

Fiction Divine, 2008

While dealing with her best friend Nellie, who does not want to hang out with her anymore, Jayd must figure out what is bothering her standoffish boyfriend and how to handle her unexpected feelings for another guy.

Murray, Victoria Christopher. Diamond.

Fiction Murray, 2008

In Los Angeles, California, four fifteen-year-old best friends, Diamond, Aaliya, Veronique, and India, form a gospel singing group in order to compete in a talent contest that could take them all the way to New York City and a quarter of a million dollar prize.

Billingsley, ReShonda Tate. Nothing But Drama.

Fiction Billingsley, 2006

Four teenage girls from different backgrounds find faith and friendship after joining Good Girlz, an afterschool church youth group.